Help picking Micro ATX Motherboard for AM3/DDR3

[pimpsmurf]

I have put together some cheap components (for the most part) to build a system and need to pick a motherboard.

The system is Micro ATX and here are the parts I have already:

Sempron 140 (1 core 2.7ghz I believe)
Mushkin Blackline DDR3/1600 7-7-7-20@1.85-1.95v
OCZ StealthXStream OCZ500SXS-B 500W
Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500gb
Coolermaster Elite 341 case
Asus DVD+-RW drive
Windows 7 64bit

I plan to use the system for general media/web, and a little gaming (Warcraft 3/dota, and League of Legends primarily)

I originally had an Asus M4A785T-M/CSM (AMD785G/HD4200), but it was a dud and has to go back (it was open box)

The only 790gx chipset board I can find is the DFI model, which seems to be a nice board, but only has the HD3300 vs the HD4200. I'm assuming the 4200 is better here. No clue. I've read the 790gx uses a higher clock for the video card. Again, I have no idea.

Should I stay with a 785g Micro ATX board like the ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO or the GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-UD2H? or go with the DFI? The DFI has two 16x PCIe slots (2-8x when used together), but I don't think I will ever need 2 cards. I'm not into top of the line gaming or anything.

Please! I need help!

 

[gkay09]

The 785G chips are good enough...Get the ASUS EVO... It has 128MB onboard video memory...

 

[doive1231]

Yes 785G is good and should be cheaper I think. It is fairly current and good for HD stuff.

 

[pimpsmurf]

Right now I'm looking at the Foxconn Cinema II Deluxe (comes with a remote control, which is awsome) and the DFI (which has 790nb/750sb) and 2 PCIe slots. I really don't need 2 slots, and it doesn't support DDR3/1600 without overclocking (I'm assuming that means to overclock the processor? I mean, my memory is DDR3/1600 so WTH?)

They are pretty close in price (the Foxconn is cheaper)

BTW, I plan to eventually put a HD 5770 in this machine for DX11 support because I want to play Dirt 2, so I'm not going to order a cheaper card which will sit on a shelf somewhere in the mean time. The HD4200/3300 will have to do.

So, take a risk on the Foxconn or go with the DFI? Maybe the ASRock instead?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157168
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186191
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136068

 

[pimpsmurf]

I shouldn't have gone MicroATX. It's not as cheap as I had hoped, and there isn't a lot of support for enthusiasts. Looks like the 790fx isn't an option (was considering a 790fx w/ decent DX10.1 card) because I want the ACC feature of the 750 south bridge. I don't plan to use twin video cards, so the gx's weak Xfire support is a moot point. I guess the DFI is really the only way to go, especially for overclocking, being the ACC is suppose to save you some voltage and provide more headroom and potentially keep temps down a little.

I hate making hard decisions about things I know so little about. Keeping up with platform technology is a full time job.

 

[gkay09]

^ FYI even the 785G has ACC option...And for the current Phenom II and Atlon II CPUs, the ACC comes inbuilt so it is not that necessary...People now use ACC only to unlock the inactive cores...

So 785G is the way to go...And you can expect ASRock board to have good BIOS options for decent overclocking...but its quality might not be as good as the ASUS though...
Check out this MSI too...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200022%201070946178%20107191003%201071948911&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16813131406%2CN82E16813130233
Review -
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-785g-motherboard,2441-23.html

 

[pimpsmurf]

I went with the FoxConn Cinema II Deluxe. Love the board! Love the features! Not sure how well it will OC, but I have the video at 800mhz right now (stock setting is 650, default is 400-500 IIRC)

I have the Mushkin ddr3/1600 7-7-7-20 set to ddr3/1333 6-6-6-18 because of instability. The sempron was more than enough power for now. Great little processor! Love it! can't do youtube fullscreen, or hulu full screen. BLEH. That was unexpected.

Haven't successfully overclocked the processor, but from what I've read there isn't a lot to be had. I'm going to TRY to unlock the 2nd core later.