Some question about a low end motherboard (GA-H81M-S2H)

[zed720]

Hi,

I'm in need of a cheap but hopefully reliable motherboard.

I would like to limit the discussion on this particular motherboard GA-H81M-S2H

I have a i5 4460, an SSD and Savage Memory Red - 8GB Kit* (2x4GB) - DDR3 1600MHz Intel XMP CL9 DIMM.

I'm a newbie so:

1) Does it support my CPU out of the box, without an BIOS update?

2) My memory will work at 1600 and not 1400?

3) It's correct that I need a motherboard with USB 3.0 headers in order to make my USB 3.0 case front panel's to work as intended?

4) Does the on board sound solution looks alright to you? I read that to avoid sound problems like hearing the scroll from the mouse in the headset or different "metal" sound, the audio chipset have to have a cage of some sort in order to be isolated from the rest of the PCB.

5) I don't understand the 300, 600 SATA too well, so how's my SSD (read/write speeds of 450/450 MB/s) going to perform on this, it is going to be limited speed-wise in any shape or form on this board or I'm good to go and I may get the advertising speeds?

Thanks

 

[zachattack748]

Hi,

I'm in need of a cheap but hopefully reliable motherboard.

I would like to limit the discussion on this particular motherboard GA-H81M-S2H

I have a i5 4460, an SSD and Savage Memory Red - 8GB Kit* (2x4GB) - DDR3 1600MHz Intel XMP CL9 DIMM.

I'm a newbie so:

1) Does it support my CPU out of the box, without an BIOS update?

2) My memory will work at 1600 and not 1400?

3) It's correct that I need a motherboard with USB 3.0 headers in order to make my USB 3.0 case front panel's to work as intended?

4) Does the on board sound solution looks alright to you? I read that to avoid sound problems like hearing the scroll from the mouse in the headset or different "metal" sound, the audio chipset have to have a cage of some sort in order to be isolated from the rest of the PCB.

5) I don't understand the 300, 600 SATA too well, so how's my SSD (read/write speeds of 450/450 MB/s) going to perform on this, it is going to be limited speed-wise in any shape or form on this board or I'm good to go and I may get the advertising speeds?

Thanks

1) Yes the motherboard will support it without a BIOS update (i reccommend you update it soon however)
2) Yes the memory will run at 1600MHz although speed doesnt really matter that much unless you are rendering high quality video or playing at high resolution
3)Yes you need to make sure it has a USB 3.0 in order for front panel usb 3.0 jacks to work
4) On board sound for 99% of motherboards today are perfectly fine buying a sound card is a typically a waste of money
5) for an SSD 450/450 seems a little slow but again unless you plan to upload videos to youtube or stream you should be all set (I would also invest in a 1 TB storage drive.. either Western Digital blue (My reccomendation) or a Seagate.. SSDs run out of room fast.)

 

[cin19]

1) yes, it does, the mb needs the F1 ( 1st version) for the i5 4460. CPU support list http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=5158
2) The RAM will run at 1600mhz, if you set the RAM to XMP profile in the BIOS. Check your MB manual for more info.
3) Yes, and the front USB3.0 header is just right beside the 24-pin atx power header.
4) I don't have problem with onboard sound for anything like those noise, but if you want to best sound you can buy the sound card.
5) If your SSD speeds are in 450/450 MB/s, SATA II (3gb/s)=300MB/s, and the SATA III (6gb/s) = 600MB/s. So the SSD is connected to SATAIII port, but I think it maybe your SSD is not the top one. Or you don't optimize your SSD yet. Or maybe you don't set the storage mode in AHCI. How to http://www.thessdreview.com/ssd-guides/optimization-guides/the-ssd-optimization-guide-2/

 

[Calvin7]

GA-H81M-S2H

1 Internal USB 3.0/2.0 header
2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0/1)
2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2 2/3)

GA-B85M-DS3H-A
1 Internal USB 3.0/2.0 header
4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0/1/2/3)
2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2 4/5)

Installed memory left on BIOS default values of [Auto] runs at SPD speeds (Serial Presence Detect). To run at rated specifications on the above motherboards, you would enable XMP (eXtreme Memory Profile). Note XMP is [Disabled] by default.

BIOS M.I.T (MB Intelligent Tweaker)

Extreme Memory Profile (X.M.P.) (Note)
Allows the BIOS to read the SPD data on XMP memory module(s) to enhance memory performance when enabled.
[Disabled] Disables this function. (Default)
[Profile1] Uses Profile 1 settings.
[Profile2] (Note) Uses Profile 2 settings

(Note) This item is present only when you install a CPU and a memory module that support this feature

 

[zed720]

Thanks guys, now it's all more clear.

The only concern now is how the SSD performs. Mine is this. Would there be any differences in how my SSD performs speed-wise on this particular cheap boards vs. a more expensive one or the motherboards have no real effect in how an SSD performs?

I see that it has two things for HDD's/SSD's: 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0/1) and 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2 2/3). Is there any difference between these two? Should I put my SSD into the SATA 3/6b/s or there's no gain in it? (Like PCI Express 2.0/3.0)

 

[cin19]

The Kingston V300, it is low end SSD, check out the review http://www.anandtech.com/show/6733/kingston-ssdnow-v300-review When you shop the SSD, and need check out the SSD review first, before you buy the next one.
For SSD, you always connect it into the fastest intel SATA ports, in your MB, it is the SATAIII ports (SATA3 0/1), after that do the SSD optimization.

 

[zed720]

Damn...didn't knew it was that poor, well, I bought it because was on sale, paid like 65 bucks, at least it's worth that sum and I hope is way better than a typical HDD, right?

 

[cin19]

For the daily usage you are fine, also keep the eye on the SSD, don't let the data to fill up the SSD, you need at least 15-20% space left for the trim to work.

 

[zed720]

Thank you all for your answers! Great info for a newbie like me