Biostar Motherboard - any good?

[Funkstar]

I currently have a Gigabyte GA-MA780G-UD3H in my 'server' system.

It does have an annoying PCIe lane limitation where only one of the three PCIe 1x slots works if the second PCIe 8x (16x physical) slot is populated. 790G chipsets don't have this limitation.

Now I could get a Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H but it's pretty expensive. The Biostar TA790GX 128 is only £62, almost half the price.

Is it a case of you get what you pay for, or is the Biostar very good value for money? All my other systems use Gigabyte boards and I haven't had any problems with them.

[chaotic_russ]

not a bad board as i have one , but i am changing it for one with a heatsink on the mosfets . i might go for the sapphire one at £65

[Funkstar]

hmmm yeah the Saphire board would work, missed that before.

Shame it doesn't have the third PCIe 1x slot like the Gigabyte board.

[UseItNow]

I've had a Biostar motherboard in a pre-built computer I purchased from PC World, 7/8 years ago, have to say, can't fault it as it's still running to this day, slow yes, but that's the hardware, outdated! It's down to luck I guess!

All the best on your search!

[Pob255]

Umm what is it you're trying to do with this Funkstar?

[Funkstar]

Just trying to get as many card in the system as possible really

I have two PERC 5/i cards which occupy the two PCIe 16x slots (4x cards). Then I have two Pinnacle 3010i dual DVB-T PCIe tuners. At the moment I can only run one as the 780g chipset disables two of the threee PCIe 1x slots when you use the second 16x slot. the 790G chipset doesn't have this limitation.

The two PCI slots would probably be occupied by DVB-S cards eventually, or perhaps just one plus a good Intel gigabit ethernet adapter.

[Pob255]

Ahh ok, any idea if the 790X has the same issue? if not then the GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD3P looks like a good option
two pci-e x16 and three pci-e x1
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/GIGABYTE-GA-MA790X-UD3P

Although the BioStar does seem to have onboard graphics, if you want to use that?

[Funkstar]

yes I use the onboard graphics of my current board. Not a lot, but it does come in handy for re-installing the server or if it is having network issues.

The 790x has two independent sets of PCIe lanes, so using the two 16x slots doesn't have an impact on the 1x slots.

Looking at the Biostar or the Saphire if I do this. I just haven't used either of those brands before.

[Agent]

Biostar is a funny company.

Not too long back they made a new 775 motherboard that was regarded as very high quality, and was one of the best clocking boards out. They then went and screwed it over by not providing BIOS updates in any reasonable timeframe / fixing things

They used to be very bad. Today their boards are fine, but have support issues.

IMO spend the extra few quid and get a Gigabyte or something.

[Funkstar]

If it was just a few quid, I would completely agree, but it's about £55 of a difference, simply to get another PCIe 1x slot working to use the second DVB-T dual tuner.

I'll need to think on this some more.

[Agent]

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en/t-s...s.php?S_ID=408

Recent BIOS there. For that price mate I'd go for it

[Funkstar]

Thanks Agent, I'll have a think about it

Got a lot going on, so this might hit the back burner until some time next year.

[alsenior]

do you really need the 2 percs ? remember they do support upto 128 devices on each card

Edit: ignore me sas expanders are like rocking horse poo

[Funkstar]

How do you get them to see more than the standard 8 then?

If it's using SATA splitters, I suspect I'd spend more on cables and splitters than the cost of a new board

[alsenior]

by using sas expanders and what there is out there is very expensive i had a look. chenbro used to do some that worked perfectly with the perc5 but they have since disappeared. probably to do with the fact that they were quite cheap as well