first am3+ will work with an am3 CPU, correct? second, i'm having a hard time deciding what is preferable. i really like the debug LED on these new ASRock motherboards. But, the gigabyte seems better made and has a 3 year warranty. the last time i had a problem with a card and i couldn't tell whether the debug beep was one long beep or many beeps. that's why i like the led. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128510 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157248 those are the two i'm considering. i'm looking for am3 + support, reliability, good customer service (that's in the US preferably!), usb 3.0 and that's about it. i'm not sure if i'll ever use crossfire or not. and what is up with the different speeds for the graphics card slots anyway?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socket_AM3#Compatibility Socket AM3+ AM3+ is a modification of the AM3 Socket designed for future "Zambezi" CPUs which use the new Bulldozer microarchitecture and will retain compatibility with AM3 processors.[7] The set of features is not yet known.[8] An early preview of a motherboard from MSI[9], indicates Socket AM3+ is also known as Socket AM3b. The pin-count for this revised socket is 942-pins. Some manufacturers have announced that some of their AM3 motherboards will support AM3+ CPUs, after a simple BIOS upgrade.[10] Mechanical compatibility has been confirmed and it's possible AM3+ CPUs will work in AM3 boards, provided they can supply enough peak current. Another issue might be the use of the sideband temperature sensor interface for reading the temperature from the CPU. Also, certain power-saving features may not work, due to lack of support for rapid VCore switching.[11] Note that use of AM3+ CPUs in AM3 boards may not be officially supported by AMD.[citation needed] there is no telling how support will be with any manufacturer when the time comes and you need it. i would go with the 3 year warranty gigabyte offers as i know first hand that you can rma and get a replacement in the event of malfunction. not too sure about why the speeds vary on the pci-e slots, but shouldn't matter if your not gonna crossfire.
^^^^Agreed Also, The speeds of the PCIe slots are more important than most people realize, IF you're planning on sli or crossfire at some point. If a second card is installed the bandwidth of the second card's slot is x8 it will be slower and thus less effective than two cards at full bandwidth. If you ever want a second card in the gigabit mobo it will still work and greatly improve your graphics processing, just wont see the nearly 2xperformance the two x16 bandwidth slots on the asrock would've given you. My advice would be to get the blazing fast and stable 1866Mhz ram for the Gigabyte board and know that sli or crossfire is at least an option down the road. (and pocket that 20$ ;] ) The Much higher stock memory speeds on the Gigabyte board is probably the biggest plus for you. between that and the reliability/warranty on it i would definitely recommend it. debug led's are convenient but its never Too difficult to debug yourself. The worst case is that you have to waste some time with trial and error swapping parts out. Orr.. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128514 It has faster Video card bandwidths for 10$ cheaper still than the asrock. And more PCIe slots in general for expandability (sound cards, solid state pcie cards, tv tuners, etc.) No debug led though, sorryy. Only the 250$ Gigabyte model has that
