Biostar A780G M2+ SE

It is obvious that this motherboard is based on AMD 780G chipset which is paired with SB710 southbridge. This chipset has integrated HD 3200 graphics card and thanks to SB710 it allows unlocking of disabled cores. This is microATX motherboard with traditionally blue PCB. In upper left corner besides 4-pin 12V connector is located 3-phase power unit. Biostar does not recommend CPUs with TDP higher than 95W to be used with this motherboard which means that some of the new CPUs cannot be used, but for price around 50€ you cannot expect much more than that. On the right side are located CPU socket and two DIMM slots for RAM. There is very little room between socket and RAM slots so you won’t be able to mount big CPU coolers on this motherboard (like Cooler Master Hyper Z600 ), although TX3 model was mounted with ease. Along right side are positioned 24-pin ATX, IDE and six SATA II connectors. At the bottom side are located connectors for additional USB ports, I/O panel and FDD connector. Expansions slots present on this motherboard are 2 PCI slots and one PCIe x1 and one PCIe x16 slot. In case you decide to plug-in any ATI based graphics card in that PCIe x16 slot, you can create Hybrid CrossFire system. North and south bridge have aluminum heat spreaders on them, that can get hot. This isn’t a problem since those chips can operate under high temperatures but chassis with nice air flow is recommended, or at least, one fan that will help in cooling those chips and components that are located in vicinity. Bottom line is: layout is good, except small gap between socket and RAM slots.

When it comes to BIOS, we will only mention interesting features and won’t waste time on standard options. CPU voltage can be set from +0.1 up to +0.3V from default with rather large steps of 0.1V. RAM voltage can be set from 1.95 up to 2.65V with finer steps of 0.05V. To our surprise memory voltage setting doesn’t start from usual 1.8V, which is standard voltage for DDR2. Chipset voltage can be set in range from 1.15 up to 1.3V with steps of 0.05V. Last interesting setting is HT link voltage that goes from 1.2 to 1.5V in 0.1V steps.

Biostar GF810 M2+ TE

This motherboard is very similar to previous model, but in this case, NVIDIA chipset was used: GeForce 8100 (also has integrated graphics card). This is, also, microATX motherboard but for 1cm narrower compared to A780G M2+ SE model. Power unit is identical so CPUs with TDP below 95W are recommended. Layout is also similar with few additional problems. In this case, gap between socket and memory slots is even smaller so big CPU coolers cannot be used. Since this is cheapest motherboard in this review, we can turn a blind eye at this problem. Chipset has aluminum heatspreader as cooling system, so chassis with good airflow is recommended in this case also. GF810 M2+ TE has “only” four SATA II ports (2 less than previous), while two PCI and one PCIe slot is, also, present. Above PCIe x16 slot are located additional USB connectors, while FDD and I/O connectors are located along bottom edge. Since this is NVIDIA based motherboard, Hybrid SLI is supported. Overall, we are not satisfied with layout but motherboard price tag around 40€ doesn’t leave to much room for discussion.

BIOS is very similar to A780G M2+ TE model, with just few options rearranged, because of different chipset.  CPU voltage can be set at values +3.3%, +6.6% and +10% from default voltage. Chipset can be set at +0.05V, +0.1V or +0.15V from default value, while HT link can be set at +0.1 up to +0.3V in 0.1V steps. Memory can be set from 1.95V up to 2.1V in 0.05V steps and again there is no option to set it at 1.8V.

J&W JW-RS7800UVD-AM2+

This motherboard is similar to Biostar A780G M2+ SE, but the final product is, of course different. Price is slightly higher which can be noticed in overall quality of the product with, also, few problems noticed. This motherboard is based on 780G chipset but in combination with SB700 southbridge that compared to SB710 doesn’t offer possibility of unlocking disabled cores. Integrated graphics card is ATI Radeon HD 3200. Layout is different and resembles at legendary Ultra-D (DFI LP nF4 Ultra-D) only in this case, in micrtoATX format. Four memory slots are parallel to upper edge, with CPU socket with enough room for Hyper Z600 cooler located below. Four phase power unit and 8-pin EPS 12V connector are located to the left and motherboard works just fine even when 4-pin 12V connector is plugged in. Power unit is covered with passive heat spreader with supported  CPUs up to 125W TDP, which is very good news since there are just few AMD CPUs that go over 125W (Phenom II 965 has TDP around 140W for example). Below CPU socket is located northbridge with aluminum heat spreader colored in black. Similar heat spreader can be found on southbridge. Along right edge of the motherboard are located 24-pin ATX and IDE connectors. To the left are located six SATA II connectors, while along bottom edge are located FDD and I/O connectors. There is one PCIe x16 slot and two standard PCI expansion slots. All in all, nice layout accompanied with good quality components. At back panel, besides usual connectors, is mounted POST display, which is nice feature in case motherboard won’t boot up.

BIOS has all usual options and we will pay extra attention on voltages. CPU can be set from 1V to 1.45V with 0.05V steps, and AUTO option as default. RAM voltage can be set from -0.05V up to +0.3V in 0.05V steps. These voltages are set according to default JEDEC specification for DDR2 memory of 1.8V. Northbridge can be set from +0.08 up to +0.25V in 0.08V steps, while southbridge and HT link can be set up to +0.03V in 0.01V steps.

J&W JW-RS7800UVD-MKII

This model can be considered as “crippled” version of previous model. Layout is very similar, controller logics identical, and then again, there are few more problems. First of all, it is obvious that this model has only two memory slots and no heat spreader on weaker power unit (3-phase with 4-pin 12V connector). What’s more, 4-pin power connector is located near center of the motherboard, which is not the best position. Then, there is no POST display and “only” four SATA II connectors. As consequence of all this features, manufacturer advises usage of CPUs that haw TDP lower than 95W. Chipset cooling system is identical to previous model, and same expansion slot configuration is used. There is enough space between CPU socket and memory slots for larger coolers. All this resulted in lower price tag that is combined with slightly lower performance levels. BIOS is (almost) identical to previous model so we won’t repeat ourselves.