GigaByte GA-MA78GM-S2H Desktop Motherboard - AMD 780G Chipset - Socket AM2+ PGA-940

Some bad points for this motherboard !

Strengths: Good points have already mentioned by everyone !

Weakness: No proper display driver and audio drivers for Windows Home Server (Windows 2k3 Server) and the DDR2 memory cannot be set beyond 2.1V !

Most DDR2 8500 i.e 1066MHz needs 2.1 to 2.3V to drive, I wrote to the manufacturer to ask for the BIOS to have the memory voltage to be set higher on the next BIOS upgrade. There were three updates since my request, they still have done nothing ! Further more, if four pieces of DDR2 8500 memory were inserted, It cannot be set into dual access mode (Ganged). This board is only good for DDR2 6400...

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GA-MA78GM-S2H AMD 780G MOTHERBOARD MICRO ATX

Strengths: loads of connectors, e sata, firewire, gigabit ethernet, you name it it's got it. powerful integrated graphics processor. runs HD movies without a hitch.

Weakness: no crossfire or SLI, no DDR3 memory compatibility

this is a nice motherboard. perfect for building a home theatre PC but also great for you regular desktop PC as well due to the number of connectors it comes with. great price for everything that you get with this board. integrated graphics are strong enough for vista visuals and for play back of blu ray or hd dvds.

Great All Around Board - Primarily for HTPC

Strengths: A ridiculous amount of uses along with a fantastic array of connectivity. DVI, HDMI, VGA, S/PDIF, eSATA... the list goes on and on. On top of this... there is definite room for overclocking.

Weakness: Drivers are still very fresh. I am using a 4400+ CPU in mine and am having some problems with deinterlacing some content. The Northbridge gets a little hot but there is no problems directly related.

This is a great board that has many useful features. You can build a very low power HTPC rig and still be able to pull off Bluray and HD-DVD playback along with mild gaming. Overclock your CPU a little bit and add in a PCI-E videocard to take advantage of the Hybrid-Crossfire technology and really have a lean machine on your hands. The HDMI supports both Video and Audio allowing you to clean up...

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Excellent motherboard

Strengths: So many options for connectivity. (DVI and HDMI) Great onboard video that consumes little power. Works great with 64-bit Linux. (Use Ubuntu 8.04 beta or Fedora 9)

Weakness: None really. Don't buy if you are a hardcore overclocker. But you probably already knew that. There will probably be more OC-friendly BIOS updates soon! Still a fresh chipset.

Great rig for HTPC/green pc setups. Gigabyte has a useful RSS feed for BIOS/driver updates. ATI's Catalyst 8.3 drivers are pretty good, will probably get a lot better next month, as this is the newest chipset.

Great board for overclocking - Gigabyte quality

Strengths: Nice board layout; Gigabyte did a great job packing so much into a mATX board while ensuring that add-ons will fit. Great for overclocking; support for Phenom and 1066mhz ram; HDMI & PCI-E 2.0

Weakness: framerate of the ATI HD 3200 IGP - my ATI AiW Pro 9600 card had better 3D performance that this GPU.

This board is killer, but I was disappointed after reading website reviews that touted decent framerates (even at 1024x768) from the IGP. My experience was total opposite, even after installing Cat 8.4 and overclocking the GPU. I even increased the Frame buffer in BIOS, but it was pathetic (1276 3DMark03 score). After I installed an XFX 8600GT with 512mb DDR3, the mark jumped to a whopping 15375!

Great HTPC Board!

Strengths: Perfect for HTPC. Support AMD Phenom Quad core CPU's

Weakness: Drivers are still new for this chipset

Great for HTPC board. Best onboard video capable of accelerating HD video. No additional discrete video card needed. HDMI connection. ESATA and firewire ports. Supports AMD Phenom CPUs for upgrade later from AMD X2's. Everyone from AVS Forums is talking about this board for HTPC use.

Great for HTPC

Strengths: Gigabyte stable quality. This is an all around board for non-hardcore gamer on AMD platform.

Weakness: Not really. One of the BIOS(F3) quirk is that if ACHI mode is selected, the boot menu does not boot from USB flash drive when I choose to.

It's great for HTPC/file server application. The heatsink below PCIe 1x is low enough that it does not block my PCIe 1x tuner card. The VGA/HDMI/DVI combination is the killer for other competitor. Cat 8.4 comes with NB 780G and SB ACHI drivers. Vista SP1 runs smoothly without problem. Oh, powerdvd 7.3 will cause Cat 8.4 to crash and powerdvd 8.0 works, not really gigabyte's problem.

GA-MA78GM-S2H

Strengths: Great price/performance ratio, reliable, easy to setup

Weakness: Northbridge runs hot and makes the PCI-E 1x port pretty useless. Drivers on the CD are very outdated.

Aside from the Northbridge complaint this is a great motherboard. The onboard graphics adapter is the best I've seen. Be sure to go to both the Gigabyte and AMD web sites to get the latest drivers BEFORE you set up your system - the included CD is pretty useless. Search for "Catalyst Control Center" to get the latest graphics driver for the onboard graphics.

GA-MA78GM-S2H Motherboard (AMD Socket AM2/AM2+, AMD...

Strengths: (1) Full-featured motherboard that is smaller in size (2) Has onboard video with VGA/HDMI/DVI outputs(3) Low power consumption

Weakness: (1) None

As a relative newbie to the whole building a computer thing, I found that this motherboard was very easy to install and get up and running. Although I put in video card, it is nice that this motherboard has good onboard video with a plethora of outputs - especially since the motherboard I previously tried did not have onboard video and I was not getting any video output or errors or anything to...

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GA-MA78GM-S2H Motherboard

Strengths: Lots of connectivity for home theater hookup, e.g., HDMI, S/PDIF, IEEE1394. Supports Hybrid Crossfire for video upgrade. Easily decode HD videos with onboard video. Supports new Phenom CPUs.

Weakness: Some reported northbridge heat problems but I don't have that problem myself. Also there are heat issues with 125W Phenom Quad-cores.

Paired this with a 4850E and Antec Fusion as my HTPC. Works great and so far I have not run into any problem with HD video playbacks or HDMI output. Onboard video is plenty enough for playing back Blu-Ray or HD DVD but it's nice to know that with Hybrid Crossfire support, I could upgrade easily with a cheap HD2400 or 3400. Excellent choice for HTPC and even a bit of casual gaming.