AMD chipsets

[Merlin]

Will a MOBO with AMD chipsets support NVidia Video cards properly?

[Apoptosis]

yup... I used an nvidia card in my 690G board for a bit with no problems.

[Methious]

No problem at all I'm using my Nvidia XFX 8800 GT in my M3A AMD 770 chip set board right now. Does great, pushes 400FPS in Lightsmark2007.

[Merlin]

Just wondering....why do all micro ATX boards use different chipsets than the bigger ATX boards. Couldn't they fit a 790 Chipset onto a smaller form factor board?

[Zertz]

Just wondering....why do all micro ATX boards use different chipsets than the bigger ATX boards. Couldn't they fit a 790 Chipset onto a smaller form factor board?

Sure, with more PCB layers and less expansion slots, but that would kill the point of getting a 790 board since you can't fit more than 1 graphic card in a mATX board ;)

[Merlin]

Mostly I was wondering why they would take the time and effort to develop, test, market and support ( drivers etc.) a 780G and 740G chipsets when the 790 outperforms it. They could make a 790 mATX board without SLI capability ( 1 PCI-E 2.0 slot). Just curious to see if there was some reason someone might know about as to why...

[mehal88]

Can anyone comment on the ability to play HD files with this chipset? I wanted to basically use this pc for media only, and HD playability is kinda important.

[Merlin]

Read this review http://www.legitreviews.com/article/676/1/ I believe the summary is that the chipset does very well with HD files. I have the board running now with no problems. I did have one hiccup that I caused by trying to install an un-published service pack, other than that I can't say anything bad about it.

[mehal88]

oh, sorry I thought I was posting in the other thread that I was looking at. I was looking to buy the little brother of this motherboard, the one with the 740g chip, not the 780g. I am not sure if that makes any difference with the HD files. Any input?

[Merlin]

Well I bought the little brother first and RMAed it due to some strange things with the Chipset drivers. The spec sheet has been revised since I bought mine. When I got it the spec said it was PCI-E 2.0 which it is not. The sheet also said it was an AM2+ board...it will run an AM2+ CPU but not at full specs for the CPU. I did not really test it out since I sent it back. I would simply say that you should be very careful about the 740G chipset. It is new just like the 780G but it is less mainstream in its target market so it may not ever become a main stream chipset which could mean that you may never get a BIOS update or full chipset support for after market stuff. I would recommend you go ahead and get the 780G and try to get the extra $30 back on another component ( unless you already have the rest). I am sure the Board works well but for future support and Phenom CPUs I would get the 780G plus you have Nate's review of the 780G as proof it is good.

[mehal88]

I was afraid of that. I actually just put it all together with the 740g board. It seems like its working okay so far. I currently have a x2 4400+ in it paired with a ballistix 2gb set. I'm using the HDMI to my 42 inch lcd and it seems to be working great. As we speak I'm watching a 720p version of Live free or die hard and it hasn't had any problems yet.

Although its working alright, I do wish I had opted for the 780g board for the extra DDR2 slots and the full AM2+ support. Oh well, I guess I learned my lesson for buying on an impulse.

[Merlin]

I am sure it will serve you just fine.