chanders Posted September 7, 2010 Share Posted September 7, 2010 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 Link to comment
chanders Posted September 7, 2010 Author Share Posted September 7, 2010 Additional info added. Link to comment
Rajahal Posted September 8, 2010 Share Posted September 8, 2010 Great board, thanks for the Level 1 Testing! Added to the wiki. Also, nice server name. Link to comment
chanders Posted September 8, 2010 Author Share Posted September 8, 2010 Bite my shiny metal a** Link to comment
queeg Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 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. Link to comment
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