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Features and Layout
MSI’s 790FX-GD70 is the only motherboard in today’s review to properly support up to four double-thick graphics cards, so long as the case in which it is mounted has adequate space beneath the motherboard’s bottom edge. Thus, this model perfectly follows AMD’s original “Spider Platform” concept while updating several components.
MSI gets our vote as the most feature-packed 790FX Socket AM3 motherboard, and the added features might even provide better value. Flexible graphics support gives it an edge over the similarly-priced Gigabyte model, while the more-expensive Asus competitor comes up one network and three SATA ports short. Yet we’re certain some buyers who already have their hearts set on the Gigabyte model will counter that two PCIe x16 slots are enough, since the four-GPU limit of CrossFireX can be reached with two Radeon HD 4870 X2 graphics cards.
It’s still important to remember that the 790FX northbridge supports only two x16 cards to begin with, as MSI uses electronic switches to change from dual x16 to quad x8 pathways based on card detection. Yet, bandwidth-doubling PCIe 2.0 mode makes x8 mode more than adequate for any single-GPU card, and using “only” two dual-GPU cards will allow the board to return those two slots to x16 mode.
Located next to the power and reset buttons on the motherboard’s bottom edge, a round knob labeled “OC Dial” allows overclocking on the fly without resorting to a software utility. A BIOS setting enables it and also allows users to choose how far each “click” will push the base clock.
A Port 80 diagnostics display goes unnoticed beneath the forward edge of the 790FX-GD70’s third PCIe x16 slot, where it would be covered by nearly any secondary graphics card. That’s unfortunate because it might be really handy in deciphering which component has reached its limit for anyone who turns the OC Dial too far.
Two (blue) SATA ports operate through a port multiplier on a single SATA pathway. The parent controller also adds an eSATA port to its bandwidth-limited PCIe x1 interface. Placing a long double-thick graphics card in the second x16-length slot will at least partially block access to these ports, but we probably wouldn’t use them anyway.
Connectors along the bottom edge are even more difficult to use. Issues begin at the bottom-rear corner with front-panel audio and FireWire headers that are a difficult reach for the cables of upper-bay jacks, followed by a floppy header that’s so far away from the external bay of most mid-tower cases that builders can only hope the cable will reach after being folded under the board.
BIOS
A comparison chart of voltage and frequency settings can be found in this article’s overclocking comparison.
MSI Cell Menu opens to basic clock management and MSI’s new OC Dial mode settings. Scrolling down reveals voltage controls.
The 790FX-GD70 Advanced DRAM submenu has the greatest number of settings we’ve seen in a Phenom II motherboard. Users who are unfamiliar with a setting or otherwise feel it's not worth altering will be pleased to find automatic mode for individual timings.
The 790FX-GD70 stores up to four custom BIOS configurations as user profiles.
Accessories
Two CrossFire bridges plus a quick-connector kit add to the basic installation package and MSI even includes a floppy cable as a favor to Windows XP users. Included but not shown are the motherboard driver and HDD Backup utility DVDs.
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i like that dial on the MSI... mmm.
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition
(2.80 GHz, 86.0 MB Cache)
I never knew any AMD processors had that much cache!
AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition(2.80 GHz, 86.0 MB Cache)I never knew any AMD processors had that much cache!
Super CPU!
"Asus has clear performance leadership,..." :-)))
1.66% better than the worst performer in the tests. :-)
who said Phenom II has low cache size i think with those 86mb you can do amazing things!!
sorry about the double post but i would have liked to have seen these benchmarked with two 4870x2's... since they keep talking about them so much.
Super CPU fixed
Not much point in throwing that much GPU horsepower at a motherboard review; the card Thomas used is our current reference--and it's more than ample for showcasing the differences between these boards.
If you want to see quad-CrossFire for any specific reason, feel free to let us know and we can put together a story idea!
I think people would like to see a dual-295/dual-4870x2 series of benches if only for the "OMG BEASTLY!" factor. I dunno. XD
"Asus has clear performance leadership,..." :-)))1.66% better than the worst performer in the tests. :-)
Consistent would have been better if not for the fear of people pointing out ever tiny inconsistency. Just remember, if you're 5'11" tall it's clear to just about everyone that you're not 6'!!!
...the card Thomas used is our current reference--and it's more than ample for showcasing the differences between these boards.
Could you clarify that a bit Chris? Are you saying you would not expect any difference in crossfire between the MBs? If so, that's OK. However, if there's going to be a difference, that is the main reason to buy a 790FX. If you aren't going to crossfire might as well get a GX.
I suspect the chipset isn't the whole story and the various manufacturers could still screw up the PCI-E voltages or something
Prox,
It depends on the numbers you're looking for. I interpreted the OP's request to mean he wanted performance results with 4870 X2s, which are overkill for comparing these boards. If it's a matter of comparing PCI Express scaling (the reason for going FX instead of GX), check out this piece: http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 2095.html. It isn't on the AMD platforms, but it still illustrates fairly well how much/little performance you'd lose with PCIe 2.0 x8 vs. x16.
i think comparing dual gpu and single gpu would be a great idea... there could be inconsistency between the motherboards at crossfire setting... i mean u did test using 2 ram and 4 ram rite... and there's a difference in performance... hope this makes sense.. and yeah it's also bout the beastly impact and stuff...
I think that a quad crossfire would be of interest to a motherboard review. Just to answer questions like: Are two 4870X2 better then 4 x 4870 or 4890 or 4850? Does the PCIe pathways bottleneck (if it happens) the GPUs when running in 8x mode? How about the stability of the system with 4 physical cards instead of 2 or just 1 ... and so on.
Granted my request isn't based on the real needs of the consumer, it's more of a scientific curiosity behind it. But I remember a while back tom's had an article about nvidia's SLI with 2, 3 or 4 cards in different configurations and that was an interesting read.
PS: Just to clear something up in the 2 x 4870X2 vs. 4 x 4870 or other versions. I know that 4x4870 are more $$ then 2x4870X2 but if you buy a 4 slot PCIe motherboard what if you start out with a single 4870 or 4890 and just add in cards over the period of a year since prices change and people might not have all the cash to get 4 cards at the same time.
phenom ii out for testing tomorrow we hope
The Editor's Note kinda confirms that theory, yeah.
They are using a 260 for the video card. Will these boards SLI as well as Crossfire?
Lol, basically these guys want an article that would have taken another day or two to write, and a thick stack of video cards so they could see the performance differences between 2x 4870X2's, 4x 4870's, and then perhaps any combination of 4870's and an 8800gt thrown in the mix for physiX.
To avoid confusion with the AM2+ based 790FX boards they ought to call it 793FX or something different...
I just question why you would buy a board for AMD's spider platform,,then use a Nvidia product?? seems kinda weird to me,, if i was buying something "high end", I'm not going to buy an accessory whether it works properly or not from a competitor to complement it. I would have liked to at least see the comparison using AMD products.
If you want to see quad-CrossFire for any specific reason, feel free to let us know and we can put together a story idea!
"We guys" just made a suggestion since Chris stated he's opened to ideas. The asrock X58 article a few days back is another good example of a story that can be looked at from a more technical perspective. Since that board and these two AMD ones share 4 PCIe ports and ATI & Nvidia cards support ATI STREA/CUDA one would be inclined to have a look beyond the "can it run crysis" comment. And I'm sure finding 4 identical cards isn't an issues since the time that takes to right an article wasn't up for debate.