BioStar TA785G3 HD passes Level 1 Testing

[chanders]

Intro:

BioStar TA785G3 HD passes Level 1 Testing

TA785G3 HD Specifications

Newegg

 

 

Important Specs:

North Bridge AMD 785G

South Bridge AMD SB710

SATA 3Gb/s 6 ports

LAN Chipset Realtek 8111DL

Max LAN Speed 10/100/1000Mbps

AMD Sempron 140 Sargas

1x2GB Kingston ddr3 RAM

1 x PCI-E x1 2.0 Slot

1 x PCI-E x16 2.0 Slot

2 x PCI Slots

Lexar 2GB flash drive

 

Thoughts:

I got this board yesterday on a good deal. It's specs were very close to the recommended board so I thought I would give it a go and I am very glad I did. So far I must say I am impressed with the layout and setup of this motherboard. While I am not a big fan of AMI Bios which I see is Biostar's latest choice, the number of configurations required for unRAID is minimal. In fact it is the same that it laid out in the wiki.

 

I upgraded to the latest BIOS (88GBP708.BST) which I downloaded from the Biostar website. After plugging in all cables, processor and ram it fired up perfectly.

 

Green:

This board comes with BIOSTAR G.P.U (Green Power Utility) which is a new function. The utility enhances energy efficiency by disabling extra phases while CPU is on light loading. The bios gives you an idea of watt usage and paired with this processor it is running at 9W or >93% efficient (this is the processor only though).

 

This board also works perfectly if you plan to suspend (S3) your machine and resume with WOL.

 

Other Specs:

Supported Socket AM3 processors AMD Phenom II processor

AMD 140W processor support

AMD 785G Chipset with ATI Radeon HD 4200 Graphics

Dual-Channel DDR3 -1333/1066/800

ATI Hybrid Graphics Support

On Board 128MB Side-Port memory

Integrated HDMI/DVI interface with HDCP Support 1080P HD Video Experience

AMD OverDrive Utility Support

Micro ATX Form-factor

AMD OverDrive™ with ACC feature (Advanced Clock Calibration) supported

 

These additional specs were what really pushed me to get this board. When motherboards get cheaper and become available with 8-10 onboard SATA II/III ports and I plan to upgrade, this little MB will make a great little MediaPC. It comes with HDMI and a good onboard graphic chipset that will have no problems handling 1080p content. In addition it has Realtek ALC888 8+2 Channel HD Audio so I wont need to even buy a good sound card. Also the fact that the MB is using DDR3, I shouldnt have a problem finding RAM for it then.

 

I am not an avid overclocker but if you are, this board is able to unlock the extra core in the AMD Sempron 140 Sargas chip (amd multiple cores in others) with just one setting in the Bios. It also allows you to save different configurations for testing. The MB also has PCB mounted LEDs that let you know how what % of power is being used and also gives you a system status. In addition, there are on board micro press button switches for testing. A nice touch if you plan to test outside a case.

 

Conclusion:

All in all, this little MB really restored my faith in BioStar and for the price and features, I think it really cant be beat. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this as the next standard for the budget box.

 

-Chanders

syslog-BioStar-TA785G3HD.txt

[chanders]

Additional info added.

[Rajahal]

Great board, thanks for the Level 1 Testing!  Added to the wiki.  Also, nice server name.

[chanders]

Bite my shiny metal a**

 

 

[queeg]

I got this board two weeks ago.  Not using it for unRAID at the moment but glad it's passed Level 1.  

I wouldn't run unRAID on an unlocked proc but mine did unlock my Athlon II X3 445 to a Phenom II X4 B45 by following this procedures here and works better than just using the boards *Bio-unlockKing* one button feature.

And I'm using a single stick of G.SKILL F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL ripjaws at stock 1333 speed.

 

I'll echo chanders that the bios is pretty simple and doesn't automagically do everything.  Follow the directions that Rajahal laid out in the wiki and it will work great.

I called Biostar prior to buying and actually got a knowledgable tech who knew the answers to my questions.

The board in the pictures are yellow/orange but the board I got was red/white.