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Gigabyte MA790XT-UD4P Motherboard Review - PAGE 1
Carl Poirier - Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Motherboards supporting AMD AM3 processors are now present in large quantities and in many flavors on the market. Many of them are simply older AM2+ motherboards which received a BIOS update. However, there are not many of them yet which have an AM3 socket, which means it is paired with DDR3 DIMM slots. As always, the high-end and expensive parts launched first, and then the more affordable parts followed later.

This is where we are now with AM3 motherboards; cheaper models began to appear on the market a little while ago. Gigabyte is one of the few manufacturers who recently launched more affordable boards. The cheapest of them is the MA770T-UD3P, which carries an amazing price tag of $85. Selling for such low prices however implies sacrificing some features and maybe performance. Therefore, compromises are also designed.

In between that cheap MA770T-UD3P and the high-end MA790FXT-UD5P is the MA790XT-UD4P. As its name says, it sports the 790X chipset instead of the 790FX. It is currently on sale for $140 on Newegg.com, which is on average $40 cheaper than high-end motherboards such as the MSI 790FX-GD70, the DFI LP DK 790FXB-M3H5 and the ASUS M4A79T Deluxe. However, does this cheaper alternative can still deliver the performance of the more expensive parts? Which features had been sacrificed so that the cost is down? This is what I will investigate in this article. First of all, I will play the 'Find the Differences' game between the MA790XT-UD4P and the MA790FXT-UD5P throughout the second page of this review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Specifications

CPU
  1. Support for Socket AM3 processors: AMD Phenom™ II X4 processor / AMD Phenom™ II X3 processor
Hyper Transport Bus
  1. 5200 MT/s
Chipset
  1. North Bridge: AMD 790X
  2. South Bridge: AMD SB750
Memory
  1. 4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 16 GB of system memory (Note 1)
  2. Dual channel memory architecture
  3. Support for DDR3 1666(OC)/1333/1066 MHz memory modules
Audio
  1. Realtek ALC889A codec
  2. High Definition Audio
  3. 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
  4. Support for Dolby Home Theater
  5. Support for S/PDIF In/Out
  6. Support for CD In
LAN
  1. Realtek 8111C/DL chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots
  1. 1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1)
  2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1) (Note 3)
    (The PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX8_1 slots support ATI CrossFireX technology, and conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
  3. 3 x PCI Express x1 slots
  4. 2 x PCI slots
Storage Interface South Bridge:
  1. 1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices
  2. 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices
  3. Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID5, RAID 10 and JBOD
GIGABYTE SATA2 chip:
  1. 2 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (GSATA2_0, GSATA2_1) supporting up to 2 SATA 3Gb/s devices
  2. Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD
iTE IT8720 chip:
  1. 1 x floppy disk drive connector supporting up to 1 floppy disk drive
IEEE 1394 T.I. TSB43AB23 chip
  1. Up to 3 IEEE 1394a ports (2 on the back panel, 1 via the IEEE 1394a bracket connected to the internal IEEE 1394a header)
USB Integrated in the South Bridge
  1. Up to 12 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers)
Internal I/O Connectors
  1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
  2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
  3. 1 x floppy disk drive connector
  4. 1 x IDE connector
  5. 8 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
  6. 1 x CPU fan header
  7. 2 x system fan header
  8. 1 x power fan header
  9. 1 x front panel header
  10. 1 x front panel audio header
  11. 1 x CD In connector
  12. 1 x S/PDIF In header
  13. 1 x S/PDIF Out header
  14. 1 x IEEE 1394a header
  15. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  16. 1 x serial port header
  17. 1 x chassis intrusion header
  18. 1 x power LED header
Back Panel Connectors
  1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard port
  2. 1 x PS/2 mouse port
  3. 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
  4. 1 x coaxial S/PDIF out connector
  5. 2 x IEEE 1394a port
  6. 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
  7. 1 x RJ-45 port
  8. 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone)
I/O Controller
  1. ITE IT8720 chip
H/W Monitoring System voltage detection
  1. CPU/System temperature detection
  2. CPU/System fan speed detection
  3. CPU overheating warning
  4. CPU/System fan fail warning
  5. CPU/System fan speed control (Note 3)
BIOS
  1. 2 x 8 Mbit flash
  2. Use of licensed AWARD BIOS
  3. Support for DualBIOS™
  4. PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI 1.0b
Unique Features
  1. Support for @BIOS
  2. Support for Q-Flash
  3. Support for Virtual Dual BIOS
  4. Support for Download Center
  5. Support for Xpress Install
  6. Support for Xpress Recovery2
  7. Support for EasyTune (Note 4)
  8. Support for Easy Energy Saver
  9. Support for Time Repair
  10. Support for Q-Share
Bundle Software
  1. Norton Internet Security (OEM version)
Operating System
  1. Support for Microsoft Windows Vista/ XP
Form Factor
  1. ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 23.3 cm
Note (Note 1) Due to Windows Vista/XP 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than 4 GB.
(Note 2) For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16_1 slot. The PCIEX8_1 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16_1 slot. When PCIEX8_1 is populated with a PCI Express graphics card, the PCIEX16_1 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.
(Note 3) Whether the CPU/system fan speed control function is supported will depend on the CPU/ system cooler you install.
(Note 4) Available functions in EasyTune may differ by motherboard model.
Remark
  1. Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors' website or 3rd party website.
  2. Due to most hardware/software vendors no longer offer support for Win9X/ME. If some vendors still has Win9X/ME drivers available, we will publish on website.

 

Specifications are courtesy of Gigabyte at http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=3010&ProductName=GA-MA790XT-UD4P

next: The Board »

Article Index

1.Introduction & Specifications
2.The Board
3.The BIOS
4.More BIOS: Overclocking
5.Test setup and benchmarks used
6.SiSoft Sandra
7.HandBrake & POV-Ray
8.WinRAR & Cinebench
9.HD Tune & PCMark
10.Crysis Warhead & Bioshock
11.Call of Duty: World at War & Far Cry 2
12.Left 4 Dead & Mirror's Edge
13.Overclocking, Power consumption & Conclusion
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