Suggestions for a good AM2+ mobo?

Hey all,

I'm Intel all the way at the moment. However, a friend bought a built-up
'gaming machine' (I've mentioned it before here, it's been nothing but
trouble) using an Asus M3A motherboard, a Phenom 9500 CPU, 1x2GB DDR2 module
and a 9600GT.

The machine's been a nightmare. Firstly it was supplied with a PSU that was
barely capable of 300W (Tt 420W). I replaced it with a reasonable 510W PSU,
reinstalled Windows (don't ask!), updated the BIOS and it seemed alright for
a while. I showed him how to raise vcore if it kept crashing.

Well, yesterday he rang me and asked about a replacement mobo. He's raised
vcore all the way (!) in BIOS, 1.550V and it's still crashing. I expressed
concern at the high voltage but he assured me that the two hardware
monitoring apps I'd given him, HWMonitor and CPU-Z both say that the vcore
is only 1.2xxV when in Windows. I also got him to raise VDIMM to (at the
moment) 2.05V. He doesn't have another stick of DDR2 to try and I only have
what's in this machine and I'm loathe to mess with it. My luck hasn't been
great of late. :-/

I've been sick so I advised him to get a single 1GB stick of DDR2 - 800 and
try that alone. However, if that doesn't work he wants me to advise on a
good mobo. (and fit it, reinstall Windows...) I like Asus personally
(followed by Gigabyte) but the vanilla M3A model that he has, going by
Googling, seems to have been a lemon. As I mentioned, I'm not au fait with
current AMD boards or chipsets so a suggestion or two would be nice. :-)
He'll pay between NZ$200 and $300. (US$150 - $200 by the time it gets here?)
Also, he's said that this is the last time he ever buys a PC on impulse.
I've built the last two machines for him and they've been trouble-free. He's
rather surprised that a PC can be this much trouble, LOL.

Another thing, I've heard that the first Phenoms, the 9x00 range, were
'flaky', that the 9x50 are much better. However, surely they're not *that*
bad that he needs to replace his CPU?

All input appreciated. He's desperate and is going to be calling me soon.
I'll look around but anyone with a positive experience with an AM2+ mobo
that they want to share would be great. Also, any comments on the above;
RAM? CPU?

The clowns that threw this machine together were, IMO, getting rid of
troublesome or slow-moving stock. The PSU was a lemon, the mobo won't work
with LAN drivers off the supplied CD, nobody's buying the 9x00 Phenoms now
the 9x50 ones are around... These guys are that incompetent that they didn't
remove the jumper from the Seagate 500Gb 7200.11 HDD that limits it to SATA
I speed.

Anyway, I digress. Suggestions appreciated. Oh, I'm in New Zealand so mobo
availablility could be limited.

TIA.
--
Shaun.

DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)

Somewhere on teh intarweb "Bill" typed:
> In article <485b033c$>,
> says...
>> Hey all,
>>
>> I'm Intel all the way at the moment. However, a friend bought a
>> built-up 'gaming machine' (I've mentioned it before here, it's been
>> nothing but trouble) using an Asus M3A motherboard, a Phenom 9500
>> CPU, 1x2GB DDR2 module and a 9600GT.
>>
>> The machine's been a nightmare. Firstly it was supplied with a PSU
>> that was barely capable of 300W (Tt 420W). I replaced it with a
>> reasonable 510W PSU, reinstalled Windows (don't ask!), updated the
>> BIOS and it seemed alright for a while. I showed him how to raise
>> vcore if it kept crashing.
>>
>> Well, yesterday he rang me and asked about a replacement mobo. He's
>> raised vcore all the way (!) in BIOS, 1.550V and it's still
>> crashing. I expressed concern at the high voltage but he assured me
>> that the two hardware monitoring apps I'd given him, HWMonitor and
>> CPU-Z both say that the vcore is only 1.2xxV when in Windows. I also
>> got him to raise VDIMM to (at the moment) 2.05V. He doesn't have
>> another stick of DDR2 to try and I only have what's in this machine
>> and I'm loathe to mess with it. My luck hasn't been great of late.
>> :-/
>>
>> I've been sick so I advised him to get a single 1GB stick of DDR2 -
>> 800 and try that alone. However, if that doesn't work he wants me to
>> advise on a good mobo. (and fit it, reinstall Windows...) I like
>> Asus personally (followed by Gigabyte) but the vanilla M3A model
>> that he has, going by Googling, seems to have been a lemon. As I
>> mentioned, I'm not au fait with current AMD boards or chipsets so a
>> suggestion or two would be nice. :-) He'll pay between NZ$200 and
>> $300. (US$150 - $200 by the time it gets here?) Also, he's said that
>> this is the last time he ever buys a PC on impulse. I've built the
>> last two machines for him and they've been trouble-free. He's rather
>> surprised that a PC can be this much trouble, LOL.
>>
>> Another thing, I've heard that the first Phenoms, the 9x00 range,
>> were 'flaky', that the 9x50 are much better. However, surely they're
>> not *that* bad that he needs to replace his CPU?
>>
>> All input appreciated. He's desperate and is going to be calling me
>> soon. I'll look around but anyone with a positive experience with an
>> AM2+ mobo that they want to share would be great. Also, any comments
>> on the above; RAM? CPU?
>>
>> The clowns that threw this machine together were, IMO, getting rid of
>> troublesome or slow-moving stock. The PSU was a lemon, the mobo
>> won't work with LAN drivers off the supplied CD, nobody's buying the
>> 9x00 Phenoms now the 9x50 ones are around... These guys are that
>> incompetent that they didn't remove the jumper from the Seagate
>> 500Gb 7200.11 HDD that limits it to SATA I speed.
>>
>> Anyway, I digress. Suggestions appreciated. Oh, I'm in New Zealand
>> so mobo availablility could be limited.
>>
>> TIA.
>>
>
> I thought enough of this one to have ordered it yesterday to replace
> an ASUS M2A-VM HDMI motherboard.
>
> GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX motherboard
>
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128074
>
> The last 2 ASUS motherboards I've bought have been dissapoinments.
> Flaky bios that forgets it's setting on both of them. We'll see how
> this Gigabyte fairs.

Thanks Bill, taken into consideration. :-)
--
Shaun.

DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)

Somewhere on teh intarweb "John" typed:
> "~misfit~" <> wrote in message
> news:485b033c$...
>> Hey all,
>>
>> I'm Intel all the way at the moment. However, a friend bought a
>> built-up 'gaming machine' (I've mentioned it before here, it's been
>> nothing but trouble) using an Asus M3A motherboard, a Phenom 9500
>> CPU, 1x2GB DDR2 module
>> and a 9600GT.
>>
>> The machine's been a nightmare. Firstly it was supplied with a PSU
>> that was
>> barely capable of 300W (Tt 420W). I replaced it with a reasonable
>> 510W PSU,
>> reinstalled Windows (don't ask!), updated the BIOS and it seemed
>> alright for
>> a while. I showed him how to raise vcore if it kept crashing.
>>
>> Well, yesterday he rang me and asked about a replacement mobo. He's
>> raised vcore all the way (!) in BIOS, 1.550V and it's still
>> crashing. I expressed concern at the high voltage but he assured me
>> that the two hardware monitoring apps I'd given him, HWMonitor and
>> CPU-Z both say that the vcore is only 1.2xxV when in Windows. I also
>> got him to raise VDIMM to (at the moment) 2.05V. He doesn't have
>> another stick of DDR2 to try and I only have
>> what's in this machine and I'm loathe to mess with it. My luck
>> hasn't been great of late. :-/
>>
>> I've been sick so I advised him to get a single 1GB stick of DDR2 -
>> 800 and
>> try that alone. However, if that doesn't work he wants me to advise
>> on a good mobo. (and fit it, reinstall Windows...) I like Asus
>> personally (followed by Gigabyte) but the vanilla M3A model that he
>> has, going by Googling, seems to have been a lemon. As I mentioned,
>> I'm not au fait with current AMD boards or chipsets so a suggestion
>> or two would be nice. :-) He'll pay between NZ$200 and $300. (US$150
>> - $200 by the time it gets here?)
>> Also, he's said that this is the last time he ever buys a PC on
>> impulse. I've built the last two machines for him and they've been
>> trouble-free. He's
>> rather surprised that a PC can be this much trouble, LOL.
>>
>> Another thing, I've heard that the first Phenoms, the 9x00 range,
>> were 'flaky', that the 9x50 are much better. However, surely they're
>> not *that* bad that he needs to replace his CPU?
>>
>> All input appreciated. He's desperate and is going to be calling me
>> soon. I'll look around but anyone with a positive experience with an
>> AM2+ mobo that they want to share would be great. Also, any comments
>> on the above; RAM? CPU?
>>
>> The clowns that threw this machine together were, IMO, getting rid of
>> troublesome or slow-moving stock. The PSU was a lemon, the mobo
>> won't work with LAN drivers off the supplied CD, nobody's buying the
>> 9x00 Phenoms now the 9x50 ones are around... These guys are that
>> incompetent that they didn't
>> remove the jumper from the Seagate 500Gb 7200.11 HDD that limits it
>> to SATA
>> I speed.
>>
>> Anyway, I digress. Suggestions appreciated. Oh, I'm in New Zealand
>> so mobo availablility could be limited.
>>
>> TIA.
>
> I bought the Asus M3N32-SLI Premium Vista Edition Mobo (AM2) nearly a
> year ago and ran through four mobos before getting one to POST. But
> since I did all that, it works fine.
>
> Asus did not like the 500W PSU. As I recall, they wanted more than
> 30A per rail. Fortunately, the 500W died and they sent me a 650W to
> replace it. Somehow I had to replace it with an 850W, which had a low
> 5V rail, so they replaced it--with a 1000W! It was during this time
> when I was replacing mobos; I don't think the PSUs had anything at
> all to do with my mobo problems.
>
> The main culprit was the BIOS. Fortunately, they pop in and out
> easily, however I had to pay shipping ($5US), no big deal. After two
> suspicious BIOSs, I got it to POST, so further BIOS upgrades were
> flashable. For some reason, the Asus utility for the BIOS doesn't
> like to look for it on NTFS disks. The USB disk wasn't working, so
> fortunately I had an old FAT32 that it could reside on, so all that
> was another issue.
> I had to continually upgrade through the end of the year. nVidia had
> several goofy things that weren't right. Of course, guessing what was
> causing problems led me to BIOS, OS, nVidia, Asus, until I finally
> got it working good.
>
> The only problem right now are BSOD crashes, new since I added a 500GB
> backup disk. Reformatting didn't help. I'm checking now to see if
> Asus' PC Probe software is the culprit. I'll take it off and see. I
> also recently found on the Error log that it was due to a "Driver
> Power State Failure," which said to run sigverif.exe and it found
> errors with nVidia components. I am up to date with nVidia, so that
> isn't going to be an easy one.
> The rest of my system is: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Windsor 2.6hz 2X
> 1MB L2 Cache; 4 1GB sticks of Kingston DDR2 DIMMs; and an EVGA
> GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB SLI video card.

Thanks John, saved for ruture reference. :-)
--
Shaun.

DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)

Somewhere on teh intarweb "Bill" typed:
> In article <485f37ce$>,
> says...
>>
> <snip>
>
>>> I thought enough of this one to have ordered it yesterday to replace
>>> an ASUS M2A-VM HDMI motherboard.
>>>
>>> GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX motherboard
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The last 2 ASUS motherboards I've bought have been dissapoinments.
>>> Flaky bios that forgets it's setting on both of them. We'll see how
>>> this Gigabyte fairs.
>>
>> Thanks Bill, taken into consideration. :-)
>>
>
> Check the Bio level if you get one. Mine came with F2 installed.
> You need F5 or higher for the triple cored Phenoms.
>
> It's got more OC options than I've ever seen before. Even at stock
> speeds it's zippy with an X2 64 5600+, 3 gigs of Corsair XMS DDR2 800
> < RMAing a bad 4th stick >.

Thanks again Bill, appreciated.
--
Shaun.

DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)

Somewhere on teh intarweb "~misfit~" typed:
> Somewhere on teh intarweb "Bill" typed:
>> In article <485f37ce$>,
>> says...
>>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>>> I thought enough of this one to have ordered it yesterday to
>>>> replace an ASUS M2A-VM HDMI motherboard.
>>>>
>>>> GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX motherboard
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The last 2 ASUS motherboards I've bought have been dissapoinments.
>>>> Flaky bios that forgets it's setting on both of them. We'll see how
>>>> this Gigabyte fairs.
>>>
>>> Thanks Bill, taken into consideration. :-)
>>>
>>
>> Check the Bio level if you get one. Mine came with F2 installed.
>> You need F5 or higher for the triple cored Phenoms.
>>
>> It's got more OC options than I've ever seen before. Even at stock
>> speeds it's zippy with an X2 64 5600+, 3 gigs of Corsair XMS DDR2 800
>> < RMAing a bad 4th stick >.
>
> Thanks again Bill, appreciated.

Turned out to be bad RAM in this case, I take back some of what I said about
the M3A mobo.

Odd that Memtest86 didn't pick it up though......
--
Shaun.

DISCLAIMER: If you find a posting or message from me
offensive, inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it.
If you don't know how to ignore a posting, complain to
me and I will be only too happy to demonstrate... ;-)