The motherboard can hardly be called a new product, since it is based on the AMD 760G northbridge introduced at the beginning of 2009. Initially, it was intended to replace the AMD 740G as a budget model for the Socket AM2/AM2+ platform, but was later adapted for subsequent Socket AM3/AM3+ connectors. The main distinguishing feature of the AMD 760G is the presence of an integrated AMD Radeon HD 3000 graphics core operating at 350 MHz and compatible with DirectX 10. It supports a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1200 and is intended rather for multimedia needs, since it would not provide any acceptable performance in modern it is not capable of games.

As for the GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 itself, it acts as an affordable and compact model for assembling entry-level systems. At the time of writing this review, it is offered at a price of about $70.

Let's take a look at the detailed specifications of GIGABYTE's solution.

GIGABYTE GA-78LMT-USB3 motherboard specification:

Manufacturer
	GA-78LMT-USB3 (rev 6.0)
North and south bridge chips	AMD 760G + AMD SB710
CPU socket	AMD Socket AM3/AM3+
Supported processors	AMD Phenom II / AMD Athlon II / AMD Sempron / AMD FX
Frequency of used memory	1600* / 1333 / 1066 MHz
Memory support	4 x DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB memory
Expansion slots	1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1
Disk subsystem	AMD SB710 supports: 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s 1 x IDE supporting two ATA 133/100/66/33 devices RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, JBOD
	1 x Realtek 8111F (10/100/1000 Mbps)
Sound subsystem	Codec Realtek ALC892 2/4/5.1/7.1 channel audio
	24-pin ATX power connector 8-pin ATX12V power connector
Fans	1 x CPU Fan Header (4-pin) 1 x system fan connector (4-pin)
Cooling	Aluminum heatsink on elements of the processor power subsystem Aluminum northbridge heatsink Aluminum south bridge radiator
External I/O ports	3 x audio ports 1 x PS/2 (for connecting a mouse or keyboard)
Internal I/O ports	1 x USB 3.0 with support for connecting two USB 3.0 (19-pin) 2 x USB 2.0, each supporting two USB 2.0 connections 6 x SATA 3 Gb/s 1 x COM connector 1 x LPT connector 1 x front panel audio output connector 1 x front panel connector block 1 x CMOS reset jumper
	2 x 32 Mbit AWARD BIOS ACPI 1.0b, SM BIOS 2.4, PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0
Equipment	user guide warranty brochure disk with drivers and utilities 2 x SATA cables 1 x IDE cable 1 x interface panel blank
Form factor,
Products webpage

ASRock 960GM-VGS3 FX - basic motherboard for Socket AM3+ processors

The ASRock 960GM-VGS3 FX motherboard is a compact entry-class microATX solution that allows you to create a system based on AMD FX, Phenom II or Athlon II processors. It is based on a pair of well-known chips - AMD 760G / SB710.

The RAM subsystem of the ASRock 960GM-VGS3 FX model consists of two 240-pin DIMM slots that support dual-channel operation of 8 GB DDR3-1866 MHz modules. And to connect storage devices and optical drives, four SATA 3 Gb/s ports are used.

The video subsystem of the ASRock 960GM-VGS3 FX board contains an integrated graphics core from the AMD Radeon HD 3000 series, and also allows the installation of discrete video cards with a PCI Express 2.0 x16 interface. And the set of external interfaces of the new product includes USB 2.0, D-Sub, PS/2, RJ45 ports and audio outputs.

Other interesting features of the ASRock 960GM-VGS3 FX include:

the use of exclusively solid-state capacitors in the processor supply voltage stabilization system;

presence of a 5.1-channel audio subsystem;

support for one gigabit network controller;

support for automatic processor optimization technology - ASRock X-Boost;

the ability to store optimized system settings in a separate file and use it in another system for the purpose of overclocking it (OC DNA technology);

support for a number of useful technologies: ASRock XFast 555, App Charger, OC Tuner and others;

Full compatibility with the Windows 8 operating system.

Detailed technical specification table of ASRock 960GM-VGS3 FX motherboard:

ASRock 960GM/U3S3 FX - new motherboard for AMD "Scorpius" platform

A new motherboard has been announced, based on a pair of AMD 760G / SB710 chips. The new product is equipped with an AMD AM3+ processor socket, which allows you to create budget systems based on it using solutions from the AMD “FX”, “Phenom II” or “Athlon II” lines.

Among other key components of the model, we highlight:

the presence of two 240-pin RAM slots that support dual-channel operation of eight-gigabyte modules of the DDR3-1866 MHz standard;

support for two high-speed SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports, four SATA 3.0 Gb/s interfaces and one ATA133 IDE connector, which are used to connect drives and optical drives;

the presence of an integrated graphics core AMD Radeon 3000;

the presence of one PCI Express x16 slot, which allows the installation of a discrete video card;

support for a 6-channel audio subsystem, which is based on the Realtek ALC662 codec;

Availability of two high-speed external USB 3.0 ports.

In addition, the solution has a number of additional advantages that effectively distinguish it from its competitive counterparts. Chief among them are:

the use of solid capacitors in power supplies of key components;

support for XFast RAM technology, which optimizes the use of RAM;

support for XFast LAN technology, which allows you to increase the efficiency of using network communication channel bandwidth;

support for XFast USB technology, which speeds up file transfer using the USB 3.0 interface;

use of the unique C.C.R. module (Combo Cooler Retention), which improves the cooling efficiency of the processor and ensures compatibility of the new socket with AM3 / AM2+ coolers;

support for OC Tuner technology, which allows optimization and monitoring of key parameters.

The summary table of the technical specifications of the new motherboard is as follows:

Announcement of the new ASUS M5A78L-M LX3 motherboard

The range of ASUS motherboards has been replenished with another new product, which is called M5A78L-M LX3. It is created in the Micro-ATX form factor based on AMD 760G (780L)/SB710 chips and is equipped with an AM3+ processor socket. Thus, the new product can effectively work in tandem with processors from the AMD FX, Phenom II, Athlon II and Sempron 100 lines, the thermal package of which does not exceed 95 W.

The model's RAM system consists of two 240-pin slots. They support dual-channel operation of installed DDR3 standard modules, the total volume of which should not exceed 16 GB, and the clock frequency should not exceed 1866 MHz.

The solution's disk system is served exclusively by a south bridge chip (AMD SB710) and includes four SATA 3.0 Gb/s ports. The video subsystem of the new product is based on two components: an integrated graphics core ATI Radeon HD 3000 (support for DirectX 10 instructions) and one PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot, which allows you to install an additional discrete video card.

The set of external interfaces of the motherboard is characterized by the presence of only the most necessary interfaces: USB 2.0, PS/2, D-Sub, RJ-45, COM and audio outputs.

Among the additional advantages of the new product, we note support for a number of useful technologies:

ASUS EPU – optimizes power consumption;

ASUS Anti-Surge Protection – guarantees protection of internal components from excessive voltage;

EMI – protects the user from harmful electromagnetic radiation from system components;

ESD – provides protection of internal components from static discharge;

ASUS Core Unlocker – simplifies the procedure for unlocking additional processor cores;

FAN X-pert – allows the user to control the parameters of internal fans.

The technical specification table for the new motherboard is as follows.

Introduction

The era of modern integrated graphics solutions from ATI began several years ago, when the company announced the extremely popular Radeon Xpress 200 system logic set for AMD processors. Of course, a few years earlier, the Canadian company pleasantly surprised the public with the announcement of the Radeon 9100 IGP with an integrated Radeon 9200, but at that time the system logic set was intended exclusively for Intel Pentium 4 processors and their derivatives.

Radeon Xpress 200 was a slightly different solution, because it not only carried PCI-E support on motherboards, but was also for the first time intended for AMD processors, and not Intel, as was the case before. Having debuted in 2004, the Xpress 200 found its way into an incredibly large number of motherboards, being actively used in both desktop computers and laptops. Having received the most powerful integrated graphics core of the Radeon X300 class (which, by the way, was nothing more than the “most popular video card” Radeon 9600, but under PCI-E), the user could well save quite a lot on the card for a future upgrade, at first being content with the “built-in” .

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Even though the video core was slightly reduced in clock speed compared to its discrete counterpart, and the video memory was drawn from the RAM, it was sufficient for users. One way to increase the performance of the integrated Radeon Xpress 200 solution was to solder 16- or 32-MB GDDR video memory chips on the motherboard. The cost of such improvements was meager, but they raised the overall performance quite noticeably, because in every game such “tuning” responded with extra FPS.

The Radeon Xpress 200 chipset lived for quite a long time, and until 2007, with some changes, it was actively used in various laptops and motherboards as the main video subsystem. True, the manufacturer managed to change the name of the built-in video core, first to Radeon X1100, and then to Radeon X1200\X1250, but the performance of this solution remained approximately at the same level as at the end of 2004.

It became clear that ATi/AMD integrated graphics required fundamental changes, especially since by that time DirectX 10 and shaders numbered 4.0 were already actively used in most mid-price and cheap solutions.

Integrated Radeon HD

The endless evolution of the Radeon X200 finally culminated in a revolution when, in 2008, AMD introduced a line of completely new AMD 780G chipsets with an integrated Radeon HD 3200 video core. This time, the prototype for it was something between the Radeon HD 3450 and Radeon HD2400. The chip received 40 scalar processors, 4 texture units and 4 ROP units - such powerful hardware was enough to get the performance level of the Radeon X1600 and play most modern games, easily even processing games on the Unreal Engine 3.

The capabilities of the latest generation Intel integrated video processor are impressive. In many modern and past games, Intel HD Graphics 3000 demonstrates performance at the level of entry-level discrete graphics cards. The performance potential of the new product is many times greater than that of the previous generation Intel integrated graphics – Intel GMA HD, which in practice means the ability to use higher graphics settings in undemanding games and the ability to run modern games, usually in low quality settings.

During testing, it was noticed that the Intel HD 3000 does not cope well with some games. In particular, there were problems with the brightness level: in Left 4 Dead 2 and Supreme Commander, the game scene turned out to be too dark, and the scenes in The Sims 3 and HAWX 2, on the contrary, turned out to be too bright after changing the resolution settings. Meanwhile, Mafia II did not launch at all. Let's hope that with the advent of new driver versions, the problems that have arisen will be resolved.

Considering the excellent level of performance of the new quad-core Intel Sandy Bridge architectural generation processors, one cannot help but talk about the positive influence of the central processor on the results of testing the performance of integrated graphics.

When talking about Intel HD Graphics 3000, you should keep in mind that its operating frequency may vary depending on the specific processor model. While the video core built into the Intel Core i7-2720QM processor operates at frequencies from 650 MHz to 1300 MHz, the same range of values ​​for the Intel Core i7-2635QM CPU is 650-1200 MHz, and for the Intel Core i7-2630QM model – 650- 1100 MHz.

ULV (Ultra Low Power) processors have even lower clock speeds, ranging from 350 MHz to 900 MHz, indicating a correspondingly lower level of performance. The same applies to configurations that are limited by the cooling system, as this can be a barrier to achieving the maximum performance achieved through Intel Turbo Boost Technology.

Property	HD Graphics 3000 rating
Kernel name	Sandy Bridge
Chip type	Built-in
Technological process, microns	0.032
Number of transistors, million	995
Core area, mm²	216
Maximum power consumption, W	35-95
Core frequency, MHz	1350
Number of raster operations blocks (ROPs)	2
Number of texture units (TMU)	4
Number of universal processors	12
Shader domain frequency, GHz	1.35
Number of textures per pixel per pass	128
Hardware T&L	+
Memory type	DDR3
Memory bus width, bits	64
DDR3 memory frequency, MHz	800
DDR3 memory bandwidth, GB/s	12.8
PCI Express speed, maximum	16x v.2.0
SLI/Crossfire support	No
Anisotropic filtering level	16x
Full screen anti-aliasing	Eat
Number of MSAA sample samples	4x
DirectX support (version)	10.1
Vertex shaders	4.1
Geometry shaders	1.0
Pixel shaders	4.1
General Purpose Computing Technologies	Quick Sync (Hardware accelerated video encoding and transcoding)
Volumetric image output technology	No
Frequency of 1st RAMDAC, MHz	350
TMDS transmitter frequency, MHz	External
DisplayPort support	Eat
DualLink DVI support	No
Multi-monitor output technology	Eat
HDTV support	1080p/1080i, HDMI 1.4 supported
HDCP support	1080p with hardware decoding MPEG-2, VC-1, AVC
Built-in audio processor	No