AMD Phenom GP-9600 with Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DQ6 Review

[bluetooth]

Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DQ6 AMD 790FX Preview

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/giga...0FX-DQ6/g1.htm

GA-MA790FX-DQ6 is based on the AMD RD790 chipset. It consists of RD790 North bridge and South bridge ATI SB600. This board supports existing AM2 procesors and future AM2+ processors with HT3 support. The board has 4 full length PCIe slots to support either Dual 16x CrossFire or 4x PCIe x4 QuadFire. It is said to be able to do a Tri-CrossFire, that is to say, 3 cards of the same type to boost performance.

The board also use a silent pipe solution to minimise noise when in operation. Other than that, it uses ALC889A for HD audio, 4 ports of eSATA + 4 SATAII RAID ports, GbE, 1394, 10 USB ports.

Gigabyte again leads the industry by delivering one of the first board that supports AMD AM2+ Phenom™/ AM2 Athlon™64 series processors. The board, GA-MA790FX-DQ6 supports Dual Channel DDR2 1066 memory support for outstanding system performance. The board comes with Quad PCIe 2.0 graphics interface with ATI CrossFire technology support (two x16 or four x8). The chipset supports 41 lanes of PCIe 2.0 and can run CrossFire and the future Quad CrossFire. It is also said that 3 cards can be run in a Tri CrossFire configuration to improve graphics performance.

The GA-MA790FX-DQ6 uses High Quality CPU Power design with Ferrite core chokes, Low RDS (on) MOSFETs and Solid Capacitors just like the P35-DQ6. Durable Japanese manufactured SMD (Surface Mount Device) Solid Capacitors is used for enhanced system durability. All New Copper SILENT-PIPE that includes heat sinks covering the MOSFET modules, the north bridge and the south bridge is used on this board to minimise system noise.

Other features on this board includes a Realtek ALC 889A codec with DTS Connect support, featuring 106 dB Signal to Noise ratio and enabling Blu-ray and HD DVD high quality Full Rate Lossless audio playback. The on board Dual Gigabit LAN with Teaming function support, Quad BIOS solution for multiple layers of protection. There is also 4 eSATA ports, 1394, S/PDIF etc.

The GA-MA790FX-DQ6 emphasize on 6 Quads and 5 Smarts

6 Quads

Quad eSATA2 for enhanced data storage scalability and data-transfer performance
Easy backup and retrieval of data On-the Go: up to 4 external drives

Quad Double Phase - Revolutionary 8 phase power circuit design
Delivers higher operation efficiency with less heat generation

Quad CrossFire Ready - Supports ATI CrossFire™ Technology, true dual PCI-E 2.0 x16 or four PCI-E 2.0 x8 connectivity for up to 2 or 4 latest ATI CrossFire ™ VGA cards. Provides flawlessly smooth 3D video rendering and screaming frame rates.

Quad Cooling -Ultimate solution with 0dB soundless environment
Enhanced heat dissipation of critical components

Quad BIOS - Failure-proof BIOS protection for ultimate system stability
Featuring 2 physical BIOS + 2 Virtual-BIOS
(Duplicates on Hard-Disk and Driver CD)

QuadCore Optimised Ready for next generation AMD Phenom™ true quad-core processors
Delivering high levels of performance for multi-tasking applications

5 Smarts

Safe

Dual BIOS Plus
BIOS crash free protection with Dual BIOS and Xpress BIOS Rescue

BIOS Settings Recovery
Recoverable safe and frequently used CMOS setting

HDD S.M.A.R.T.
Hard drive “Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology” support

C.O.M. (Corporate Online Manager)
System administration utility for local area network

Xpress Recovery 2
Quick system image backup and restore

PC Health Monitor
System health monitor via bios and EasyTune utility

Smart

Download Center
Smart driver selection and download from Gigabyte’s website

Xpress Install
Complete drivers installation on one simple click

Smart LAN
BIOS built-in program to check LAN cable connection status

@BIOS / Q-Flash
Automatic BIOS update via internet / BIOS built-in flash utility

Boot Menu
Select boot device without entering bios setup

Smart Fan
Make your system cooler and quieter

Speed

Overclocking
Wide range of frequency tuning for CPU/ MEMORY/
PCI Express/PCI bus speed

Overvoltage
Flexible voltage settings for CPU/ memory/
PCI-E/Chipset to enhance overclocking ability


Silent Pipe and CrossFire

The last 2 S is silent pipe for quiet operation and CrossFire for future graphics upgrade.

Discuss in Forum

Next >>>

[jwlangs]

Okay, Neo. This is the 3rd or 4th article you guys have written on this board since Computex, each time the same things : AM2+, RD790, 4 PCIex16 slots, late Aug/Sept, etc. Now the title is "Board Pictured", pictured where? At computex? In your hands? I'm guessing it's in your hands, probably for a while now, and I'm itching for some new info on the board. September 10th is the launch of Barcelona, and rumor has it that's not all that's being launched. Just nod yes or blink twice if RD790 is being launched that day as well.

[bluetooth]

The date keeps changing. Some said Sep 9 some said Sep 23rd. So which is which ? Fro what i understand socket 1207 CPU (socket F) will be launched in SEP, the S940 type that most of us will use is not scheduled for SEP.

Stay tuned for more information when the dates get close to SEP ;)

[bluetooth]

http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/giga...790-DQ6/g1.htm

[jwlangs]

Originally Posted by bluetooth

The date keeps changing. Some said Sep 9 some said Sep 23rd. So which is which ? Fro what i understand socket 1207 CPU (socket F) will be launched in SEP, the S940 type that most of us will use is not scheduled for SEP.

Stay tuned for more information when the dates get close to SEP ;)

I thought Sep. 9 was the X38 release and Sep 23rd was X38 NDA lift. Perhaps though Intel chose these dates to coincide with AMD's chipset launches.

Also, I read the GA-M790-DQ6 preview, thanks for the fix!

[bluetooth]

How is the preview.? :)

[nastech]

lol.. i want it reviewed :D

[jwlangs]

Originally Posted by bluetooth

How is the preview.? :)

Well, this is the most anyone on the web has to say or show about an RD790 board! Considering those nasty NDAs, I appreciate what you guys could divulge at the moment.

[d0nson]

I agree with jwlangs, I'm very grateful for the info.

It should keep me going until we get a confirmed release date and hopefully a review

[bluetooth]

No NDA signed.