help me choose AMD motherboard

[vejomatic]

hello all. been lurking here for a bit and wanted to tell everyone how awsome this site is and what great machines people are building:up: . with that said I have softball question to throw out for all the hardware hounds out there.

Quesiton: I am in need of a single GPU (single slot pci/e-16) AMD AM2 motherboard for a AMD 5000+ Black Box build I am starting.

Here are some quick must haves:

Singlu GPU Mobo (no SLI)
AMD AM2 (No need for AM2+, or HT3, quad CPU etc.)
DDR2 800 or better support
Chipset undetermined
PRICE: <$100 U.S.D
NO ECS (unless someone makes a damn good case for them)


Please, help me pick a motherboard...any other recommendations are also appreciated.

[Sparky]

I've heard good things about this biostar board, though I've not used it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138102

It is AM2+, but only $80. Plus there is someone making some good modded bioses for it too.

[vejomatic]

hello Ohio! I was from the Akron area at one time.

I am used to going full out on new pc builds and originaly i wanted to go Phenom route, but decided to wait until the Full AM3; new chipset, DDR3, PCI-e 2.0, HT3.0 all caught up and was put on one board.

Judging by how far off that system might be I decided to stick with AM2.

Question: What am I gaining by going with an AM2+ board over an AM2 board if I am not going the Phenom route. Will by Black Box 5000 be able to take advantage of any other features on an AM2+ board that arent available on an AM2?

thanks :)

[Ugly n Grey]

I can chirp up on the Biostar and I have one and like it. However, it's a budget OC board with few add ons, make no mistake. Mine runs 3.3Ghz 5000 BE at full throttle running folding at home night and day... elapsed run time is just over a month now.

[Sparky]

hello Ohio! I was from the Akron area at one time.

I am used to going full out on new pc builds and originaly i wanted to go Phenom route, but decided to wait until the Full AM3; new chipset, DDR3, PCI-e 2.0, HT3.0 all caught up and was put on one board.

Judging by how far off that system might be I decided to stick with AM2.

Question: What am I gaining by going with an AM2+ board over an AM2 board if I am not going the Phenom route. Will by Black Box 5000 be able to take advantage of any other features on an AM2+ board that arent available on an AM2?

thanks :)

To be quite honest the main reason for pointing this one out is because I am not overly familiar with most AM2 boards :shrug: I built my rig march/april of 2006 during 939 days. I pointed that board out more because of the right price and what I've heard about what it can do and its 3rd party support (namely the bios support). Just happens to be an AM2+ board.

BTW, for my upgrade I bought a DFI 790FX board and an AMD phenom CPU, figured until I went quad I didn't have much reason to upgrade my setup.

[SocketMan]

Had a 5000 BE just sitting around, other parts as well, so went out and got this :
http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=5075&CATEGORY_TYPE=INFINITY&SITE=US


2 days ago:)

[Final8ty]

Had a 5000 BE just sitting around, other parts as well, so went out and got this :
http://us.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_product_spec_details_r_us.jsp?PRODUCT_ID=5075&CATEGORY_TYPE=INFINITY&SITE=US


2 days ago:)

Worst motherboard i have ever had.
The voltage regulation is really bad, worse then the A8R32-MVP Deluxe
that i had.

[adamsleath]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171582&highlight=asus+m3a
no idea what it's like but it's relatively cheap..AM2+:shrug:
http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A4802851&cmp=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r$84+7.50shipping.
maybe biostar above is better:shrug:
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/13-131-234-05.jpg
:/ it looks pretty basic^
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/13-138-102-05.jpg
BIOSTAR TA770 A2+^
the biostar has an 8-pin mobo power plug...that may be a good sign re cpu power for oc...
nicer caps on the biostar aswell...plus the fdd connector is in a better place, if you even use a floppy :)

[gOtVoltage]

Ive used my 6000+ in the TA770,, You can easily do high HT and have full use of the CPU multi on a 6400+ and 5000+BE..Make shure you use the 125.BST Bios from Biostar(116.BST dosnt work properly)...This mobo easily does over 300+FSB with full overclocking options if you choose to do so.You can also push the HT limit further than most AM2 mobo's. It likes high HT

Best Budget mobo for $80bucks...My M2N 32deluxe is fantastic, The TA770 blew past it for less than half its cost and Overclocks just as good or even Better for a single card solution MOBO. The lay out and Quality is better than ASUS/MSI/Gigabyte/ECS for a 770/rx780 mobo. Any X2 or X2B.E. will be fine..

Bioses are improving, the 125.BST is stable and very overclockable.

[M4D_H4773R]

I have the BIOSTAR TF560 it's also nice but its about the same price so I'd go with the BIOSTAR TA770.

[Husky42]

I have the TF 560 and tbh its been a stable solid product, i was actually amazed with it.

Not sure if it meets your specs but its been pretty decent. I will be ditching it here by about mid march (hopefully) -But if you might find yourself interested shoot me a PM.

[funnyperson1]

The Biostar TF560+ is a great board for overclocking AM2 chips at a nice price. It isn't really an AM2+ board as it doesn't support HT3 and split power planes. In reality its an AM2 board, the + designates that it is compatible with AM2+ chips.

The TA770 is aa solid board, but the bioses for it suck, you have to rely on modded bioses from Polygon to have good overclocking experiences with it imho.

[M4D_H4773R]

The Biostar TF560+ is a great board for overclocking AM2 chips at a nice price. It isn't really an AM2+ board as it doesn't support HT3 and split power planes. In reality its an AM2 board, the + designates that it is compatible with AM2+ chips.

The TA770 is aa solid board, but the bioses for it suck, you have to rely on modded bioses from Polygon to have good overclocking experiences with it imho.

True true, Im deff happy with my TF560+ and it has always been stable. But you're right about the modded bioses from Polygon http://www.lejabeach.com/Biostar/TA770A2+/, they are way better than the stock bioses.

[SocketMan]

Worst motherboard i have ever had.
The voltage regulation is really bad, worse then the A8R32-MVP Deluxe
that i had.

Ah thats what that "high pitch" noise is when it's under load.
It was a 100$, has a 1 year warranty (from the local store).
I needed an AM2 (not AM2+) mobo with Crossfire and decent options in BIOS:)
Will see how it goes

[da-key]

I can chirp up on the Biostar and I have one and like it. However, it's a budget OC board with few add ons, make no mistake. Mine runs 3.3Ghz 5000 BE at full throttle running folding at home night and day... elapsed run time is just over a month now.

Thats impressive for that board 24/7. What ram chips u using?

Heh if you get that m3a post some reviews lol! It has a cheaper version of the 790 the 770.

[vejomatic]

TA770 is SOLD OUT everywhere I look :(