Asus M3A78-T AMD AM2+/AM3 DDR2 Motherboard Review – Page 6

Overclocking

Even with the market position of M3A78-T, Asus still went through the extra effort to add their AI overclocking features to the BIOS. Though some options are missing that would be found on higher end boards, the basics are there should you wish to dabble in the dark arts of overclocking. We only did a minor overclock, bumping the CPU 200MHz as a proof of concept, but it was still very easy to do. Of course, with any overclocking venture, your mileage may vary significantly based on your parts selection.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

The Asus M3A78-T seems to excel at aiming for the middle, in both good and not so good ways. This motherboard provides a middle ground for this still not ready to spend their hard earned money on a full CPU, motherboard, and RAM upgrade. It supports both new and old CPU technologies, while supporting the previous generation of memory. It also provides some budget relief for those looking to lay a solid foundation for a great Home Theatre PC. The feature set is great for a board at this price point.

As for performance, it’s just above average using the triple core processor found in our test rig. Switching to any of AMD’s Quad Core processors would put this board in ankle-biting range of its contemporaries. Basically you are getting the performance of a 790FX based board, with integrated graphics with little to no performance hit. The only thing we didn’t cover was IO (SATA, USB etc). We’ll be covering this as we check out the performance of this when we compare the current Dragon platform with the Spring refresh in our next article.

In the end, the Asus M3A78-T is a great budget motherboard. It fits two roles, both of them quite mainstream. First it makes a good base for a Home Theatre PC. The features geared toward that function make this board a strong contender. Thanks to the chipset used you can upgrade this motherboard to performance status should you feel the need. The 790GX gives you the option to add two more video cards, turning the power conscious HTPC to a power sucking gaming beast.

Overall this motherboard is a great value and combined with one of AMD’s Triple Core processors, it really gives any INTEL Core2 Duo platform a run for the money, especially when it comes to price vs. performance.

Pros