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Which CPU to use?

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  • Which CPU to use?

    I have a Gigabyte 78LMT-S2 Rev.1.1. My socket is the AM3b. It has a raised square in the middle with a ridge around the square. Will a standard AM3+, Phenom II chip work with this socket? I have looked over many pictures of the motherboard and have not found any with the raised square on it. Is this standard and I just can't see it in the photos, or is it not the norm?

    Please help!!!

  • #2
    Re: Which CPU to use?

    Why not check the CPU support list on your board's info page for a definitive answer:

    GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Socket AM3+ - AMD 760G - GA-78LMT-S2 (rev. 1.1) CPU Support

    GIGABYTE - Motherboard - Socket AM3+ - GA-78LMT-S2 (rev. 1.1)

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    • #3
      Re: Which CPU to use?

      I have checked the support list many times. My question is why does my board have a raised square with a ridge and other boards (78lmt-s2) pictured on the gigabyte site not have this square and ridge. I don't have $50 to $75 to waste on a chip that may not fit on this particular board.


      Click image for larger version

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      If you take a look at the socket you'll see the raised square and ridge.
      Last edited by shockeydk; 11-22-2014, 09:07 AM.

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      • #4
        Re: Which CPU to use?

        Originally posted by shockeydk View Post
        I have a Gigabyte 78LMT-S2 Rev.1.1. My socket is the AM3b. It has a raised square in the middle with a ridge around the square. Will a standard AM3+, Phenom II chip work with this socket? I have looked over many pictures of the motherboard and have not found any with the raised square on it. Is this standard and I just can't see it in the photos, or is it not the norm?

        Please help!!!

        AM3+ Phenom II chips?

        In the picture below:

        Click image for larger version

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        1. Are you referring to the white line forming a lopsided square with the small extension at the upper left for the socket lever? I can see on your board there is a "fence" like structure in the shape of the white line square, but is not in the picture above.

        2. Or are you talking about the the CPU cooler mounting bracket, which in this picture is the two dark blue plastic parts on the left and right, vs the one piece bracket in light blue on your board?

        If you mean the description in 1, the white line (or raised square) defines the "keep out zone" for the processor and socket. That means nothing can intrude in that area or it will interfere with the mounting of the processor.

        On your board, the raised square (fence as I call it) is the keep out zone done in three dimensions. Never saw that before, I wonder if it can be removed.

        The picture above is the Rev. 1.2 of your board. The keep out zone is the same size. The change in the CPU cooler mounting bracket was done to enhance cooling.

        Your board's fence has nothing to do with the use of different processors, I wonder if that is just a protector that should be removed once the board is in use. I imagine it is.

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        • #5
          Re: Which CPU to use?

          Thanks for the help, but I don't think you entirely understand what I mean. Look at the mounting area for the CPU in my photo. There is a raised square in the middle surrounded by a raised fence. It is not removable. It is part of the plastic of the mounting area. When you place a CPU on the mounting area it is raised above the rest of the pad. When I purchased this board nearly two years ago I also had purchased an AM3+ chip at the same time. Needless to say the chip wouldn't fit properly so I abandoned the project and purchased another board for my customer. I found the board in my inventory just this week and wanted to see what was wrong with the board. After perusing the Gigabyte website I saw that no other boards were like this one. I did find another board on Amazon (78LMT-s2P) that was like this one. Mine is not an S2P just an S2. This is the only other one I have ever seen advertised.

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          • #6
            Re: Which CPU to use?

            I suggest you do contact Gigabyte and query them about specific processors you can use. Sometimes even though some AM3+ processor may be said to be compatible, the board revision may not support it properly. It's the board revision that introduces the issue. AMD sometimes have several revisions of a single board.

            If the picture you provided was slightly less blurred it would be helpful. Does it still have the protective black cpu slot cover on it, the one you get when you buy anew motherboard. However, I would contact Gigabyte support for direct confirmation. I would advise against removing the the blue fence, although I would take the risk if it was my own board and was causing an obstruction.
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            • #7
              Re: Which CPU to use?

              Here is a less blurry pic with the area concerned outlined in yellow.

              Click image for larger version

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              I hope this clears up the question of where the area is on the cpu mounting pad. Does everyone see the raised square with a "fence" around it?

              I found a cheap sempron chip that is on the Gigabyte recommendation list. I'll update when I receive it and test it.

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              • #8
                Re: Which CPU to use?

                I finally understand what you're referring to, sorry about that.

                Given what I found about this socket, the AM3+ socket is labeled "AM3b", which is what you have on your rev. 1.1 board. But none of the pictures of this board Gigabyte uses looks exactly like yours does, as you know.

                Check this page at Wikipedia about the AM3+ socket, particularly the picture on the right side of the page. Click on it for a bigger version, which can be clicked on twice for more zoom. The fence area you describe is very obvious.

                Socket AM3+ - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

                But I may have found in general what the difference is. Note that in the Wikipedia picture, we can see Lotes to the left of AM3b. Lotes is the manufacture of the socket, and I can see in your first picture of your board, the socket is a Lotes too.

                In all the pictures on Gigabyte's website, given what I can see, the sockets are all made by Foxconn. For some reason, the Lotes AM3+/AM3b socket has the added fence.

                I can't imagine that the Lotes socket cannot be used with any of the processors in the compatibility list. Any AM3b socket should be the same functionally regardless of manufacture. Your board simply was one made with a Lotes socket. Lotes and Foxconn are the two most common processor socket manufactures.

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                • #9
                  Re: Which CPU to use?

                  After receiving the cheap Sempron chip I tried fitting it into the socket. There was a little too much pressure on the center versus the rest of the mounting platform, so I shaved a little off the square. It works perfectly! Maybe the board I received was just a little off in the machining process. I scraped the thickness of a razor blade and now the chip sits evenly on the socket.

                  Thanks for every ones help! Problem solved!

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