In this review we will be looking at the Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 which is a mid-level motherboard supporting the latest AM3+ processors. As the name indicates the board is based on the new AMD 990FX chipset. The new chipset is designed to support the new AMD FX "bulldozer" processors along with NVidia SLI.
So far, MSI has released only two motherboards based on the new AMD 990FX chipset, one for the top mainstream market (990FXA-GD65), and one for the high-end market (990FXA-GD80). Let's take a look at the MSI 990FXA-GD80.
The gaming performance of the ASRock Fatal1ty Professional P67 motherboard was right on track with all of the Intel P67 offerings that we have looked at so far. In fact, it was even able to lead the pack at times. If I could change anything about the ASRock Fatal1ty Professional P67 motherboard there wouldn't be much. The only feature I would change is eliminating the IDE and Floppy headers. If this were an entry level motherboard, sure throw them on there for people looking to use the old hardware out of an existing system. The ASRock Fatal1ty Professional is aimed at the enthusiast market, and very few are going to use a floppy disk drive or an old and out-dated IDE hard drive...
Gigabyte are widely regarded as one of the biggest computer component manufacturers in the world, especially in the motherboard market. They cater for all of the latest AMD and Intel platforms including AM3, socket 1156, 1155 and 1366 and with Sandy Bridge taking over, we still believe that 1366 has some life left in it.
1366 based boards are still being sold all across the world and will eventually be taken over by the X79 chipset sometime in the near future, though this doesn't mean that X58 will be phased out straight away and this leading board manufacturer will keep producing these products until there is no market for them anymore.
Some consumers are still on the X58 ship and don't believe in jumping from it any time soon as they believe that Sandybridge and 1155 still isn't as powerful as the well loved 1366 socket with its triple channel memory support and fantastic stability.
Today sees us look at the X58-USB3 board from Gigabyte which shouts out that it's a socket 1366 board, with stability in mind and aimed at users who want the best performance and blistering speed for their peripherals and USB devices. Let's see if it delivers.
Yet another huge and affordable LCD monitor review! We know you love big monitors because we all do. That's why Benchmark Reviews has today the ASUS VW266H 16:10 Widescreen LCD Monitor. Not long ago any LCD screen was cost prohibitive for us working class computer folks, and a stretch for even the well heeled. Well, enter the 21st century because that was then and this is now. Folks, this is a 25.5" 16:10 aspect ratio 1900x1200 native resolution LCD monitor for under 280 USD (I bought mine with a 30.00 USD rebate too). No, that's not a typo. It's 25.5", really. Still not interested? You should be because this panel is a nice piece of hardware for business, gaming, and all around computer use with the added luxury of having 25.5" of desktop space.
While ASUS and MSI have focused a lot of marketing energy promoting the new UEFI BIOS interfaces - UEFI is the BIOS that works with a mouse and adds room for enhanced graphical interfaces - Gigabyte has gone in another direction. The Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD5-B3 motherboard uses a traditional text-based BIOS but augments that with a Windows based hybrid-EFI BIOS called Touch BIOS.
Over the past couple of months, we've taken a look at plenty of small form factor motherboards from some big brands including Asus, Gigabyte and Jetway, and they have all been designed with an all-in-one solution in mind. This is where we saw the likes of Intel Atom and more importantly AMD Fusion take its place in the market, and quite rightly so.
Today sees us still keeping our focus on small form factor in general but taking a look at a slightly different product, that shares the same market. The Zotac H67-ITX WiFi is still aimed at the HTPC market but differs somewhat in its design compared to the boards we've looked at recently. We say that as instead of having a built-in style processor or APU, we see a conventional socket able to take Intel's 2nd generation of processors which we all know as Sandybridge. Whilst we love the potential behind the i5 2500k and i7 2600k, this board would be better suited with a low-powered i3 CPU leaving it to be a perfect board to sit snuggly in a nice looking HTPC chassis below your Plasma TV.
Is it perfect for that purpose or is it all a bunch of marketing hype? We know what the benefits and potential of the H67 platform are, but can they seriously fit all of that power and features into a board of this size?
Never judge a book by its cover and all that...
Now that Intel's finally released the Z68 chipset, motherboard vendors are scrambling to meet the demand. With the odd restrictions of the P67 and H67 chipsets removed, the Z68 allows users to make use of Sandy Bridge integrated graphics as well as overclock their processors. Add Lucid's Virtu software for intelligent switching between the integrated GPU and a video card and Intel's Smart Response Technology for using an SSD as an intelligent cache for your main hard disk, and the features and advantages of a Z68 motherboard become very attractive. Benchmark Reviews looks at MSI's Z68A-GD80 motherboard in this review. MSI builds it with "military class" components, but does this make any real-world difference? Let's find out.
The long-awaited 990FX Chipset is finally here. The manufacturing partners have put together their offerings, each putting their personal touches to the design. Benchmark reviews is here with a look at the ASUS Crosshair V Formula 990FX motherboard and the all new 990FX Chipset. It's been a long time coming, and a full six months after the Intel P67-Express chipset means that AMD is behind the curve. A lot is expected of the new chipset and ASUS has a name to keep up with the Republic of Gamers series name.
We've had quite a large focus on Intel lately with the shakeup of B3 revision boards and the recent launch of the Z68 chipset. Now gives a time where we can take a look at something new from AMD. Yes you heard right, AMD have launched something new; the 990FX chipset.
AMD have been to long without a refresh and now that the 990FX has arrived, it opens the doorway to the upcoming processors codenamed Bulldozer. Sadly Bulldozer has now been delayed till apparently August, but how true this is, only AMD know. Until then the 990FX does give some other features aside from the full AM3+ support.
990FX opens up improved DDR3 memory support, the ability to have a UEFI GUI based BIOS, and support for SLI. AMD have hogged the limelight for quite some time forcing users to buy AMD all the way with the motherboard and GPU combination if wanting multiple graphics cards. The 990FX chipset sees an improvement in this area, now allowing for Quad SLI on some boards.
Whilst the 990FX does sound good in terms of small benefits, it really depends on the board that will be implementing it. Today we are looking at the Sabertooth 990FX from Asus which provides military grade components and stability at an affordable price. The Sabertooth includes all of the features above but also has stability in mind by implementing some unique features in terms of keeping your system cool by using an new improved material called CeraM!x and including various sensors across the board to intelligently monitor the boards temperature and adjust the cooling to suit.
It sounds like a board that's suitable for military operations but will it survive the bombardment of tests and benchmarks we'll be shooting at it? Let's find out.
The Intel Z68 chipset combines the benefits of Intel 6th series chipsets, supporting processor built-in graphics, x8+x8 SLI/CrossFire configurations, and CPU and built-in graphics overclocking capabilities.
AMD released the 900-series of chipsets this morning at Computex 2011 to show the world that they are preparing for the upcoming released of the AM3+ processors by releasing platforms with the new AM3+ socket. This is an evolutionary change or progression of the socket AM3 infrastructure, which means that this new socket will be backward compatible with existing AM3 processors. This is great news for existing AMD customers as you can upgrade your motherboard today well in advance of the Zambezi processors. So, the most important point of this entire launch is that the AMD 9-series of chipsets fully supports upcoming 8-Core AMD CPU's thanks to the AM3+ socket. The other main feature for AMD 9-series is the ability for motherboard partners to purchase NVIDIA SLI licenses for these boards....
Intel has finally launched the last chipset in the Cougar Point family, which should meet all the needs of enthusiasts who prefer LGA1155 processors. This core logic set has full overclocking functionality, supports Intel Quick Sync, Intel Smart Response and Lucid Virtu technologies. Looks like Sandy Bridge becomes even more appealing...
One of the areas that many of us (myself included) want to know about when purchasing a shiny new motherboard, is the overclocking potential. Well I'm here to tell you, the GIGABYTE P67A-UD7-B3 has plenty! I was able to bring the Intel Core i5 2500K to a new high with the P67A-UD7-B3. Enabling the Internal PLL Voltage and Level 10 Load-Line calibration to reduce the V-Droop we were able to bring our Intel Core i5 2500K to 5141MHz. That is nearly 100MHz better than we have been able to achieve previously...
Let's take a look at the TA880GB+, an entry-level microATX socket AM3 motherboard from Biostar for AMD processors, based on the AMD 880G chipset, featuring four memory sockets and HDMI output.
