BIOSTAR TA75M+ FM1 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Good if you know how to set it up. It's not a typical beginners motherboard. But the more options the better and the price was good too.

Cons: couldn't control the fan speeds from the BIOS, the chasis fan is always 100% and rather loud.

Other Thoughts: I would use this in other builds but go with a PWM fan controller. It went into my dad's computer and he's happy just to have a working system again.

Pros: Paired with an F1 3870k APU it serves as the motherboard for my HTPC and home central server. So far is working well.

Overclock features are nice, but won't get used much in this build.

All SATA 6.0Gb/s ports are nice.

Works with S.Skill 1866mhz 16gb DDR3 memory (2x8gb).

Cons: Call me picky, but this board lacks quite a few features that I wish it had. The fan controls are garbage and lack the real user control that other boards I own have. The BIOSTAR website is pretty weak as well for drivers and support. This board wasn't even found in their search function at first, I had to Google the board's name and then found a link to the motherboard drivers that way. The on-screen desktop apps to control the functions for the board are hodge-podged together and serve little functionality where you actually need it.

Other Thoughts: I'm not sure if this is a Windows 8 mess or a BIOSTAR mess, but my HTPC this board serves is running Win 64bit and needs the Windows Boot Manager selected as Boot 1 option in order to find Windows at all. I usually like selecting my Sata DVD/Blu Ray drive as the 1st boot option in case I have a bootable CD in the drive bay I'd like to load before Windows, but when I select the Sata drive as Boot 1 and Windows Boot Manager as Boot 2, then my OCZ SSD boot drive as Boot 3... Windows doesn't load. I'm new to Win 8 and still learning it's curve (like to many others as well) so perhaps this is a Win 8 thing? Still trying to figure that out but for now I have Windows Boot Manager listed as Boot 1, then my OCZ SSD next. If I ever want to load a bootable CD into the tray, I switch the option in BIOS first.

Pros: It worked as expected. And, it's continued to work the last 11 months. It has 2 tactile switches and a debug LED which made some of the testing go a lot faster.

Cons: It's hard to set up. The BIOS is the most confusing I've ever seen. There are still some options I can't find without the help of the manual.

Other Thoughts: This was the third board I bought for a specific build; the first two failed miserably. As such I have some tolerance for a board that did everything I wanted it to, even if it is user unfriendly. The debug LED and tactile switches on the motherboard were helpful while I had the case open and not attached to a monitor, etc (after the first 2 failed I tested this many, many times during the build process to make certain nothing was messed up).

Assuming you don't change BIOS settings often this motherboard isn't a bad choice.

Pros: Easy installation. I find that the board is plenty spacious and lets you have lots of slack in your cabling. The memory capacity is solid, and this board really flies.

CPU is also very fast, the computer starts up quickly. This is a very compatible set.

Cons: The onboard video can be a bit tricky with Ubuntu Linux since it's a Radeon. However, adding a Screen subsection to your Xorg.conf will get you to where you need to go once the drivers are installed. It's working flawlessly now.

Other Thoughts: I'd definitely buy this system again. It feels like it would be wonderful with Windows as well.

Pros: A75 chipset, SATA III and USB 3.0

Cons: The BIOS is not that great, provided software doen't work all the time, and the User's manual is a waist.

Other Thoughts: I feel as if the big company just stabbed me in the back. Sent out the rebate and waited for 6 months to find out I didn’t write the rebate code on the back of the envelope with that I was rejected the $15. It wasn’t that the mother board was a part of a combo deal, but I at one time liked the company. With this little shortfall with Biostar, I will never support this company or recommend upgrading any computer with this company’s produces.

Manufacturer Response:

please contact gerry@biostar-usa.com for rebate inquiries, thanks

Pros: Board worked great out of box. Has cooled VRM's for overclocking, BioRemote 2 is nifty, currently running A8-3870k with a 6670 getting killer OC and FPS. I Usually hate BioStar but this is a great board.

Cons: Not the boards fault but I really hate UEFI.....

Pros: Nice looking red box.

Cons: Just does not work. Biostar is NO HELP! Won't return email and won't answer the phone. If you buy this board you are on your own. The manual and web site offer NO INSIGHT!

Other Thoughts: I have built serveral PC's using Biostar boards. This is the first to really need some help from Biostar, and they havd failed completely. I am going to build my PC's with some else's mobo that will stand behind their product.

The review forced me to give the board one egg.

Manufacturer Response:

Sorry to hear of your troubles, please contact gerry@biostar-usa.com for or call 626-581-1055 menu 2. Biostar does stand by their products and will help, but before we can help we hope to get in touch with you first. Thank You.

Pros: I like the bios and the software and pretty much everything about the board does an amazing job WHEN IT WORKS.

Cons: Like others have stated previously their tech support is garbage, extreme garbage. When i turn it on i get a black screen i have to hit reset about three times before it sends video this is really ridiculous and the error codes arent defined in the manual which sucks.

Other Thoughts: Some people say they are having problems updating the bios....well it really isnt that difficult no offense but they just dont know what they are doing. This mobo definitely is not for a beginner. amazing for an htpc and for gaming.

Pros: 6gb/s,32gb mem, 7.1 audio, 192khz 24bit audio, new better looking bios, usb 3.0, hdmi

Cons: the bios utility on the biostar webpage wouldnt work. had to use bio utility from ta790gxb to update bios on this mb. i guess i could have downloaded the bios utility from any of the other amd mb from the websight and it would have worked

Other Thoughts: got this board new on web for $42.00. cost $10.00 to get a i/o shield from biostar. including shipping. $68.00 for a tb hitachi 7200rpm hd at office max. and antec 650earthwatts 59.00 and a8-3870k 139.00 from newegg,used an old micro atx case from an old computer for the ultimate budget builder computer system

Pros: Reasonable price

Cons: Customer service was ineffective. Owners' manual is badly translated. Error codes are not specific.

Other Thoughts: This unit arrived and seemed in good condition. Upon installation it failed to start. All connections were checked, and also reviewed by a professional. It has intermittant error codes that are not really defined anywhere and so it runs, and then just goes dead without any real way to troubleshoot. It is being returne for and replaced with a MB of a manufacturer with a better reputation.