AM3 mATX recommendations?

K

KleeziE

Limp Gawd
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Mar 7, 2009
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Well I have a p180 mini case and I wanted to do a new AMD quad core build cept I dont know that many solid mATX boards for the AM3 chipset since I was going to put an i7 in it. Cept I dont really see me needing that much CPU power and this route should save me 2-300 dollars.

So my question is, can anyone give my any good recommendations of boards they are using for an AM3 socket using an mATX board?
 
PS, I will be using this comp for work and play. I have a GTX 260 on a 1920 x 1200 display.
 
Just avoid ecs and jetway. Most of the others are very solid.
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785G or 790GX boards.

Though for mATX there is hardly any 790GX mATX boards. There is sure alot of 785G boards. Personally I would go the 785G route. Even if you don't use onboard GPU it does serve as a nice back-up in case your videocard craps out.
 
Cool, thanks for advice guys. I will be searching for the best deal out of the selections newegg offers.
 
I believe the BEST board I'd select is either the Asus or Gigabyte. I was looking at an Asus a few days ago, it had "EVO" in the product name and was top of the line with a built in ATI 4000 series GPU. That's probably what I'd go for.

Here's a AM3 only board: you'll need DDR3. An Asus with integrated 4200 and SidePort Memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131406

Comperable to the Asus, but Gigabyte: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128399

Here's another AM3. This is a DFI 790, with 2 PCI-E slots. More expensive, no integrated gfx - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136068

There are also versions of the Asus and Gigabytes I listed above that are AM2/AM2+/AM3 and use DDR2 memory if you want that.

Gigabyte - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
Asus http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131595
 
Biostar and DFI both have a 790GX offering. I have the Biostar one and it has been running titties for almost a year now.
 
I highly recommend you avoid the Gigabyte mATX AMD boards.

If you look at SATA port location you can see it will conflict ALOT with videocards. Especially for OP who will be using a GTX 260.

I'll see if I can find my old post with examples.
 
Here is the post on the 780G Gigabyte board (same layout as 785G).

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034400113&postcount=26

Also note that the SATA cables I use in the picture are NOT right-angle sata cables but "left-angle" sata cables. In the picture I am using a GTS 250. I believe the GTX 260 is a longer card so you can forget about using any straight sata cables. Using any right-angle cables you will be limited to two sata ports.

The 5th sata port is unusable because there is not enough clearance for even a right angle sata cable due to the videocard PCB board. If you try to plug in a right-angle sata cable in the videocard will not fit flush into the PCI x16 slot.
 
DTN107 said:
Here is the post on the 780G Gigabyte board (same layout as 785G).

http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034400113&postcount=26

Also note that the SATA cables I use in the picture are NOT right-angle sata cables but "left-angle" sata cables. In the picture I am using a GTS 250. I believe the GTX 260 is a longer card so you can forget about using any straight sata cables. Using any right-angle cables you will be limited to two sata ports.

The 5th sata port is unusable because there is not enough clearance for even a right angle sata cable due to the videocard PCB board. If you try to plug in a right-angle sata cable in the videocard will not fit flush into the PCI x16 slot.
Click to expand...

Wow good advice, i was looking at one of these for an HTPC.

That is crazy that they designed it like that
 
I'm going to hijack this thread because I'm out of options. For those of you who have a 785G or even 780G Gigabyte mATX mobo, how the EFF do you boot off a USB flash drive? I just got my MA785GM and I can't for the life of me figure it out. I honestly don't think it's possible, and that simply blows my mind.

Can someone PLEASE help me? I'm trying to get Win 7 loaded and I just can't believe that any mobo today can't boot off a USB flash drive!
 
did you make the USB drive bootable? Did you set BIOS settings to boot from USB 1st?
 
Still struggling with this. Yea the USB drive is bootable. I plugged it into a laptop and booted up to the Win 7 install just fine. I'd pick 1st boot to USB if the options was there. All I have is usb-fdd / usb-zip / usb-hdd none of which work.

I just don't get it. Email'd gigabyte and no response.
 
I'd recommend the ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO or the ASUS M4A785T-M/CSM. Both have good features and layouts.
 
GA-MA785GMT-UD2H. Tested with XP first while I was waiting on Windows 7.7 is now installed. No Problems.
 
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