Gigabyte Socket AM2+/AMD 740G/DDR2/A&V&GbE/MATX Motherboard GA-MA74GM-S2

by Gigabyte

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 10.5 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001BS8O6W
• Item model number: GA-MA74GM-S2
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Gigabyte S Series GA-MA74GM-S2 Desktop Board GA-MA74GM-S2 Desktop Motherboards

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Value...Know What You're REALLY Getting First, Though..., May 20, 2010

By 

SuperCourier (Miami) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gigabyte Socket AM2+/AMD 740G/DDR2/A&V&GbE/MATX Motherboard GA-MA74GM-S2 (Personal Computers)

As another reviewer mentioned, the illustrations and lack of clear product descriptions are misleading. You're getting a product that has gone through five revisions since this was first advertised, and the differences are large. Whether or not they're improvements or losses is up to the needs of the builder, so check first. Here's the manufacturers information on it where you can compare the versions:

[...]

The pictured product is first generation, whereas you'll be getting fourth or fifth generation, depending on the shipper's whims.

The product itself is as advertised, and is a great value if you're looking to skimp somewhere in an inexpensive build. By skimp,I don't mean quality, just features. You get less add-on PCI slots, no parallel ports or firewire, only one PS/2, etc. Depends on the version and what you value as a user. We could live with that and this has worked out great. Also, take it from a newb builder and don't forget to use the wonderful included chipset driver disc which has the drivers to make your onboard graphics and sound sing.

I used this board to mostly follow a build featured in my favorite PC magazine, MaximumPC. Check it out:

They won't seem to let me provide the link, so go to maximumpc dot com and search gaming pc $647

[...\

Used my own case, optical drives, and upgraded the processor to a quad-core version, though. Check it out...I did it for $380 bucks total! Oh, more if you consider the GeForce 220 1GB I added, but that was unnecessary with the adequate onboard graphics and included drivers if you're not a gamer or heavy video/graphics processor.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Running fine, April 25, 2010

By 

Michael Vickery "Gadgetman" (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gigabyte Socket AM2+/AMD 740G/DDR2/A&V&GbE/MATX Motherboard GA-MA74GM-S2 (Personal Computers)

Other reviewers said their boards died. After a month this one is still running. There was one problem that might be my settings. Although RAM used is rated at 1066 I could not coax it to run at that speed.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, April 13, 2009

By 

Radhames Gomez (Santiago, Dominican Republic) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Gigabyte Socket AM2+/AMD 740G/DDR2/A&V&GbE/MATX Motherboard GA-MA74GM-S2 (Personal Computers)

The cheapest option for amd dualcore that i found on amazon from a manufacturer that I trusted. Has lots of sata with is very nice. Didnt bought this for gaming.

I think it only supports 95W cpu and below, BUT Im not sure because I put a 65W daul core in it. Do your research on Gigabyte website.

Im pleased with this product. Would have wished better integred video, but this one is better than the one i had before and i dont run demanding games so i dont complaint.