Seven AMD 785G-Based Motherboards Rounded Up

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Test System Configuration
CPU Phenom II X2 550 BE (3.1 GHz, 6MB Cache)Phenom II X3 705e (2.5 GHz, 6MB Cache)
Motherboards ASRock: M3A785GXH/128MAsus: M4A785TD-V EVOBiostar: TA785GE 128MFoxconn: Cinema PremiumGigabyte: GA-MA785GT-UD3HECS: A785GM-MMSI: 785GM-E65
RAM DDR2: A-Data AD2800E002GOU (2 x 2GB) DDR2-800 at DDR2-800 CAS 5-5-5-18-24-2TDDR3: Mushkin F3-10666CL7-2GBPK (2 x 2GB)DDR3-1333 @ DDR3-1333 CAS 9-10-10-25-34-2T
Graphics Radeon HD 4200 (785G) - 500 MHz GPU
Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7,200 RPM, 32MB Cache, SATA 3.0 Gb/s
Sound Integrated HD Audio
Network Integrated Gigabit Networking
Power Thermaltake Toughpower 1,200W, ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V
Software
OS Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium x64 SP1
Graphics GeForce 8200/9300: Nvidia GeForce 190.38 WHQLAMD 790GX: Catalyst 9.7AMD 785G: 8.632-090626a-083962E Beta
Don Woligroski
Contributor

Don Woligroski was a former senior hardware editor for Tom's Hardware. He has covered a wide range of PC hardware topics, including CPUs, GPUs, system building, and emerging technologies.

36 Comments Comment from the forums
  • JohnnyLucky
    Very informative article. Nice to see there are motherboards with different features for different users/tasks.
    Reply
  • LATTEH
    Just what i needed to see thanks toms!
    Reply
  • bpdski
    Great article, I think this shows pretty conclusively that there is no benefit to upgrading to an AM3 based system. If you already have an AM2+ system, you can easily just drop in a new CPU and you system will be every bit as good as a brand new system with DDR3. You just need to make sure your motherboard supports the power requirements of whatever you want to drop in.
    Reply
  • jonpaul37
    Hooray AMD for having cheap solutions in these hard-economic times!

    Boo @ Intel! i like the product, but my wallet & Girl do not like the cost!
    Reply
  • jonpaul37Hooray AMD for having cheap solutions in these hard-economic times!Boo @ Intel! i like the product, but my wallet & Girl do not like the cost!+1
    Girl has more money for clothes!
    Reply
  • ominous prime
    Well bpdski there is no point upgrading if you're AM2, but if you're building a new PC AM3 is the way to go in terms of your computers longevity. Very informative article.
    Reply
  • sonofliberty08
    thanks alot for the info , my first choice was allways asus , but now i now what i need when im going to unlock core , and now i saw the benefits of sideport memory .
    Reply
  • duzcizgi
    We were successful in achieving a 900 MHz stable overclock with the integrated graphics chipset by setting the BIOS to increase northbridge voltage by +.210mV.
    Well, .210 mV = 210 microvolt. I don't think it would make much of a change. Maybe it is 210 mV or, .210 V. :)
    Reply
  • doron
    "Now we're seeing another benefit for the AM2+/DDR2 boards: both the Foxconn Cinema Premium and Biostar TA785GE 128M are drawing less power than their AM3/DDR3 counterparts."
    How comes? Didn't we all agree a long time ago that ddr3 supposed to be more energy efficient out of the two? (Lower voltage and stuff?)
    Reply
  • DarkMantle
    Great article, this will help a lot of people to make their AMD budget motherboard choice easier, thank you Don.
    Reply