Question 1

Will three sticks of 2 gig ram work or do I need to go to four?

Accepted Answer

I checked the manual and the website and there is no mention of this. They do specify DDR3 only and to use the same memory in each DIMM if in dual channel mode.

The recommendation is usually to install DIMMS in pairs.
I suspect you will not be in dual channel mode using 3 But they may still work.

If this is ram you already have then you could give it a try.
If your buying new I would stick with pairs.

Hope this helps.

Question 2

is this board compatible to windows 8.1?

Accepted Answer

Yes.. drivers are on cd that comes with it.  Great mobo running very well.  I'm using the a8-6600 chip .. graphics are great.

Question 3

I see no onboard video chipset under specifications but do see video ports on the motherboard. Can I get by using this without a video card to star? No need for graphics card as it will be used for basic browsing and word processing mainly. I have dual GTX 670s in one PC and  a Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

AMDs FM2 processors have a built in graphics architecture that provides the card the video for the 3 ports. 
You can check out the AMD A10 series to find out a better understanding of this if you wish. I am using an A10-5700 and it does great keeping up with streaming videos and my home theatre set up.
 I don't kick it with super fast graphics, I just like watching video without hesitation or stuttering. Hope this helps.

Question 4

will this motherboard supply ANY kind of video to my existing VGA monitor?

Accepted Answer

If I understand your question correctly, yes it will. It has a VGA output as well as HDMI and DVI. I actually used the VGA one for now until I buy a better monitor.

But if you mean will it display without a video card, using the onboard video, the answer depends. Some AMD CPUs tmare APUs that have integrated video without the need for a separate (discrete) card.  I chose the A10-6800k because this board supports it, and that is an APU. I am running great with no video/graphics card at all, with this setup. Do check the compatibility of other AMD chips, though. I was thinking of buying another A-series (5600, 6400, 5800? Something like that), still a FM2/FM2plus, but it wasn't listed, so I got this one. And love it.

There may be APUs that need a discrete card, not sure if all APUs can run without one. AMD ones that need one say on the box 'discrete video card required' or somewhere in the product specs or manual. Check those, you'll be glad you did.

I am not sure which video cards are supported by this board/APU combo that I have, and lucky for me, the APU worked great without it. Video is good. Not sure if I will get a card, as I game only on the PS3.

Be prepared to flash the BIOS with a USB drive, as I found loading the drivers from the disk and using Live Update 5 just wouldn't do it. They would load but it wouldn't take! Easy fix to flash the BIOS. Only the Renesas USB 3.0 Driver wouldn't take. Loaded it from them directly, not MSI, and it works fine. Quirky that Live Update thinks it is not loaded at all, no driver at all, and yet I am using it no problem (fast!!).

I like this board and would buy another one in a heartbeat. Especially now after I figured out the driver goofies.

Question 5

Can this motherboard work with AMD A8-5600K Trinity 3.6GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 100W Quad-Core Desktop APU?

Accepted Answer

As long as the CPU or APR is an FM2 or FM2+ it should work,  I would use at least a 500W power supply though.  I have a 630 Corsair full modular paired with mine.  MoBo works great.  I also use a Crucial SSD 240 Gb for my OS and critical software and a WD 1TB for Data and non

Question 6

Why does this motherboard have a VGA and DVI connector on it if it does NOT have any video capabilities as per the specifications?

Accepted Answer

The type of Processor it uses Is an APU which has the Graphics built into the CPU. Which is why it has a VGA and DVI.

Question 7

Is this board good for the AMD A10 5800k 3.8GB APU? could i run the integrated graphics on this board? and i may sound stiuped what what are the black, orange, and gray audio parts for? i know what the green. blue, and pink are for but I never knew what the black,g ray and orange were for.

Accepted Answer

Yes the A10 5800K will work great with this Motherboard and you can also run an additional Graphics Card if you wish. Graphics memory will be shared.
Heres a graph of Audio Ports:

Color 	Connector
Lime Green-Line-Out, Front Speakers, Headphones
Pink-Microphone
Light Blue-Stereo Line In
Orange- Subwoofer and Center out
Black- Rear Surround Speakers for 5.1 and 7.1 systems
Gray-Middle Surround Speakers for 7.1 systems
Gold- Midi / Game port (Joystick)

Hope this helps

Question 8

Will this ram work with this motherboard?
Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model TLD38G2133HC10QDC01

Accepted Answer

Yes! Good thinking, the 2133 will really help increase the performance of an APU. I just made a build with this MB and used G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8gb (2 x 4gb) 2133 and the system is running very smoothly and fast. Runs Battlefield 4 perfectly w/o graphics card. I would recommend the G.Skill Ripjaws Series RAM it is fantastic in performance and exceed my expectations. This is a great motherboard, the BIOS is awesome and very easy to use. It has many features that are very handy especially if you are looking to overclock. It also came with 60 days free Norton Security which was much appreciated, great anti-virus that is affordable and does not hog resources like some. You will not be disappointed with this MB :)

Question 9

Does this mobo have wifi built in or do I need to purchase separate card?

Accepted Answer

You will need to buy an wireless network adapter for this board, as there isn't one built in.

Question 10

Does this support crossfire? Im new to building computers

Accepted Answer

I thought this was a silly question until I checked the box it came in and then the manual. I could not find any claims about supporting crossfire. But I had the idea that it did, so I opened up my case to look at the motherboard itself and at the end of slot PCI1 the PC board says AMD CrossfireX. There are 2 PCI_E slots on the MB. 
So because the MB suggests it might, yet there is no mention on the box or manual, I would say "Maybe." 
The star feature of the FM2/FM2+ processors is the built in graphics. So adding even 1 video card would seem to be negating a big part of the reason for choosing this processor/MB combination.

CPU Socket Type	FM2+ / FM2
CPU Type	Athlon/A- Series

Number of Memory Slots	4x240pin
Memory Standard	DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333
Maximum Memory Supported	64GB
Channel Supported	Dual Channel

PCI Express 3.0 x16	1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16
PCI Express 2.0 x16	1 (running at x4)
PCI Express x1	1 x PCI Express x1
PCI Slots	1 x PCI Slot

Serial ATA (SATA)	6 x SATA 6Gb/s
SATA RAID	0/1/10

Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC887
Audio Channels	7.1 Channels

MSI A78M-E45 FM2+ / FM2 AMD A78 (Bolton D3) USB 3.0 HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

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Back I/O Ports	1 x D-Sub / 1 x DVI-D / 1 x HDMI / 2 x PS/2 / 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 / 4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 / 6 x Audio Jacks
PS/2	1 x PS/2 keyboard port 1 x PS/2 mouse port
Video Ports	1 x VGA 1 x DVI-D
HDMI	1 x HDMI
USB 3.0	4 x USB 3.0
USB 1.1/2.0	2 x USB 2.0
Audio Ports	6 Ports

Onboard USB	2 x USB 3.0 + 4 x USB 2.0
Other Connectors	1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector 1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector 1 x 4-pin system fan connector 1 x 3-pin system fan connector 1 x Front panel audio connector 2 x System panel connectors 1 x Chassis Intrusion connector 1 x TPM module connector 1 x Serial port connector 1 x Parallel port connector 1 x Clear CMOS jumper

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

Onboard LAN
LAN Chipset	Realtek RTL8111G
Max LAN Speed	1Gbps

Item#: N82E16813130747