Printed From: ASRock.com
Category: Media&User's Review
Forum Name: AMD Motherboards
Forum Description: ASRock AMD Motherboards
URL: https://forum.asrock.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1070 Printed Date: 22 Nov 2024 at 10:28am Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: 13 year old budget gamer and the motherboardPosted By: AgentRno
Subject: 13 year old budget gamer and the motherboard
Date Posted: 21 Oct 2015 at 8:18pm
To give you a bit of perspective, I bought this motherboard way back in mid 2012 and this was my first build. I knew very little and at that time this was a very good choice. (I was 13 years old! )
960GM GS3 FX is MicroATX budget motherboard based on the 760G chipset and hence, the AM3+ socket. And this is my rig .......
CPU : Athlon X2 270 3.4Ghz
RAM : 4GB 1333 Mhz
MOBO : ASRock 960GM-GS3-FX
PSU : Antec VP500PC
HD : WD 1TB Caviar Blue
As you can see, my rig is kind of a rat's nest and you can't see the merchandise very clearly. Sooo...........
PRESENTING THE GHETTO TEST BENCH v1.0 (brought to you by Behringer Xenyx 802)
Now on to the motherboard...
A major selling point and the reason why I chose to buy this motherboard is that it is one of the few that has integrated onboard graphics thanks to its Radeon HD 3000 iGPU. Not the best graphics solution in the whole world but can play Dead Space 2 (low settings) at 30 FPS stable. And it is sufficient for MOBA gaming!!!
It has 4 SATA 2 ports for ample storage. Single PCI-E 2.0 16x slot for single GPU configuration and 1x slot for expansion cards. It has two USB 2.0 headers supporting 4 USB ports, which is rather nice. Two DIMM slots is kind of scarce but in a budget mobo at his price, it is pretty good and it supports dual channel DDR3 1800Mhz.
Rear I/O has 4 USB 2.0 ports, 2 PS/2 ports, RJ45 LAN connector and HD Audio Jacks. Pretty decent and perfect for my needs.
No fancy UEFI bios, but at this price point what do you expect? And this is all you'll need because if you think you're going to get a solid overclock on this board? DREAM ON!!!
But some of the low points of this mobo is the absence of SATA 3 ports or USB 3.0 ports. But doesn't bother me much as I do not use an SSD or have USB 3.0 devices.
CONCLUSION
If you are setting up your first build and need something to put your budget processor like an Athlon II X4 or even an FX series CPU (if you don't plan to overclock!) , look no further! This is the mobo for you. Absence of SATA 3 and USB 3.0 ports may be a deal breaker for some, but if you are builder like me, you wouldn't even mind them.
BONUS : I created kind of a parody video of my rig, as my entry to the LG Ultrawide Festival 2015 and for TekSyndicate's Ebay Giveaway.
Replies: Posted By: AgentRno
Date Posted: 21 Oct 2015 at 8:35pm
Feel free to give your views and remarks on my review. If you like it, hit the Thanks button.
It's been 3 years since I built this PC and I am still using this dual core rig.
A quad core APU would be perfect for my gaming and video editing needs. Help me to win the 7870k!!!!
Posted By: ASRock_Official
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2015 at 12:16pm
UEFI Bios looks awesome but I missed the old fashion Bios UI so much LOL
Posted By: AgentRno
Date Posted: 29 Oct 2015 at 7:06pm
I still prefer this simple bios. UEFI BIOS is too flashy for me. This old one has no distractions. Get your work done and get to the desktop.
------------- If at first you don?�t succeed, call it version 1.0
Posted By: Sweet
Date Posted: 30 Oct 2015 at 2:05am
Very nice dude
Posted By: AgentRno
Date Posted: 06 Nov 2015 at 1:14am
Anybody can win - unless there happens to be a second entry. - George Ade
Fingers crossed! Hope to win an APU!!!!
Good Luck everyone!!!!!!!
------------- If at first you don?�t succeed, call it version 1.0