MSI Rolls Out 760GMA-P34FX Socket AM3+ Motherboard

[btarunr]

MSI rolled out the 760GMA-P34FX, a cost-effective socket AM3+ motherboard in the micro-ATX form-factor, designed with out of the box support for AMD FX "Vishera" processors. Based on the dated AMD 760 chipset with SB710 southbridge, the motherboard still offers modern connectivity, such as SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0, but using third-party controllers.

Drawing power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors, the 760GMA-P34FX offers two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory. A PCI-Express 2.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI slot make up its expansion area. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 3 Gb/s ports (from the SB710 southbridge), and two SATA 6 Gb/s ports (from an ASMedia ASM1061 controller). Display connectivity includes one each of DVI and D-Sub. The board offers four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, two by headers. 6-channel HD audio, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity. Expect this one to be light on your wallet. Really light.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[ZetZet]

4 pin for fx 6xxx/8xxx? Really?

 

[Kärlekstrollet]

4 pin for fx 6xxx/8xxx? Really?

4pin is good for 150W of TDP, without any overclocking it should handle a 8350 without any issues.

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

This motherboard is already being sold in my country for 61.3 USD, and it's one of the best solutions for its cost ATM (if you're not going to cheap on electronic components such as capacitors). It's not mentioned in the article, but four USB 3.0 ports are actually driven by NEC/Renesas controller named uPD720201 (or uPD720202).

4 pin for fx 6xxx/8xxx? Really?

It was made for budget builds, most of which don't provide 8-pin CPU connector. You'll still be able to make FX-6000 and FX-8000 Series CPU's work; question is, how much overclock can you expect on this platform.
And don't forget about undervolting possibility.

 

[dj-electric]

Those VRMs being without heatsink doesn't make me happy.

 

[john_]

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH 760?
I mean why not 785? What happened to 780 and 785. So much better chips and ALL boards are with 760? I can't understand it. Thank God they forgotten 740G and 690G.

 

[micropage7]

its value board so all is basic but with 8 sata, it would be nice

 

[Constantine Yevseyev]

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH 760?
I mean why not 785? What happened to 780 and 785. So much better chips and ALL boards are with 760? I can't understand it. Thank God they forgotten 740G and 690G.

The reason MSI decided to choose 760G is that it will make motherboard less expensive while it'll still be able to compete with 780G/785G solutions in all tasks that could possibly be held by a low-end enthusiast PC.
What kind of advantages are you expecting from 780G/785G, though? The iGPU is still completely outdated and won't be able to do anything (trust me, my experience with Radeon HD 4200 was terrible back in 2009) but to play YouTube in 720p. All of the needed PCI-Express lines (16, precisely) are provided - I'm not sure that anyone would build CrossFireX on motherboards of this class.

 

[john_]

The reason MSI decided to choose 760G is that it will make motherboard less expensive while it'll still be able to compete with 780G/785G solutions in all tasks that could possibly be held by a low-end enthusiast PC.
What kind of advantages are you expecting from 780G/785G, though? The iGPU is still completely outdated and won't be able to do anything (trust me, my experience with Radeon HD 4200 was terrible back in 2009) but to play YouTube in 720p. All of the needed PCI-Express lines (16, precisely) are provided - I'm not sure that anyone would build CrossFireX on motherboards of this class.

785 supports UVD2, in general it supports better HD video decoding. OK, even a single core Sempron can possible do the job in video playback, but why not go for 785 and get better video decoding and lower cpu utilization? Also while outdated, it is better to have HD4200 than HD3000 as a gpu. Just for marketing if nothing else. And I don't blame MSI here for choosing 760G. EVERYONE is choosing 760G. How much more expensive can 780G or 785G be? They are all ancient. I wonder.

From wiki

760G
DirectX 10, AVIVO HD, HDMI/HDCP,
OR single PCIe 2.0 x16

780G
DirectX 10, UVD+, HDMI/HDCP, DisplayPort/DPCP, Side-port memory,
OR single PCIe 2.0 x16

785G
DirectX 10.1, UVD2,
Side-port memory,
HDMI/HDCP, DisplayPort/DPCP,
OR two PCIe 2.0 x16
TDP: 11 W (500 MHz), 3 W

 

[Kärlekstrollet]

785 supports UVD2, in general it supports better HD video decoding. OK, even a single core Sempron can possible do the job in video playback, but why not go for 785 and get better video decoding and lower cpu utilization? Also while outdated, it is better to have HD4200 than HD3000 as a gpu. Just for marketing if nothing else. And I don't blame MSI here for choosing 760G. EVERYONE is choosing 760G. How much more expensive can 780G or 785G be? They are all ancient. I wonder.

Doesn't really matter, this mobo is for those with AM3/+ CPUs laying around collecting dust and could be an interesting choice for cheap server builds.

 

[Freedom4556]

Doesn't really matter, this mobo is for those with AM3/+ CPUs laying around collecting dust and could be an interesting choice for cheap server builds.

I was just asking myself "Why release this motherboard, for an unofficially-dead socket, now?" I mean, AMD has all but said that the FMx line of sockets and the APUs are their only desktop products going forward.

 

[VulkanBros]

Have a FX-8150 laying around - this board would be perfect for a FreeNAS server build

 

[Frick]

At least it officially supports 125W CPU's. The older ones didn't.

 

[Freedom4556]

I don't blame MSI here for choosing 760G. EVERYONE is choosing 760G. How much more expensive can 780G or 785G be? They are all ancient. I wonder.

It's probably an availability thing. Some of those are surely based on the same die, and the lowest-spec one is likely to be the most plentiful because of die harvesting. It's also the least desirable because of spec, and therefore going to be ultra-cheap. Excess supply and low demand.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Have a FX-8150 laying around - this board would be perfect for a FreeNAS server build

Before you do that, make sure the HDD controller can actually do what you need. I don't even know if it supports AHCI.

These motherboards piss me off. The technology is so old. The FX CPU's are not even officially supported by AMD on this chipset! IMHO, it's much better to buy a 970 chipset motherboard or even an APU based one. I can't believe that $10-20 is that big of a deal for anyone. (yes, I realize that I am an American saying that) Ask anyone who's bought one of those cheap "gaming" systems with the 760g chipset and then tried to upgrade.
I don't understand how this can be cheaper than newer tech, considering the cost of the 3rd party controllers. That also brings up the whole problem of driver issues.
I'm not anyone's "fanboy", but compare this motherboard with an Intel H61 based one. Price is about the same. Why not 880G?
I've been advising people on PC builds for 20+ years. I have yet to meet a person who is disappointed that they bought more computer than they needed.
IMHO, AMD is just giving themselves a black eye with these outdated chipset motherboards.

 

[Frick]

Before you do that, make sure the HDD controller can actually do what you need. I don't even know if it supports AHCI.

These motherboards piss me off. The technology is so old. The FX CPU's are not even officially supported by AMD on this chipset! IMHO, it's much better to buy a 970 chipset motherboard or even an APU based one. I can't believe that $10-20 is that big of a deal for anyone. (yes, I realize that I am an American saying that) Ask anyone who's bought one of those cheap "gaming" systems with the 760g chipset and then tried to upgrade.
I don't understand how this can be cheaper than newer tech, considering the cost of the 3rd party controllers. That also brings up the whole problem of driver issues.
I'm not anyone's "fanboy", but compare this motherboard with an Intel H61 based one. Price is about the same. Why not 880G?
I've been advising people on PC builds for 20+ years. I have yet to meet a person who is disappointed that they bought more computer than they needed.
IMHO, AMD is just giving themselves a black eye with these outdated chipset motherboards.

The entire AM3+ platform is a mess imo, with power hungry CPU's coupled with tons of weak motherboards. I don't see a problem with using an ancient chipset though, but the power thing is pretty annoying.

 

[Kärlekstrollet]

The entire AM3+ platform is a mess imo, with power hungry CPU's coupled with tons of weak motherboards. I don't see a problem with using an ancient chipset though, but the power thing is pretty annoying.

AM3+ isn't a mess, the 990FX chipset is. Which is basically a rebranded 890FX to begin with, technology from early 2010.
~20W just being wasted thanks to old stubborn tech, calculating off 20W from current numbers would make everything look a bit different.