AMD 780G or 790GX Chipset

[MaxDepth]

I have 690G mobo from Gigabyte and works very well.

However, as I belatedly learned, it will be hard pressed to show Blu-ray DVD without framerate drops and audio syncing. Also, I learned that the chipset isn't supported equally in capabilities in Linux as it is in WinXP. It is getting better but I cannot recommend Linux as an HTPC solution for this board.

So, I have a little bbit of cash and I have been reading that the 780G can do Blu-ray, no problem, but I have been hearing about overheating and phase issues leading to smoking boards.

The 790GX seems much improved and more features. I am not looking to play a lot of games, more again as just an HTPC board.

Question is: do I spend $85 for the 780G and take my chance of system life or do I pay for features that I may not use at $155 for 790GX.


By the way, I have a M680 video turner which is not, and perhaps never will be, supported byLinux, so I think as long as I keep that card, I won't be on Linux for my HTPC usage (except as dual boot)




Thanks.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I'm in the same boat, but for one question - where the heck are the 790GX Matx boards?

 

[Fox5]

790gx only has problems with quad core phenoms, due to the high power requirements on the upper end models.
780g is fine for most things, and substantially cheaper right now. It's only about 15% slower, and still about 10x faster than 690g.

BTW, blu ray isn't supported under linux. Neither is hardware video acceleration.

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: Fox5
790gx only has problems with quad core phenoms, due to the high power requirements on the upper end models.
780g is fine for most things, and substantially cheaper right now. It's only about 15% slower, and still about 10x faster than 690g.

BTW, blu ray isn't supported under linux. Neither is hardware video acceleration.

You have it the wrong way round there.

The 790GX has no problems with 140w Phenoms, some 780g boards do however. Also you don't have to spend $155 on a 790GX this Biostar is $99 and is a great board. As far as Linux goes, there is no accelerated Blu-Ray ATM but things are changing since ATI went Open Source, the Catalyst 8.8 driver brought many things to the table and AMD have indicated that they intend to have parity between the Windows and Linux drivers as soon as possible.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: Fox5
790gx only has problems with quad core phenoms, due to the high power requirements on the upper end models.
780g is fine for most things, and substantially cheaper right now. It's only about 15% slower, and still about 10x faster than 690g.

BTW, blu ray isn't supported under linux. Neither is hardware video acceleration.

You have it the wrong way round there.

The 790GX has no problems with 140w Phenoms, some 780g boards do however. Also you don't have to spend $155 on a 790GX this Biostar is $99 and is a great board. As far as Linux goes, there is no accelerated Blu-Ray ATM but things are changing since ATI went Open Source, the Catalyst 8.8 driver brought many things to the table and AMD have indicated that they intend to have parity between the Windows and Linux drivers as soon as possible.

There's no blu-ray playback period under linux. Linux doesn't support the required DRM.

 

[wizzard0003]

Originally posted by: Fox5
There's no blu-ray playback period under linux. Linux doesn't support the required DRM.

Correct...

It's not that Linux "Can't" play it, it's that Sony hasn't granted
a "License" for Linux to play it...

 

[perdomot]

The main advantage for the 790 is in the OCing dept. If budget is a consideration and you aren't OCing, go for the 780.

 

[hans007]

some 780G boards do not support over 95 watt cpus. thats not the 780G chipsets fault.


From what I read the 790GX and 780G are the same chip, just the 790GX has a higher clocked igp basically.

 

[taltamir]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: Fox5
790gx only has problems with quad core phenoms, due to the high power requirements on the upper end models.
780g is fine for most things, and substantially cheaper right now. It's only about 15% slower, and still about 10x faster than 690g.

BTW, blu ray isn't supported under linux. Neither is hardware video acceleration.

You have it the wrong way round there.

The 790GX has no problems with 140w Phenoms, some 780g boards do however. Also you don't have to spend $155 on a 790GX this Biostar is $99 and is a great board. As far as Linux goes, there is no accelerated Blu-Ray ATM but things are changing since ATI went Open Source, the Catalyst 8.8 driver brought many things to the table and AMD have indicated that they intend to have parity between the Windows and Linux drivers as soon as possible.

you have it a little wrong there too.
The 790GX has no problems with 140w phenoms... the 780G have the capacitors explode when you put in a 125watt phenom or X2 6400+ cpu. with the excaption of 3 mobos only! the gigabyte, and two others from some no lower tier makers. And on those 3 even a slight OC on the 125watt phenoms cause the capacitors to explode (so a 140 watt phenom will definitely blow them). There is one that even explodes at 90watts, and can only support the 65 watt and below (its a 3 phase).
There is nothing wrong with the 780G chipset causing it... its just that the mobo makers cheaped out and used 4 phase power circuitry. the 3 good ones use 5 phase, and the 1 super crappy one uses 3 phase.
On the other hand, enthusiast boards like the 790GX typically use 8 (common, usually as dual 4) to 12 (rare) power phase circuitry, meaning it will never (under realistic usage overclocks for the 8 phase, or even unrealistic liquid nitrogen cooling super overclocks in a trade show for the 12 phase) explode.

again, there is nothing in the 780G or 790GX chipset that make it suitable for a certain wattage. You could build a board with 1 to 12 phase power with either of them. It is just that all the boards with the 780G are on the low end.

Be sure to check (or save yourself the effort and buy from a quality vendor, like asus, gigabyte, or MSI), since 140watt is insanely high, there might be some makers who chose to cheap out on the power circuitry on a 790GX board as well...

But for an HTPC, I would buy the gigabyte 780G board (its amazingly feature laden, and quyality components, thats the 5 phase board i mentioned), and put a 45 watt (low power version) X2 CPU on it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128090

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...29638&name=Athlon%20X2

PS. anyone knows how well it does high def video playback? or if the model with intergrated 128MB of GDDR3 sideport ram does any better? (same specs otherwise, and costs 20$ more)

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: taltamir

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: Fox5
790gx only has problems with quad core phenoms, due to the high power requirements on the upper end models.
780g is fine for most things, and substantially cheaper right now. It's only about 15% slower, and still about 10x faster than 690g.

BTW, blu ray isn't supported under linux. Neither is hardware video acceleration.

You have it the wrong way round there.

The 790GX has no problems with 140w Phenoms, some 780g boards do however. Also you don't have to spend $155 on a 790GX this Biostar is $99 and is a great board. As far as Linux goes, there is no accelerated Blu-Ray ATM but things are changing since ATI went Open Source, the Catalyst 8.8 driver brought many things to the table and AMD have indicated that they intend to have parity between the Windows and Linux drivers as soon as possible.

you have it a little wrong there too.
The 790GX has no problems with 140w phenoms... the 780G have the capacitors explode when you put in a 125watt phenom or X2 6400+ cpu. with the excaption of 3 mobos only! the gigabyte, and two others from some no lower tier makers. And on those 3 even a slight OC on the 125watt phenoms cause the capacitors to explode (so a 140 watt phenom will definitely blow them). There is one that even explodes at 90watts, and can only support the 65 watt and below (its a 3 phase).
There is nothing wrong with the 780G chipset causing it... its just that the mobo makers cheaped out and used 4 phase power circuitry. the 3 good ones use 5 phase, and the 1 super crappy one uses 3 phase.
On the other hand, enthusiast boards like the 790GX typically use 8 (common, usually as dual 4) to 12 (rare) power phase circuitry, meaning it will never (under realistic usage overclocks for the 8 phase, or even unrealistic liquid nitrogen cooling super overclocks in a trade show for the 12 phase) explode.

again, there is nothing in the 780G or 790GX chipset that make it suitable for a certain wattage. You could build a board with 1 to 12 phase power with either of them. It is just that all the boards with the 780G are on the low end.

Be sure to check (or save yourself the effort and buy from a quality vendor, like asus, gigabyte, or MSI), since 140watt is insanely high, there might be some makers who chose to cheap out on the power circuitry on a 790GX board as well...

But for an HTPC, I would buy the gigabyte 780G board (its amazingly feature laden, and quyality components, thats the 5 phase board i mentioned), and put a 45 watt (low power version) X2 CPU on it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128090

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...29638&name=Athlon%20X2

PS. anyone knows how well it does high def video playback? or if the model with intergrated 128MB of GDDR3 sideport ram does any better? (same specs otherwise, and costs 20$ more)

I didn't get anything wrong you just reiterated what I said . I know the reason behind the 780G failures is the power circuitry, thats why I didn't recommend it (instead of digging through trying to find out which 780g's 'will probably' be okay, why not just get a GX from any vendor that you know will). Really, there is no reason to get a 780G when the 790GX is here and is Cheap (Look at the Biostar I linked earlier). The 780G lacks the extra ports and the performance gains seen with the GX, not to mention the GX has a higher clocked IGP, and a complete Bios including NB multiplier adjustment. AMD learned from it's mistakes from the 780g (albeit an awesome chipset still at the time) and incorporated what they missed out on in the GX- that's why it is the better choice.

There's no blu-ray playback period under linux. Linux doesn't support the required DRM.

Thanks, I didn't realize curse you Sony!

 

[taltamir]

Actually what I meant is that "some 780G do" is wrong, ALL 780G without exception will explode if you put in a 140watt CPU... SOME (3 models only) will work with a 125watt models, but most will explode with that. So your mistake was suggesting that there exist a 780G board that supports 140watt CPU. Most will explode with a high end X2 or almost every phenom CPU on the market.

And sure there is blu ray playback on linux... with "forbidden copies" of movies.

I heartedly agree that the 790GX is better... i was just not aware that one was aquireable for such a reasonable cost.

That, and the gigabyte board I mentioned used to cost 55-65$ (thats how much it cost me a few months ago)... it went all the way up to 85$ since it got so many awards and for being miles above the competition. but biostar is really not all that. I would either spend a little more for a 790GX from a top tier maker, like the 130$ gigabyte 790GX. or 140$ asus...

Orrr... go with a higher end 780G + low power CPU.

 

[Geraldo8022]

My Gig 690G was flakey from the getgo. My Biostar TF8200 has never been flakey at all and recovers gracefully from any OC messin that I do. The Gigagytes have a soldered in BIOS chip, the Biostars don't. I guess to each his own.

 

[taltamir]

well, i know that ecs is crap, and that abit went to crap (and is now rebadging ecs boards), and that gigabyte, asus, and msi tend to be first tier. I just assumed that since I was not familiar with biostar that they are a lower tier. Might very well be a wrong assumption that it was presumptuous of me to make.

Anyone else mind rating the quality of biostar to help enlighten me? good? bad? average?

As for the soldered bios chip. Does your gigabyte board have dual bios protection against failed flashing? if so then a soldered bios chip is actually superior to the removable kind (cheaper, and unlikely to loose contact accidentally). A removeable bios is only useful for repairing the mobo after a failed bios flash.

 

[nerp]

Biostar makes good stuff and have had some really compelling boards recently. Someone has the world record phenom OC on that cheapie Biostar board I believe. I run one and it's a champ. Other people have posted positive comments about Biostar boards here. I think they're the new low price champ these days.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I've had good luck with Biostar, they seem to be a decent budget mobo maker.

Btw, why hasn't there been any discussion in this thread about the lack of 790GX MATX mobos? I want one, where are they?

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
I've had good luck with Biostar, they seem to be a decent budget mobo maker.

Btw, why hasn't there been any discussion in this thread about the lack of 790GX MATX mobos? I want one, where are they?

Great Q.

Maybe AMD doesn't want 780G sales to plummet yet?

 

[MaxDepth]

Interesting that I find Linux improving to the point of almost being a worry-free distro for our parents to use. (Oh, so close!)

But now, all the new audio and video requirements will be yet another blocking point to success. I feel the yeard stick moving farther, farther away.

So with my HTPCs strictly Windows-based, I guess my question now is what is the playback difference between 780G and 790GX? And the question for me is not just price but what I can find on the board? The difference between the Biostar and Gigabyte, in my opinion, seems to be the IEEE 1394a and S/PDIF ports are included in the gigabyte. I can certainly use and prefer those with an HTPC.

Funny how these two chipsets do not allow two digital monitors out, though.