First Gigabyte, now ASRock, with a "Retro" 760G AM3+ board?

[VirtualLarry]

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157839

$10 cheaper than the Gigabyte LM78-USB3 R2, but two less DIMM slots, and no VRM heatsink.

Without the VRM heatsink, I would be hesitant to drop any of the 8-core FX chips in here, nevermind OC them a little.

But it could provide an eventual transition from an AM3 CPU in an AM2+ DDR2 mobo (like my friend has), into a "proper" DDR3 AM3 rig, with AM3+ capabilities, to drop in an FX chip. (I just wouldn't go for an 8-core, or maybe just a 95W chip like the 8230E or something, but I have a gut feeling that that CPU would throttle on this board during heavy usage.)

Still, probably a decent board for Phenom II X6 CPUs.

Actually, now that I think about it, if it has more power phases than the Gigabyte board (someone tell me if it does), then they could individually and collectively run a bit cooler, so maybe that's why they don't have a heatsink? But really, ASRock, how much extra does a chunk of Al cost, for a little upgrade peace of mind?

I'm thinking of getting one, just to try out, for my friend, but maybe his DDR2 ASRock AM2+ still has a few years of life left in it?

(His rig would get smoked by a G4560 and 8GB of DDR4-2400, btw, but don't tell him that. )

 

[kwalkingcraze]

I'm well familiar with these two boards, in fact both models have been around since 2011 or so when they were 1st generation. Asrock 760GM-HDV is a new 2018 model based on old 2011 760G design. Asrock also has N68 chipset by Nvidia verson, but is not HDMI compatible, while Gigabyte 78LMT-USB3 is largely unchanged since it first came out in 2012. Just different colors.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, my friend has been running an ASRock AM2+ 780G mATX board, with solid caps around the CPU VRMs, for probably over 10 years now. Not overclocked, so maybe that's unsurprising, but I'm used to working on cheap-o OEM branded AMD AM2 boards with high-wattage 5600 CPUs and filled with cheap Chinese electrolytic caps, going bad within 3-5 years. OEM rig parts are NOT built to last (unless you go for an Intel-powered "Workstation" or even higher-end "Business Desktop"), and are built to a price point (that is often invisible to the end-user). Enthusiast boards that have VRM stages that support overclocking, and heatsinks, etc., are much more well-built, and especially likely to last a really good long time, at stock clock speeds.

 

[ao_ika_red]

I still remember looking at AMD's roadmap that they still produce 760G chipset, although they stated it as "by order". So probably, this year is the final year of its production run.

 

[kwalkingcraze]

So probably, this year is the final year of its production run.

It's actually year 2020 when 760G phases out and Windows 7 extended support ends. Another 2 years left...

 

[f2bnp]

Damn, who buys these? I wouldn't trust a high TDP Phenom II on one of these nor anything more than an FX-6300... maybe.

I mean it's a 4+1 phase design with zero heatsinks, if it had some adequate heatsinks I'd be a cool little replacement board, but as it is, it makes no sense. I would never feel comfortable dropping an FX-8xxx in there, despite their claims.
I had a friend with a similar MSI board back in 2011-2012, 760g, 4+1 power phase and no heatsinks on the VRMs. He thought it was a good idea to drop a Phenom II x4 965 in there since the board did supposedly support it, although I told him this would put immense strain on the components. About a year later one of the VRMs just blew sadly.

 

[amd6502]

Damn, who buys these? I wouldn't trust a high TDP Phenom II on one of these nor anything more than an FX-6300... maybe.

I mean it's a 4+1 phase design with zero heatsinks, if it had some adequate heatsinks I'd be a cool little replacement board, but as it is, it makes no sense. I would never feel comfortable dropping an FX-8xxx in there, despite their claims.
I had a friend with a similar MSI board back in 2011-2012, 760g, 4+1 power phase and no heatsinks on the VRMs. He thought it was a good idea to drop a Phenom II x4 965 in there since the board did supposedly support it, although I told him this would put immense strain on the components. About a year later one of the VRMs just blew sadly.

MSI made terrible AM3+ budget boards (despite making the best FM2+ budget boards). I briefly had the same model, the VRM was so under-engineered and produced so much noise it wouldn't even POST my 8350 (I found out after I sent back the first 8350 for a replacement, which turned out also wouldn't post). I've had excellent experience with ASRock AM3+.

For this board I'd trust any 8300 or 95W octacore in this board, and probably wouldn't mind running a 125W octacore that wasn't overclocked and pushed regularly to the max (also assuming the case ventilation was good, and the VRM gets good airflow from the CPU cooler. One can also glue DIY heatsinks over the VRM transistors.) I'm running my 8300 in an Asus model with probably the same VRM (4+1) without heatsinks; held up for over a year with constant full boinc load over the winter and so far so good.

The marketing description page isn't very good. They don't explicitly say it supports FX, but their asrock website support says they support just about all vishera and older FX octacores.

 

[amd6502]

Well, my friend has been running an ASRock AM2+ 780G mATX board, with solid caps around the CPU VRMs, for probably over 10 years now. Not overclocked, so maybe that's unsurprising, but I'm used to working on cheap-o OEM branded AMD AM2 boards with high-wattage 5600 CPUs and filled with cheap Chinese electrolytic caps, going bad within 3-5 years. OEM rig parts are NOT built to last (unless you go for an Intel-powered "Workstation" or even higher-end "Business Desktop"), and are built to a price point (that is often invisible to the end-user). Enthusiast boards that have VRM stages that support overclocking, and heatsinks, etc., are much more well-built, and especially likely to last a really good long time, at stock clock speeds.

I just picked up an old HP A10 like this: https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-compaq-6305-pro-sff-a10-5800b-3-8-ghz-8-gb-500-gb/specs/
and am wondering how likely it is to blow caps anytime soon.

I've come across a few HP and compaq AM2 desktops (as well as pentirum equivalents) where the onboard video failed and would lock up the system. The heatsinks were just under-engineered and the sillycone at resulting higher temps would wear out faster than (I would hope) designed. I've yet come across FM2 OEMs that have broken down but my layman experience is way too limited for datapoints.

The piledriver A10 in the HP I picked up has a pretty high 100W TDP, but I think it's only likely to go near that wattage when both CPU and GPU are loaded. http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Bulldozer/AMD-A10-Series A10-5800B.html I think steamroller quads used more wattage, despite their lower TDP (up to 95W) only because they cleverly throttled the CPU and GPU somewhat when both were pushed at the same time for more than brief timespans.

Do you see the more current (including fm2) hp use said cheap Chinese electrolytic caps?