ASRock A785GM-LE AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 785G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Decent price, has all the connections I needed for a test machine, including onboard VGA/DVI and a PCIe x16 slot.

Cons: Not free.

Other Thoughts: This was one of my fastest builds. I built a test machine running Windows XP and a 1.5 TB WD green drive. Everything worked like clockwork and I was able to start using the machine the same day. Very stable with Team Elite 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model TEDD4096M800HC5DC.

Pros: Cheap. You can re-use old parts.

Cons: Motherboard never posted. No bios, no video, no nothing. Fans spin up, then they shut down. Manual mostly in Chinese.

Other Thoughts: Dead on arrival. Even though I had this for over a month, I just got around to doing the build now. DOA. Newegg stepped up to the bat, and got me an RMA even though it's been more than 30 days. Kudos to Newegg service. Hopefully the new one will work.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
For the mainboard manual, please visit the link at "ftp://europe.asrock.com/manual/A785GM-LE.pdf ".
Please trouble shooting the mainboard for below steps with known good components;
Turn the power off.
Remove the mainboard from inside computer to outside, place the mainboard on top of the empty mainboard’s box
Clear the CMOS
Reseat the CPU and heatsink fan as well
Test with single memory module (non-ECC, un-buffered), try with another known good memory if its same issue.
Using onboard Video
Power supply with connecting 24 pins + 4 pins ATX power to the mainboard
Plug the computer case’s power switch to mainboard's front panel power header and try again
If you have any technical questions please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: - Compatible with odd RAM sizes (1GB with 2GB cards).
- Booted up on my existing Windows 7 64-bit OS install!
- Insane BIOS options; let's you do virtually everything.

Cons: - Only installed a few hours ago, but I have no complaints so far!

Other Thoughts: - For $70 after tax, this was a steal, compared to the sad excuse for motherboards I have had.

Pros: After multiple years of operation, the AM2 motherboard running an Athlon 5050e CPU slowly failed over a few months. Installed a spare Athlon II 235e CPU (socket AM3 required) onto this ASRock A785GM motherboard, transferred the video card and RAM, plugged in the IDE hard discs with an existing Debian Wheezy operating system, and hooked up the various I/O and power cables. Was pleasantly surprised to see the system startup as normal WITHOUT having to reinstall the operating system. Excellent!

Cons: System is still operating after a couple of weeks. No problems yet.

Pros: Great Motherbord. I had an old Phenom 9950 x4 and it run like a charm with Windows XP.

Cons: none

Pros: Booted right up with a older AM2 4800 with 2 sticks of DDR2 ram

Cons: Only 2 DIMM slots

Other Thoughts: I have a ASRock board that's been running for more than a year now. I've tweaked the hell out of it and it still run's like new

Pros: works just fine, had a bunch of DDR2-800 laying around and wanted to upgrade from an Athlon 64 X2 5000+ to a Phenom II X4 that was also laying around, OC without a problem, wish it was AM3+ compatible but not knocking off any eggs for that wish

Cons: Wish it was a 990 instead of a 785

Pros: Good price and worked fairly well for about 3 weeks.

Cons: Died after 22 days from date of receipt. Powered up to Windows Vista desktop, then suddenly died after 1 minute no video out power led out, everything dead, power supply fan off. Tried several times to power it on at one point saw a quick flash of the NumLock, CapsLock and Scroll Lock lights when the power strip to the tower was enabled. At one point the computer powered up for about 2 seconds then shut down back to the same condition. That's basically it. Oh also tried several different audio drivers and was unable to configure the front panel jack to properly cutoff the speakers that are hooked up to the rear audio jack. Both of them stayed on, did several different configurations in the setup and it didn't seem to have the correct selection from the menu.

Other Thoughts: Will it be replaced for free for it has been less than 30 days and will I have time to try something else before sending it back like change the power supply or at least test it? Probably will miss the 30 day time period.
The invoice confirmation date is 5-3-2013. Problem occurred on 5-30-2013 after 3 days of being off.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Sorry to hear that the mainboard has malfunctioned after 22 days which’s due to nature of electronic product, it can happen.
Please trouble shooting the mainboard for below steps with known good components;
Turn the power off.
Remove the mainboard from inside computer to outside, place the mainboard on top of the empty mainboard’s box
Clear the CMOS
Known good power supply with connecting 24 pins + 4 pins ATX power to the mainboard
Plug the case’s power switch to mainboard's front panel power header and try again
If you have any technical questions please contact us at 909-590-8308 or http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.


Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: It worked fine for a few days...

Cons: ...then it died

Other Thoughts: I say beware of ASRock. This is my second ASRock motherboard & the other one came with a bad SATA port. My A785GM-LE quit working after a few days. I sent it back but my RMA was denied. I was told the pci-e clip was broken off. I'm fairly certain that wasn't me. I never even installed a pci-e card. Besides, a broken pci-e clip wouldn't cause the entire motherboard to die. Newegg tried to make it right (1/2 off a new one, which I appreciate), but beware that you may not have the right to a full refund for a faulty item. I get the new A785GM-LE in a few days, hopefully it works.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear ASRock Customer

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Sorry to hear that the second mainboard has malfunctioned after afew days which’s due to nature of electronic product, it can happen.
Please update replacement mainboard is working fine. If you have any technical questions or warranty issues please contact us at http://www.ASRock.com/support/tsd.asp. We can assist you shortly.

Thank you

ASRock SUPPORT
Tech Support Email: user@ASRockamerica.com

Pros: Runs well using old AM2+ 4850e cpu & 4gb DDR2 800 Ram.

Cons: At first, I was under the impression that the 4 motherboards that I brought were all bad. Had that problem once with a bad batch of 40 gig HD's years ago but never any Mobo's & especially Asrock, for as long as I have been using them,I've never had any stability problems....TILL NOW!!!!. However, the problem wasn't the Mobo's, IT WAS THE OLDER CASE THAT I WAS USING!!!!!!! The tech @ ASROCK (Same Dude) kept telling me to remove the board from the case! Apparently, the metal in the case was interfering with the frequency of the boards causing them to act erratically. Once I installed the board in a new case,absolutely no problems whatsoever.

Other Thoughts: Questionable issue with what's going on with the craftsmanship of these Mobo's. The tech couldn't explain why & I'm very disappointed because of this,not because of the extra expense of a new case but what's going on that we don't know about?