Layout of GA-785GMT-USB3 AM3 AMD 785G

[tyler-9]

Hi--I'm a new builder, trying to decide on components for a budget box to use for basic home/office tasks, web browsing, maybe home entertainment/theater, etc. No games or multimedia creation.

I plan to use an Athlon II x2 250 CPU; thinking of this Gigabyte board:

GIGABYTE GA-785GMT-USB3 AM3 AMD 785G HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128432&Tpk=GA-785GMT-USB3

The specs look good, but I'm wondering about the layout--would it present any challenges or problems for a first-timer? Hard to tell without handling it.

A few newegg reviews mention awkward port positions, and problems after installing a card; but I'm planning to stay with the onboard video/audio, for now. Can deal with expansion cards later.

Any tips/comments from someone who's installed this board?

Much thanks!
tyler-9

 

[bilbat]

Well - this is interesting! Prompted me to look at some other boards, and a handfull of 'leftover' GB right angle SATA cables - backward, and always have been!?! [:fixitbil:9] Never noticed it before, as I've never plugged the 'L' end into a MOBO - use 'em on the drive end, and have never needed to 'tuck' any under a PCIeX8/16 card... Just noticed, too, (and god only knows how many I've handled) that the 'L' end has 'HDD' molded into 'em - obviously the engineers never conceived of needing to 'reverse' 'em! At worst case, on that board, you'd be able to use three ports without hunting down special cables; plugging a ninety into SATA2_4 (actually, you have a choice of either 2,3, or 4 - but no matter what, plugging a ninety into any one of 'em will render the other two unuseable by another ninety), under a vidcard, will put the connector body over the 2 & 3 ports, which would leave 0 & 1 accessible with regular 'straight' plugs... Note, this is only a problem with a double-width card; with a standard width, you can plug in everyone with 'straights', but lonely number 4, who will be 'left out' beneath the card

 

[tyler-9]

Thanks for comments, bilbat--another Q about this mobo, thought I'd toss it here instead of opening another thread:

I checked the QVL for this mobo, saw a Kingston 2GB RAM that looked good; but when I chkd Kingston's site about this RAM to confirm support for GA-785GMT-USB3, I got a msg saying they don't support the mobo, might be obsolete.

Is this simply an error, because the board is new, Rev1? With thousands of alphanumeric strings/identifiers floating around, it's a statistical certainty that such errors/omissions will occur. Is this one?

Another Q: Is it critical to get only RAM that's on the mobo's QVL? I'm a first-time builder, so don't know about this.

I checked Crucial's site for RAM for GA-785GMT-USB3, and they listed a bunch that aren't on the QVL:
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=GA-785GMT-USB3&pl=Giga-Byte&cat=RAM#

The 4GB kit looks right for me: CT2KIT25664BA1067 DDR3 PC3-8500/DDR3-1066 • 1.5V • 256Meg x 64
...but isn't on the QVL.

Thanks for info!

 

[bilbat]

The support list is done when the board design is finalized to production, and almost never updated thereafter. When this is done, somebody with some degree of engineering talent, and knowledge of the hardware involved, sits down with a collection of RAM they have 'lying about', mostly samples provided by manufacturers who have a vested interest in getting their products on the list. He tosses aside the candidates he knows won't work, for one reason or another, on that particular platform, and goes to work setting up and testing the remainder. If he can get it working - it goes on the list; if not, not! I imagine he stays at it until he reaches some arbitrary number, or until his boss says "you got other, important work to do - GIT!"

This leaves a large number of issues for the user:

Being 'on the list' does not guarantee 'instant' compatibility for your use; the list provides no detail regarding "did it just come up and run with a 'Load Optimized?'', "did he have to enable XMP and it worked?", or, "did he (with 'inside' knowledge of the MOBO and BIOS) have to 'diddle around' a half-hour to set it up?"

Not being on the list certainly does not imply it won't work! I have built a little Excel 'tool' for evalution and comparison of RAM; I went to update its contents just to reflect what's available in 2G x 3Channel from NewEgg, and, if memory serves me, wound up with eighty-some odd part numbers! Considering the ungodly amount of MOBOs GB makes, this would require a full-time staff of ten, even assuming the samples were consistently available - else another ten could work all day every day 'hunting down' samples! Your RAM part's absence may simply reflect that it was released after the board...

Many parts you'll see on the list are from unfamiliar makers - they may be available in every quick-service gas-station in Taiwan, but simply aren't available in your market...

 

[tyler-9]

Thanks bilbat--great info, something a first-timer needs to know! Wasn't sure how much to "weight" the QVL in choosing RAM; I noticed the obscure manufacturers, and the absence of well-known names like Crucial (they're under only DDR3 2000).

tyler-9:
"when I chkd Kingston's site about this RAM to confirm support for GA-785GMT-USB3, I got a msg saying they don't support the mobo, might be obsolete. "

I contacted Kingston about this--got a quick reply acknowledging the error--they added this mobo to their list:
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/modelsinfo.asp?SysID=63057&mfr=Gigabyte&model=GA&search_type=&root=us&LinkBack=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.valueram.com&Sys=63057-Gigabyte-GA-785GMT-USB3+Motherboard&distributor=0&submit1=Search

tyler-9