ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI

The ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI ($100) is one of the first motherboard to support the new AMD 780G chipset that includes a DirectX 10.1-compliant graphics allowing for Full HD playback, and ATI Hybrid CrossfireX (although CrossFireX is not currently enabled until ATI updates their drivers). It is a direct competitor to the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H ($100) which was the first 780G chipset-based motherboard on the market. The M3A78-EMH support AMD AM2+/AM2 Platform CPUs including the AMD Phenom Quad-Core proccessor. It an HDMI, DVI, and VGA video output allowing for a multiple display setup. However, you can't have two digital outputs used for such a setup; that is you can't have a dual monitor setup with both HDMI and DVI (HDMI+VGA and DVI+VGA are allowed).

Where to Buy

ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI
MSRP $100.00
Release date March, 2008
Brand Asus
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Pros & Cons15
Reviews4
Details
Buy It
Competitors1
Comments2
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Pros & Cons

ProSCORE
4 reviews
47
negative
mixed
positive
1 positive
2 mixed
1 negative

[i] How is the ProSCORE calculated?

show me!

Pros:
Do you agree?
•
Very good performance for the price.
+4agreedisagree

•
All the major games requiring high end expensive graphics cards, can run on this motherboard with the built in graphics.
+4agreedisagree

•
Dual monitor support out of the box
+3agreedisagree

•
Support for up to four connected displays
+2agreedisagree

•
Has a legacy Serial Port for dealing with older telecoms devices and routers. No USB to Serial cable required.
+2agreedisagree

•
plenty of USB ports
+1agreedisagree

•
Excellent 780G AMD chipset
0agreedisagree

Cons:
Do you agree?
•
Depending on the Phenom you buy, you may not be able to use 1066 MHz RAM. Research before making decision.
+3agreedisagree

•
As always most software have yet to fully utilize all cores. Thus, in most cases, a Dual Core 6400+ may be faster than most typical AMD Quad Core offerings
+3agreedisagree

•
Crappy, hard-to-read backplate for motherboard I/O
+3agreedisagree

•
Because of the TLB Bug, the 9x00 Range of Phenoms are being replaced by the 9x50 ranges. E.g. the 9550 will replace the 9500. The buggy Chips showed lost 10% performance.
+2agreedisagree

•
No optical S/PDIF output
+2agreedisagree

•
No firewire suport
+2agreedisagree

•
Does not yet support Hybrid CrossfireX (waiting on drivers from ATI)
+2agreedisagree

•
The 6400+ Dual Core Processor cannot be used on this motherboard. Most test showed it blew the mother board in a few minutes. This mother board cannot accommodate 125W CPUs.
+2agreedisagree


4 people added to this review by submitting or voting on pros and cons. Add your say!
See individual votes »

Details

Specifications

  • AMD AM2+/AM2 Platform
  • AMD 780G chipset
  • Support AMD Phenom Quad-Core Processor
  • Dual-Channel DDR2 -1066/800/667/533
  • Hybrid CrossFireX + SurroundView for up to 4 connected displays
  • Full HD 1080p playback Support and playback of Bluray / HD DVD
  • video outputs: 1 x HDMI, 1 x DVI, 1 x VGA
  • SATA: 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s connectors /w RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10
  • audio: 8-channel output with coaxial S/DIF (no optical output)
  • Gigabit LAN
  • Up to 12 x USB 2.0 ports (4 x back panel + 8 x midboard)

Submit a link

This report was started April 7, 2008 at 5:46 pm by Jan
with the last edit occurring July 18, 2008 at 12:53 pm by yaminb
This page has been viewed 3816 times, with 56 edits by 5 contributors.
See the full report history »

Buy It

Competitors

ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI is ranked 2nd among it's competitors.  See the top picks in Motherboards »
Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H

MSRP  $95.00    Released  March, 2008
Pros
  • Connect up to 4 displays with Hybrid CrossFireX - 3rd, and 4th display requires additional graphics card
  • low power consumption
  • DirectX 10.1 compliant
  • Can power dual monitor right out of the box
Cons
  • Only one DVI output; one monitor has to run VGA in dual setup.
  • Can't use HDMI and DVI at the same time
ProSCORE
7 reviews
87
Vote! (2 votes)
vote ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI 0% vs. vote Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H 100%

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Comments

1.  avatar colinmaharaj said:

This is one of the first low cost AMD chipset motherboards that allows for high performance graphics on board. Other pointers...

1. The RAM speed can be as high as 1066 MHz.
2. This is an Micro-ATX form factor.
3. AM2+ means Phenom quad core processors can be used.
4. Not as hot - low power cosumption.
5. Adding a graphics board will allow to add the processing power of the on board graphics instead of replacing it.
6. Direct-X 10 support
7. Both VGA and DVI video outputs.

Around $100 bucks!

Apr 17, 2008 5:43pm
2.  avatar yaminb said:

I originally planned on getting the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, but I got the asus version instead only because the computer shop I normally deal with only had the asus version.

So far so good. No complaints really.
Jul 18, 2008 12:52pm
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Reviews

Sort by: Most helpful  •  Newest  •  Most positive

dialupinternetuser

avatar
May 28, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
38
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
8 cons

Pros

  • Very good performance for the price.
  • All the major games requiring high end expensive graphics cards, can run on this motherboard with the built in graphics.
  • Dual monitor support out of the box
  • Support for up to four connected displays
  • Has a legacy Serial Port for dealing with older telecoms devices and routers. No USB to Serial cable required.

Cons

  • Depending on the Phenom you buy, you may not be able to use 1066 MHz RAM. Research before making decision.
  • As always most software have yet to fully utilize all cores. Thus, in most cases, a Dual Core 6400+ may be faster than most typical AMD Quad Core offerings
  • Crappy, hard-to-read backplate for motherboard I/O
  • Because of the TLB Bug, the 9x00 Range of Phenoms are being replaced by the 9x50 ranges. E.g. the 9550 will replace the 9500. The buggy Chips showed lost 10% performance.
  • No optical S/PDIF output
  • No firewire suport
  • Does not yet support Hybrid CrossfireX (waiting on drivers from ATI)
  • The 6400+ Dual Core Processor cannot be used on this motherboard. Most test showed it blew the mother board in a few minutes. This mother board cannot accommodate 125W CPUs.

Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

Erik

avatar
May 28, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
45
negative
mixed
positive
5 pros
6 cons
have ithave it

Pros

  • Very good performance for the price.
  • All the major games requiring high end expensive graphics cards, can run on this motherboard with the built in graphics.
  • Dual monitor support out of the box
  • Support for up to four connected displays
  • Excellent 780G AMD chipset

Cons

  • Depending on the Phenom you buy, you may not be able to use 1066 MHz RAM. Research before making decision.
  • As always most software have yet to fully utilize all cores. Thus, in most cases, a Dual Core 6400+ may be faster than most typical AMD Quad Core offerings
  • Crappy, hard-to-read backplate for motherboard I/O
  • No optical S/PDIF output
  • No firewire suport
  • Does not yet support Hybrid CrossfireX (waiting on drivers from ATI)

Competitors

Erik prefers Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H over ASUS M3A78-EMH HDMI
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

colinmaharaj

avatar
May 28, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
43
negative
mixed
positive
3 pros
4 cons

Pros

  • Very good performance for the price.
  • All the major games requiring high end expensive graphics cards, can run on this motherboard with the built in graphics.
  • Has a legacy Serial Port for dealing with older telecoms devices and routers. No USB to Serial cable required.

Cons

  • Depending on the Phenom you buy, you may not be able to use 1066 MHz RAM. Research before making decision.
  • As always most software have yet to fully utilize all cores. Thus, in most cases, a Dual Core 6400+ may be faster than most typical AMD Quad Core offerings
  • Because of the TLB Bug, the 9x00 Range of Phenoms are being replaced by the 9x50 ranges. E.g. the 9550 will replace the 9500. The buggy Chips showed lost 10% performance.
  • The 6400+ Dual Core Processor cannot be used on this motherboard. Most test showed it blew the mother board in a few minutes. This mother board cannot accommodate 125W CPUs.

Comments

"

This is one of the first low cost AMD chipset motherboards that allows for high performance graphics on board. Other pointers...

1. The RAM speed can be as high as 1066 MHz.
2. This is an Micro-ATX form factor.
3. AM2+ means Phenom quad core processors can be used.
4. Not as hot - low power cosumption.
5. Adding a graphics board will allow to add the processing power of the on board graphics instead of replacing it.
6. Direct-X 10 support
7. Both VGA and DVI video outputs.

Around $100 bucks!

"
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

yaminb

avatar
July 18, 2008
approved
reviewer
ProSCORE
80
negative
mixed
positive
4 pros
1 con
have ithave it

Pros

  • Very good performance for the price.
  • All the major games requiring high end expensive graphics cards, can run on this motherboard with the built in graphics.
  • Dual monitor support out of the box
  • plenty of USB ports

Cons

  • Crappy, hard-to-read backplate for motherboard I/O

Comments

"I originally planned on getting the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H, but I got the asus version instead only because the computer shop I normally deal with only had the asus version.

So far so good. No complaints really."
Did you find this review helpful?
Yes
 / 
No

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This product is also known as:

M, 3, A, 78, EMH, M3, 3A, A78, 78EMH, M3A, 3A78, A78EMH, M3A78, 3A78EMH, M3A78EMH