BIOSTAR A780L AM2+/AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: 4 years running strong
Biostar solidified my opinion on them after purchasing 5 boards with no failures.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: Biostar has developed into a Solid company. Bang for the buck!

Pros: Plug in hardware and booted right up easy build.

Cons: nothing yet everything is running real smooth

Pros: Easiest install in quite some time. Replaced an MSI K9 that some idiot tech at an office supply shop shorted out. The MSI was my build and my customer took it to a punk with a certificate in a chain store. This board was swapped in less than 10 minutes and booted without event the first time. No conflicts whatsoever! Very noticeable jump in speed with the recycled 4400+ AM2 and Corsair 667 2GB.

Cons: None. Probably won't last as long as my 12 year old Epox MVP board that is still running a K6-3 450.

Other Thoughts: First time I have used Biostar and am quite impressed.

Pros: The OC on this motherboard is very nice and easy

Cons: At first I had trouble with it because it kept saying windows 7 not genuine... new software install. Had to call up microsoft and get it fixed...After everything was stable this motherboard been running like a champ

Pros: Everything about this board is excellent, much better than I expected. I have other Biostar boards and Biostar is a high quality board manufacturer in my opinion. There is an unlocking option in the BIOS for AMD CPUs. The BIOS is quite complete and better than I thought such would be on a non-gaming board.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Thsi board is part of a just completed micro-ATX build. Other components are: AMD Phenom II X2 545 Callisto (OEM version), retail AMD Phenom II heatsink/fan, Rosewill R379 M micro-ATX case with PS, WD 500 Gb Caviar "Blue" HD, Samsung SH-S203B DVD/CD burner, and 4 Gb ADATA DDr2 800 Premier RAM. CPU proved to have 2 defective cores, which could not be enabled via the BIOS, but the 2 working cores at 3.00 Ghz makes for a very good general PC for my sister.

Pros: None that I can see. The motherboard never worked. Refused to install windows onto my hard drive.

Cons: It didn't work.

Other Thoughts: I'll stick with Gigabyte motherboards. I never had a problem out of those.

Manufacturer Response:

Sorry to hear of your troubles, this model is one of Biostar's top sellers in the market. Recommend that you contact our technical support staff to assist you, 626-581-1055 menu 2 or email support@Biostar-usa.com

Pros: Packs a lot for the size and price. Breeze to install. Everything booted 1st try.

Cons: For some reason it was reading the IDE drive as a floppy drive at first. I managed to fix it, was probably something I did wrong anyway. Moved the pin to master position, not sure if the pin in the wrong spot made it read as floppy.

Other Thoughts: A previous reviewer stated there is a core unlocker, have not figured out how to access it yet.

Manufacturer Response:

Core unlocking can be done by
1. Advanced Clock Calibration default disabled - change to All Cores
2. HT Link Speed default Auto - change to 1.6GHz
3. HT Link Width default Audo - change to 16bit

Pros: - PRICE
- Functionality
- BIOunlocKING (Advanced Clock Calibration)
- EASE and even STABILITY of overclocking
- Compatibility (AM2/AM2+/AM3)
- On-Board Graphics. Outperforms dedicated 8400GS
- Board Layout (Surprisingly..)
- Driver Disc was simple

I could go on and on about how happy I am with my purchase. But I'll just lay it out simply:

I am buying a brand new computer at tax time from The Egg. But I wanted something to game in the meantime; SO I bought this motherboard. Along side it I picked up a Sempron 140 2.7GHz Single-Core Processor for $29.99 on sale.

Simple as plug and play. Installed good ol' windows xp pro, installed my drivers. Rebooted, went into BIOS. Unlocked second core, CHECK. Stability tested in XP? Check! Reboot, overclocked to 223mhz FSB x 13.5 Multi. 3.0GHz, tested stable?

CHECK!

Best bang for buck motherboard/cpu combo I've had the chance to land to this date.

Cons: No USB headers.

I put this in an old HP A1743W tower and that thing comes with quite a few front panel connections (Front USB / Card Reader / Front Audio) but no connectivity on the board. No need to deduct an egg though, I DID know this before purchasing. You should too.

Also, one IDE connection. But who uses those anymore? Just pick up a Slave/Master IDE ribbon and you're set. I just needed IDE to transfer files from an old HDD and to use my DVD Burner.

Other Thoughts: If you're looking for an amazing value board, then hit ADD TO CART above. Unlocking the Sargas core on the AMD Sempron 140 2.7GHz into a Regor Dual-Core AMD Athlon II X2 4400e running @ 3.0GHz stock clocks AND with amazing temps (23c idle 34c load) on the STOCK HSF?! YOU CANNOT BEAT IT!

HP a1743w Silver mid-ATX Case
Raidmax 500w Power Supply (came with a Smilodon)
Biostar A780L Rev. 62 (as according to the board)
AMD Sempron 140 (Unlocked/Overclocked to AIIX2 3.0GHz)
4GB PC6400-800mhz Samsung DDR2 @ 880mhz / 6-6-6-18
896mb EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 55nm SuperClocked

Talk about a cheap build.... This is lasting until two weeks when I spend my tax check @ NewEgg!

Pros: Small size with just enough features to make it worthwhile for office or home use. Surprisingly cooler running GPU than my 78S board (w/8400GS)... Quick trouble-free build.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Vista 64 did not pickup a driver for it on install. Had to use its accompanied disk for the nic driver and reset the cable modem for new IP. Nice quick little board with a Callisto (AM3) CPU @ 1066FSB (DDR2). Probably will be buying a video card for the newer games.

Pros: Previous reviewer said everything that almost could be said.
Pretty good board, overclocks fairly easy and could unlock CPU cores if needed [Uses SB 710].
Wide range of DDR2 bandwidth.

Cons: The HD audio won't recognize that my mic isn't a headset. Sometimes while I have mic in Front panel it would switch the audio between the back panel and front panel 3.5 mm audio ports. Taking the mic out fixes it, but this could be a issue during gaming.
I game and this is been a slight issue, not something to rage over.

Other Thoughts: Its a great board. Stable and could overclock easy when precise [v] control.