Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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:

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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

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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.

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.

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.

AM3 compatible, which was a pleasant surprise since that was stated on the description. Supports 125 Watt CPUs. Installed and booted up easily. Runs windows 7 64 with no trouble. This board gives a 3.4 performance rating though, mainly due to the on board video. If you're building a simple rig, this board is great. For the gaming enthusiast, I would not suggest it. You might also want to consider purchasing a separate video card.

Great motherboard and has everthing on it I needed. The pci exspess slots are way to close.I could not hook up 2 radeon 5770 Graphic card in it. I got idea of the motherboard from a 5 star review in max pc.All the port work and have tried pulling on them.Nothing seems glued together. Its easy to put the memory and sata and fans in.it has led and fan slots, so you can hook up 2 led fans.it has 6 sata slots and they all work.supports 4 gbs. Now just listin to the features. It has 90 days of nortan antovirus 360 and comes with a lot of bios options and motherboard auto updates.Its just a great motherboard!

I should have done better research...bad me... The board is fine. It's usual Gigabyte quality, it's been super stable, etc etc. However, I purchased this for an HTPC. The onboard Radeon HD 2100 lacks the UMPH to really push blurays. It's possible with some tweaking, but it tends to lead to gradual audio sync problems. I'm also disappointed in the lack of optical out (has the headers onboard so... meh...)

Generally I am happy with it, but I wish I'd gone one step above it with the slightly nicer GA-MA78LM or something like that. Basically the same board with improved video.

My processor and/or my mobo died the other night while I was attempting to install a video card that would allow it to play stuff from my computer, on the tee vee. $126 later, I am rocking away on my budget special. I installed a $33 sempron single core, 2.7ghz cpu that is overclocked just a wee bit, to enhance graphics. I am also using the onboard graphics, no extra card.

This board is awesome. I was expecting a bit better than what just died on me, but figured that would be relative to what I had. This is an excellent surprise. I am pretty well sold on Gigabyte now. I was rather more keen on ASUS, but was warned by a computer geek friend that the last two boards he bought from them were RMAed - multiple times. My Gigabyte board seems to be performing just as well as I would expect an ASUS board to perform and I had a little more confidence in them.

My $123 replacement (in old box, using old PSU):
Gigabyte Socket AM2+/AMD 740G/DDR2/A&V&GbE/MATX Motherboard GA-MA74GM-S2
AMD Sempron 140, Socket AM3, 2.7 GHz, 1 MB Cache, 45 Watts, SDX140HBGQBOX
Crucial Technology CT25664AA667 240-pin DIMM 2GB DDR2 PC2-5300 Memory Module

The product shown is not the product sent. You will receive the updated version without a analog spdif out, that connection was my reason for purchasing this product and had to return it. Amazon please update your product information

This motherboard turned out to be the perfect replacement for a 3-year-old e-machines motherboard that failed (buldging capacitors-- from that bungled batch out of China a few years ago probably), with one major exception. It is not the board pictured. The board pictured has a parallel port, this one does not. For some this may be fine, but we have two older laserjet printers in the house, and both only have parallel port connections. For us, this was huge. If it wasn't for that I would have given it 5 stars. I was even able to re-use my old AMD 64 processor in it.

I'm replacing my 1 year old motherboard with the same model. This is the only one that fits my Cyber Power computer. My other one is still under warranty but Gigabyte wants me to go through so much to get a replacement I'm better off buying a new one. I'll still send in my other one so I'll have a spare but I couldn't wait 6-8 weeks for delivery plus the time it takes to get a confirmation number and address to mail my old one to.