Supports newest AMD AM3+ FX/AM3 Phenom II series processors/Advanced 8+2 phase CPU VRM power design for AMD high-TDP CPU support/2 PCI-E 2.0 x16 interfaces for ultimate graphics performance/AMD SB950 provides 6 native SATA3 ports with superfast 6Gbps link speed and RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 support/Supports USB 3.0 with superfast transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps/Gigabyte 3x USB Power with On/Off Charge USB ports/Ultra Durable 3 Classic Technology with copper cooled quality for lower working temperature/Turbo XHD technology accelerating hard drive performance with ease/Revolution energy saving design with Easy Energy Saver technology/Hi-def 108dB Signal-to-noise ratio Blu-ray DVD audio playback/Patented DualBIOS with Hybrid EFI technology for 3TB HDD support
$ 88.99
[wpramareviews asin=”B0055Q88EO”]
I like it, it’s nice… you can’t have it back!,
I bought this motherboard for my recent build. I chose it mostly because it’s a fairly new release (2011) and boasts compatibility with AMD’s AM3+ CPUs. I noticed it has an AMD 970 and SB950 chipset, for Northbridge and Southbridge respectively. These are fairly new chips I believe and make for a more up-to-date profile on my system build overall.
CPU: I paired it with a Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition AM3 CPU and it works fine. Again, AM3+ support for future expandability. Check Gigabyte’s website for a full list of supported CPUs on this particular motherboard.
RAM Support: It is capable of 32GB RAM, although I only used 8GB of Corsair DDR3 1600MHz memory modules (x2 4GB set). This is probably fine since my Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit OS only has support for up to 16 GB of RAM (you can get more with Professional and Ultimate). Also, to get memory clock speeds of 1866 MHz and above you would need to install an AM3+ socket-type CPU (at least that is what the manual suggests).
Graphics Cards: This motherboard has both a X16 and X4 PCI-e 2.0 slot. The X16 full speed version is the one closest to the Northbridge heatsink you see in the stock photo. I put an EVGA GeForce GT440 1GB GDDR3 video card in there and it runs nice and quiet. It is rather annoying though, since I happen to have an aftermarket cooler installed (Cooler Master Hyper 212) that would be to close for comfort if I had a monster video card in place.
SATA: There are no IDE plug-in ports on this thing. Although the BIOS sets up IDE native mode for the SATA controller by default. I switched mine to use ACHI mode since I only have one harddrive installed and I don’t want to bother with a RAID set-up. My hard drive is a Western Digital 7200 RPM 1TB 32MB cache type. It is probably the loudest/most startling thing in my computer (made me paranoid at first).
Interfacing: I like the fact it has USB 3.0 support: two ports on the rear I/O panel and an internal header with support for 2 more. It also features a 1394a firewire port in the rear and a header for one more. USB 3.0 devices are becoming more commonly available and firewire is still a cool way to transfer data fast. It has a Realtek ALC889 codec with HD audio support (backwards compatible with AC’97) and up to 7.1 channel support as well. Another Realtek chip is included for up to 1Gbps network speeds as well. This is useful if you happen to acquire a fancy new gigabit router. The Realtek onboard chipsets also free up PCI and PCI-e X1 slots for use other than network and sound card adapters.
Feel: It seems pretty decent and durable for the price. I am going to use it for web and graphics design applications. If I install a card reader on my computer case, I’ll be in business for camera use as well. I think I made a pretty good choice by choosing this motherboard for a first time build. I find I like it far better than upgrading older systems. Time to start living life violently. (lol lol :D)
Was this review helpful to you?
|Excellent Motherboard at Great price!,
After doing some research on what motherboard would best suit me, i ran across this particular model. In my price range, with a lot to offer. I recently built my system, with the amd PII,x4 955. And i can say it runs very well along with the PNY 8gb ram, no compatibility issues with those either.
I know there are not a lot of reviews out there about this model, so i felt compelled to chip in. So don’t hesitate on this board, it is actually quite good for what it offers.
pros:
-am3+ (and able to accept that new amd cpu, bulldozer i think is what the kids say it is these days:))
-6 sata ports
-plethora of usb’s all over, even some 3.0
-1 fan port for CPU, and 4 additional fan inputs.
-price!
-booted up first try!
-up to 32gigs of RAM!
cons
-price??
-second pci-e slot is x4, so not really a contender for sli or crossfire…
Was this review helpful to you?
|Great Mid-Range AMD Mobo,
Purchased this mobo after doing a good amount of research to go with AMD Phenom II X4 960T and 16GB Corsair DDR3 1333 RAM inside a NZXT Elite Source 210 case and have to say that I am very pleased so far.
Was this review helpful to you?
|