AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE 3.4GHz + ASUS M5A97 Socket AM3+ 970 MOBO $135+tax MICROCENTER B&M ONLY (Other combos available)

Quote from silvia240 : I am not sure if I am just not seeing it, but I do not see HDMI anywhere on the board, nor is it listed in the specs.

I think he was referring to the Biostar found here:

http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0383658

Quote from BGRT : Good deal. I didn't know these Phenoms are in stock and it looks like it bundles with some cheapo AM3+ boards as well. Now that the 960T seem to be out of stock in every MC this is probably the best bundle deal. Btw 960T dropped to 79.99 now, but it's irrelevant because they don't even have it in stock. 1045T also dropped to 99.99 and it's in stock at some locations.

I bought when it was $89.99. Do they refund if price falls?

The ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS is NOT worth getting.
Pay 20-30 dollar more for a higher quality motherboard..
this is a 95w motherboard that they just upgraded bios and sold as 125watt motherboard.. it WILL NOT handle 125watts cpu

i've bought this ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS along with FX-4100(95watts)..
Even at STOCK settings.. this motherboard will Throttle..meaning automatically lower your voltage and speed to reduce heat..
Throttling happens when a motherboard's VRM gets too hot because it doesn't have a heatsink on it and cannot handle the power...
This has NOTHING to do with the heatsink on your cpu.. your core can be 30 degrees..and still throttle.

so whoever plans of OVERCLOCKING with this motherboard..FORGET IT..
honestly.. right now i have to underclock + undervolt my cpu for it not to throttle me.

Quote from pokymon : I bought when it was $89.99. Do they refund if price falls?

Well they do have a 15 day return policy on CPUs. Not sure whether that translates to a 15-day price guarantee.

Quote from Dm22 : The ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS is NOT worth getting. Pay 20-30 dollar more for a higher quality motherboard.. this is a 95w motherboard that they just upgraded bios and sold as 125watt motherboard.. it WILL NOT handle 125watts cpu i've bought this ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS along with FX-4100(95watts).. Even at STOCK settings.. this motherboard will Throttle..meaning automatically lower your voltage and speed to reduce heat.. Throttling happens when a motherboard's VRM gets too hot because it doesn't have a heatsink on it and cannot handle the power... This has NOTHING to do with the heatsink on your cpu.. your core can be 30 degrees..and still throttle. so whoever plans of OVERCLOCKING with this motherboard..FORGET IT.. honestly.. right now i have to underclock + undervolt my cpu for it not to throttle me.

That's good info!! Thanks!

Quote from FBomb : I think he was referring to the Biostar found here: http://www.microcenter.com/single...id=0383658

Ah, one of 3 AM3+ mATXboards @ microcenter. What worries me about this is poor reviews, especially @ newegg [newegg.com]. I personally have been waiting 3+ weeks for the 960T or the 1045T to come back into stock, but I think they will not be getting anymore in.

I am building a HTPC mainly for streaming 720-1080p content, light websurfing, possibly some gaming (something like shift 2), does anyone know if the Onboard Graphic Chipset be able to handle that? I am sure the 965be is more than enough CPU power for those tasks.
TIA

Quote from silvia240 : Ah, one of 3 AM3+ boards @ microcenter. What worries me about this is poor reviews, especially @ newegg [newegg.com]. I personally have been waiting 3+ weeks for the 960T or the 1045T to come back into stock, but I think they will not be getting anymore in. I am building a HTPC mainly for streaming 720-1080p content, light websurfing, possibly some gaming (something like shift 2), does anyone know if the Onboard Graphic Chipset be able to handle that? I am sure the 965be is more than enough CPU power for those tasks. TIA

You and I have both been waiting....I mentioned earlier I was able to score a 960T this morning. Good luck!

Quote from FBomb : You and I have both been waiting....I mentioned earlier I was able to score a 960T this morning. Good luck!

I would like to just stop by and check, but my nearest microcenter is about 85 miles away. So i need to be able to order it before I drive up there to pick it up.

Quote from Dm22 : The ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS is NOT worth getting. Pay 20-30 dollar more for a higher quality motherboard.. this is a 95w motherboard that they just upgraded bios and sold as 125watt motherboard.. it WILL NOT handle 125watts cpu i've bought this ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS along with FX-4100(95watts).. Even at STOCK settings.. this motherboard will Throttle..meaning automatically lower your voltage and speed to reduce heat.. Throttling happens when a motherboard's VRM gets too hot because it doesn't have a heatsink on it and cannot handle the power... This has NOTHING to do with the heatsink on your cpu.. your core can be 30 degrees..and still throttle. so whoever plans of OVERCLOCKING with this motherboard..FORGET IT.. honestly.. right now i have to underclock + undervolt my cpu for it not to throttle me.

Good information. However, did you turn off AMD's Cool'n'Quiet feature? Did you also try using a Phenom II CPU or something other than a Bulldozer CPU? These two things could cause throttling.


For potential buyers:
I would not get this motherboard or any of the cheaper boards for overclocking or unlocking (unless you have a dual core you want to unlock into a quad). However, I did get this motherboard to use with a quad core at stock speeds. It works very well for that purpose. It also has integrated video. It is perfect for someone who wants to upgrade their parent's computer without spending extra on unnecessary features and components. What did bug me about this motherboard was the lacking amounts of fan connectors and their placements.

Oh and yes, this motherboard was built for 95W processors. They added a "plus" at the end only after that BIOS update. This means that if you throw in a 125W processor on this motherboard, DO NOT overclock whatsoever. It will be running at it's limit at stock speeds.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/...5A78LM_LX/

going to get the biostar

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6813138345

damn, will they be getting anymore 960t or 1045?

Quote from Chris4lulz : damn, will they be getting anymore 960t or 1045?

Where do you live? They still have the 1045T in stock in most areas.

Quote from exhurt : Where do you live? They still have the 1045T in stock in most areas.

Dallas, Seems to be OOS.

Video
Onboard Graphic Chipset AMD Radeon HD 4250
DirectX Support DirectX 10.1
Multi-GPU Support AMD Hybrid CrossFireX
Audio
Audio System Realtek ALC662
Audio Channels 6-Channel