Best AM3+ Motherboard For High-Performance PC Build
The motherboard can be essentially defined as the heart of a computing device or system. The essential components of a system are present on the motherboard, and also decides the quality of performance that your system delivers. It is home to several components like the CPU socket, the power connector, slots for memory, and ROM chip.
An am3+ is a type of the CPU socket of the motherboard just like am2, am2+, am4, etc. It was released in mid-2011 designed for CPUs that use the AMD Bulldozer micro-architecture and retains compatibility with am3 processors. There are a lot of companies manufacturing the am3+ motherboards with various features coming with different price tags.
I have done the treacherous job of finding out the best am3+ motherboard available in the market, just for you. Let us know have a look at the list of the best am3+ motherboard along with their features, advantages, and disadvantages.
Table of Contents
- BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD REVIEW
- 1. GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 - BEST MICRO ATX AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
- 2. ASUS M5A97 PLUS - BEST BUDGET AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
- 3. ASUS CROSSHAIR V FORMULA-Z - BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD FOR OVERCLOCKING
- 4. MSI 970A-G43 - BEST ATX AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
- 5. ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 - BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD FOR GAMING
- 6. ASROCK 970 PRO3 - BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD FOR THE MONEY
- 7. MSI NF725GM-P43 - BEST DDR3 MOTHERBOARD
- 8. ASROCK MICRO 970M PRO3 AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
- BUYING GUIDE FOR BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
- FAQ
- CONCLUSION
BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD REVIEW
1
1. GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 - BEST MICRO ATX AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
Features
I am starting the list of the best am3+ motherboards with the Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 motherboard. People love this motherboard because of its performance with a budget-friendly price tag.
It provides an excellent foundation for AMD Ryzen processors and is easy to install, and provides you with out-of-the-box compatibility for all Ryzen offerings. But, if you are buying an older stock, you have to find a way to flash the latest BIOS for improved compatibility with the latest CPUs.
This Gigabyte AM3+ motherboard gives you an M.2 slot for using PCIe NVMe SSDs and a PCIe x16 slot for running high-end GPUs. It also has an HDMI, D-SUB, and DVI-D outs in the offering.
The onboard Realtek GbE LAN includes cFosSpeed optimizations for low network latency, which helps in online gaming. The high resistance ICs greatly help in protecting the motherboard against electrostatic discharge. Not only this, with anti-surge ICs, it prevents power surges, and with the new glass fabric PCB design, it protects the motherboard against electrical shorts.
The BIOS is easy enough to get used to, and overall, you won’t have any issues using the Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 unless you have an old stock of board and it is powerful enough to power a lower budget gaming PC.
Overall, if you are looking for a motherboard for user-friendly computing and maximum system performance while still saving power, then this can be your ideal pick.
Pros
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2
2. ASUS M5A97 PLUS - BEST BUDGET AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
Features
Next up in my list of best am3+ motherboards comes the Asus M5A97 Plus motherboard. The M5A97 is a mid-range motherboard but has some premium features and is great for gaming. This one is designed to easily fit in standard size ATX cases and supports all versions of the Windows operating system.
Apart from this, it supports both the Crossfire and SLI multi-GPU configurations and is compatible with the full range of AMD processors. The M5A97 includes 6 SATA ports, a couple of M.2 slots for storage, including an M.2 Key E slot for a WiFi module, premium audio, Gen 1 USB 3.2 ports.
You can take advantage of the Fan Xpert+ feature that allows you to independently adjust both fan speeds with dedicated controllers. So you can control the temperature of the motherboard based on the environment.
Thanks to the AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ technology, now you can use up to four GPUs in a single computer and so you can improve the overall graphics performance.
The AMD 970 chipset allows for overclocking, comes with the standard SATA port allotment, which delivers 6 GB/s data transfer rates and a couple of M.2 slots and USB ports, including a USB Type-C port, running 3.2 Gen 1 speed. Overall, the motherboard is an asset to any task.
Pros
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3
3. ASUS CROSSHAIR V FORMULA-Z - BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD FOR OVERCLOCKING
Features
If you are looking for a high-end AM3+ motherboard in the list, then check out the Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z motherboard. It is a moderately priced board that supports AMD 990FX.
This motherboard has an extreme engine digi+ II that provides reliable power to your CPU. The AMD 990FX chipset is not for overclockers, but you can use the AMD Ryzen 1st and 2nd generation.
The Crosshair V Formula-Z motherboards also come up with Asus’s 5x Protection III hardware-level safeguards and numerous protective mechanisms such as a safe slot core, surge-protected networking, overvoltage protection, and integrated stainless steel I/O plate. So the motherboard's internal components stays protected under unreliable situations.
The board also has a Fan Xpert monitoring software, which provides an overview of the PWM/DC fans and offers one-click optimization for all supported fan types.
The BIOS offers good-enough tuning and monitoring controls. With this, you can organize settings by favorites, use Fan Xpert, improve the DRAM performance, and update the latest version of the BIOS. The SupremeFX III feature also brings gaming and studio to life with HD feature. So if you are an avid gamer, you will have a visual treat.
Overall, the Asus Prime A320M-K is one of the best A320 motherboards for AMD3+. Despite the lack of overclocking features, it is worth all the features it has in the offering.
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4
4. MSI 970A-G43 - BEST ATX AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
Features
MSI 970A-G43 motherboard is built on the AMD 970 + SB950 chipset that supports 2nd and 3rd-generation AMD processors with an AM3 socket. We recommend this motherboard for its optimum quality features.
The motherboard is equipped with 2 PCI-E x16 (1 x16, 1x4), 2 PCI-E x1 and 2 PCI and 2x Rear USB 3.0, 1x USB 3.0 onboard connector, 6x Rear USB 2.0 with SATA III x6 for memory. It can support AMD FX, Phenom II X6/X4/X3/X2, Athlon II X4/X3/X2, and Sempron processors.
This MSI 970A-G43 also features studio-grade audio quality with an audio boost so you can experience the highest sound quality. Since it uses advanced military class 4 components, you are guaranteed that this motherboard has good durability and doesn't bend easily.
It has a reliable gaming device port that can quickly deliver the best connectivity for a high-end gaming mouse where you get to use faster and smoother mouse response in games.
And the intelligent fan control gives you complete control of your fans in your motherboard. So you can display the real-time status of the fans on the monitor.
Pros
Cons
5
5. ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 - BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD FOR GAMING
Features
Coming up next is again an ASUS AM3+ motherboard, but this one is relatively cheap.
The board features DVI-D, VGA, and HDMI outputs for integrated graphics. The ASUS R2.0 also has dual intelligent processors 3 with new DIGI+ power control.
The board is equipped with four memory slots that support a maximum of up to 32GB of DDR3 RAM, which can be overclocked up to 1333MHz. There are 6 SATA III ports and an M.2 slot utilizing the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface for storage purposes.
The I/O interface of the board consists of 2 Type-A USB 3.1 connections, as these ports are capable of achieving speeds of up to 10 Gbps per port. The ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 motherboard features PCIe steel armor to protect GPUs from bending and EMI.
The audio boost offers an HD audio processor, dedicated amplifier, and high-quality audio capacitors that provide you with optimal results. The ASUS M5A99X EVO R2.0 gives you the performance you want to build your gaming rig and has all that you need to enjoy your gaming sessions. So grab Asus AM3+ motherboard now!
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6. ASROCK 970 PRO3 - BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD FOR THE MONEY
Features
The ASROCK 970 PRO3 R2.0 MotherBoard looks very cool. The ASROCK 970 PRO3 R2.0 comes with some good additional overclocking features for CPU and memory. Comparing to the previous one, it has more headroom for overclocking and it’s targeted to the AMD processors.
Along with 64GB of memory support this motherboard has many additional features including Audio boost 2.0 which enhances the audio quality and provides the original audio. So this AM3+ mobo also improves online gaming and reduces lag in gaming.
The board has 6 SATA III ports and a single M.2 slot that supports Intel Optane Memory. The motherboard has 4x USB 3.0 Ports (2 rear, 2 via header), 12x USB 2.0 Ports (6 rear, 6 via headers), 1x PS/2 keyboard/Mouse Combo Port, 1x RJ45 LAN Port, Audio I/O Jacks.
Overall, we recommend this am3+ motherboard for gaming purpose, as it consists of Gaming Hotkey which assigns functions to any key to launch games, load profiles, and overclock in real-time.
Pros
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7. MSI NF725GM-P43 - BEST DDR3 MOTHERBOARD
Features
Another best am3+ motherboard in the list is MSI NF725GM-P43 micro ATX AM3+ motherboard. The NVidia GeForce 7025 & nForce 630a chipset natively supports an M.2 slot over the PCIe to enable compatibility with super-fast NVMe SSDs, as well as Intel Optane. The board comes in micro-ATX cases and is compatible with DDR3 memory, plus HDMI, DVI, and VGA display outputs. Since this is a, i
The I/O panel comes with 8 USB 2.0 ports. The peripheral devices can be connected using the 8 USB 2.0 ports, and devices can be inserted in either orientation. The motherboard has a PCIe x16 slot and a couple of PCIe x1 slots.
The M.2 slots are connected using 4 PCIe 3.0 lanes to support the fast NVMe protocol. Additional drives like SSDs, HDDs and optical drives can be connected using the 4 SATA 2 ports.
The MSI enhances the memory stability and performance of the board by improving trace isolation between PCB layers to maintain signal integrity.
Pros
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8. ASROCK MICRO 970M PRO3 AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
Features
The ASROCK 970M PRO3 supports North Bridge AMD 970 & South Bridge AMD SB950 AM3+ chipsets which makes this AMD am3+ motherboard powerful and super efficient, especially for gaming.
It comes with 2 USB 3.0 ports and 6 USB 2.0 ports. With the USB 3.0 Boost setting you can use the port into three different modes: normal, turbo, or UASP. It will give the most standard transfer speeds to read and overwrite data as fast as possible.
ASROCK 970M PRO3 has 1x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 Slots, 2x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 Slots (one run x4), 1x PCI Slot and 64GB DDR3 memory of 4x DDR3-2400+(OC), 1066 DIMM Slots with Dual Channel, Non-ECC.
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Cons
BUYING GUIDE FOR BEST AM3+ MOTHERBOARD
Suppose you have invested in the AM3+ processor. In that case, it is obvious that you need an AM3+ motherboard that supports your CPU and handles the core and peripheral components efficiently. That said, it is crucial to pay attention to few features while buying it; those features are listed below:
CPU compatibility and chipset compatibility
Only when you have the right socket you will be able to insert the processor into the motherboard. So ensure that the processor socket is AM3+. Also, you must check whether the motherboard can support chipsets like AMD 990X, AMD 980G, AMD 990FX, and AMD 970 Chipset.
Memory support
If you are an avid gamer or do video editing works, you need something more than decent. So check whether the motherboard can support at least 32GB of RAM. If you think you need more, then go for a motherboard with 64 GB of RAM. Adding to this, you must also check the RAM frequencies are supported here.
Size
What kind of motherboard are you looking for? Small one or a big one? Well, that is subjective. So before investing in the new one, check its size compatibility.
Overclocking
Though most users don't worry about the overclocking person if it is also crucial to check whether the motherboard supports overclocking, when it comes to overclocking, some Intel processors don't support overclocking. Meanwhile, the AMD processors are overclockable as the Ryzen chipsets have to overclock.
Budget
Again this is subjective. If you have a good budget, you can buy a motherboard above 300$, and if you are not ready to invest much, then something between 80$ to 300$ is fine. But do check whether the above features, aesthetics, usable ports, and built-in Bluetooth or WiFi features, are present in the motherboard.
Slots
Another feature that must not be overlooked is the number of slots. In general, motherboards come with three slots—one slot for inserting regular expansion, another one for memory where you can install the RAM modules. And the last one is for high-speed PCI express slots. So the more the number of slots, the more space you have for memory.
FAQ
Do AM3+ Processors Work on AM3?
Yes, an AM3+ processor can be used on an AM3 socket and both are compatible with each other. However, though the AM3+ processor is pin-compatible with AM2 motherboards and sockets, they lack some key features and it doesn't work perfectly.
Is AM3 compatible with am3+ and AM4?
Some Asus motherboard manufacturers have designed motherboards that include both AM3 and Am4 mounting holes in their boards and sockets. So these types can easily support AM3+ on AM4 and AM3 motherboards.
Is AM4 Compatible With AM3+?
Yes,AM4 processor is backward compatible with AM3+. So even if you have an AM3+ motherboard and an AM4 processor, you can easily insert it the AM3+ motherboard and use it.
CONCLUSION
This was my list of top am3+ motherboards with their features, advantages, and disadvantages. I hope this list helps you choose amongst the best am3+ motherboard in the market. See to that the motherboard which you choose satisfies your expectation and budget. Cheers!!
