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Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 AM3+

Finally we have the 990XA-UD3 which is Gigabyte's 990X based board and as strange as it might seem, this model offers some advantages over the 990FXA-D3. For starters this is an Ultra Durable 3 board with an 8+2 PWM design. As the 990X chipset supports fewer PCI Express lanes we're looking at a total of three x16 PCI Express slots with the primary slot sharing bandwidth with the secondary slot in a dual x8 configuration and the third and final slot has four lanes worth of bandwidth. The board also has a pair of PCI Express x1 slots and two PCI slots.

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-D3 AM3+

Next up we have Gigabyte's budget 990FX board, the GA-990FXA-D3 and as the name gives away, this board relies on Gigabyte's older Ultra Durable 2 PCB design with a 4+1 phase PWM design. The slot layout is identical to that of the 990FXA-UD3 and so are most of the on-board features too, although the FireWire controller and the front USB 3.0 ports are missing. Around the back we're missing the eSATA and FireWire ports.

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+

This time around we're looking at two more affordable 990FX models and one 990X board, so click on through for a closer look at the three new boards. So starting at the top and working our way down we have the GA-990FXA-UD3 which has a black PCB and looks rather smart for what should be a fairly affordable board in the grand scheme of things. We're looking at a slightly simpler slot layout compared to the 990FXA-UD5 with four x16 PCI Express slots arranged as two non-switchable x16 slots and two x4 slots. There is also a pair of x1 PCI Express slots and one PCI slot. The 990FXA-UD3 also has six SATA 6Gbps ports, pin headers for two USB 3.0 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port and a serial port. The board has an 8+2 PWM design, although this model is using standard MOSFETs rather than DrMOS.

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD5 AM3+

Gigabyte has yet another motherboard to cater to fans of the AM3+ platform, the GA-990FXA-UD5. The UD5 features a more conventional-looking component layout, with the northbridge located where it usually is. You still get the 10-phase VRM from the UD7, the black Ultra Durable 3 PCB, but this board is designed for multi-GPU setups with up to 3 graphics cards: supporting 3-way SLi and CrossFireX. Expansion slots include five PCI-Express 2.0 x16, of which three (slots 1,3,5) are PCI-Express 2.0 wired to the AMD 990FX northbridge, with electrical configurations of x16/x16/NC or x16/x8/x8. Slots 2 and 4 are electrical x4, wired to the SB950 southbridge. Other slots include a PCI-E x1, and a legacy PCI. Storage connectivity is similar to that of the UD7, with eight SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, a power-eSATA, and a normal eSATA. Other connectivity features include 8+2 channel HD audio driven by Realtek's ALC889A CODEC, FireWire, four USB 3.0 ports (two rear, two via header), a single gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Like most new Gigabyte boards, the UD5 features dual-BIOS with EFI-like extensions that let it boot from volumes greater than 2.2 TB in size. The GA-990FXA-UD5 from Gigabyte should target a market sweetspot price in the performance category of motherboards.

Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+

Gigabyte's GA-990FXA-UD7 is one of the more impressive boards we've seen so far, but it's not very likely to be the last new AMD motherboard to show up before Computex which is now barely a week away. It's very clear that this is a UD7 board as the chipset and PWM heatsinks are all carrying the “gold” trim that we first saw on Gigabyte's P67A-UD7. The 990FX chipset itself is located in-between the PWM and the top PCI Express slot, but even so there are no comprises being made in terms of slot count, unlike Asus' TUF Sabertooth 990FX. The board sports an 8+2 PWM design us driver MOSFETs.

The slot layout is very unusual to say the least as the board has six 16 PCI Express slots and a single PCI slot. The x16 slots are configured in an unusual way as well, as the first slot is a x16 that should be shared with the third slot which is a x8, but the second slot is x4. The fourth slot is also a x4 slot with the fifth being a x16, then the PCI slot and finally another x8 slot. We're not exactly sure how the slots are wired and we'd need a manual to figure it out properly. In related news, we managed to dig up some pricing thanks to a Swedish online retailer that's already listing the 990FXA-UD7, as well as the 990FXA-UD5 and 990FXA-UD3, although sadly not specs so far. The 990FXA-UD7 is priced at 1990 SEK (S$390) which co-incidentally is what MSI's 990FXA-GD80 is listed for in the same shop. Do keep in mind that this includes 25 percent VAT, as the sales tax in Sweden is quite high. The 990FXA-UD5 is listed at 1590 SEK (S$312) and finally the 990FXA-UD3 comes in at 1190 SEK (S$234).

Asus ROG Crosshair V Formula AM3+

The Crosshair V Formula is a socket AM3+ motherboard based on AMD 990FX + SB950 chipset, supporting AMD's upcoming FX-series processors based on the Bulldozer architecture. It combines the best features Asus has to offer, targeting both gamers and overclockers. The AM3+ socket is powered by a strong 10-phase Digi+ Extreme Engine VRM, it supports dual-channel DDR3 memory with speeds of over DDR3-2133 MHz. Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 2.0 x16, which configure as x16/x16/NC or x16/x8/x8, with the fourth slot being electrical x4, wired to the southbridge. nVidia 3-way SLi and AMD CrossFireX are supported. Storage connectivity includes 7 internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and 1 power-eSATA. In case you opted for the non-Thunderbolt card variant or don't have room left to install it, there's onboard 8-channel SupremeFX X-Fi MB audio. There's one gigabit Ethernet port, controlled by Intel-made GbE controller. There are six USB 3.0 ports in all, of which two are by header. A plethora of Asus ROG-exclusive features like ROG UEFI, ROG Connect with GPU Tweakit, CPU ExtremeTweaker, CPU LevelUp, MemOK, GameFirst, TurboV EVO, and component overheat protection can be found.

Izvor: VR-Zone i techPowerUp