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The AMD 785G chipset that lies at the heart of the ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO is an update to the AMD 780G that launched early in 2008 where the AMD 785G is a relatively minor update of 780G. The ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO motherboard supports AMD Socket AM3 multi-core processors with unique L3 cache and delivers better overclocking capabilities with less power consumption and AMD CPUs in the 45nm manufacturing process. It features up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 1333 memory support and accelerates data transfer rate up to 5200MT/s via HyperTransport 3.0 based system bus. The layout of this AMD mainboard clearly has areas where it could be improved, such as the IDE port that's angled into the board and low down on the PCB will make getting a cable neatly to the optical drives almost impossible. Then, there are the 4-pin power connector right at the top of the board nestled by the heatsinks. Outside of a case this is easy to use, but when in a built system it will sit right under the PSU or case roof, proving it almost impossible to unclip. Finally, there's the five SATA ports that are just lumped together, despite the fact there's enough space to stick them at 90 degrees along the board edge. With these negatives out the way, the rest of the design deserves credit, like the headers for front panel audio and USB sit at the bottom of the board and are easy to identify, the DDR3 slots are well above the PCI-Express slot. The passive coolers on the power regulation hardware, Northbridge and Southbridge look superb. They are swoopy blue aluminium items that look the part and, more importantly, they do a good job. ASUS has found the space for three PCI slots as well as COM1 and LPT headers but you don't get a floppy. ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO motherboard also has three PCI slots, but there are still x16, x4 and x1 slots available for PCI-Express cards. The rear I/O panel of this AMD motherboard is packed out with tons of connectors including six USB 2.0, one eSATA, one 6-pin Firewire, a RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet socket, PS2 keyboard, optical S/PDIF out, HDMI, DVI, d-sub, and six 3.5mm audio jacks providing the 7.1 channel surround sound as well as microphone and line inputs. While there's certainly enough for most of us, be aware of the AMD 785G chipset limitation where you cannot use both DVI and HDMI digital outputs simultaneously. ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO motherboard has a little plastic header that you connect the case lights and buttons to the header, then plug the header on the board. It's a little thing, but a real timesaver. Without the CPU-Northbridge multiplier adjustment in the BIOS, you're limited in the amount of HyperTransport overclocking available. The bottom line is that the ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO is really a very good motherboard at the right price, but just drops short in our expectations of an outright recommendation.
Labels: AMD, ASUS
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