More AMD Bulldozer Boards To Think About

Last time I wrote about thinking of upgrading to an AMD bulldozer ready motherboard, the asrock 970 Extreme4, for one of my older computers. While my old AM2+ motherboard and AM3 cpu is a bit old by now, an upgrade to an AM3+ board which now seems inevitable feels quite a bit of a minor upgrade considering how cheap the board is but at the same time I am getting an "advance" on components for the inevitable upgrade that technology has cursed us consumers. But when the time comes, we all can only hope that inkscape and the occasionally blender will fun faster on 8 legs.

Asrock Rocks

Before anything else, I have had some Asrock boards in the past and they have always been good to me. They are always cheaper than the competition and offer just as much, if not more features. When I learned of that the Asrock 970 Extereme4 is on sale, I was almost certain that this board is the one to get. Asrock is known to deliver more band for your buck. For instance, the Asrock 970 Extereme4 can run SLI and dual crossfire at 8x/8x - speeds which other AMD 970 based motherboards won't able to deliver and they are sold practically for the same price. Today I browsed the Asrock website and I discovered two more boards which, if the prices are right, will make my purchase more difficult. 

The Asrock 970 Extreme3

A what seemed to be a newer board, the asrock 970 Extreme 3 (I know the 970 Extreme 4 actually came out first!) is more of the traditional AMD 970 based motherboard. It is mroe of a bare-bones motherboard and you don't get SLI nor a x8/x8 crossfire with it, rather the basic x16/x4 crossfire setup instead. With the price of the 970 Extreme 4 is right now, the Extreme 3 should be one of the cheapest AMD 970 chipset around when, and if, it hits the stores here. Depending on the price difference, I might just get the Extreme3 over the Extreme4. I just dont see any reason for someone like me to crossfire anyway.

The 990FX Extreme3

Looking at other options, the 990FX Extreme3, judging on the first bios release date (9/16/2011 - same as the 970 Extreme3), is practically a basic version of the 990FX motherboards that Asrock has released earlier. I am not actually looking at getting a 990FX board but if this proves to be bang for the buck, then it would be hard to turn down. But then again, with all the cheaper 970s floating around, there is little that I could think of that could justify upgrading to a 990FX board.

And finally...

While I never liked the blue color scheme of the 970 Extreme 4 I love the black look on these Asrock Extreme3 boards. Looking at the pictures above, they look almost identical and you can practically see no difference. In the end, my decision would most likely depend on availability and the price differences of the products as the weakest of these may be all I need. I will try to contact the store this weekend and hopefully they can get one of these in soon.