AMD 970 Motherboard: an overview, features and reviews

The number of motherboards and other components is increasing every year more and more. Now the market has become more clearly differentiated. Now you can clearly see the budget variations, multimedia and gaming. Manufacturers want to create an increasingly sophisticated device that would conquer the market. But this is impossible, because users have different goals and desires.

Chipset

On the basis of AMD 970 chipset appeared a large number of motherboards from the top manufacturers. They are basically the same. The difference can be found in the appearance, parameters, interfaces. Despite the fact that the suite of Socket AM3 + logic has long appeared, yet this platform is relevant, it builds many gaming motherboards that realize high performance.

Asus

The motherboard AMD 970 from Asus has received in the title the big words PRO GAMING / AURA. The manufacturer immediately made it clear to the buyer that in front of him is a gamer product with high potential. Supplied option in a conventional cardboard box. The front itself was displayed as it had a very attractive appearance.

Behind the information was a lot. Some features, an interface panel and supported technologies are shown. Inside the box there is a disk with "firewood" and software, instruction, a cap for the interface panel, a bridge for combining several video cards, a set of stickers, ties and two wires with a SATA interface.

Appearance Asus

It is difficult to say something about objectivity, when such beauty is before you. The board is made in the latest trends of gamer fashion. Black textolite with elements of bright red color. There is even a backlight, which is so loved to be connected in cases with a transparent cover.

If you look closely, the "motherboard" AMD 970 from Asus is somewhat overloaded with components. One of the parties received a large number of slots. Radiators strongly protrude above the surface, and therefore there is a chance to hook them when mounted in the housing.

Asus parameters

It is not difficult to guess that before us a pair of server and south bridge is presented AMD 970 / SB950. The processor socket here is socket AM3 +, which is dictated by the model of the crystal. The board supports the connection of several processors at once, among which are popular Phenom II, Sempron, FX and Athlon II.

It is possible to overclock the "motherboard" to improve system performance. As a result, the processor can run at 4.7 GHz. This is a stable option for chips like AMD FX-9370. The system bus also accelerated at 330 MHz, and RAM can operate at 2.1 GHz.

Reviews about Asus

Asus 970 PRO GAMING / AURA - an excellent gaming option, which won the confidence of users. First, it is the manufacturer who uses quality materials for his products. Secondly, this is initially a good declared parameters. Thirdly, the attractive appearance makes its advertising business.

Users celebrated a reliable digital power subsystem, interesting lighting, which, although it proved useless to many, still looks pretty. The interface panel has all the necessary slots, a sound card with special technologies that improve the sound. Customers liked the presence of bundles of video cards not only for AMD, but also for NVIDIA models. As a result, there are so many advantages, that the disadvantages were leveled and it is extremely difficult to find them.

MSI

I released a couple of options based on AMD 970. One was shown back in 2012, the latter was released relatively recently. Just about him and worth talking about, because unlike the first one it refers to gaming models.

Supplied "motherboard" in black and red packing. In front of the model is not specified. Behind the information more: special technology, the presence of interfaces, features. Inside the system board, besides all the necessary documentation, there are drivers and utilities to it. There is a stub to the panel, a pair of SATA cables and bridges for a couple of video cards. In addition, the gift has a metal badge and a sign on the door.

MSI Appearance

MSI 970 Gaming looks as cool as the previous model. On the black textol are visible components of red color. On the perimeter of the AMD Phenom II x4 970 processor, large radiators can be seen. Each component takes its place, so connecting to them is easy to find intuitively.

The interface panel has all the necessary connectors, among them - four pairs of USB 2.0, another pair of USB 3.0. Combined slot for keyboard and mouse, slot for Internet connection, etc. The power subsystem is built on the scheme of 8 + 1.

MSI Options

Like the previous version, this works on the AMD 970 chipset paired with the south bridge SB950. Supports a large number of processors, among them - Phenom II, Sempron, FX and Athlon II. The board has four slots for RAM type DDR3.

The overclocking potential of the board is high. It allows in the BIOS settings to increase the system performance. The maximum frequency of the chip reaches 4.6 GHz, the voltage is 1,500 V. The speed of RAM rises to 2.1 GHz.

Reviews about MSI

The users gave positive feedback on the MSI 970 Gaming. This was connected with support for AMD Phenom x4 970, with a low heat dissipation, a good audio system. Customers noted the convenient location of components on the board and the stable operation of the chipset.

GIGABYTE

This motherboard was delivered in a bright box. A model is indicated in front, behind the information is more. Here the main advantages of this option over others are described. There are few useful accessories in the box. In addition to documentation and driver CDs, the developers immediately put two pairs of SATA, an adapter for the G-Connector, system buttons and indicators. As a gift there is a sticker with the manufacturer's logo.

Appearance of GIGABYTE

GIGABYTE GA-970-Gaming - this is another gaming "motherboard", which stood out for its appearance. It is very similar to the two previous ones. Again in front of us a black textolite, on which there are components with a bright red color. There is a matte coating that helps hide the copper lines. There is an aluminum radiator near the processor socket. That AMD Phenom x4 970 does not overheat, the area of dispersion is increased, and additional radiators are installed next to the main radiators.

The interface panel is full. There is room for keyboard or mouse, three pairs of USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0. There are USB 3.1, which are implemented as connectors type A and C. Immediately connect the Internet cable, you can synchronize the operation of acoustics.

The board immediately shows the connectors for the fans, which are represented by four-pin slots and two three-pin slots. Interestingly, you can adjust the speed of the fans if they are placed in the 4-pin slot. If you install the cooler on a 3-pin, then the voltage for this connector is 12 V, and to control the speed of rotation, you need additional adapters and potentiometers.

GIGABYTE options

To monitor the operation of the AMD 970 chipset, a special software UEFI is developed. It has many sections in which this or that information is located. Immediately you can try to make overclocking. Overclocking in this case is represented by a simple adjustment. In the application there is an option for automatic overclocking. The frequencies were raised to 4 GHz if we consider crystals of the FX-8320 type.

There are several modes that allow you to raise the operating frequency by certain values. In the light mode at 100 MHz, on average - at 200 MHz and in the extreme - at 300 MHz. This step is unlikely to lead to the emergence of one of the components. There are more refined parameters and their improvements. But they will have to dig more in the settings. In general, as usual, AMD 970 can be overclocked to 4.4 GHz.

Reviews of GIGABYTE

This is a good system platform, which received more positive feedback. Users have had a good layout of the elements on the board, the quality of their implementation. Value for money is really justified. There are all the necessary ports on the board. Slots PCI Express x16 decided to strengthen.

Despite the fact that there were more pluses, there were also dissatisfied users. For example, there were some speed limits, and questions remained to control the fans. The most important advantage of the users was the cost. In just $ 100, the buyer received an excellent game "motherboard", which had an attractive appearance, all the necessary components and overclocking potential. Although without overclocking, all the components showed good performance. The AMD Phenom 970 chip provided a lot of opportunities. Thanks to it, it was possible to create a really powerful and productive gaming system.