Manufacturer: Gigabyte Price: $ 140 US Author: Steve Date: 05/03/2010

[ AMD 8-Series Chipsets ]

The current generation of AMD 8-series chipsets includes the 890FX, 890GX, 880G and 870, with the latter two being budget parts. There are also two current generation south bridge chips to be aware of and they are the SB850 and SB710, though all boards we have seen so far use the SB850 chip. Now there is quite a significant difference between these various chipsets, so let us quickly break it down for you. The AMD 890FX is king, designed purely for performance, by providing gamers with the ability to fully support multiple-GPUs. The 890FX and 870 do not feature integrated graphics engines, where as the 890GX and 880G chipsets do. Motherboards based on the 890FX and 870 chipsets include the feature rich SB850 south bridge, which is important. The key difference between the two is that the 890FX features more PCI Express lanes, almost twice as many with 42 lanes, opposed to just 22 lanes of the 870 chipset. The 890FX is also the only chipset to support virtualization IOMMU 1.2 technology. So really other than the improved support for multi-GPU technology, there is not much difference between the 890FX and 870 chipsets. The 890GX chipset is similar to the 870 in that it only offers 22 PCI Express lanes. However it is an IGP (Integrated Graphics Platform) and as such includes an ATI Radeon HD 4290 graphics engine. This means installing an add-in graphics cards is not essential, though is highly recommend for gaming. Finally we have the 880G chipset, which is virtually the same as the 890GX with the exception of the graphics engine, which has been downgraded to the ATI Radeon HD 4250. Now the real issue comes down to pricing. As it stands, 890FX boards are priced at between $200 - $230 US, while 890GX boards are much cheaper at $120 - $150 US. Motherboards sporting the 880G chipset are priced between $85 - $140 US, and the 870 motherboards $100 - $110 US. Those installing a pair of Radeon HD 5850 or 5870 graphics cards, or even more, in Corssfire for example, will want an 890FX motherboard hands down. If not, then motherboards using 890GX, 880G or 870 chipsets will fit the bill. The difference between these chipsets is almost negligible, so it really comes down to pricing and what extra features the motherboard offers, though if possible the 890GX is the way to go.

<- Previous Page Table of Contents Introduction >>> AMD 8-Series Chipsets <<< AMD 890GX Chipset Features Board Features & Specifications Board Design & Layout Overclocking & BIOS Memory Bandwidth Performance Synthetic Performance Application Performance Encoding Performance Gaming Performance Power Consumption Conclusion Next Page ->

Busta

Posted on: 05/04/2010 10:06 PM Nice review - very in-depth. This is a great looking motherboard. I think Gigabyte make the best boards IMO!

ArmyOfOne

Posted on: 05/04/2010 10:43 PM This looks like it could be my next board ... once AMD releases the Phenom II X4 960T so I can use it to unlock the other two cores

Inigma

Posted on: 05/05/2010 02:37 AM Does this board support the Phenom II X6 processors properly yet?

ProX	Posted on: 05/05/2010 03:29 AM The review said that it used the first release BIOS which was pre-Phenom II X6 so I think you will have to wait for an updated release for full support.

RebateBill

Posted on: 05/05/2010 05:29 PM Yes, it support the X6's out of the box beware of rev 1 boards, Easytune6 has issues with either win7 or the X6. rev2(16 features on gigabyte.com.tw) boards, usb layout is different than rev1(15 features on gigabyte.com.tw)rev2 feature the unlock cpu on board for disabled chips.

Dave F

Posted on: 05/05/2010 10:01 PM I just purchased this motherboard along with the phenom x6 1055t and I cannot get the turbo core feature to work and there is no option for it in the bios. What should I do?

dinos22

Posted on: 05/06/2010 03:25 AM Great write up there mate

Robbo

Posted on: 05/06/2010 01:34 PM Very nice review thanks! I pulled the trigger on one of these today

Garvey

Posted on: 05/08/2010 09:53 AM Excellent review thanks! I am keen to see some 890FX reviews please

Tiempo

Posted on: 05/10/2010 09:05 PM for me the asrock is the better one. anyone can give more infos asrock vs gigabyte (AM3 890GX)?

Steve Posts: 76 Joined: 2010-02-08

Posted on: 05/10/2010 11:17 PM Thanks for all the great feed back guys! Posted by Tiempo on 05/10/2010 10:05 PM for me the asrock is the better one. anyone can give more infos asrock vs gigabyte (AM3 890GX)? Tiempo we do have the Asrock 890GX board on hand and will be posting a review on that soon...