Question 1

What is the required power supply?  I see the 24-pin, but what wattage is minimum?  Does a 250W PSU work with this?

Accepted Answer

I believe the suggested minimum wattage was 450 watts; but your power requirements will be dependant on what you put on the motherboard.
For instance; I have 16 Gb memory and 6 core processor on mine; as well as a solid state Hard Drive and a 3 Tb Hard Drive; and a hot video card (Ati Radeon 7850)
I also have 6 case fans.
All of these items require power.
I run a 650 watt power supply.
My suggestion is to go with the largest power supply you can afford; preferably a gaming power supply (which gives you more options for powering future additions(i.e. Video Card))

Question 2

is it compatible with amd phenom x4 9550 processor ?

Accepted Answer

No. The amd phenom x4 9550 is a AM2 socket processor and this M/B does not support it.

Question 3

does anyone know if this supports sound through the hdmi cable, like if i hooked it to a tv?

Accepted Answer

I know it does great for HD audio through HDMI to High Def Televisions when the drivers get installed over the internet connection via the OS. Its a super budget board with good value especially for HDTV (not modern HD gaming). But don't make the mistake of installing the FX processor without interpreting the instructions to do so.  I have learned that lesson myself for their previous AM3 chip-sets. The AM3 CPU I bought was easier to use than my 8-core FX AM3+ CPU, not sure how to explain without overstating things, this is NOT a 'state of the art' main board. But it does work well enough when taking care installing components. I highly recommend a low-profile build for this board also.

(Elaborate on my 'neutral' reply if you can . . . readers with better AMD savvy.)

Question 4

memory ram support???

Accepted Answer

I installed standard DDR3 1600 memory sticks in the board with no problems. This board has 2 slots that can run up to 1866 GHz memory and compatability should be across many brands sold on Newegg without problems as long as you input the correct speed and voltage into bios. Hope this helps!

Question 5

will an AM3 cpu work in this board?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this board will support AM3 processors up to 95 watts. I know the Newegg ad info says up to 125 watt, but on the ECS website for this board it only lists processors up to 95 watt. So it looks to me like it only supports processors up to 95 watt rating. Hope this helps.

Question 6

I have a 6 or 7 year old computer and the motherboard is fried, how do I know which motherboard to buy or what is compatible?
alex

Accepted Answer

You will need:
-CPU (Central Processing Unit) (Processor)
-Motherboard
-Memory (DDR3 Most likely) (RAM)
-HDD (Hard Drive Disk)
-GPU (Graphical Processing Unit)
-CD-Drive
-Power Supply
-Computer Case

The mother board is most important when it comes to compatibility.

-The Socket Type will tell you what kind of CPU you can run. This runs a AM3+ socket. This will support several AMD CPUs. Be careful that you don't get a FM2 or FM2+ socket CPU because It will to be compatible. AM2 or AM2+ Will also not be compatible with this board.

-The Memory slots are defined by pin number and supported speed standards. This Motherboard has 240 pin  memory slots. Most memory for desktops is 240 pin. The speeds that are compatible are 1866, 1800, 1600, 1333 and 1066. Also It can only support up to 16 GB of memory so don't get anymore then that ( If you are planning on getting anywhere close to that you should be buying a different motherboard)

-HDDs are almost all using SATA now days so most of them will work. Just make sure it uses SATA

-GPUs or Graphics Cards now days mostly run on PCI-E x16. This motherboard contains one PCI-E x16 2.0 slot on it so you can plug one in there. The description says it has not on-board video chip-set but it has a HDMI and VGA port so I'm not sure what to think of that. I doubt it will be able to run anything intensive.

-CD-Drives all run on SATA now days so just make sure the CD-Drive is SATA. Also this Motherboard has 4 SATA ports.

-Because of the size of the mother board I doubt you would need more then 400 Watts, But Newegg has a power calculator if you want to find out specifics.

- This is a Micro ATX Mother board. ATX is the normal size for a motherboard. The case simple need to support the size indicated on the motherboard. Sometime things like GPUS won't fit if the Case is too small.

These are the basic points and parts needed for a computer.

Question 7

is ahtlon II  compatile with am3+cpu dual ddr3 1800?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Athlon II is compatible see ECS Elitegroup website, search A960M-M4 then look at the CPU list

Question 8

will this board work with an AMD 785G or 780V processor?

Accepted Answer

785G and 780V are not references to processor numbers. They refer to the type of chipsets that are installed on motherboards. The type of motherboards are most often referred to by the type of socket that you put the processor into. The ECS A960-M4 is a Socket AM3+ type motherboard. It can operate with processors that are designed for either Socket AM3 or Socket AM3+. This basically means that you can use any of the Phenom II, Athlon II, or the FX series of processors (cpu's). The best way to check on this is to go to ECS's website and look up the A960M-M4 motherboard. On the page for that motherboard will be a bunch of tabs. Select the "CPU" tab to see a list of cpu's that this board will accept. Select the "Memory" tab to see a list of memory that has been tested to work on this motherboard. Other types of memory may work on this board if it is the correct speed/freqency and correct number of pins (or terminals). Hope this helps you out.

Question 9

is it compatible with amd phenom x4 9550 processor ?

Accepted Answer

Check the CPU support list from ECS .

Question 10

This product has a VGA out and HDMI out, yet it says there is no built in graphics on the board. The CPUs this socket supports are NOT APU's- so basically I'm confused as to where the video output is coming from for those ports. If the chipset being used is the 760G then it should have ATI Radeon 3000 graphics built-in correct?

Accepted Answer

The board itself has a built-in graphics chip.  And yes, it's the Radeon 3000

Brand	ECS
Model	A960M-M4 (1.0)

CPU Socket Type	AM3+
CPU Type	FX-Series/Phenom II

Chipset	AMD 760G
South Bridge	AMD SB710

Number of Memory Slots	2x240pin
Memory Standard	DDR3 1866(OC)/1800/1600/1333/1066
Maximum Memory Supported	16GB
Channel Supported	Dual Channel

PCI Express 2.0 x16	1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16
PCI Express x1	1 x PCI Express x1

ECS A960M-M4 (1.0) AM3+ AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Learn more about the ECS (EliteGroup) A960M-M4 (1.0)

Customer Reviews of the ECS (EliteGroup) A960M-M4 (1.0)

Warranty & Returns

Warranty, Returns, And Additional Information

Warranty

Return Policies

Manufacturer Contact Info

PS/2	2
LPT	1
Video Ports	D-Sub
HDMI	1 x HDMI
USB 1.1/2.0	4 x USB 2.0
Audio Ports	3 Ports

Onboard USB	4 x USB 2.0
Other Connectors	1 X 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector 1 X 4-pin 12V Power connector 1 X 4-pin CPU_FAN connector with smart fan 1 X 3-pin SYS_FAN connector 1 X Serial port header (COM)

Form Factor	Micro ATX
Dimensions (W x L)	8.27" x 7.48"
Power Pin	24 Pin

Onboard Audio
Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC662
Audio Channels	6 Channels

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

Item#: N82E16813135361