Need a new motherboard.

Freefaller · 8 Jan 2011 at 13:06

Hi chaps,

For some reason my current system has thrown in the towel. No idea why. I've troubleshooted it as much as I can stomach (pulled all cards out, RAM, etc...) and I've come to the conclusion it's a BIOS problem. Happy to hear suggestions however...

Anyway, current system is a rather aged, AMD 64 3.1GHz thing, with a Gigaybite ma770ds3 motherboard with 4gb of ram (4x 1gb sticks).

Quite happy with the ram and processor, I don't really need anything faster - however I'm having difficulty in finding motherboards suitable, as AM3's are not backward compatible, and most AM2+ motherboards only have 2x ram slots.

Can you advise me of what motherboards would be suitable?

I'm expecting to be told to buy new and better hardware though

I guess an alternative is a new motherboard and just buy 2x2gb sticks of ram, but it seems a bit of waste when I have perfectly good ram.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Jan 2011 at 13:18

The Asus M4A78-HTPC is available for around £60. Search for it in Google UK.

There are other motherboards but these will cost more.

Freefaller · 8 Jan 2011 at 13:28

Thanks mate I shall have a hunt.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Jan 2011 at 13:47

I had a more detailed look and here are some other motherboards:
1.)ASRock K10N78D ~ £40 to £50
2.)Sapphire PURE CrossFireX PC-AM2RS790G ~ £60 to £70
3.)Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 ~ £50 to £60
4.)ASUS M4A77D ~ £50 to £60
5.)MSI K9A2VM-FD ~ £45

Freefaller · 8 Jan 2011 at 14:14

You star! Thanks!

Out of those which would you recommend?

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 8 Jan 2011 at 16:39

They will all do the job fine IMHO.

However,the Gigabyte GA-MA770-UD3 is a good budget motherboard especially in it second revision which has ACC and a better layout. The ASUS M4A77D also looks fine too. There is also the AM2+ version of the MSI 770-C45 on the famous auction site too although I would probably go for the Gigabyte or Asus first.

The Sapphire motherboard is based on the higher 790GX chipset,has an IGP and does Crossfire too. However,I am uncertain how good support is for this motherboard.

Freefaller · 8 Jan 2011 at 23:35

Thanks! If ever you're at a meet or in my neck of the woods i owe you a pint.