Need AMD AM2/AM2+ DDR2 motherboard recomendation

[blarger]

Anyone have particularly good experience? I'm in the US and looking for:

-The ability to unlock cores is a must (ACC)
-Integrated graphics with the ability to output in DVI, VGA or HDMI
-I'm partial to RAID 5 support on the chipset not sure if that limits me to just SB750 southbridges?
-I would prefer DDR2 as I already have some and I feel that DDR3 has a ways to go.

I don't mind paying $15~ more for a Gigabyte mobo with 2oz copper or just better support in general (bios updates etc) but I'm trying to keep costs down. I don't need some 2x or tri-crossfire enabled setup or "gaming" chipset. Open to any suggestions though.

 

[blarger]

bump

 

[blarger]

bump

 

[blarger]

bump? The 785 chipset looks to be what I want but I still find myself drowning in options.

 

[blarger]

>_>

bump

 

[mosox]

Check out the GA-MA790GP-UD3H, GA-MA790GP-UD4H.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/

From what I see the 785G mobos don't have support for RAID 5.

 

[blarger]

This one claims too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813186191

My problem with it though is the lack of core unlocking and crummy BIOS support. The board has some bugs and their site/bios update schedule so far doesn't inspire confidence that they will be fixed.

I'm having trouble figuring out what the difference between those two motherboards, it looks like CPU support but it looks like with a BIOS update they support the same. Kinda pricey but I'll look into them. Thanks for the recommendations so far.

 

[blarger]

Bump

 

[nforce4max]

Good boards are getting hard to come by even on eBay which says a lot btu finding a decent board that support Raid5 as well two or three way crossfire isn't going to be cheap. I paid $54 for my Ga-ma790x-ds4 on the second hand market.

http://computers.shop.ebay.com/Motherboards-/1244/i.html?_catref=1&_dmpt=Motherboards&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282&CPU%2520Socket%2520Type=Socket%2520AM2%2520%252F%2520AM2%252B%7CSocket%2520AM2%252B%7CSocket%2520AM3

 

[blarger]

Sorry, I don't need crossfire/multi GPU support. Just onboard that has tri-outputs.

 

[nforce4max]

Sorry, I don't need crossfire/multi GPU support. Just onboard that has tri-outputs.

Sorry but there isn't such a board that is on the market or in production that I am aware of. ATI hasn't yet brought an eyefinity IGP out to market.

 

[mosox]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157162&Tpk=ASRock%20A790GMH%2f128M

?

 

[nforce4max]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157162&Tpk=ASRock%20A790GMH%2f128M

?

Sure but only two monitors at a time.

 

[blarger]

I really need to be more clear LOL. Sorry about this guys.

I don't need simultaneous output, just the ability to output to all 3.

 

[nforce4max]

I really need to be more clear LOL. Sorry about this guys.

I don't need simultaneous output, just the ability to output to all 3.

Two at a time but I doubt all 3 at once. Is this rig for office work like Bloomberge or spread sheets?

 

[blarger]

Not really, I intend for it to be primarily a file server, though I may add a video card to give it backup gaming abilities. I may also convert it into a media center at some point, which is why I'd like HDMI.

 

[nforce4max]

OK not bad, just about any thing these days will do well as a file server as for HTPC there is quite a few decent boards if you are lucky to snatch one up. Go for quality and you will easily build a decent rig that will service for all 3 uses.

 

[blarger]

I decided to go with the Gigabyte GA-MA785G-UD3H. My reasoning was:

- it has ACC for the $30 5000+ Deneb core I bought. If it successfully unlocks I'll have a quad core Pheonom II, if not I can probably still buy another to try again or just settle for this one - remember I don't plan on making this a gaming machine just yet.
- it uses DDR2 which I already have. DDR3 is still kinda pricey.
- Gigabyte's laundry list of perks like dual BIOS, solid caps and extra copper.
- modern integrated video with the outputs I want.

Yes it lacks the RAID 5 support but looking into it I suspect my idea of a cross platform bulk storage RAID 5 array hosted by the chipset would have been excessively headache prone. I really have a problem paying $90+ for a hardware RAID controller and most cheap host based ones are of questionable quality/reliability. My solution was to go old school. I tracked down a site selling the PNY branded Netcell 5 port cards for $10 and I'm going to experiment with that. If any of you don't remember/know about Netcell I suggest you look into them. Very interesting stuff that they did and with IDE emulation it should be accessible under Win XP/Win 7/Linux

It's a shame that the board I chose hasn't fallen in price at all in the years its been offered. Hell you can buy a new gigabyte full atx board based on AMD's 890GX with the SB850 southbridge, USB3.0, SATA 3 etc for about the same price ($90-100). Problem is that wont work with the processor I have and would require DDR3. It also wouldn't provide any noticeable performance gains in the applications I have in mind for this rig. I may rebuild in a year or two depending on how things go but I get the impression I wont and I'm okay with that. I'm a sucker for the latest chipsets being based on newer die processes and having more/newer/better feature integration.

 

[hecjr82]

Anyone have particularly good experience? I'm in the US and looking for:

-The ability to unlock cores is a must (ACC)
-Integrated graphics with the ability to output in DVI, VGA or HDMI
-I'm partial to RAID 5 support on the chipset not sure if that limits me to just SB750 southbridges?
-I would prefer DDR2 as I already have some and I feel that DDR3 has a ways to go.

I don't mind paying $15~ more for a Gigabyte mobo with 2oz copper or just better support in general (bios updates etc) but I'm trying to keep costs down. I don't need some 2x or tri-crossfire enabled setup or "gaming" chipset. Open to any suggestions though.

AMD 790FX AM2+ MAX 4DDR2 8GB email me at hecjr822yahoo.com so I know I got to help you out