Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P Motherboard Review

By jason

Introduction and Specs

Gigabyte MA790FXT-UD5P Motherboard Review

Gigabyte is a name that most computer enthusiasts will know, as they have had a number of successful motherboards over the years. They consistently produce boards that perform great and are very good overclockers. When you put Gigabyte together with a great overclocking Phenom II X3 CPU, the 790FX northbridge and the SB750 southbridge, you expect to get something good. And we did get something good. That something is called the Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P motherboard. It has been a while since we looked at a Gigabyte board, so we were anxious to get a chance to see just what this board could do. First off though, lets look at the specs:

Specifications

CPU
  1. Support for Socket AM3 processors: AMD Phenom II X4 processor / AMD Phenom II X3 processor
Front Side Bus
  1. 5200 MT/s
Chipset
  1. North Bridge: AMD 790FX
  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 S/PDIF In/Out
  5. Support for CD In
LAN
  1. 2 x Realtek 8111DL chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
  2. Support for Teaming
Expansion Slots
  1. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16
    (The PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2 slots support ATI CrossFireX technology, and conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
  2. 3 x PCI Express x1 slots
  3. 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 JM322 chips (Smart Backup):
    – 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (GSATA2_0, GSATA2_1, GSATA2_2, GSATA2_3) supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices (Note 2)
    – Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD

ITE 8720 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. 10 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 North Bridge fan header
  10. 1 x front panel header
  11. 1 x front panel audio header
  12. 1 x CD In connector
  13. 1 x S/PDIF In/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 parallel port header
  18. 1 x chassis intrusion header
  19. 1 x power LED header
  20. 1 x power switch
  21. 1 x reset switch
  22. 1 x clearing CMOS switch
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. 2 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 24.4cm
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) A JM322 chip supports two SATA 3Gb/s connectors, so the four SATA 3Gb/s connectors are divided into two pairs: GSATA2_0 and GSATA2_1 as one pair and GSATA2_2, GSATA2_3 as another pair.
(Refer to Chapter 2, Integrated Peripherals and Chapter 5, Configuring SATA Hard Drive(s), for how to enable the Smart Backup function.)
(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.

* The specification and pictures are subject to change without notice.
* All trademarks and logos are the properties of their respective holders.
* Due to standard PC architecture, a certain amount of memory is reserved for system usage and therefore the actual memory size is less than the stated amount.
Gigabyte motherboards come with a three year limited warranty

Comments are closed.