125W of risky business

velusip

velusip

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Messages
1,579
125W Phenom quad-cores on micro ATX boards. Rumour has it they melt. Just wondering what experiences some of the other forumers out there have had.

Currently upgrading from a nice 65W 4200+ to an excessively power hungry AMD 9850 BE. I've deemed this experiment dangerous with my current motherboard (an Asus M2NPV-VM that rarely slept in 2 years of service) and am now looking at three alternatives:

  • ASUS M3N78-VM H-SLI (GeForce 8200) $105
  • ASUS M3A78-EM (AMD 780G) $105
  • Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H (AMD780G) $140
- The specs clearly state these will handle up to 140W Phenom processors.
- The Gigabyte board has a few plugs about it's superior MOSFET and capacitor design, but who has ever put these stats to the test?
- I do not think my 8800GT will not benefit from H-SLI support in M3N78-VM.
- Due to the limited selection of micro ATX boards and my determination to stay small, I've been forced to go ASUS for years... With all the bad luck I've had with them my bias suggests go with something different, Gigabyte.
- I think I just answered mine own question, but I'm pressing "Submit New Thread" anyway for historical purposes. :p

(My list once had the ASUS M3A78-CM (AMD 780V) $95, but removed due to some interesting details about that "V" in the chipset and how it relates to the 790GX chipset. Apparently 780V, 780G, and 790 are all the same, but tested early in fabrication and labled based on results... "hand picked" chips get the 790 label.)
 
What? Who said anything about i7? We don't even have a board for it.
 
silent-circuit said:
Yeah, C2D is the way to go without question, unless you already have the Phenom.
Click to expand...

Got one for cheap. I don't know the difference between the phenom and c2d, but the i7 I know what's what and why it's important to switch. That's why I brought it up.
 
^-- Doesn't make sense. And.. why bring up something that's purely speculation? i7 budget and C2 budget is not even close. I assumed you would have realized I was talking about C2.. Since you already have a Phenom, you're looking at the 790GX/FX w/ SB650 boards to get the most out of it. It's the 9850 or 9950 you have right.. cuz if it's anything other than those you might as well throw it out.
 
My sig.
I'm running the Quad core 9950 (140w) no problems with the stock BE cooler, no probs with my aftermarket one either.
The gigabyte board is really nice.
 
A huge upgrade all running exceptionally well at full load for weeks on end at BUDGET. Makes sense to me. :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top