Biostar TA780G M2+ and ECS A780GM-A: value products of wide capabilities
Author:
Date: 25.04.2008 |
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ECS A780GM-A
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Biostar TA780G M2+
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| Chipset |
AMD 780G |
AMD 780G |
| CPU |
Socket AM2+ HTT 200 MHz |
Socket AM2+ HTT 200 MHz |
| Memory |
DDR2 400/533/667/800/1066 |
DDR2 400/533/667/800/1066 |
| HDD |
1x UltraDMA/133
6x SerialATA(RAID)
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1x UltraDMA/133
6x SerialATA(RAID)
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| Extras |
Audio HDA
12 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
Audio HDA
10 USB 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet |
| Price: |
$82 (Price.ru) |
~$95 (Price.ru) |
Recently, we tested Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H based on the latest 780G chipset and noted AMD's substantial progress in almost all directions. Most importantly, the performance of the integrated Radeon HD 3200 video core is on par with a three-year-old middle-end video card, and the functionality - at the modern level (support for DirectX 10, HD). Moreover, AMD has made a move to future with the Hybrid Crossfire technology which consolidates the computational resources of the integrated video core and the external video card. We also note that due to the south bridge SB700, boards offer quite powerful expansion options, and AMD's pricing policies allows the manufacturers to produce motherboards based on 780G priced below $100.
That is why we are so interested in motherboards based on the AMD 780G chipset (hopefully, so are the readers). And we couldn't help passing by the two new products: Biostar TA780G M2+, and ECS A780GM-A.
Specifications
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Biostar TA780G M2+ |
ECS A780GM-A |
| CPU |
- AMD Phenom X4/Athlon 64/Sempron with the bus speeds 200 MHz
- Socket AM2 |
| Chipset |
- North bridge 780G
- South bridge SB700
- Interbridge communications: PCI Express x4 |
| System memory |
- Four 240-pin slots for DDR2 SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 8 GB
- Supported memory DDR2 400/533/667/800/1066
- Dual-channel memory access |
| Graphics |
- One PCI Express x16 (v2.0) slot
- Integrated graphic core Radeon HD3200 |
| Expansion options |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- One PCI Express x1 slot
- Ten USB 2.0 ports (4 integrated + 6 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- Two PCI Express x1 slots
- Twelve USB 2.0 ports (6 integrated + 6 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio 7.1
- Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller |
| Overclocking options |
- HTT speed adjustable within 200 to 600 MHz in 1 MHz increments
- Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory, chipset (nb), and HT
- Frequency of the integrated video core adjustable within 150 to 1000 MHz |
- HTT speed adjustable within 200 to 500 MHz in 1 MHz increments
- Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory
- Frequency of the integrated video core adjustable within 100 to 999 MHz |
| Disk subsystem |
- One UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE link (SB700; with support for up to two ATAPI devices)
- Support for SerialATA II (6 links - SB700, with support for RAID 0,1, 0+1)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM |
| BIOS |
- 4 Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features
- Bio Flasher
- Windows utility BIOS Update |
- 4 Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features |
| Misc |
- One port for FDD, one serial and one parallel ports, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out |
- One port for FDD, one serial port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out |
| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- Main 24-pin ATX power connector
- Additional 4-pin power connector |
| Monitoring |
- Monitoring the temperature of the CPU, system, voltages, rotational speeds of the two fans
- Smart Fan |
- Monitoring the temperature of the CPU, system, voltages (Vcore and Vmem), rotational speeds of the two fans
- Smart Fan |
| Dimensions |
- microATX form factor, 245x215 mm (9.63" x 8.45") |
- ATX form factor, 244 mm x 305 mm (9.63" x 12") |
Retail boxes
Package bundle:
- motherboard;
- User's Manual in English;
- Software & drivers CD;
- one ATA133 cable;
- two SerialATA cables + a power supply adapter (1 connector);
- a cap for the rear panel of the housing.
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- motherboard;
- User's Manual in English + brief usage guide;
- Software & drivers CD;
- one ATA133 cable;
- two SerialATA cables;
- a cap for the rear panel of the housing.
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The package bundle of both the motherboards is almost identical and contains only the most needed components. In particular, these are the user's manual, a software and drivers CD, a ParallelATA cable, two SerialATA cables, and a cap for the rear panel of the housing.
At first glance, the package bundle of the boards seems rather scanty (both the manufacturers have saved at even the FDD cable), but you should not forget that the boards fall within the value sector and are priced below $100! The difference in package bundles is in that Biostar boards come bundled with a power supply adapter for SATA devices (we should also note here that we disliked the user's guide), but the ECS board has a brief user's guide.
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