bit-tech Shopping: GigaByte GA-MA78GM-S2H Motherboard

Rating: 4

Time with product: 6 Months

Strengths: Good points have already mentioned by everyone !

Weaknesses: No proper display driver and audio drivers for Windows Home Server (Windows 2k3 Server) and the DDR2 memory cannot be set beyond 2.1V !

Summary: Most DDR2 8500 i.e 1066MHz needs 2.1 to 2.3V to drive, I wrote to the manufacturer to ask for the BIOS to have the memory voltage to be set higher on the next BIOS upgrade. There were three updates since my request, they still have done nothing !Further more, if four pieces of DDR2 8500 memory were inserted, It cannot be set into dual access mode (Ganged). This board is only good for DDR2 6400 i.e. 800MHz memory chips.

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths: Great price/performance ratio, reliable, easy to setup

Weaknesses: Northbridge runs hot and makes the PCI-E 1x port pretty useless. Drivers on the CD are very outdated.

Summary: Aside from the Northbridge complaint this is a great motherboard. The onboard graphics adapter is the best I've seen. Be sure to go to both the Gigabyte and AMD web sites to get the latest drivers BEFORE you set up your system - the included CD is pretty useless. Search for "Catalyst Control Center" to get the latest graphics driver for the onboard graphics.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 3

Strengths: (1) Full-featured motherboard that is smaller in size (2) Has onboard video with VGA/HDMI/DVI outputs(3) Low power consumption

Weaknesses: (1) None

Summary: As a relative newbie to the whole building a computer thing, I found that this motherboard was very easy to install and get up and running. Although I put in video card, it is nice that this motherboard has good onboard video with a plethora of outputs - especially since the motherboard I previously tried did not have onboard video and I was not getting any video output or errors or anything to tell me why my video card wasn't working. Despite its small form-factor, this motherboard is richly featured and you would only need to drop in a CPU and some RAM and pretty much be up and running. The motherboard is designed to fit Micro ATX cases, which are smaller set ups most people use for Home Theater PC's.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 1

Strengths: Lots of connectivity for home theater hookup, e.g., HDMI, S/PDIF, IEEE1394. Supports Hybrid Crossfire for video upgrade. Easily decode HD videos with onboard video. Supports new Phenom CPUs.

Weaknesses: Some reported northbridge heat problems but I don't have that problem myself. Also there are heat issues with 125W Phenom Quad-cores.

Summary: Paired this with a 4850E and Antec Fusion as my HTPC. Works great and so far I have not run into any problem with HD video playbacks or HDMI output. Onboard video is plenty enough for playing back Blu-Ray or HD DVD but it's nice to know that with Hybrid Crossfire support, I could upgrade easily with a cheap HD2400 or 3400. Excellent choice for HTPC and even a bit of casual gaming.

Rating: 10

Time with product:

Strengths: MDMI,DVI,VGA..HD sound onboard,Digital in and out on board,Best IGP ive ever seen

Weaknesses: Dont bother with hybrid crossfire if u are a gamer..phenom 9750 quadcore in a MATX case and the northbride and southbridge run a bit warm but nothing dangerous.Get a coolermaser 590..Perfect layout

Summary: I love it!!Runs fast,has great HD sound plenty of options..The hybrid crossfire is meant for Bluray and dvd playback..not much more.Save the 50 bucks for the 3450 and get a single 3850 or 70 and youll have a super HTPC.GB