Exclusive First Look ASRock M3A790GXH/128M AM3 Mainboard supporting DDR3-1333

[bluetooth]

Exclusive First Look ASRock AM3 Mainboard supporting up to 16GB of DDR3-1333

AM3 Motherboard M3A790GXH/128M First look!
- Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1333/1066/800 (4 x DIMM slots), Max. capacity up to 16GB



- Support for Socket AM3 processor
- AMD 790GX + SB750 Chipsets
- ASRock DuraCap (2.5 x longer life time), 100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors
- Supports CPU up to 140W, FSB 2600 MHz (5.2 GT/s)
- Supports Hyper-Transport 3.0 (HT 3.0) Technology
- Supports AMD OverDrive™ with ACC feature (Advanced Clock Calibration)
- Supports Dual Channel DDR3 1333/1066/800 (4 x DIMM slots), Max. capacity up to 16GB
- Integrated AMD Radeon HD 3300 graphics, DX10 class iGPU, Pixel Shader 4.0, Max. shared memory 512MB
- Supports ATITM CrossFireXTM, Hybrid CrossFireXTM and 3-Way CrossFireXTM
- Integrated 128MB side port memory for iGPU
- 3 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (green @ x16 mode, blue @ x8 mode, orange @ x4 mode)
- Three VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI
- Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback
- 6 x SATAII 3.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1,RAID 5, RAID 10 and JBOD), NCQ, AHCI and "Hot Plug" functions
- 1 x eSATAII 3.0 Gb/s connector, PCIE Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
- Supports 2 x IEEE1394 ports (one port on back panel, one header on board)
- Supports ASRock Instant Boot, Smart BIOS, ASRock OC Tuner, Intelligent Energy Saver
- 7.1 CH Windows® Vista™ Premium Level HD Audio, DAC with 110dB dynamic range (ALC890 Audio Codec)
- Windows® VistaTM Premium 2008 Logo Ready

[felix_w]

Very nice...seems we r going to start seeing more AM3 models...

I wonder if someone could use higher clocked DDR3 in this board...if it would be recognised at higher than 1333MHz frequency...that would be very interesting...

Any info on when it will be available ?

[bluetooth]

Availability from 2009 :)

[wizzard0003]

Let me get this straight...

ASRock is claiming that AM2, AM2+ and AM3 are
ALL capable of running DDR3...?

Can you possibly conferm this with ASRock, bluetooth,
or is this just a typo/mistake...?

\\//_

[bluetooth]

I think they made a mistake, It should be AM2+ and AM3 processors with DDR3 memory controller inside.

[wizzard0003]

Originally Posted by bluetooth

I think they made a mistake, It should be AM2+ and AM3 processors with DDR3 memory controller inside.

But from what I've found, AM2+ CPU's will not fit an AM3
socket as AM3 has 2 less pins... This is one hell of a typo
if that's what it is...

I've placed photos of both sockets side by side and done
a pin count... Two of the little blocks (used to block some
holes) on the AM3 sockets have been moved up 1 pin...
This lines up with the AM3 pin layout but not with the AM2+
pin layout...

If you've got a friend at ASRock it may be prudent to ask
some questions...

\\//_

Edit:
See here starting at post #183
http://www.theraptorpit.com/forum/in...ic=2937&st=180

Read on to the next page for the side by side photos
of AM2+ and AM3 CPU's...

[bluetooth]

From what I understand AM2+ processors can fit into a AM3 socket.
I also heard that AM2+ (from other sites) that AM2+ processors actually has the DDR3 controller already inside but disabled.

[felix_w]

Many users of AM2+ processors claim that in Everest their memory controller is recognised also as DDR3-800...i don't know if it is due to AGESA code in bios or if it is due to microcode scripts already passed on to Agena microcodes ,but i think we should better wait one month or so for learning if AM2+ Deneb's can also handle DDR3 for sure...

Originally Posted by wizzard0003

But from what I've found, AM2+ CPU's will not fit an AM3
socket as AM3 has 2 less pins...

Hey wizzard, you have a link from the thread from XS that kenofstephen and i give photos of the two sockets...The info remaining for us to conclude are the actual pins on the AM3 processors...The AM2/AM2+ processors appears that they physically can fit on an AM3 socket...It is for AM3 processors that we don't have a clue of the pin-count...maybe they have an extra pin ( in the corner) maybe they don't...let's wait and see....

[bluetooth]

We will know the answer sooner or later. If i remember correctly, AM3 will fit into AM2 boards but AM2 won't fit into AM3. IF Deneb has a DDR3 controller hidden inside, then it will work on AM3 boards.

[wizzard0003]

We definately need to see for sure when the actual CPU's
are released, but from the pictures of those two CPU's I
posted they definately have 2 less pins...

Two of the "Blocks" with missing pins on the "presumed"
AM3 CPU have 3 pins missing... The same blocks on the
AM2+ only have 2 pins missing... The pin count from the
bottom to those blocks is the same on both CPU's...

If you then count up from the bottom to those blocks on
the photos of the sockets, they start one pin higher on the
AM3 socket than on the AM2+ socket... That would make
the extra two pins of the AM2+ CPU run into blocked holes
on the AM3 socket...

The socket on that ASRock board is an AM3 socket... I've
blown it up and done the counting... It even says AM3 on it...

\\//_