AMD's 785G Chipset Boards: 780G Evolved

quest_for_silence · Post by **quest_for_silence** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:53 pm

How much time will take reviewing the ASUS'es new bios?

I guess that more than ten days has gone past since Mike's EDITOR POSTSCRIPT.

Regards,
Luca

Post by **MikeC** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 11:30 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:How much time will take reviewing the ASUS'es new bios?

I guess that more than ten days has gone past since Mike's EDITOR POSTSCRIPT.

Regards,
Luca

Just haven't had a chance to get back to it. It is peak of summer around here, holidays for lots of folks, and lots of distractions...

moidib · Post by **moidib** » Fri Aug 21, 2009 3:04 am

Also it would be nice if that board could be tested with the newly available Speedfan 4.39.

I don't know about "testing" but I am using the <EDIT> MSI </EDIT> board with speedfan 4.39 and it appears to read and control both fan headers (my CPU fan is PWM)

madman2003 · Post by **madman2003** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:41 am

Could S3 Suspend to RAM also be tested?

reboot · Post by **reboot** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:00 am

BillyBuerger wrote:Gigabyte GA-MA785GMT-UD2H
[...] can undervolt and keep C'n'Q working without the need for software solutions. [...] 33W Idle [...]

I wish a cousin of that little marvel could be available in miniItx form factor, so I could think of a HTPC made of that mobo + AthlII 245 + Antec ISK-300 instead of Intel's impossible-to-tweak solution.

Lawrence Lee · Post by **Lawrence Lee** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:36 pm

quest_for_silence wrote:How much time will take reviewing the ASUS'es new bios?

Tested it earlier in the week. No difference in power consumption.

madman2003 wrote:Could S3 Suspend to RAM also be tested?

We always test S3 STR. The only time we talk about S3 is if we encounter a problem (e.g. if it doesn't work, if it can't wake from USB, or if it uses more than 2-3W). If you don't see any mention of it, you can assume it works as it should.

chrispitude · Post by **chrispitude** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:27 am

Lawrence Lee wrote:
quest_for_silence wrote:How much time will take reviewing the ASUS'es new bios?
Tested it earlier in the week. No difference in power consumption.

Thank you Lawrence, this information helps me make the decision. I wanted the bigger board since I have the space, but the extra idle power is a deal-killer.

Edit: you may want to update the P.S. at the end of the article with this new information.

- Chris

chrispitude · Post by **chrispitude** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 am

Actually, I'd love to know how the idle power of the Gigabyte GA-MA785GPMT-UD2H compared to these two boards. Do you guys take requests?

- Chris

Shamgar · Post by **Shamgar** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:32 am

This is one of the best value chipsets at the moment. Despite my previous problems with the 780G chipset, I may give this iteration another go. The Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H (DDR2 version) is fairly cheap around here and is packed with more than enough features than I actually need. DDR3 memory is nearly cheap as chips (compared to what it used to be) so the T version boards are also an option. As I already have an Athlon X2 4850e, I wonder whether it would be worth upgrading it to a recent Athlon II X2 or even Phenom Dual or Tri Core... perhaps power consumption might take too much of a hit with the Phenoms... and I may not even need that much performance anyway.

One of the concerns I have is how well the the chipset and IGP perform under Linux. I'm seriously considering using Ubuntu or something similar as a main or secondary OS -- not just to muck around with -- so I hope there are no serious compatibility issues.

I'll keep researching but I think I might end up getting one of these boards to replace my 780G one.

chrispitude · Post by **chrispitude** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:06 am

Shamgar wrote:One of the concerns I have is how well the the chipset and IGP perform under Linux. I'm seriously considering using Ubuntu or something similar as a main or secondary OS -- not just to muck around with -- so I hope there are no serious compatibility issues.

Funny you should mention that - I've been wondering how well LinuxMCE would run on these boards...

- Chris

Chrissicom · Post by **Chrissicom** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 11:01 am

This platform looks really nice, might be my first AMD again since X2 3800+ times *g*

Just a few questions... does anyone know if the HD 4200 can run Civ IV and Race Driver Grid @1680x1050 with full details (no AA required). I currently have a HD4670 which is of course faster, but also faster than required.

Also can anyone tell me an AMD CPU that fits this board and has a similar performance/watt and also overall performance like a Q9550(S). I am only using Intel right now because I can't find any AMD CPUs that are power efficient for my purposes. This special box I might use an AMD platform is a gaming system and Hyper-V development server (can't afford two PCs for this *g*).

Greg F. · Post by **Greg F.** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 4:13 pm

Shamgar wrote:This is one of the best value chipsets at the moment. Despite my previous problems with the 780G chipset, I may give this iteration another go. The Gigabyte GA-MA785GPM-UD2H (DDR2 version) is fairly cheap around here and is packed with more than enough features than I actually need. DDR3 memory is nearly cheap as chips (compared to what it used to be) so the T version boards are also an option. As I already have an Athlon X2 4850e, I wonder whether it would be worth upgrading it to a recent Athlon II X2 or even Phenom Dual or Tri Core... perhaps power consumption might take too much of a hit with the Phenoms... and I may not even need that much performance anyway.

One of the concerns I have is how well the the chipset and IGP perform under Linux. I'm seriously considering using Ubuntu or something similar as a main or secondary OS -- not just to muck around with -- so I hope there are no serious compatibility issues.

I'll keep researching but I think I might end up getting one of these boards to replace my 780G one.

for what it is worth I am using Linux Mint Gloria on a predecessor to this chipset, the 690GM. It runs fine. I was led to believe it would not. Mint seems to use a lot of cpu. I am using an old Brisbane 3600x2 and even OC'd to 2.6 it "square waves" on some pretty mundane chores. Like a combination of listening to music with Amarok, downloading something and surfing three or so FF windows, one with SideDelta set at one minute interval.
I am using this as a second computer to "muck around with", but I know what I will look for come Black Friday.

Andru · Post by **Andru** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 2:26 am

Lawrence Lee wrote: We always test S3 STR. The only time we talk about S3 is if we encounter a problem (e.g. if it doesn't work, if it can't wake from USB, or if it uses more than 2-3W). If you don't see any mention of it, you can assume it works as it should.

Okay, that's great to hear. Even better would be if you could mention it in the article, I think it would be sufficient just to include a simple sentence like "S3 STR works as it should."

Good reviews, and I'm all for motherboard reviews on SPCR - they're the base for a quiet (and efficient) (HT)PC anyway. There's not so many places on the Net you can find reviews that focus on noise and efficiency.

Thanks for all the great articles

charonme · Post by **charonme** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 8:24 am

moidib wrote:I am using the <EDIT> MSI </EDIT> board with speedfan 4.39 and it appears to read and control both fan headers (my CPU fan is PWM)

thanks for the great update! Was anyone else successful with full pwm-fan control with speedfan and msi 785GM-E65 ?

clamrade · Post by **clamrade** » Thu Oct 22, 2009 11:35 am

Hey Billy,

What else did you have powered up (memory, video, drives, etc) when you measured 34W? Thanks.

BillyBuerger wrote: That with the undervolt got me an idle power of 34W.

Greg F. · Post by **Greg F.** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 8:07 am

It appears that the MSI E65 board is on sale at the Egg for US$75 A/R and FS.

BillyBuerger · Post by **BillyBuerger** » Sat Oct 24, 2009 5:05 pm

clamrade wrote:What else did you have powered up (memory, video, drives, etc) when you measured 34W? Thanks.

I believe I had a pretty basic system going on when I recorded this. Motherboard, CPU, single stick of 2GB DDR3 1333 and a 2.5" laptop hard drive. I recently realized I didn't measure my actual in-use system power. Which includes a HD4670 GPU, SSD, and a second stick of memory. It's probably more likely around 45-50W.

flyingsherpa · Post by **flyingsherpa** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 6:22 pm

Anyone know if you can output thru the DVI and VGA ports simultaneously? I know the HDMI port can't be used at the same time as the DVI, but I can't find anything on my question. I am considering one of these boards, but need two displays... the second display is my older TV, so I need s-video out. My current discrete card has s-video, just looking to see if this upgrade would be easy... I've heard some VGA ports can use an adapter to output as s-video, but the board has to support that. The manuals I've read so far don't say anything either way. Anyone know?

Klusu · Post by **Klusu** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 12:55 am

DVI and VGA can be used simultaneosly. Biostar 690G has s-video. Or a graphic card. A decent adapter would be too expensive.

Anybody knows, how to check actual GPU speed (idle)? Catalyst has no overclock tab. GPU-Z does not show.

judge56988 · Post by **judge56988** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 4:59 am

Hi,
I've just put together a new PC for my daughter using this Asus board and followed the instructions in this article for setting up Speedfan - i.e. setting it to "software controlled" and checking the "remember" box. Fan speed settings are from 0% min to 50% max for CPU fan and rear exhaust fan with the front intake fan currently unplugged. This keeps the CPU temp to 40c while running Prime 95 for an hour. While idling, both fans are off. This works great until such time as the computer is rebooted or comes out of suspend mode when the software controlled settings have reverted to "Smart Guardian" which seems to be preventing Speedfan from controlling the fans and they are on at around 50% speed all the time. I have tried with cool and quiet disabled and this makes no difference.
Any ideas or tips would be most welcome. This is the first time I've used Speedfan so may be missing something obvious.
Thanks.

(Asus M4A785TD-V EVO, AMD X4 620, 4GB RAM, Sapphire 5750 Vapor-X, Samsung F3 1TB, Corsair VX 450, Lian Li PC7plus)

Mr Evil · Post by **Mr Evil** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 7:56 am

judge56988 wrote:...software controlled settings have reverted to "Smart Guardian"...

Have you disabled "Q-Fan" (In the BIOS, under Power->HW Monitor Configuration->Smart Q-FAN Function)?

judge56988 · Post by **judge56988** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 9:23 am

Yes - I checked that it was still disabled.
When I turn the computer on, Speedfan controls the fans for about 10 or 15 seconds and they wind down to zero as they should with everything still cold. After those few seconds delay something else seems to be kicking in and taking control of the fans and changing the setting in the Speedfan configuration back to "Smart Guardian"

Just had a thought - it might be Asus EPU (energy processing unit), when I get the chance I will uninstall that and see what happens.

It seems a shame if you have to disable all these energy saving things in order to be able to ramp the fans down to zero when they are not needed.

Mr Evil · Post by **Mr Evil** » Thu Dec 24, 2009 10:12 am

I wouldn't worry about Asus EPU - I did some measurements and it saved exactly zero watts compared to Cool 'n' Quiet alone.

judge56988 · Post by **judge56988** » Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:38 am

I uninstalled Asus EPU and that seems to have done the trick.
Thanks Mr Evil - cool website by the way. Furby looks well chilled.

charonme · Post by **charonme** » Sat Jan 02, 2010 4:14 am

I confirm that speedfan 4.40 works with the MSI 785GM-E65 (but the bios smart fan feature has to be turned off)

Also, digital DVI and analog D-SUB VGA work at the same time.

However, I have trouble with CPU undervolting, because there are several confusing voltage settings in the bios and I don't know which to tweak. I tried several combinations, but the board won't post with them.

Anodyne · Post by **Anodyne** » Sun Jan 17, 2010 4:56 pm

I just built a new Windows 7 system using the MSI 785GM-E65 mobo. During the OS install, it seemed as if Windows 7 had all the drivers it needed for setting up the system. The only driver I manually installed was the latest Catalyst driver for my Radeon HD4850, and basically the system seems to be running fine.

My question is, should I install the latest mobo drivers from the MSI website? I have noticed an occasional USB issue, where I plug a USB device (such as a scanner) into the PC and the system seems to become sluggish. I'm wondering if installing the MSI drivers might eliminate that, or if it's an unrelated issue.

charonme · Post by **charonme** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:21 am

my MSI 785GM-E65 has some weird indescribable quirks with drivers and bios too... Right now I'm fighting with AHCI. I'll post when I'll know more

HawkKC · Post by **HawkKC** » Mon Jan 25, 2010 2:06 pm

I read through Mike's article on this motherboard before purchased last month and I am having trouble undervolting my CPU (Athlon II X4 620) as he did in the article. I only have (grayed out) AUTO settings in the cell menu for the voltage adjustment section. My BIOS version is V2.2 08122009.

Does anyone know if there is another setting I have to change to make the adjustments? I have searched online and in the manual with no additional info on enabling the voltage settings. Am I missing something basic here? Thanks.

charonme · Post by **charonme** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:19 am

HawkKC wrote:...as he did in the article...

could you please quote where he writes about those problems? I can't find it anywhere.
If you have the MSI board, try the + and - keys on your numpad. It took me some time to realize this too

HawkKC · Post by **HawkKC** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 11:31 am

I meant to say Mike did not have problems undervolting his MSI 785GM-E65 sample. I had not been able to adjust CPU voltage like he did.

I just tried the (-) and (+) keys on the numeric keypad of my keyboard and the voltage adjustment now works! Thanks for the suggestion! I had been using the shift key plus (-) or (+) keys before and that was my problem.

AMD's 785G Chipset Boards: 780G Evolved

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weird MSI 785GM-E65 and drivers

MSI 785GM-E65 undervolting

Re: MSI 785GM-E65 undervolting

MSI 785gm-e65 undervolting