Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H opinions?

[Audiophiliac]

This board seems like a real nice one. It has all the connections I could ever need. It has gotten lots of good reviews. I think I am going to order one before the end of the week. Is there any reason not too?

My system is mainly used for web/email, and ripping/storing/serving music. It is on 24/7. It will have 2 hard drives and a DVDR drive. Integrated graphics are good enough for me.

Just wondering if its actually overkill from a performance (and thus power draw) standpoint. The issue is that lower priced and lower performance boards lack the connectivity (eSata, IEEE1394, HDMI, etc) that I can see myself using.

Is there any other options I should look at? It doesnt have to be a microATX board. Although I think eventually I would like to move it out of my ATX case and into something smaller.

I am going to be using 4850e CPU as well BTW.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

[Strid]

Just wondering if its actually overkill from a performance (and thus power draw) standpoint. The issue is that lower priced and lower performance boards lack the connectivity (eSata, IEEE1394, HDMI, etc) that I can see myself using.

...

I am going to be using 4850e CPU as well BTW.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks.

I think you're the first one to ever describe 780G + 4850E as overkill from a power draw standpoint. Seriously, though, what you should be concerned with is the idle power, which is pretty low for both of those. Also, if you want further power savings, you can power the lot off a PicoPSU, which (I think) is the most power efficient PSU there is (for low power setups). By the way, I support the notion that the GA-MA78GM-S2H is sweet.

[Audiophiliac]

Not much about the GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H which is the nVidia 8200 version of this board. Looks exactly the same other than the chipset. Any advantages of one over the other? The 8200 board is cheaper.

[Monkeh16]

Not much about the GIGABYTE GA-M78SM-S2H which is the nVidia 8200 version of this board. Looks exactly the same other than the chipset. Any advantages of one over the other? The 8200 board is cheaper.

I'd say the 780G board has the advantage of not being an nVidia chipset. I prefer nVidia GPUs (ATI/AMD have caused me so much pain over the years..), but their chipsets are designed by people on drugs.

If you want proper USB support and a PCI bus which is actually PCI, get the 780G.

[Audiophiliac]

I think after looking again at the features and connections of each board, the 780G board definitely wins. I mean who uses LPT anymore? 780g it is.

[Greg F.]

but their chipsets are designed by people on drugs.

those people on drugs have managed to produce an integrated chipset that will reproduce HD video with 24fps. That is something that the 780 cannot do.

[mattthemuppet]

the 740G is another option, though I don't now about Firewire + eSATA (though the later you can buy PCI brackets for and hook up to internal headers).

Wouldn't personally bother with a 4850e, just get a cheaper X2 and undervolt it.

[nutball]

those people on drugs have managed to produce an integrated chipset that will reproduce HD video with 24fps. That is something that the 780 cannot do.

You sure? I'm pretty certain I was watching HD video at 24fps on my 780G just last night. At least, I checked the source file, it said 24fps. I configured MPC-HC to switch to 1920x1080x24Hz, which it did. Then I played the movie and didn't see any noticeable stuttering.

Maybe I'm missing something.

[Greg F.]

"The drawback for us is the lack of multi-channel LPCM HDMI audio output and not so great 1080P/24 fps playback capabilities. If these items are not important to you, then the 780G would probably be at the top of our list." Anandtech.com

"However, if we had to choose one chipset for primary HTPC usage, it would be the NVIDIA GeForce 8200. The GF8200 offers 8-channel LPCM output, no hassle 1080P/24 fps playback capabilities, modest pricing, and a relatively low power envelope when paired with an appropriate processor such as the Phenom X3 8750 or Phenom X4 9350e." Anandtech.com
Nutball, I prob should have said "not so great" as opposed to "cannot do". My point is that I don't think nVidia is run by druggies. Now Microsoft, sometimes I wonder.

Whole article is here.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3430&p=14

[Nick Geraedts]

My point is that I don't think nVidia is run by druggies. Now Microsoft, sometimes I wonder.

What if someone were to say that the vast majority of Vista crashes since it's release have been due to nVidia drivers? Microsoft has done all it can to increase system stability (for example - moving video drivers out of kernel space) and performance (all of Vista is compiled with multi-threading in mind). Poor performance is due to either poor drivers or improperly configured hardware.



Anyways - to get back on topic - I've got the GA78GM-S2H in a media center at home, and it's been able to play any HD content I've thrown at it (this is paired with a X2 5200+). Aside from a slight quibble with ATI's drivers (BSOD when the system tries to re-enable a sleeping HDMI connected display), everything has been excellent.

[Monkeh16]

but their chipsets are designed by people on drugs.

those people on drugs have managed to produce an integrated chipset that will reproduce HD video with 24fps. That is something that the 780 cannot do.

At least the 780G can handle more than a couple of USB 1.1 devices.

[hybrid2d4x4]

I can't say one way or the other about the 780G's handling of 24fps output, but even as a regular reader of Anandtech, I'd be a bit skeptical of their advice on this one due to that last bit: "a relatively low power envelope when paired with an appropriate processor such as the Phenom X3 8750 or Phenom X4 9350e". I don't have anything against the phenoms, but let's get serious here, those things draw almost as much as 3x the power of a newer K8 at idle according to either Anand or Tom's (or maybe both, can't remember).
From my limited experience with it, the 780G Gigabyte is a solid board with a great feature set if you don't need 7.1 output over HDMI. Having said that the 8200 also looks very good. If I was upgrading (but not in a hurry) I'd also look to see if there's a GF 9300 IGP coming out for the AMD platform. If so, I'd wait and see how it turns out.

[nutball]

*shrugs* Every time I read something from Anandtech I lose more respect for them.

[Greg F.]

What if someone were to say that the vast majority of Vista crashes since it's release have been due to nVidia drivers?

the only time I have had trouble with Vista and Nvidia it was with older chipsets or hardware, like a 7600GS. I can't remember the last time the GF8200 BSOD'ed. Or even froze or crashed in any way that wasn't brought on by my attempts at OC. I just have a hard time with blanket dismissals.
When I was referring to Microsoft and drugs I had in mind their Gates/Seinfeld advertisements.
I have had eight USB devices plugged into my GF8200 at one time without incident: Saitek keyboard, Logitec trackball, Canon printer, Epson scanner, flashdrive, Nikon camera, USB Transit, and AVerMedia Volar. But I think only three are USB 1. And they weren't all actually being used at one time. And some were from the headers.


"I read it on the Internet."

[Monkeh16]

I have had eight USB devices plugged into my GF8200 at one time without incident: Saitek keyboard, Logitec trackball, Canon printer, Epson scanner, flashdrive, Nikon camera, USB Transit, and AVerMedia Volar. But I think only three are USB 1. And they weren't all actually being used at one time. And some were from the headers.

I can crap most nVidia chipsets out with: Keyboard, mouse, joystick, wheel, and mic. All USB 1.1 devices. Some of the newer ones might do better, they have all of two OHCI root hubs for their ports! (hint: Intel use six for 12 ports. I believe the 780G has four, but I'm not certain on that. Certainly does better than nVidia chipsets.)

"I read it on the Internet."

And while you read it on the internet and fail to believe it, I experience it in real life. Along with unreliable PCI latencies which make sound cards a pain (possibly not an issue with newer chipsets, but I'll believe that when I see it for myself).

[Firetech]

Get the GPM version for the few extra $$s.

SidePort memory, DualBIOS, better power supply, large NB cooler etc etc.