Biostar TForce TA790GX 128M AM2+

[Flipped Gazelle]

Just got a Biostar TForce TA790GX 128M AM2+ to replace my dead Biostar TForce TF8200. Thought I'd share a few impressions.

System specs: Phenom X4 9850 (non-Black Edition), 6gb ddr2-800 ram (2x2 G.Skill, 2x1 Kingston), 3 HDD, 2 DVDRW, OCZ 500w PSU, 8800GT w/Zalman VF900. CPU cooled with a Coolermaster Vortex 752 (not great, was just laying around) and case has a 25cm intake fan on the side.

Running Vista x64.

Currently, the CPU, HT, RAM all bumped by 12%, so CPU is at 2.8ghz, RAM is 896 (5-5-5-18), etc. CPU voltage is at stock, RAM 2.0v, HT up one notch (don't remember voltage).

I went to 2.9Ghz, CPU got too hot - I need a decent HSF.

The mosfets nearest the CPU socket get really got. I have a few little heatsinks to put on 'em to see if that helps.

I was curious about the integrated video. It's basically just a 780g with higher clockspeed, and also has 128mb sideport memory. However, when I plug in my monitor via DVI, it blinks about a dozen times prior to entering Windows, with long pauses in between. Also randomly on the desktop. This is very annoying, and does not happen when using the VGA interface.

No problems with AHCI.

So far, everything's been stable and performing as expected.

Any questions/comments, please let me know.

Update: I added little RAMsinks to the 4 mosfets near the CPU, and CPU core temps dropped by 3 deg. I'm a bit surprised, as I was rather doubtful there would be any measurable impact.

Update #2: I got the onboard video working. I had to install the Catalyst 9.1 drivers w/o installing CCC. A mighty 2095 3DMark06 score!

From the "Because I CAN" Dept.: I overclocked the IGP from 700 -> 800, sideport RAM from 400 -> 450 (it's ddr2, not ddr3 on this board) and upped my 3DMark06 score to 2292. Vista Gaming score went from 4.3 to 4.4. Ooooh.

 

[SunnyD]

Those Biostar boards have gotten amazing recently for their price. Top overclocking board as of late.

Definitely get a good HSF though. That one isn't rated for an X4 at all. Other than that, good deal!

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Those Biostar boards have gotten amazing recently for their price. Top overclocking board as of late.

Definitely get a good HSF though. That one isn't rated for an X4 at all. Other than that, good deal!

I've been using Biostar mobos (among others) since the 486 days... usually a nice, inexpensive, reliable but dull brand. The TForce series are really good, though. My dead TForce TF8200 was an "open box" from Newegg... so caveat emptor. I had the TForce 6100 - the best matx of its time - and right now my g/f has a TA770, which is "T-Series" rather than "T-Force", but still good so far. It's been stone-cold reliable, and she has a 40% OC on her X2, so she's happy.

 

[Modular]

Hey, thanks for the review. I'm thinking about picking this board up myself. For now, it's going to be a general use/gaming PC, but in a few months it will become my HTPC. Is the onboard 780g chipset good enough for 1080P Blu-Ray decoding, or should I just bite the bullet and go with this Biostar 790GX board for 99.99?

I guess I'm leaning toward the 790GX as the onboard graphics solution is more powerful, plus the board supports Xfire should I decide to ever go that route.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Yup, 780g is good enough for 1080p Blu-Ray decoding. Tom's Hardware paired a 780g mobo and a single core Sempron and had no issues w/Blu-Ray playback.

The one downfall of 780g/790gx is that it can't transmit uncompressed multichannel LPCM over HDMI. You can with the Geforce 8200/8300 based mobos, though. It's not an issue that effects a lot of people, but it's good to be aware.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
I had the TForce 6100 - the best matx of its time - and right now my g/f has a TA770, which is "T-Series" rather than "T-Force", but still good so far.

I think the T-Series is just Biostar capitalizing on their "T" branding. I have a T-Series P43 chipset board and while enthusiast settings exist in BIOS, it is nothing exciting.

Blast from the past

This would be T-Series

Later model

Strangely I didn't write up about the socket 939 version though I had more of those (and kept one the longest) than the others.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
I had the TForce 6100 - the best matx of its time - and right now my g/f has a TA770, which is "T-Series" rather than "T-Force", but still good so far.

I think the T-Series is just Biostar capitalizing on their "T" branding. I have a T-Series P43 chipset board and while enthusiast settings exist in BIOS, it is nothing exciting.

Blast from the past

This would be T-Series

Later model

Strangely I didn't write up about the socket 939 version though I had more of those (and kept one the longest) than the others.

Yeah, I agree. If they're not conscientious about the TForce branding, Biostar may lose what few enthusiast users they have.

It was fun to check out the articles - thanks!

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Finally got onboard video working properly, OP updated.

Update: Grrrrr... the int. video still flickers, it seems when it has to "ramp up" to do something. Disappointed in the driver, there.

 

[RallyMaster]

I had that board for about a week before I returned it and the 7750BE I got back to Newegg. Fan speed sensitivity was completely whack and it would throttle way too much for very small increases in load. If I dropped the sensitivity down a couple of notches, it would be completely oblivious of load and would not throttle more than 150RPM. The newest BIOS revision also broke my fan speed controls completely so that didn't help much either. The BIOS settings were also extremely disorganized for a supposedly overclockable board. I was going to go for the 7750BE -> Phenom II path but ended up getting an Asus P5Q Pro and a Q6700 instead.

And the one thing that ticked me off the most? The master PCIe video is on the bottom. It doesn't make sense at all.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
I had that board for about a week before I returned it and the 7750BE I got back to Newegg. Fan speed sensitivity was completely whack and it would throttle way too much for very small increases in load. If I dropped the sensitivity down a couple of notches, it would be completely oblivious of load and would not throttle more than 150RPM. The newest BIOS revision also broke my fan speed controls completely so that didn't help much either. The BIOS settings were also extremely disorganized for a supposedly overclockable board. I was going to go for the 7750BE -> Phenom II path but ended up getting an Asus P5Q Pro and a Q6700 instead.

And the one thing that ticked me off the most? The master PCIe video is on the bottom. It doesn't make sense at all.

Yeah, the master PCIe slot location is strange.

You're saying the fan would actually decrease in speed when load increased? That's bizarre.

No problem with the fan here... I find it easy to set up and works exactly as it should. I'm using the latest BIOS.

No problem with the overclocking settings, either. They seem logical enough to me - all on one screen. But then, I'm used to the layout.

 

[RallyMaster]

Throttle up, rather. It was a fan rated at a max of 1500RPM and it wouldn't get past around 1350RPM if I set it to be 1200RPM normally with the sensitivity to 6. If I set the sensitivity to 7, it would go to 1500RPM with 10% load. It was way too quirky for my tastes really. I guess it would work better had I used a stock cooler with it.

 

[suj999]

Can this board be used with another ATI card for a 3 monitor set up?


Flipped Gazelle, did you get the 8800GT and the IGP to work at the same time?