Question 1

Does the mother board come with mounting screws and hardware?

Accepted Answer

yes it comes with mounting screws and CD for drivers and if I remember right it comes with some sata 2 cables as for hardware you would have to be more specific if you mean a psu (power supply unit) and CPU for hardware no it does not. I hope my answer was helpful.

Question 2

Is this thing compatible with 64 bit windows?

Accepted Answer

Yes! But FYI the determining factor for 64 bit compatibility  doesn't have to do with what hardware you have (64bit is standard for all processors released at this point), but basically allows windows (and the programs you run) to be able to utilize the hardware's full performance.

Question 3

Would it be possible to use a standard GPU plugged into the PCI-Express slot, given that it already has an onboard graphics chipset?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

To more accurately describe that.

There are PCI, PCIe, PCIe x1,x4,x8, and x16 slots on motherboards.
 
This motherboard has one PCIe x16 slot on it designed for GPU's such as an AMD or NVidia card. Though you will want to double check the dimensions of your case for clearance before getting a higher end card. The PCIe x16 is the blue slot on the board There is also a standard PCI slot, (The long off-white one at the bottom.) and a PCI x1. (The short slot just above the blue one.)

I hope this helps.

Question 4

OK this product states 1866(OC), so I use 1866 or over clock the 1600 memory?

Accepted Answer

I would use 1866 memory because you would have to use higher end cooling solutions for your 1600 memory. You can do either but what I did is I used 1600 memory because it was the best ballance of latency and clock speed. I did not ramp it all the way up to 1866 because of the above stated requirements.

You can use 1866 RAM if you want to. If you want to go that fast on the RAM clock then it is the right choice.

Question 5

Would this work well with a FX6300 proccessor? It says it is only 95watts and this board seems like it should support it. Also, do you know if I could overclock the CPU with this motherboard?

Accepted Answer

I have two of these boards.  One of them doesn't support my 6300 no matter what I do.  The second one runs it underclocked at 2.8 GHz perfectly.  When I get around 3.2 GHz, it gives me issues.  The computer becomes unresponsive and won't run until I put in a Sempron I have laying around and underclock it to match a lower clock on the 6300.  Don't ask me how this works, as I don't understand how/why either.  I'd recommend spending about 10-20 dollars more on something better, though.

Question 6

will Am3 cpu work in AM3+ board?

Accepted Answer

Yes. I purchased the board as replacement for one I accidently broke something off (can't remember) during installation. To save some money I purchased this board to use the CPU I already had (AMD Athlon II X2 270 Regor Dual-Core 3.4GHz Socket AM3 65W Desktop Processor ADX270OCGMBOX). I am using the built as a home server with Windows Server 2011 which has been running 24/7 since Nov 2013.

Question 7

Will this board work with an FX-8350? I'm using PC Parts Picker and it is showing that the parts are incompatible, but I'm failing to see why.

Accepted Answer

I'm running the 8150.  As long as the core voltage is OK, and as long as the required wattage is OK, and as long as the FSB is good, I think it should work.  Remember this board is a little bit dated, but as long as the BIOS has instructions for the 8350, I'd give it a go.  As I'm sure you have, go to a few forums and see what the people smarter than me are saying.

Question 8

is it true that it does NOT have a USB 3 header on it?

Accepted Answer

Yes it is true. This board has two USB 2.0 headers on the bottom of the motherboard. ( You can see this in the pictures on this page)

It's a solid board, and I have been using it for over a year now without any issues at all.

Question 9

The 960gm-vgs3 does not have front panel speaker connection   why, how am i to hear beep codes?

Accepted Answer

It has the 4 pin connector for the Speaker.  If you don't have a speaker on your computer case, you can buy a small speaker with connector cable from newegg to use in place of one in the computer case

Question 10

Can you use a single stick of RAM on this motherboard? I see two dual channel slots and I dont know if using just 1 stick of 1600 RAM is compatible

Accepted Answer

It supports dual channel ram and can be used for a single ram module as well

Brand	ASRock
Model	960GM/U3S3 FX

CPU Socket Type	95W Socket AM3+
CPU Type	AMD Phenom II X6 / X4 / X3 / X2 (except 920 / 940) / Athlon II X4 / X3 / X2 / Sempron
FSB	2600 MHz

Chipset	AMD 760G + SB710
South Bridge	AMD SB710

Number of Memory Slots	2x240pin
Memory Standard	DDR3 1866(OC) /1600(OC) /1333 /1066 /800
Maximum Memory Supported	16GB
Channel Supported	Dual Channel

PCI Express 2.0 x16	1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (blue @ x16 mode)
PCI Express x1	1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot
PCI Slots	1 x PCI Slot

ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX 95W Socket AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Learn more about the ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX

Customer Reviews of the ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX

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Warranty, Returns, And Additional Information

Warranty

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Manufacturer Contact Info

PATA	1 x ATA133 2 Dev. Max
Serial ATA (SATA)	2 x SATA 6Gb/s
SATA RAID	4 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s Support RAID 0, 1, 10 and JBOD

PS/2	1 x PS/2 Mouse Port 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
Video Ports	D-Sub + DVI
RJ45	1 x RJ45
USB 3.0	2 x USB 3.0
USB 1.1/2.0	4 x USB 2.0
Audio Ports	HD Audio Jack: Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

Onboard USB	4 x USB 2.0
Other Connectors	1 x IR header 1 x CIR header 1 x Print port header 1 x COM port header CPU/Chassis/Power FAN connector 24 pin ATX power connector 4 pin 12V power connector CD in header Front panel audio connector

Form Factor	Micro ATX
Dimensions (W x L)	9.6" x 7.8"
Power Pin	24 Pin

Onboard Audio
Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC662
Audio Channels	5.1 Channels

Onboard LAN
LAN Chipset	Realtek 8111E
Max LAN Speed	1Gbps

Item#: N82E16813157323