cheapest mobo for phenom II X6

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WhiteFireDragon

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 16, 2009
Messages
495
i just bought a AMD 790 mobo and thought it would be compatible with the new hexacores, but it's not :(. what's the cheapest mobo/chipset i can get for it that is compatible? i don't need a monster overclocker, just something that will POST. any voltage options to overclock or undervolt would be a bonus.
 
get a cheap sempron ~$30 on ebay, and flash bios with that to use your x6
 
What's your MoBo? Maybe it does support your X6, but it needs a BIOS first. Go to www.ASUS.com and check the CPU Support List for your MoBo, if it does support X6's, then do what Cap'n W.Feather said, buy a cheap sempron from ebay, download the latest BIOS from ASUS's site for your MoBo, flash your BIOS, throw your X6 in and enjoy. :D
 
WhiteFireDragon said:
are there any boards cheaper than this MA78LM-S2H?
Click to expand...

why buy that ????

from what you have said, you have a mobo, and an X6 chip.....so now you want to DOWNGRADE you system, instead of just finding the cheapest AM3 chip you can....IE look here: http://computers.shop.ebay.com/CPUs..._sticky=1&_trksid=p4978.c0.m456&_sop=15&_sc=1 , thats a link to AM3 chips sorted by lowest price first........

get one of them(almost a 100% chance the BIOS supports them, if not they will still probably work in the off chance it isnt oficially supported), and flash your dam bios so you can use the x6 on a decent Mobo

edit: i see my self as more of a Leftteniet.....dam I cant spell :p
 
the thing is, on biostar's website, they have not release a BIOS to support this x6 yet. i don't think i want to play the waiting game, and not know if they will ever release a compatible bios
 
sell what you have, and pick up a 790FX/GX board from either Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, all three of them have regular BIOS updates, and pretty much every Asus 785/790 board has support(given the board can physically support it)
 
WhiteFireDragon said:
the thing is, on biostar's website, they have not release a BIOS to support this x6 yet. i don't think i want to play the waiting game, and not know if they will ever release a compatible bios
Click to expand...
Three posts now and you haven't bothered to mention which model it is?
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/event/phenomx6/index.php
Is it on this list and if not, is it a TA790GXE, TA790GXE 128M, TA790GX A3+, etc.... These and other TA790xxxx boards DO support Thuban but the BIOS isn't on the main site yet. Is it dual-plane or single-plane? If it is one of the old single-plane boards no amount of BIOS magic in the world will make it support Thuban.
 
DedEmbryonicCe11 said:
Three posts now and you haven't bothered to mention which model it is?
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/event/phenomx6/index.php
Is it on this list and if not, is it a TA790GXE, TA790GXE 128M, TA790GX A3+, etc.... These and other TA790xxxx boards DO support Thuban but the BIOS isn't on the main site yet. Is it dual-plane or single-plane? If it is one of the old single-plane boards no amount of BIOS magic in the world will make it support Thuban.
Click to expand...

ah sorry, keep forgetting to mention the exact model. it's a biostar TA790GX A3+. so you're saying they will eventually have a compatible BIOS, but just it's just not up yet? i'm not sure what you mean bout dual plane and single plane.
 
Hi! Has anyone tried a x6 BIOS from this Biostar-sme Site on an 790GX A3+ or an A2+, yet?
 
I don't know of anyone yet with that particular board. I used the X6 BIOS for my TA790GXE 128M and it worked fine but I ran into the physical limits of the board with my 1090T when it drew ~200W from the CPU socket. Mine wouldn't run 6x threads of Prime95 blend test >4GHz but 4x threads were fine.
 
Hi!

Good to know. So probably 4GHz x6 on a TA790GX A3+ is a no-go either. Which vcore do you need for 4GHz?
How does it work at stock clock x6? Is it completely stable?

Thank you,

Elmario
 
Honestly, could I get any less lucky with this motherboard choice ?


I am using a 790GXB3 motherboard. This is apparently somehow different than a 790GXA3 board ? And there happen to be no 790GXB3 BIOSes on that odd Biostar site ? really ? It is one letter difference.
 
3.8GHz was Prime95 stable on my TA790GXE 128M.
4.0GHz was completely benchmark stable (only Prime95 stable with 4 threads).
4.1GHz was stable in every benchmark I tried except for Everest - FPU Julia which drew too much power. My Kill-A-Watt was showing 414-415 Watts when the system shut down.:eek: 1.4v - 1.45v is enough for 4GHz. These X6's draw more way more at the same voltage as Deneb. I could run my 940BE at 1.55v / 1.45v NB with that board.

Supertag said:
I am using a 790GXB3 motherboard. This is apparently somehow different than a 790GXA3 board ? And there happen to be no 790GXB3 BIOSes on that odd Biostar site ? really ? It is one letter difference.
Click to expand...

TA790GXB3
b20090618_3.jpg


TA790GX A3+
b20090319.jpg
 
Ok,

I tried the sme-biostar image on my TA790GX A3+

Board is dead now.

Yes, I reseted to default before, and I used AFUDOS, not the F12 BIO-Flash, which one shouldn't use as claimed on Biostar homepage for unknown reason.

I'll have to pay 20€ for a new BIOS Chip now, and sell this crap.

Ok, somewhen it has to be the first time.

But when i consider the reason for this problem, I can only say: Shame on you Biostar! It's an newest Generation Socket Board, and you don't give a s*** about yout customers needs. This was the first, and will be the last Biostar Board I bought, ever!
 
I am running the Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H with my X6 @ 4.3Ggz 1.55Vcore. It is 12HR PRime95 stable and runs F@H with no problems. HardOCP gave it a Silver Award, and for the money its great. Has USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps for under $120.
 
Elmario said:
Ok,

I tried the sme-biostar image on my TA790GX A3+
Click to expand...
Try a bios recovery method first:
Instructions for manually initiating Boot Block Recovery from Floppy Disk:
1. Insert the floppy disk with the new BIOS file in the root directory into
drive A:. In most cases the file must be named AMIBOOT.ROM for the
recovery process to load the file. However, this filename may differ
from one product to another. Please consult the system motherboard
documentation for more information.
2. Press and hold the <Ctrl> and <Home>8 keys down while turning the
power on. Continue to hold the <Ctrl> and <Home> keys down until the
access light on the floppy drive comes on. It may take a few seconds or
more before this light turns on.
3. Release the <Ctrl> and <Home> keys. AMIBIOS issues a series of beep
codes9 that indicate that the system BIOS ROM file is being updated.
There will also be a progress dialog displayed on the screen after the
file has been loaded.
4. When the flash ROM has successfully been programmed, the computer
will reboot. Please do not interrupt the BIOS flash process until it has
fully completed.
One function of the AMIBIOS Boot Block code it to test the integrity of the BIOS image
in flash memory. If AMIBIOS8 Boot Block code detects a problem with the BIOS image,
Boot Block recovery will automatically[

Boot Block Recovery from IDE CD-ROM is nearly identical to Boot Block Recovery from
Floppy Disk, except that the BIOS image is loaded from CD-ROM. The BIOS image may
be loaded from CD-R & CD-RW drives, even if the drive was burned as a multi-session
disk. In most cases the file must be named AMIBOOT.ROM for the recovery process to
load the file.
Boot Block Recovery from IDE CD-ROM is a standard feature of the AMIBIOS8 core, but
is not enabled by default. System motherboard manufacturers have the option of
enabling this feature on their systems. Please consult your system motherboard
documentation to see if this feature is enabled.

Boot Block Recovery from USB Storage is nearly identical to Boot Block Recovery from
Floppy Disk, except that the BIOS image is loaded from a USB Storage Device. This
includes a variety of USB devices that meet the USB Mass Storage Class definition.
&#8226; USB Floppy
&#8226; USB Flash Drive
&#8226; USB CDROM & CDRW
&#8226; USB ZIP & LS-120/LS-240 &#8220;Superdisk&#8221;
Boot Block Recovery from USB Storage is a standard feature of the AMIBIOS8 USB
eModule, but is not enabled by default. System motherboard manufacturers have the
option of enabling this feature on their systems. Please consult your system
motherboard documentation to see if this feature is enabled.
Click to expand...

The floppy method is the only universal one. Sometimes you have to use a PS/2 keyboard instead of usb.
 
Hi, pxc!

Thank you for trying to help - sadly I've already tried tried this to the max - about 30 times. Filename is "AMIBOOT.ROM". From usb and from floppy, with USB Keyboard and with PS/2 keyboard, left and with right ctrl-key, by holding ctrl+home while switching on, by pressing ctrl+home directly after switching on and holding or tapping it up to 60 seconds. There's no response at all, no flashing of floppy or USB pen. The Fans are active, but there's nothing else´working. I don't know why the recovery doesnt work. I just ran AFUDOS without any parameters before (afudos.exe 78DAA421.BST). So it even shouldn't have written the boot code. The onlykind of 'signal' I get is the constantly flashing of the G.P.U. LEDs for phases 2-4, while Phase 1 is illuminated continously. Perhaps someone knows what the Problem with recovery could be?

Thank you,

Elmario
 
Last edited:
Ok. Some good news here. I received my spare BIOS Chip from ebay, and successfully bootet from it. First I hotflashed the latest Vanilla BIOS from Biostar. Board worked again with the old BIOS Chip.

Second I flashed again the patched x6 BIOS from sme-Biostar, but using Windows Flash Tool from Biostar Website, instead of AFUDOS I used the first time. This time the Bpard survived the upgrade. Now I just need the Thuban, to test functionality. :)
 
Krenum said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157176

Asus owns ASRock. I can tell you from experience that there pretty good motherboards, I've owned one for about 5 years now and never had any problems with it. You should consider this one.
Click to expand...
OP, if you're going to be cheap on the mobo, this is a very good choice. I'm going to buy one for an Athlon II X3, The thing I don't understand, is why get an enthusiast level cpu and put it into a motherboard you would put in a budget build?
 
Fry's was selling the X6 1055T with the MSI 890 MATX board with the latest USB 3.0 and SATA III and HDMI video on board for $229 before rebate. I thought it was a good deal. I should have bought 3 of these combo's. Next time if I see it again, I will.
 
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