Help Selecting New AMD Motherboard

[RaptorX]

Hi,

I will be buying my new rig very soon this month.
I need a decent IGP for the time being since I will buy a good graphics card after 4-5 months.

I found these 3 models by looking up some older topics:

Biostar TA785G3 HD 4.5k
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GMT-US2H 4.5k
Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H 4.5k (I think radeon 4250 is better than 4200.Is it worth it?)
790 seems very expensive. Coudn't find any cheap models.

(Very limited models are available on the online dealers sites. Not sure about the prices.)
Are these the only ones worth considering?

Please fill the following -
1. What is the purpose of the computer?
Gaming
Surfing
Dowloading
Watching Movies

2. Are you open to alternate ideas/products giving similar better performance but offering more VFM/ sellers? If not- why?
A:Yes i will, if they have similar features

3. What is your MAX budget?
A:4k or less is perfect. I'm willing to go upto 5.5k only if the benefit is worth it.

4. Planning to overclock?
A:I'm open to it. Overclocking my future athlon II x4 635 to 3+ghz would be nice.Not a necessity though.

5. Which OS are you planning to use?
A:Windows XP sp2 for another year.


7. What resolution will the screen run at & whats the size of the screen you want?
A:I will be buying a 22inch dell/samsung or benq. So 1920x1080.

8. How would you rate your hardware knowledge from the count of 1-10? (1 being the lowest, 5 being you are somewhat in sync with the current performers and 10 being the highest)
A:5

9. Have you ever built a desktop before or will this be done by an assembler?
A: This will be my first custom build.

10. When are you planning to buy the system?
A:In the next 10 days.

11. Are you one of the types looking out for "future proof" configurations?
A: I don't need usb3 or sata3. I don't mind if it's included without extra cost.


13. Which city do you live in and are you open to buying from shops from other city/states?
A:Will be buying from Mumbai. Open to buying from online shops.

14. Mention any other points if deemed necessary

-Should I go for a decent IGP motherboard till get a GPU OR should I get a cheaper Non-IGP board with a low end cheap graphics card (2k) until I buy a good GPU later?

-If you know of any alternate/better models in the same price range, please mention them.

-Between Giga and Bio who is the most reputed service and warranty wise?

-Any specific model ddr3 Ram to pair with the board? Corsair or Gskill. Quality,Warranty and Service is important.

GB(2*2) G. Skill F3-10600CL9S-2GBNT DDRIII-5200rs or 10666 .Should I choose a different one?


Thanks.

 

[ajai5777]

Decent IGP is better than low end board+low end card.You better go for Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H but the price wont be 4.5k.Its 5.7k I think.

 

[dsmarty]

Decent IGP is better than low end board+low end card.You better go for Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H but the price wont be 4.5k.Its 5.7k I think.

Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H @ 4.5k
Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H @ 5.7k

Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H is future proof with Sata III and USB 3.0

 

[RaptorX]

Decent IGP is better than low end board+low end card.You better go for Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H but the price wont be 4.5k.Its 5.7k I think.

I guess I'll stick with a decent IGP board then. Is the 880gm the best I can get for this price range? I find it odd that it costs the same as the 785 board unless it's lacking some features. Any idea?

Gigabyte GA-880GM-UD2H @ 4.5k
Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H @ 5.7k

Gigabyte GA-880GMA-UD2H is future proof with Sata III and USB 3.0

Where are you getting these prices from. I checked itware,smc and prime websites. Very limited mobo models available.

 

[ajai5777]

go to lynxindia.com there are lot of options available.

 

[Cool Buddy]

yes lynx-india has the highest number of components listed.
880G board would be the best choice. Go for it. Since you don't need USB 3.0, 880GM UD2H should be good enough.
Now that you have posted in the forum, post the rest of your config you would be buying so that if you are making any wrong decision unknowingly, you can get it fixed here.

 

[pegasus]

Decent IGP is better than low end board+low end card.

How decent should the IGP be?
Which of these will be better?
IGP or entry-level board like G41 + HD4350?
Please help me decide.

I think radeon 4250 is better than 4200.

If you are looking at buying a 4250 based motherboard, ASUS has a model with integated HD4250 with maximum shared memory of 1GB.
M4A88T-M i think. Please check for exact local pricing. Supposed to be an inexpensive 880G model.

 

[dsmarty]

Where are you getting these prices from. I checked itware,smc and prime websites. Very limited mobo models available.

Latest price of Gigabyte 880GM-UD2H is 4750rs. at smc

 

[RaptorX]

Latest price of Gigabyte 880GM-UD2H is 4750rs. at smc

yes lynx-india has the highest number of components listed.
880G board would be the best choice. Go for it. Since you don't need USB 3.0, 880GM UD2H should be good enough.
Now that you have posted in the forum, post the rest of your config you would be buying so that if you are making any wrong decision unknowingly, you can get it fixed here.

Do you know of the availability of Bio boards? A local guy told me it's hard getting a specific model. I saw someone on these boards bought the 785g bio board for 3.9.

That would be a difference of 400-600 bucks from the GIGA boards. Is the slightly better IGP worth that much? Are they identical otherwise?

 

[coderunknown]

Biostar TA785G3 HD is a good board. cost 4-4.2k. just it got a slightly lower power IGP (no difference in gaming). also the Gigabyte have all solid caps. whereas the Bio* have solid caps near the processor are (similar to Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-US2H). but 1 thing the Bio* got is sideport, 128Mb DDR3 memory. this comes handy when gaming at high resolution (or when ram is low).

 

[Piyush]

Do you know of the availability of Bio boards? A local guy told me it's hard getting a specific model. I saw someone on these boards bought the 785g bio board for 3.9.

That would be a difference of 400-600 bucks from the GIGA boards. Is the slightly better IGP worth that much? Are they identical otherwise?

1>FUTURE PROOF
get the usb3 and sata3 feature board by MSI/Gigabyte
most probably 880g based mobo at 5.7k

2>JUST IGP
get the 880g based mobo without usb3 and sata3(u can add addon cards for these later)
most probably it'll cost 1k less

3>SMART MOVE
get the BIOSTAR 785g based mobo
it has 128mb sideport memory which will surely help
it has 4200 IGP but it will not dissapoint you at all
and u'll be adding gfx card soon,so i think this is the wise move bcoz in this way u can save around 1.5k for ur gfx card

 

[RaptorX]

Biostar TA785G3 HD is a good board. cost 4-4.2k. just it got a slightly lower power IGP (no difference in gaming). also the Gigabyte have all solid caps. whereas the Bio* have solid caps near the processor are (similar to Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-US2H). but 1 thing the Bio* got is sideport, 128Mb DDR3 memory. this comes handy when gaming at high resolution (or when ram is low).

Thanks sam. Since I will be purchasing 4gb ddr3 ram will the sideport 128 mb be of any use to me at all? Any giga equivalent with such a sideport? If the giga has all solid caps then that means the quality is better/sturdier right?

Also, I did some reading on the chipsets(also saw some youtube videos), and I found this : AMD 880G Trackmania United Forever: Star Edition | bit-tech.net

Most of the stuff went over my head, but the performance in trackmania and the conclusion made it seem like the difference is not worth it. It depends on the price difference between the 785 and 880. If it's like 400 bucks it seems pointless.

---------- Post added at 01:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:59 AM ----------

1>FUTURE PROOF
get the usb3 and sata3 feature board by MSI/Gigabyte
most probably 880g based mobo at 5.7k

2>JUST IGP
get the 880g based mobo without usb3 and sata3(u can add addon cards for these later)
most probably it'll cost 1k less

3>SMART MOVE
get the BIOSTAR 785g based mobo
it has 128mb sideport memory which will surely help
it has 4200 IGP but it will not dissapoint you at all
and u'll be adding gfx card soon,so i think this is the wise move bcoz in this way u can save around 1.5k for ur gfx card

That makes things clearer. I've been looking at ddr3 ram as well and I find that alot of corsair/gskill ddr3 ram show compatibility with 785/770/790
boards. No mention of 880/890 either.

Link

Link2

 

[RaptorX]

Anyone? Just wanted to know thoughts on the above.

 

[dsmarty]

That makes things clearer. I've been looking at ddr3 ram as well and I find that alot of corsair/gskill ddr3 ram show compatibility with 785/770/790
boards. No mention of 880/890 either.

Link

Link2

It doesn't matter, as far I think both links might be old and 880/890 chipsets released later than the posts. They updated prices and stocks info only, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[pegasus]

Thanks sam. Since I will be purchasing 4gb ddr3 ram will the sideport 128 mb be of any use to me at all? Any giga equivalent with such a sideport? If the giga has all solid caps then that means the quality is better/sturdier right?

Also, I did some reading on the chipsets(also saw some youtube videos), and I found this : AMD 880G Trackmania United Forever: Star Edition | bit-tech.net

Most of the stuff went over my head, but the performance in trackmania and the conclusion made it seem like the difference is not worth it. It depends on the price difference between the 785 and 880. If it's like 400 bucks it seems pointless.

---------- Post added at 01:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:59 AM ----------



That makes things clearer. I've been looking at ddr3 ram as well and I find that alot of corsair/gskill ddr3 ram show compatibility with 785/770/790
boards. No mention of 880/890 either.

Link

Link2

While buying motherboards from manufacturers apart from the top ones, please do remember that 'all that glitters is not gold'-
Or may i say- 'all that is cheap should not be sold'?

I think it's highly recommended to pair the newer AMD processors with the DDR3-based motherboards to achieve full benefit.
The 880G chipset may be considered a 785G replacement in a loose way of putting things- prices should be around the same region except for the possible initial premium on newly lauched products.
Also, when it comes to DDR3 RAM, 1600Mhz with as low latency as possible is recommended- price/affordability being the only hindrance.
Regular GSkill/Corsair RAM kits (matched pair), like Ripjaws and XMS3 usually do not have any compatibility issues.
Some have reported initial stability issues with the higher exotic stuff like Dominator GT, etc and need fair amount of tweaking but that's where the true fun begins for enthusiasts/overclockers who buy them.

 

[RaptorX]

@pegasus-In the first part of your post, were you referring to biostar? I was under the impression that they along with giga and msi were top of the line.

 

[pegasus]

I won't comment directly on any product, for or against, as perception varies from person to person.
Imho, component quality, product quality overall and reliability (esp long-term) does vary greatly from brand to brand, when not from the top manufacturers like Gigabyte, ASUS, etc.