They've had cheaper combos with the Phenom II 550 in the past, but this is a better MB chipset than usual and the Phenom 555 is pretty much brand new (1Q 2010?).
Unfortunately garlicnun didn't set his alarm last night.
lakersfab4
New Member
posted: Mar. 1, 2010 @ 12:05p
For those that are wondering if you can unlock the 2 additional core to turn this into a killer budget quadcore system, read the detail Newegg review by guruMark about this particular motherboad below. It seems the ACC function to unlock the cores is not working right on multiple CPUs for this mobo...
Pros: It wasn't DOA. Windows 7 drivers all worked properly.
Cons: Couldn't unlock the 4th core on my 710 x3 processor. In a Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H board I could unlock the 4th core. Turning on the ACC function always caused a dead system from which I had to reset back to factory defaults. Also tried a Callisto x2 550 with same results. The 550 is now running in the Gigabyte board with all 4 cores unlocked at 3.6 GHz stable under a Zalman CNPS9700 cooler so I know it's not the processor's fault.
Other Thoughts: Well - the HD4200 is finicky with certain types of memory. I used G.Skill 1066 DDR2 (2 x GB) at 3.1v for my Windows 7 Ultimate build and when I OCed my Phenom II x3 710 to 3.1 GHz I got vertical lines also. By lowering the 4200 multiplier enough I was able to eliminate the problem. This gave me a stable Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit on the 710 at 3.1 GHz and a 7.9 cpu score but only a 3.6 score on the video but since this is only an office business computer it runs Win7 perfect for that. Everyone knows that for gaming a PCIe video card is required as no on-board video will ever be fast enough.
All in all not a bad motherboard, just a good mainstream motherboard for business use
Anybody in Dallas want to do a buy and trade deal with me? You buy the combo and send me the processor so I can put it into my existing system (has 6gb of DDR2). I will pull my AM3 Athlon II 235e (x2, 2.7, 2meg cache) out of that system and send it and $50 cash to you. So for $99+5shipping to me = $105 minus the $50 I send back means you get nice mobo + decent proc for $55. Wow, what a steal. Oh I get an nice upgrade on my cheapie system. I got no overclocking options so plan to use the Black Edition to change the multiplier.
UncleJohn said: The reason that guy had a problem with the HD4200 is because that motherboard requires DDR3 ram..DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600(OC)
You can use that 555 cpu in a DDR2 motherboard btw..
motherboard comes in big box but it is mATX which is good for me..
It was such a bad deal I got two combo`s..
The good ram deals were sold out so went to MC, just got 2 sticks of DDR3 to check the circuit boards to make sure there good..
15 day return on the motherboard and quality control at BioStar is none at all..very much like ECS...in that respect..
DDR2 RAM does not physically fit in DDR3 slots, so there is no way he can be using the wrong type of RAM. That being said, the Phenom II line only officially supports 1333 mhz memory, which is why the 1600 specification is set at overclocked.
Fry's has a 15 day return policy on all motherboards, not just Biostar. Looking at the warranty, it seems to be better than MSI, although I'm not sure how effective it is. 1 year warranty on many MSI motherboards vs 3 year warranty on Biostar motherboards.
What version of TA785G3 motherboard do you have, from what I`ve read only the newest version 6.3 supports unlocking..On cpu I got 2 both at 1004 EPMW both my motherboards are ver 6.1
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