Entirely just for gaming? 

For budget i think FX4300 (RM409) + Gigabyte 970A-DS3 (RM269) would do, in gaming around Core i3 3220 level..
For extra budget i think FX8320 (RM559) + Asus M597 LE R2.0 (RM330) would do, should be around Core i5 3470~3550 level..

I'll suggest the FX8320 paired with an ASRock 990FX Extreme3. IMO best value mobo with 990FX chipset. At least go with the highest end AM3+ chipset, not 970.

For gaming, choice of mobo doesnt effect much, thats for sure, unless the user going to crossfire in the future, a cheapo 970 chipset will do..

Do you have plans to crossfire/SLI in the future? If no, then yes just get a 970 chipset AM3+ board will do and save some cash in the process. 7870XT crossfired does quite well, and affordable enough for you to consider getting another in the near or mid future. Really depends on the games you play and at what resolution/quality you want to play them at. If it was me, I'd go with 990FX board, and the ASRock one is as affordable as they come, at approximate RM 380 price and decent quality too. Don't skimp out when buying a mobo is the lesson I've learnt, get something with some quality.

Also a 990FX board would be best suited to support next FX series (Steamroller) compared to a 970. So there.

nothing fantastic due to voltage but nonetheless made it to 5Ghz on 8 cores... 

hi all i'm new here..

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6201/amd-det...er-architecture

not so sure AMD will keep d aging 990FX chipset, but if it means performance boost on cpu & i/o performance, by all mean just do it. 

dah dah... me no master ok... me mister oni... 

budget wise 970 evo/pro should be cheaper ma. if budget not a concern can consider GD80/990X EVO. 

That is a hard cpu to get, mostly OEM supply only..   

What mobo is that eh? MSI G80 looks different iianm.. hmmm i this an FM2+ mobo? 
Anyhow welcome back bro 

major concern is hdd, not really bothered with d rest. but to think that there's a need to reformat + installation of drivers, there's no harm to try oc gradually instead of directly pump d clock to x.xGHz. not like if u run it @ x.xGHz for sometimes (even it's not stable) it will become stable later on. dont think ppl do "Burn In" nemore like last time...

This thread is dying. No more love for AMD I suppose. I have a Bulldozer FX8320E at 4.4GHz Prime95 2 hours stable. Can't go beyond that on my motherboard with 6+2 power phase can't handle it.

Though, at that clock it's still inferior in gaming compared to my old Sandy Bridge 2500k at 4.0GHz. Game I've tried are more geared towards CPU intensive coded game as such as Source engine games, eg: Dota 2, CS:G0 (30 players full), Starcraft 2,  MMORPG such as TERA, Blade & Soul (in town where a lot of players spawn), Battlefield 4 with 50~60 players.

I don't know why AMD chips are weaker despite having a high clock.

AMD used to be king.  No longer now.

OCing AMD sure is fun, but I'm not doing it for the thrill, I'm expecting the result will be reflected in gaming framerates, so far it has let me down due to old fabrication and tech.

I'll be back once Zen is out.