New Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5 and 890FXA-UD7

[saint19]

Hi all.

For those that love Gigabyte I find this on the egg Gigabyte 890FXA-UD5, at the same price that the 790FTXA-UD5 that is out of stock.

I was waiting for this mobo to upgrade my rig.

 

[fidof650]

I've been waiting for this board to get reviewed before I buy it.

I have read great reviews on the high end 890FX boards like the Giagabyte FXA-UD7 and is competitors from MSI and ASUS but the Giagabyte GA-FXA-UD5 hasn't been reviewed yet.... What is it hiding?

I almost went with the ASUS board when it launched on NewEgg but held off because the Gigabyte UD7 got better Audio reviews. If the UD5 is the same as the UD7 but without the crossfire x4 @ 8 lanes per I can live with that because I'm only going to run a two card crossfire. However, I'd like to see a Gigabyte GA-FXA-UD5 vs ASUS M4A89TD PRO article before making a decision.

The ASUS M4A89TD PRO was not given the same high end audio system as their flagship, if gigabyte has followed ASUSs lead on this and crippled parts of the UD5 I will get the ASUS Crosshair IV Formula ATX which has higher head room for OCing than the UD7 and is standard ATX rather than XL-ATX.

I want the high OC headroom of the ASUS but will sacrifice some headroom for the better sound solution of the UD7. I don't want the XL-ATX form factor because it limits my choice of cases and I have a high end ATX case which I am happy with. So, if the UD5 is the same as the UD7 except for X4 crossfire then the choice is simple. However if sound or headroom on the UD5 is compromised then I am back in the high end range and will choos the ASUS for its favorable form factor and higher headroom and still high end audio.

(Confused yet)

In short:

Just review the second tier boards already!!!!!!!!!!

 

[saint19]

Like I can see, u don't need the UD7 if only want run a Crossfire with two GPU. This UD5 seems a better options against the Crosshair IV in price/performance, but as you say, the reviews will be very helpfully at the time to buy one.

 

[aford10]

*Changed to discussion

 

[saint19]

Thanks to you aford10 but I create this as a Discussion from the beginning as is showing as an answer, even, when u change it to a discussion. U can see the picture to see the problem.

See here

 

[aford10]

Ok, it must be a glitch. I've changed it 3 times. It says that it's been changed, but keeps reverting back. I'll let the Admins know.

 

[saint19]

Thanks again man.

 

[randomkid]

I posted this about the GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD5 in another thread but this seems like a better place since it is specific to this mobo.

Why does the specs say 3PCIe slots but in the picture shows 4. What gives?

 

[saint19]

The PCI-E x8 and x4 slots are very similar to the PCI-E x16, the only difference is the speed. If you count the number of PCI-E slots in both mobos, both have 7 slot, and in the pictures u can see the same 7 slots.

The 3 PCI-E slot that the specs says is PCI-E x16_1, PCI-E x16_2 and PCI-E x8 the other one (the four PCI-E) is a PCI-E x4 that is the same size of the PCI-E x16 and x8 with only the speed in difference.

 

[Maziar]

Ok, it must be a glitch. I've changed it 3 times. It says that it's been changed, but keeps reverting back. I'll let the Admins know.

I couldn't do it too,i think it will get fixed soon though

 

[bilbat]

Ahh - good reminder! Since GB 'fleshed out' its 8xx offerings, six or so new manuals to download!

 

[fidof650]

I've been waiting for this board to get reviewed before I buy it.

Just review the second tier boards already!!!!!!!!!!

I couldn't wait so, I downloaded the manuals for the UD5 & UD7 and did a side by side text review.

The only difference was the UD7 manual had added sections in chapter 1 for the North Bridge cooler installation and Installing the SATA [rear I/O] Bracket and an additional Appendix section for the POST Error Code hex chart.

Otherwise the manuals are identical aside from some discrepancies in line spacing, indentation and of course page numbers due to the aforementioned additions.

I therefore deduced that the boards are correspondingly similar as it is reasonable to assume that additional discrepancies in features or function would result in further dissimilar documentation.

As such, I have purchased the UD5 and am awaiting delivery. If I find my assessment to be in error I will post my findings here.

 

[saint19]

^Yeah. The NB cooler is different. On the UD7 comes with LCS upgrade.

Also, the UD7 support 4-Way Crossfire, the UD5 only support 3-Way Crossfire.

As a negative point of the UD7 (for me) is XL-ATX (don't fit in my current case), the UD5 is ATX.

 

[Maziar]

Well about 4-way and 3-way CF,do you really need 4-way CF support ?

 

[saint19]

^No, even I don't need 3-Way Crossfire, but the 890FXA-UD5 is a very solid mobo for Crossfire and OC.

 

[fidof650]

Well about 4-way and 3-way CF,do you really need 4-way CF support ?

This was part of my point in an earlier post ("If the UD5 is the same as the UD7 but without the crossfire x4 @ 8 lanes per I can live with that because I'm only going to run a two card crossfire.").

Not to over generalize but, anyone who is planning to cough up the coin to run an X4 CF system isn't going to split hairs over the UD5 & UD7... they are more likely going to be running an full tower with room for the XL-ATX UD7 and liquid cooling and a host of other doodads, gizmos and wigits. Most users will not only not run an X4 CF system but would not see any real benefit from doing so.

Unless you are a high end 3D graphics designer or an engineer who relies on 3D model rendering, a 4X CF system is about as useful as a Ferrari Enzo on your daily commute. Its a great conversation piece at the water cooler but you never really open it up and test its limits. To put a finer point on it, the Ferrari owner isn't even going to consider buying scaled down tires, getting the oil changed at jiffy lube or taking it down to the scratch and dent car wash.

The UD7 is the AM3 elite, its great for showing off but entirely unnecessary and very expensive to keep it properly equipped.

 

[saint19]

^True, many user only run one GPU or two max. When u run 3-Way o 4-Way is only for benchmarks but not for real games, more if u bear in mind that the real performance jump is from one GPU to a Crossfire with two GPUs, not with 3 or 4.

 

[bilbat]

If you've really and truly gotta have 4x16 (rendering, OpenCL, CUDA?), the fix is the Tyan 7025 series... Drawback is (beside, obviously, the price!) it's a 12 x 13 [:jaydeejohn:3] E-ATX board - takes a good-sized case to manage it!

 

[saint19]

^That is TESLA is another level, another budget.

 

[bilbat]

Dunno - you can pick up a 2G 5870 'hex' and a FireStream 9250 for about the cost of a Tesla, and half what a Fermi (assuming they ever get a 512 core chip to make a Fermi) will be... Pretty low-budget for HPC stuff?

Thinkin' about marketing some home-brew Black-Scholes workstations for options traders [:bilbat:2]

 

[saint19]

Hi all again.

Now available, Gigabyte 890FXA-UD7, more expensive that the ASUS Crosshair IV.