Foxconn Cinema II Deluxe AM3 AMD 785G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Thanks to Rick @ Foxconn support for getting my replacement retention bracket to me with the Ninja quickness. I was put of by Foxconn's website, as it runs terrible (Try downloading some drivers from the website sometime). Once I was able to get the support request through, Rick took care of my problem with ease.

I like this board now more than ever. Consider your applicaton. Then consider this board. It really is great in a HTPC/Media application. Foxconn's HD4200 IGP is excellent as well. Overall a rock solid board with few surprises other than its great performance and accessories.

Cons: The website (though I checked it out before purchasing this board, so I did know in advance).

Runs CPU's voltages a tad too high.

Temp sensing on the motherboard is slightly wacky.

Other Thoughts: After trying to get RMAs for two products plus this CPU retention bracket I was feeling like I was getting nowhere. I'm not much closer to resolutions on the other issues but Foxconn's support was spot on. I can't say how painful a RMA the mobo back would be if it was neccessary, but the speed and attentiveness of Rick @ Foxconn support is noteworthy.

Thanks Rick!

Pros: Everything works as advertised. We use this for an entertainment PC(obviously) that pumps out movies, TV, and video games with an added GTX460 graphics card. It keeps up just fine with our other bigger gaming machines. Board runs cool. The remote is plug and play. Overall quality of parts is very high. Motherboard looks great in windowed case.

Cons: If you have or are planning on putting in a discrete graphics card in the available PCIE16 slot, be aware that there isn't much room for large vid card coolers if you plan on using the adjacent pci slot(the only one available for the included network card). We used a Galaxy GTX460 that just barely fits.
The network card may be a little hard for some to configure.

Other Thoughts: All in all you get a lot in one great little package. We are happy.
Oh and this mobo has an 8pin instead of the four pin cpu power. Your 4pin will work, but I overlooked this and would've liked to have known.

Pros: Love the USB remote, HDMI, sound ports and USB ports.

Cons: none yet

Other Thoughts: This was a contract build for me and I love it.

Pros: Months later it is still an excellent, full featured board.

Cons: */
The the heat sink retention bracket broke quite unexpectedly, causing the cpu to overheat. The thermal protection kicked in, but not in time. And what sort of massive heat sink was I using?? A stock AMD heat sink. I think the cpu is trashed. I'm trying to get in touch with Foxconn to see if they can send me a new one, but I'd be very surprised if anyone takes up the matter. /*

Other Thoughts: A sad turn in the life of an otherwise decent product.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Please contact us directly at Foxconn online contact system(http://www.foxconnsupport.com/inquiry.aspx),and tell us your contact information.and then we will ask our US RMA this issue.

Thank you.

Foxconn Support Team

Pros: Full featured, good accessories -- see my previous review.

I incorrectly stated that it does not support AHCI in bios... it does in fact support ACPI/native IDE modes.
I have had some trouble with AHCI drivers, though I don't believe that it is the fault of the board.`

Cons: See my previous review.

I like the heatsinks. they look good and work well, but prevented me from using the Scythe Shuriken I had for this board. It fits, but I couldn't secure the tightening mechanism due to the heatsink. I used a thermaltake tr2 r1 instead.

Other Thoughts: Its not perfect (see my previous review), but it is pretty good. Add in the remote and wlan router card, and its a great value.

Pros: If you're wanting an HTPC, it's nice to have the Windows Media Center remote included with this mobo.

Cons: 8 pin CPU connector. IMO, any decent mobo mfr. should have the foresight to include an adapter wiring harness that takes the 4pin cpu wire, and a 4in molex wire and terminates to an 8pin cpu connector. Most standard PUSs that I've dealt with don't have 8 pin cpu terminations, Especially if you're putting this mobo in a case with a PSU bundled.

I would suggest buying the following adapter if your PSU doesn't have 8 pin CPU capability:

StarTech EPS48ADAP 6in 4 Pin to 8 Pin EPS Power Adapter with LP4

This mobo was acting squirrely when I had only 4 pin CPU power going to it, and so far it's been fine since I installed this adapter.

Pros: Great onboard video -- 128mb of onboard DDR3 combined with the ATI HD 4200 chipset is good for digital video/DVDs/BluRays. I even tried a Sempron 140, and running PowerDVD 8 to watch Blurays only uses about 7% cpu. The ATI driver/hardware combo does a good job accelerating full HD video.

Great multichannel audio.

Onboard HDMI (See "other thoughts")

Included remote is great for Windows Media Center and Hulu Desktop.

I haven't used the PCI wireless router, but it makes a lot of sense if you have a computer adjacent to a TV. I have a BluRay player and Xbox 360 next to my tv, so I can put my cable modem by the tv, plug it in to the wireless router card, then wire up my 360 and internet enabled BD player with a minimum of clutter. Nice to know that I can. The computer doesn't need to be on for the card to work.

Looks cool. Nice heat sinks. Seems stable.

Makes a great Small Form Factor HTPC or cheap intergrated video solution.

Cons: Not many cons...

The board doesn't support core unlocking. I have three confirmed unlockable AMD3 processors, and if there is a way to do it through the ACC feature, then I'm out of the loop. It's not a big dea thoughl. I discovered that I really only need a sempron 140 to handle the video/streaming I'm doing with this board.

It doesn't support ACPI in the bios, and I have had trouble getting the drivers to work in Win7. I have an Asus M4a785td-M EVO in my main rig with an OCZ Agility SSD which needs AHCI for fast operation but Native IDE mode for updates. I have an intel SSD I want to use in the Cinema II, but until I figure this part out, I'll just stick with a regular drive. After all, I'm basically just using this to watch Hulu and video's on a 47" LED, so the whole AHCI thing tweaks me, but really isn't neccessary.

Sempron 140 + Cinema II > Atom //any day of the week

Other Thoughts: Lastly, when using HDMI over *any* ATI device, the video output is underscanned by default. If the TV/Monitor you're using doesn't justify the image, you'll have a smaller, decidedly less crisp image. You have to use the ATI Catalyst Control center to adjust the scaling options. Even after you adjust it, I can never get one of my tv's to scale 1:1 with it. The LG 47" justifies the image and looks great. The 22" 1080p LED Element TV I use doen't justify the image, so it will never look right. The image is never scaled right. It looks terrible.

So the only options are:

*Use dsub or DVI on the display and a seper

*Get an nVidia card with HDMI/Audio bitstreaming.

*Find a registry hack to map the picture 1:1
(This has been tried unsuccessfully).

Most high quality consumer TV's have a "just scan" option which will stop this terrible problem. This is not the fault of the motherboard... it just all ATI devices with HDMI. Every single one.

Pros: I purchase mine 45 days ago but I put together my build 30 days ago.
I use this mobo in my everyday system, HTPC, and game pc, so far the system has been able to deal properly with the load, I have an phenom 965 and 5 gigs of ram with two hdd 1.5TG HDD for data and a 250GB hdd for OS.
The price its low compared with the amount of features the mobo comes and the BIOS has a lot of options for OC, plus the remote and the wan card are good additions.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: I had to purchase a SATA DVD drive to compensate for the lack of IDE Support, so take that in consideration if you are upgrading from and old system and want to reuse some of the parts.
I’m using and ATI 4850 so I don’t know how the integrated video card actually perform. Everything else works like a charm.

Pros: Cool remote, easy setup, I've had the board for a month now, and had no problems with it at all. Overclocking is very simple Running my Phenom II X2 555 B.E. @ 3.8 w/stock cooling. actually had had it up to 4.0 w/Foxone for a bit, but then it froze.

Cons: Another reviewer said his southbridge was 750, but in CPU-Z mine lists as SB700 and not SB710 as the box states

Other Thoughts: I have not been able to unlock my cpu in ACC, but I am new to Unlocking/Overclocking. But, I have not been able to make the board hang or crash with my experimenting either. If anyone has had success or some tips I would be grateful.

System stats:
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Coolermaster ATC 620C BX1
Foxconn Cinema II Deluxe
AMD Phenom II X2 555 B.E.
Crucial Ballistic DDR3 1333 (2GB stick)
500GB Caviar HDD
Antec Neopower 500W PS

Pros: Nice little motherboard have a phenom x4 965 in place works good. Dolby Digital Live and DTS live sound very good with my mp3 collection. Remote is nice and the router is a plus (you don't need to have the computer turned on like previous poster said) for the router to work.

Cons: Built in video is not the greatest so I replaced with xfx 5750 now I can also bitstream hd master audio. As well as play all the modern games on my HTPC.

Other Thoughts: Put this in a Silverstone GD05B case and it will compliment your AV equipment very well.