Build - GA-M55plus-S3G Opinions Please!

[pissedLobster]

I’ve had two great Gigabyte systems in the past and I’m working on my next build and was hoping to get some feedback on the GA-M55plus-S3G.

I’ve already narrowed down my CPU search to the Athlon 64 X2 4200 AM2, and noticed AMD.com recommends the GA-M55plus-S3G – but I’m hesitant because of the lack of reviews on this board and on most of the major review sites.

I’m considering this board because it seems like a great mobo to handle vista when I decide to make that jump, it’s one of only a few mobos that have more than one IDEs, it has 4 SATAs for expandability, 4 PCI slots, firewire connector, 6 USBs and a front panel connector which I’ve not had in the past and have really needed it.

What do other members of the board think of this mobo, any success or better suggestions? I’d like to stay in the $100-150 price range if possible.

Thanks! P.L.

 

[DukeDave]

Hi, I don't have the exact same board as the one you are considering but mine has similar features.

I have been very happy with what I have bought but there are some issues I have heard of that you may want to consider:

These boards only support 1.8 volt ram by default - you have to increase the voltage in bios to get ram to work if you are using anything out of the ordinary.

I am using the Athlon 64 3500+ and have been unable to overclock from the bios - I am not aware if it is a limitation of my cpu or if it the board/bios. I could with software but I chose not to go this way.

IMO it would depend on the rest of the components you are considering and what end result you are looking for - an overclocking powerhouse, not on this board, a good stable cost effective system that works, go for it.

 

[pissedLobster]

DukeDave thanks for the suggestions, I didn't realize that about the ram voltage. I doubt I'll overclock this one b/c this will be our family computer - digital photos, finances, ect...

 

[pcarini]

I've got the board and I like it, though I've yet to be able to find the option to enable Cool N' Quiet in the bios. I've just read about the existence of a quasi-secret "Overclocking menu" which may have it, along w/ the more advanced OCing features so I'll give that a try.

If you're thinking about any gaming on it at all the onboard Geforce 6100 is not going to cut it. I got 7-10 fps in C&C Generals, which is a DX8 game, while running at at 1280x1024, and maybe as much as 15fps in Worms Armageddon which doesn't require a beefy card either. This was w/ 128MB of my system mem(the max it allows) devoted to the video chipset. Quake2 ran smoothly

Another thing that's caused other people some trouble is the location of the fdd port, which is on the bottom of the board and as close to the back of the case as they could fit it. I had no problem getting my cable to reach but some others have had trouble with this.

Hope that helps,
-C

 

[Crashman]

These boards only support 1.8 volt ram by default - you have to increase the voltage in bios to get ram to work if you are using anything out of the ordinary.

That's true of ALL boards except those that overclock RAM automatically.

 

[Crashman]

The board's great for the price, and fast. The 6100 chipset is even faster than nForce 4, and performs like the 5xx series chipset with a single graphics card.

As for using it without a graphics card, well, it's still faster than Intel's integrated graphics...

 

[DukeDave]

These boards only support 1.8 volt ram by default - you have to increase the voltage in bios to get ram to work if you are using anything out of the ordinary.

That's true of ALL boards except those that overclock RAM automatically.

Hey, I thought as much, just wonder why so many people seem to have trouble with this in particular.

 

[Crashman]

There's lots of defective RAM on the market. All DDR2 is supposed to be bootable at 1.80V, even if it must default to a lower speed to do so. There was a VERY popular brand of RAM that did NOT work at default voltage, even at the slower default speed.

 

[phil_scnu]

I got the board on late Sep, it's quite good as you said,
1Gbps Lan, 4*SATA3Gbps, 3*IE1394, 2*ATA100(good point)!

It's quite stable a choice and only cost around US$90.

If you would like to Oc the PC, think you had better choose
BioStar T-Force 6100/AM2. As this Giga board cannot oc
My little Sempron 2800+ to over 1.92G(240*8) at default vol.
Think it's a little bit disappointed that the FSB and Ram would
go up synchronously!

E.g. 200FSB*8=1.6G, DDR2-667
220FSB*8=1.76G, DDR2-733
240FSB*7=1.92G, DDR2-800
I have oc the Corsair VS677to 800 accompany with the 240FSB...
no further improvement if others all stay at default ...

Think ASUS/MSI didn't have something attractive enough at this
price range $90-100.

Onboard 6100 GPU is only capable for basic gaming/3d. if you go
with the 1280resolution or +, that won't help. go with A GF73/76
which would help if you need.

Other buddy, do you have any good options to lock the Ram mhz or
adjust the CPU FSB:RAM MHz Ratio on this board as i really want to
Oc the Sempron to a higher level, 1.92G compared to 1.6G is nothing
surprised... ha.... Tks~

 

[pcarini]

phil_scnu,

Yes there is an option to set the DDR speed. (In the rev. F6 BIOS at least)

Go to the bios, and press Ctrl+F1 to reveal "Advanced Chipset Functions", it's hiding in there. There also are options to change the Hypertransport multiplier.

Cheers,
-C

[Edit: Added that note about F6 BIOS]

 

[phil_scnu]

Tks~C

Got the F6 Bios already and Ctrl+F1 really works.

Have "downgrade" my DDR667 to D533 then push the FSB to higher level.

From 236*8 to246*8, DDR667("oc").
When i push fsb to 248 or 250, system down...

it's a big requestion mark to me, heard that most AM S2800+ could
oc to 300*8 or at least 250*8 at default setting...

have fine-tune the HT ratio from 4x to 3x, and even DDR detail
from 1T to 2T per clock, still doesn't work.