ECS A960M-M3 AM3+ AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard -- FREE after $37 MIR (Starts 10/24)

LOL their webpage says they atleast ran an FX 8350 (8 cores, 4.0 GHZ, 4.2 GHZ turbo)

anyone want to gamble a $220 cpu in a free after rebate motherboard?


http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/...15&LanID=9

Any leads on a cheap Athlon II X2/X3/X4 other than the Bay?

I picked up a amd phenom ii x4 945 and CPUID HWMonitor doesn't show the correct CPU temp, also the ECS monitoring add on reads the CPU temp as 0F.

Can anyone recommend a temperature monitoring software that would show a correct CPU temp reading?

Quote from m715 : I picked up a amd phenom ii x4 945 and CPUID HWMonitor doesn't show the correct CPU temp, also the ECS monitoring add on reads the CPU temp as 0F. Can anyone recommend a temperature monitoring software that would show a correct CPU temp reading?

Try hwinfo64.

Quote from beastyben1 : Try hwinfo64.

Thanks, worked and after installing my SSD with a clean win7 system all the monitoring programs seem to work again...

Quote from beastyben1 : Any leads on a cheap Athlon II X2/X3/X4 other than the Bay?

How about this AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX [newegg.com]?

$69.99 - $15 EMCJJJG28 (ends 11/19) = $54.99

People in feedback said it is easy to unlock the 4th core.

Quote from outersquare : LOL their webpage says they atleast ran an FX 8350 (8 cores, 4.0 GHZ, 4.2 GHZ turbo) anyone want to gamble a $220 cpu in a free after rebate motherboard? http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/...15&LanID=9

I noticed as well yesterday that they updated the supported CPU list with a bunch of 125W CPU's. Anybody wants to write them an email for details?

Quote from eecs_guy : How about this AMD Athlon II X3 450 Rana 3.2GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX450WFGMBOX [newegg.com]? $69.99 - $15 EMCJJJG28 (ends 11/19) = $54.99 People in feedback said it is easy to unlock the 4th core.

Thanks but this board doesn't have the unlock feature. Still a pretty decent deal though.

Quote from eecs_guy : I noticed as well yesterday that they updated the supported CPU list with a bunch of 125W CPU's. Anybody wants to write them an email for details?

"Posted : GMT 2012/11/08 20:44:18
I am surprised to see the FX-8320 and FX-8350 included on the list of validated CPUs, since these are both 125W TDP chips.
Can you give any additional details about the testing that was done to validate these chips? Did they require additional tweaking or down-clocking to work, or did they work at default settings?"

"ECS Support(USA)
Posted : GMT 2012/11/09 23:11:28

We are double checking again with our main office. We will update you as soon as possible.
Again, thank you for your patience in this matter."

It's been almost a week since that message, still no new information.

Posted : GMT 2012/11/17 00:16:19

Dear Sir/Madam,

I keep watching the updates of ECS A960M-M3 and noticed that ECS updated the supported CPU's list on its website and that this motherboard supports 4 new 125W CPU's, FX-4350, FX-6350, FX-8320, FX-8350. Would you please kindly send me technical details about the procedure done to validate these CPU's? Any special tweaks when sitting a 125W CPU on a 95W TDP motherboard?

I would highly appreciate your assistance.

For your convenience, the URL of supported CPU's list is as follows.

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/...agment-CPU

Thanks,
eecs_guy

Quote from tarajunky : "Posted : GMT 2012/11/08 20:44:18 I am surprised to see the FX-8320 and FX-8350 included on the list of validated CPUs, since these are both 125W TDP chips. Can you give any additional details about the testing that was done to validate these chips? Did they require additional tweaking or down-clocking to work, or did they work at default settings?" "ECS Support(USA) Posted : GMT 2012/11/09 23:11:28 We are double checking again with our main office. We will update you as soon as possible. Again, thank you for your patience in this matter." It's been almost a week since that message, still no new information.

ECS Support(USA)

Posted : GMT 2012/11/17 00:57:48

Dear eecs_guy,

Thank you to contact ECS Techncial Support!

Based on our updated information, this model supports few 125W CPU. There is no different between 95W and 125W CPU during the installation. We suggested the customer to use better heatsink for 125W CPU.

If you still have any question, feel free to contact us by phone.

510-226-7333 Option 6
Monday - Friday
9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Have a nice weekend!

Sincerely.

ECSUSA TSD

Quote from eecs_guy : Posted : GMT 2012/11/17 00:16:19 Dear Sir/Madam, I keep watching the updates of ECS A960M-M3 and noticed that ECS updated the supported CPU's list on its website and that this motherboard supports 4 new 125W CPU's, FX-4350, FX-6350, FX-8320, FX-8350. Would you please kindly send me technical details about the procedure done to validate these CPU's? Any special tweaks when sitting a 125W CPU on a 95W TDP motherboard? I would highly appreciate your assistance. For your convenience, the URL of supported CPU's list is as follows. http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/...agment-CPU Thanks, eecs_guy

thanks for posting that, funny so i guess the motherboard can run 125W cpus anyways.
I wonder why they even rated it 95W in the first place.

Any recommendations for a cheap CPU? I was hoping for something for BF, but I'm not too familiar with AMD. Already got the memory, HDD, and an HDMI gpu so I can use it as an HTPC.

Quote from Foladar : Any recommendations for a cheap CPU? I was hoping for something for BF, but I'm not too familiar with AMD. Already got the memory, HDD, and an HDMI gpu so I can use it as an HTPC.

I've been asking the same question. If you have a Micocenter near you there are some deals on X4s for under $40 bucks.

Otherwise, Newegg has the X2 270 2.4ghz dual core on sale for $48. Fleabay has X2 220-250s for around $20-$30 most of the time. FX-4100 also on sale at Newegg for $79.99.