Sure ECS and ASRock got a head start when it comes to announcing AM3 motherboards but Asus has shifted into high gear and is already hitting us with not one but two Phenom II-ready products. First in line is the M4A78 Pro, an AMD 780G-powered board that has support for AM2, AM2 and AM3+ processors, four DDR2-1066 (BEd: no DDR3 on this one, we were surprised too) memory lots, one PCI-Express x16 slot and Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics. This one also boasts six SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors, one ATA port, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, plus D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs.

Also lacking DDR3 memory support, the M4A79 Deluxe, which is equipped with the 790FX, SB750 chip combo, has a more intricate cooling system, four PCI-Express x16 slots for CrossFireX setups and one eSATA and five SATA 3.0 Gbps ports. This board comes with 7.1 channel audio, Gigabit Ethernet, an 8+2 phase power design, Power, Reset buttons, and the Express Gate feature which provides a quick-booting Linux environment for use and abuse.

The M4A78 Pro and M4A79 Deluxe are expected to become available in January. Their price tags are yet unknown.

M4A78 Pro


M4A79 Deluxe



Pictures courtesy of Fudzilla and OCWorkbench.