RoddimusPrime

Alright, there is the ASUS M3A78, ECS A780GM, and the GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM. I am going to be using this board mainly for HTPC usage. Thanks!

RoddimusPrime

Alright.... well I think I am going to go with the Gigabyte MOBO....... lol

DuckieHo

ECS = full ATX... not really needed.


Between the Asus and Gigabyte, the Asus looks better... it has a better HS, cheaper, ExpressGate "PreOS", and better VRM. The Asus is rated for 140w CPUs while the Gigabyte can only handle ~95w.

__________________
To answer most of your questions: (1) a fridge cannot cool a PC (2) 64-bit OS for over 3.4GB (3) If a PCIe card fits, it should work (4) Resolution, not screen size (5) If you have a question, it is not news (6) Report, not respond to Spam (7) Single-Rail/Non-Modular PSUs are not always better than Multi-Rail/Modular

RoddimusPrime

hmmmm..... good call....... I guess I just saw a whole lot of similarities between the ASUS and Gigabyte that I passed over the rest...... + rep

DuckieHo

BTW, Check the combo deal for the Asus. You can get a X2 BE-2400 ($40) + mobo ($77) + $10 off. Free ship on both.

__________________
To answer most of your questions: (1) a fridge cannot cool a PC (2) 64-bit OS for over 3.4GB (3) If a PCIe card fits, it should work (4) Resolution, not screen size (5) If you have a question, it is not news (6) Report, not respond to Spam (7) Single-Rail/Non-Modular PSUs are not always better than Multi-Rail/Modular

RoddimusPrime

However, does the ALC889A Audio Chipset on the Gigabyte vs the ALC1200 make a difference?

DuckieHo

The ALC889A has more features but ALC1200 is slightly quality.
http://www.driverheaven.net/motherbo...-answered.html

However, here's a review of them both: http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Mult...up/Page-2.html

The ALC889A is better overall with more digital options.

__________________
To answer most of your questions: (1) a fridge cannot cool a PC (2) 64-bit OS for over 3.4GB (3) If a PCIe card fits, it should work (4) Resolution, not screen size (5) If you have a question, it is not news (6) Report, not respond to Spam (7) Single-Rail/Non-Modular PSUs are not always better than Multi-Rail/Modular

wamubu

NE is also having a combo deal with the Asus M3A78-EM and you can pick up quite a selection of CPUs for -$10 for the combo. I'm looking at the 4850e for a HTPC for $131.98 combo price (-$10 makes it cheaper than the Foxconn).

ASUS M3A78-EM also comes with solid caps and firewire too, I didn't look at the others. The 140W capable is bonus if you ever want to toss in a quad-core. Not sure I'd need that in a HTPC...

RoddimusPrime

My thoughts exactly....... I guess the only two things holding me back at this point between the Gigabyte and the ASUS is that the wattage for the CPU shouldn't matter if I am putting an AMD Dual Core in there and secondly the number of complaints against ASUS quality. Perhaps it is further backed up by the Gigabyte being a 3 time customer choice winner. But, I don't really know how true that is.