Seven AMD 785G-Based Motherboards Rounded Up

Features
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Test Settings And Benchmarks

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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
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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Left 4 Dead Version 1014, Custom THG Benchmark Test Set 1: Medium Settings, High paged memory Test Set 2: Medium Settings, High paged memory, 2x MSAA, 8x AF
Crysis Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 8x AA
World in Conflict Patch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemo Test 1: High Details, No AA / No AF Test 2: Very High Details 4x AA / 16x AF
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes Version: 8.1.0.52 (x64) Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min Default format AAC
Lame Audio Encoder Version: 3.98 64bits (07-04-2008) Audio CD "Terminator II," 53 min. wave to MP3
TMPGEnc 4.6 Version: 4.6.3.268 Import File: "Terminator 2" SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 6.8.5 Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search
Xvid 1.2.1 Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1 MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Version: 11.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 8.5 Version: 8.5.287, Virus database 2094, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.80 Version 3.80, WinZip Command line Version 3.0, Compression = Best, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
WinZip 12 Version 12.0, Compression = Best, Benchmark: THG-Workload (139 MB)
Sythetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark Vantage Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark Vantage Version: 1.00, System, Memory, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
SiSoftware Sandra 2009 SP3 Version 2009.4.15.92, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
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