Reviews for ECS (Elitegroup Computers) Black A780GM-A Desktop Motherboard - AMD 780G Chipset - Socket AM2+ PGA-940

ECS A780GM-A Motherboard

Strengths: Solid construction, well-written manual included, good customer support, ability for expansion/upgrades

Weakness: Only one IDE header, flimsy I/O panel, no firewire inputs

I began installing this motherboard with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ this weekend. I couldn't get it to boot up at first, but the actual physical installation seemed a lot easier than my last board -- these directions are very thorough. The last board I installed had very, very poor, insufficient instructions, so this is quite a nice change. I finally got it to boot up once I did so without installing PCI cards first. I guess that's a no-brainer, but that's one thing the book did not mention -- it made it seem as though everything should be connected first before booting up. Anyway, that's beside the point (just keep it in mind if you're a novice computer builder). I was pretty happy that I got a great deal on my processor but that the board will still allow for an upgrade to the Phenom processor when I am ready to buy it. It is running at lightning speed compared to my last build. I am very pleased with it. My only complaint has nothing to do with the quality of the board, really; it only has one IDE header, whereas my last system had two. So now I have to upgrade my hard drives and DVD/CD drives to SATA. That's not the worst thing ever but is a mild inconvenience in the meantime. It just gives me a good excuse to my husband to spend more money on new drives! (Some women shop for shoes -- I shop for technology!) It is so awesome not having to wait for programs to open anymore. A real time-saver, I'd say. The system seems to run cool. I am ready now to put some video to DVD that I've been avoiding due the slowness of my old computer. It should be smooth sailing now. I actually look forward to using my computer now instead of dreading it. Good price, good deal. I'm happy with my purchase!

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Great Solution

Strengths: Strong on-board video, full-ATX size, many USB ports, intuitive layout, great for a HTPC.

Weakness: Northbridge should have a fan on it, clear CMOS would be more convenient as a button, uses the same audio codec as Dell, doesn't "officially" support 95W+ processors

I chose this board because I wanted a board that was inexpensive, full-ATX size, and had on-board video strong enough that I didn't have to buy a video card. Upon researching the 780G chipset on the internet, the HD3200 video it has integrated into the Northbridge chipset far outclasses the integrated VGA offerings from Intel and nVidia. You also have the option of using "hybrd crossfire" that considerably improves your graphics performance by installing a cheap HD3450 video card. The HD3200, by itself, could run high-definition movies, older games at higher resolutions, and newer games at lower resolutions (but don't expect it to run Crysis).

With the HD3200 being as strong a it is, it also puts out a considerable amount of heat. Thus, ECS should have put a fan on the Northbridge. However, with the board being as inexpensive as it is, it was a simple fix to add a fan to the Northbridge.

This board, in use, is as good as boards twice its price. The AMI BIOS is a little difficult to navigate, but nothing an experienced user can't do.

One last thought...this board only has a 3-phase volage regulator for the CPU. While it can run a high-wattage Phenom, it may significantly reduce the life of the board and the CPU. But then again, if you have the money for a Phenom, I'm sure you'll be getting a different board.

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Very Nice 780G MB

Strengths: 1. Full ATX size. 2. Extensive connectivity support, even better than other more expensive ones.

Weakness: 1. Overclock options scatter among different menus. 2. Two output sound devices with the same name, but only one works. 3. Microphone port dies quickly?

The reason to choose this board is simple: full ATX vs mATX, lower price vs higher price. More specifically, even though this board is less expensive than many other mATX ones, it provides 1 more PCI slot, 1 more ePCI 1x slot, 2 more USB ports, 1 more eSATA port (not a single one on mATX ones), and 4 RAM slots. The overclock options are basic, but good enough for non-serious overclockers like me. The bad thing is that these options scatter in different menus. Another weird thing is that two output devices show up in my system (Vista Business), but only one is functional, so I have to try. The only really bad thing is that it seems the microphone port died in a few weeks. I still haven't figure out if it is software issue or it is really dead.

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Good motherboard and price point

Strengths: Inexpensive. Stable so far.

Weakness: None so far but I am not putting much stress on it.

Good cheap board running an non-overclocked AMD AM2 5000. Plenty of USB ports. Does the job for my spare machine but has not gotten continuous use like my main machine. Still is stable so far when it is used. No complaints.

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A Good Value Board

Strengths: Many USB ports. Reasonably priced. Good for HTPC.

Weakness: Drivers are not the easiest to install. The BIOS could use some refinement. Badly documented manual.

The best thing about this board is the price and the 6 USB ports. I have not seen a board with this many USBs. If you have many USB devices, using a powered hub creates clutter. There are many SATAs as well, which is reassuring. When I upgraded to Vista Ultimate, the HDMI audio from my ATI HD 3450 failed to function, and I'm still unable to get it back. I used DDR2 rated at different speeds (800 and 850), and I had problems unpacking RAR files. Before you complain about a board, make sure you check your RAM.

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A78GM-A MOBO

Strengths: Great Features, Cheap, Graphics are nice.

Weakness: No DVI port.

This is a great Mobo for building a cheap system. Worked right out of the box. I would definitely buy this again for a cheap build. Graphics are better than any other current IGP. Buy this if your looking for a good stable system.

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ECS Elitegroup A780GM-A

TestSeek.com has collected 21 expert reviews for ECS Elitegroup A780GM-A and the average expert rating is 79 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use TestSeek.com to find all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

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ECS A780GM-A Motherboard Review - AMD 780G Chipset

The ECS A780GM-A 'Black Series' motherboard is the first motherboard by the designers at ECS that uses the recently released AMD 780G and SB700 chipsets. Unlike the micro-ATX boards that we have looked at in the past this is a full size ATX board. Will the ECS A780GM-A exceed our expectations or end up falling short? Read on to find out how this Black Series board does!

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