Asus M4A77TD: specifications, instruction in English

In the market of computer motherboards from the famous Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS in the arsenal of many interesting products. A popular brand around the world knows how to attract attention with affordable cost and high quality. In this article, the reader will get acquainted with the Asus M4A77TD motherboard designed for building a gaming platform. Overview and specifications of the device will allow users to better know the interesting novelty that appeared on the domestic market.

Product positioning

Officially, the manufacturer placed its product in the budget segment. This decision was called by many fans in their reviews logical, since the device was created using the cheap chip AMD 770. But the form factor of the motherboard Asus M4A77TD relates the product to the gaming niche.

On the large potential of the device can be judged by two PCIex16 buses that support CrossFire mode, as well as slots for fast RAM installation. In addition, the motherboard is equipped with all the necessary interfaces for building a multimedia platform, both for home and professional use.

First meeting

The motherboard Asus M4A77TD comes in a huge box and has an excellent bundle. Many users, having seen all the necessary interface cables, were pleasantly surprised, because not every manufacturer can afford such a luxury.

The second pleasant moment for all owners was the presence of solid state capacitors on the motherboard. Let the manufacturer and did not completely abandon the electrolytic elements, but in the processor power system, modern tanks are installed, which are not afraid of overheating.

The only thing that the company's technologists did not bother with is the strength of the textolite in the motherboard. A huge ATX device can easily be damaged when mounted in the case, or at the time of installing the processor or expansion cards. There are not many options here - you need to carefully connect.

Official representative in Russia

The motherboard Asus M4A77TD instruction in Russian. This is great news, both for overclockers, and for ordinary users who want to customize the system to their needs. The manual details the algorithm for mounting and connecting the motherboard to the system unit - the device owner must strictly follow the manufacturer's recommendations to avoid physical damage to the textolite.

Do not neglect the instruction and during the connection of expansion cards. The fact is that this product does not have protection against incorrect connection of USB ports - having mixed the polarity on the board, many owners can burn the wearable memory modules without the possibility of recovery.

Basic parameters

The main feature for which the motherboard Asus M4A77TD is purchased by users is the characteristics. There is something to be surprised even by demanding customers. The fact that the device supports the simultaneous operation of 8 hard drives, which can be connected to different interfaces (SATA, IDE and PCIex1). In fact, the motherboard unites several generations of hard drives, produced over two decades.

As for the processors, then there are some complications - the manufacturer provided support only to the AM3 socket (Phenom II / Athlon II / Sempron). The only plus here is the heat package, which is limited to 160 watts. With the operational memory, all owners of the device were lucky - the dual-channel DDR3 bus has 4 connectors, allows to install 64 GB of RAM and supports fast DDR3-1800 (OC) modules.

Expansion cards

I'm glad that the manufacturer came up with the idea to place the PCIex1 slot over the south bridge. When installing a video card, the port for connecting the SSD-disk will not be overlapped by the cooling system, as it happens with competitors. There are also three PCI slots on the Asus M4A77TD motherboard. Their characteristics are identical, and there is no way to configure bandwidth in the BIOS. But, as practice shows, this is already unimportant, because when installing a video adapter, the PCI slots overlap with the video adapter cooler. As a result, it is unclear why the manufacturer installed these interfaces on the board.

Two PCIex16 slots support the CrossFire mode, but here everything is not as good as many gamers would like. The upper slot is capable of operating in the "x16" mode, while the lower slot is limited to the data transfer rate "x4". A non-serious approach to the buyer, because this factor affects the performance of the system in gaming applications.

No restrictions

Will like the future owner and the range of ports, which provided the manufacturer with its product Asus M4A77TD. The operating instructions assure the user that any peripheral can be connected to a personal computer. Combined PS / 2 interface supports the operation of mouse and keyboard, COM-port allows you to connect multimedia devices, and LPT-port - office equipment. There are modern USB and e-SATA connectors. The integrated network card and 8-channel sound complement the motherboard with functionality.

It is clear that the manufacturer took care of the video system, providing the platform with two PCIex16 slots, but there is no integrated video controller on the board. But the device is positioned by ASUS in the budget class. Yes, IEEE 1394 interface is not very popular in Russia, however, speaking about the full support of the entire periphery, the manufacturer had to install this connector on the motherboard.

Features of the electrical circuit

The advantages of the Asus M4A77TD motherboard include a well-thought-out power supply system that not only copes with powerful components, but also can save electricity in idle mode. The enthusiast does not have to worry about overheating the system when overclocking the processor and memory modules - the intelligent system perfectly balances the load.

But the negative feedback deserves the processor's power supply stabilizer. The fact is that the electricity is supplied to it via the 4-pin ATX12V connector. The large dissipated power of the processor (140-160 watts) and one power line can cause a 12-volt line from the power supply to ignite if the wire has a small cross section. Naturally, the user needs a proprietary power supply for proper operation, which supports the appropriate load on the ATX12V line.

Finally

The motherboard Asus M4A77TD together with the advantages there are a number of shortcomings, which can not simply be ignored by the owner. Accordingly, potential buyers have many questions to the manufacturer regarding the flaws related to problems in building a gaming platform based on this motherboard. However, all claims are unreasonable, because the product was initially positioned in the budget class, and it is impossible to count on its potential.