Asus M4A78 Plus Memory Limitaton / Not On Asus Website

[JoseWaldo]

Hello,
I am planning on a new build for my Mom. I had a recommendation of the M4A78 Plus with an AMD Phenom X2 550 and G.Skill 2x2 DDR2 1066.

I noticed in the specs of the Motherboard that the board will only support 1 stick per channel at 1066. I tried to go to ASUS' website to find out more information, but it doesn't list this particular board. It does have M4A78 Pro, -E, and maybe a couple of others, but I can't find the plus model.

Should I be concerned about buying this board? What about driver downloads etc? Is this board too old or too new?

Here are the parts @ Newegg:
ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131381

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor Model HDZ550WFGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166


Thanks a ton!

 

[AdioKIP]

That limitation applies to the AMD Processors. I run an M4A79 Deluxe (Previously had an M3A32 MVP Deluxe) and they both had the same limitation since I was running AM2+ processors in both. If you want to use all 4 ram banks you have to run the ram at 800mhz. There are people who have managed to get all 4 banks running stable at 1066 by setting voltage and timings manually in the BIOS but there is no guarantee this will work for everyone.

If you want to overcome this limitation then you need to step up to an AM3 motherboard with DDR3.

Here is the wording from newegg, notice it says the limitation is the processor's design, not the motherboard itself:

DDR2 1066*/800/667

* Due to AMD CPU limitation, DDR2 1066 is supported by AM2+/AM3 CPU for one DIMM per channel only.

 

[JoseWaldo]

So should I go with 2x2 800mhz RAM so that some day I could upgrade without having to throw away this 4 GB, or would the benefits of the 1066 RAM be worth the cost? I'm hoping to order the components tonight.
Thanks a ton,
Chad

 

[wally_in_nc]

Hi
You will find M4A78 Plus here:
For some reason it is not on the US site, only on the global
If you plan to install Windows 7, beware. I bought one a week ago and was not able to install it. It runs very well with XP 32.
If you get it and can install Windows 7 I would love to know how

 

[wally_in_nc]

this time with the link:
http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=KX5kXQSmyaQaXVEP&templete=2

 

[vthall]

Hi
You will find M4A78 Plus here:
For some reason it is not on the US site, only on the global
If you plan to install Windows 7, beware. I bought one a week ago and was not able to install it. It runs very well with XP 32.
If you get it and can install Windows 7 I would love to know how

I installed Win 7 64-bit on my M4A78Plus.After install there was only 1 yellow ? mark in device manager which was ATK00110 acpi utility under system devices.Found that on ASUS site.System specs follow.Also running XP in dual boot

7750 kuma at 3030mhz
2gigs Kingston KHX8500D2K2-2GN from qvl
320 wd hd
9800gtx+
OCZ 500w MODXSTREAM PRO

 

[jangerm]

Hi to u all,

I'v got this weird problem with the M4A78 pro version of this boeard.
So far it has been runnig fine with 2 sticks of 2 gb 800mhz ram and a AMD 6400 X2.
Now i've recently bought the AMD Phenom 550 as well, but when i pop it in there is no post on my board.
No signal to video, not even the usual beep.
I've tried it with just the onboard video and just 1 hard drive (suspecting a power problem), but no go.
When I put the old processor back in, everything runs smoothly again.
Do I have to combine the 550 with 1066 memory to make it work?

All ideas are welcome...I'd really like to start playing with this Black Edition proc.

Cheers,

 

[vthall]

Check your bios version and cpu support,you may need an update.

 

[vthall]

Looks like you need bios 0905 or newer to support the Phenom x2 550.Asus cpu support page for m4a78 pro:
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpusupport.aspx?model=M4A78%20PRO&SLanguage=en-us

 

[Guest]

URGENT HELP NEEDED REGARDING PHENOM II 965 AND MOTHERBOARD ISSUE

hey i really need someones help on here. I have recently built my brand new computer with a phenom II 965 3.4ghz processor, on a gigabyte GAM720-US3 motherboard.

I ordered my build from lambdatek.co.uk and it said these to components were compatible with each other however when i turned my comp on for the 1st time i noticed how the phenom HAD BEEN DOWNCLOCKED TO 1.6GHZ.
I looked on the gigabyte website for this board however to my dissatisfaction my phenom 965 was not listed in the cpu support list, however the phenom II 955 3.2ghz was.

I THEN UPPED THE CLOCK SPEED IN THE BIOS TO 3.4GHZ (WHAT IT SHOULD BE) AND THE COMPUTER THEN TURNED ITSELF OFF AND NOW WILL NOT BOOT AT ALL. I TRIED TO RESET MY BIOS BUT FOR SOME REASON COULDNT (SHOULD I BOTHER TRYING AGAIN??)

Please can someone tell me if this is a compatibility issue or not, or whether i just need to update my bios (god knows how, theres no option for this processor!!) As i now CANNOT GET PAST POST AND THERE IS NO SIGNAL TO MY MONITOR.
BIOS BEEPS ARE NON EXISTENT, yet case fans etc and psu appear to be on, however COMPUTER OCCASIONALY RESTARTS A FEW TIMES on power on :S:S:S:S:S.

NOTE: THE SYSTEM DID ORIGINALLY BOOT AND WORK HOWEVER THE CPU WAS RUNNING AT 1.6GHZ, ALSO RAM HAD BEEN CLOCKED DOWN TO 800MHZ


4gb (2x2gb) ocz blade 1150mhz
650w antec earthwatts
asus radeon hd 4870 1gb ddr5
wdc black 500gb
lite on dvd/rw

I spent 700 on my build and im really needing answers so any help is appreciated.
I have purchased another mobo now hoping this will fix all my issues. This being the asus m4a78 pro which apparently is compatible (i notied the m4a78-e mobo just after i ordered it )

the links to the motherboards are below, the gigabyte being the one that "doesnt work"?? and the asus being the one i have purchased and am hoping to put the components onto in a bid to get the system to work.

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3006

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=3006



Please can someone getback to me ASAP and tell me what happened and if i needed to buy this motherboard. Note i am new to building pc's and am very upset as you can imagine!
Thank you in advance.

 

[Guest]

hi sorry for hijacking this thread but im in a rush...
i own a m4a78 pro and have 2x1gb 1066 kingston hyperx ram and im having issues with the dram clocking
on the BIOS the frequency is set to auto and runs at 400mhz per stick of ram
im using an amd ii x4 810 which is an am3 socket cpu....
ive tried manually setting the ram to 1066 on the BIOS but when i run speed fan i get mad temps of 250 odd degrees :S i dont know if this is just an error or wtf it is but its anoying to be stuck with 400mhz!

any sugestions? ive tried to flash to the latest bios but still same problem.... thankz a bunch.

 

[Detaill]

Hi

I have a M4N78 PRO with kingston 1066 DDR2 Hyper x Running without issue. The is board bilt to handel it. I have no info on the PRO +

 

[bsimps3]

Hello,
I am planning on a new build for my Mom. I had a recommendation of the M4A78 Plus with an AMD Phenom X2 550 and G.Skill 2x2 DDR2 1066.

I noticed in the specs of the Motherboard that the board will only support 1 stick per channel at 1066. I tried to go to ASUS' website to find out more information, but it doesn't list this particular board. It does have M4A78 Pro, -E, and maybe a couple of others, but I can't find the plus model.

Should I be concerned about buying this board? What about driver downloads etc? Is this board too old or too new?

Here are the parts @ Newegg:
ASUS M4A78 Plus AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131381

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition Callisto 3.1GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Processor Model HDZ550WFGIBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231166


Thanks a ton!

@JoseWaldo: Did you ever put this system together? I have the exact same CPU, mobo, and RAM but with an ATI Radeon HD 5770. I'm experiencing a system crash that I can't diagnose (see this thread)... I was wondering if you had any issues with your build?

On a separate note... is your mom a gamer? The Phenom II x2 550 BE might be overkill if you don't plan on overclocking.