We merely released our first AMD890GX motherboard review a couple of days ago, and the new chipset is well received. But of course there are many more ODMs out there that have been preparing a new board based on the 890GX chipset from AMD. Today we'll have a look at an offering from ASUS, namely the M4A89GTD Pro USB3. A motherboard carrying that new SATA6G controller and sure ASUS dropped a USB 3.0 controller onto this model as well.
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We test the MSI 890GXM G65. It's based on the new AMD 890GX chipset and is armed with features like USB 3.0 and SATA 6G. So without further ado let's have a peek at the all new 890GX chipset from AMD
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We test the ASUS Maximus III Extreme. ASUS added a new P55 motherboard in the Republic of Gamers series motherboards, yes the Maximus III Extreme has arrived in our labs. The Maximus III Extreme is what I feel is one of the best tweaker / gamer P55 motherboards currently available in the market. Maximus III extreme will endear itself to PC enthusiasts and gamers. It supports a maximum of 16GB DDR3 memory, and has a stunning five PCIe (x16) slots: which supports single, dual, triple, and quad graphics card configurations, and supports both nVidia’s SLI and ATI’s Crossfire for the same. To get it some additional PCIe bandwidth we spot an NF200 bridge chip. It also supports USB 3.0, SATA 6G, and on-board 10-channel audio. Oh and did I mention you can overclock through Bluetooth on your Smartphone already ?
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In the wake of the Intel Clarkdale series of processors (Core i3 500 & Core i5 600 series) we have seen a lot of H55 chipset based motherboards out there. H55 is a chipset for your average mainstream entry level motherboards series, there is in fact a small step up .. it's based on the H57 chipset and will bring some more features to the table. Gigabyte was one of the first out there to ship out one of their H57 based motherboards. The Gigabyte H57 series offers a little more in the form of RAID support while it also packs a little more punch which we'll look at in this review of course. A more interesting feature on this GA-H57M-USB3 motherboard is that it also contains USB 3.0 through an onboard NEC uPD720200 host controller and very excessive display connection options like DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort.
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If you can live just fine with just one Gigabit Ethernet connector, six SATA2 ports and analog 5.1 audio you can safe yourself a lot of buckaroonies alright. Yes you'd have a fairly high performance 'regular' PC which certainly doesn't have to be expensive. Today we look at such a product, it's the all new H55 chipset based ECS H55H-M motherboard priced at roughly 55 EUR / 79 USD. It comes in that all too familiar green PCB color, all the features you need to run a very decent PC, it's mATX based allowing much flexibility and even has a x16 PCIe slot should you want to seat a dedicated graphics card on it. And sure, being H55 -- if you pair it with a series 600 Core i5 processor or the Core i3 series (Clarkdale) processor you can make use of the embedded GPU inside that processor as well.
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MSI has yet another motherboard lined up in the P55 motherboard Big Bang series, ready and waiting for you. It's called the 'Fuzion' and comes with that much discussed Lucid Hydra 200 chip. Now the big deal about the Big Bang mainboard is that the board has that Lucid Hydra 200 chip that allows it to support multiple video cards of different brands and models at once. This in theory would allow you get the extra performance from your old video card and your new card even if one is NVIDIA and the other is ATI. The Hydra 200 is a real-time distributed processing engine that acts as an intelligent graphics load balancer.

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Recently AMD released the AMD 785 chipset - offering full support for the latest Athlon and Phenom II processors, DDR3 memory and a bucket load of features. Next to that the chipset we have tucked away on the motherboard tested today has an embedded Radeon HD 4200 IGP as it is the 785G chipset. It's actually the latest embedded update offering really good and nice Home Theater PC functionality as it's fully capable of accelerating and post-processing high-definition content. Here we will test the with MSI 785GM-E65 motherboard, this piece of kit is stuffed and loaded with features, looks nice and remain very affordable. Let's have a peek at the chipset, and then obviously the MSI motherboard, followed by an in-depth performance review to see if the chipset can keep up with that sexy AMD 790 series.
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MSI went back to the drawing board, came up with a new concept called the Big-Bang series motherboards. Today we take a peek at the MSI P55 GD80 Big bang Trinergy -- with the Tri for triple lovin' on top of the regular GD80 functions, yes it makes the mainboard 3-way SLI compatible. Next to all the cool features the board already offers MSI added a few more extra's next to the fantastic design, V-Kit control, the mystical finger touch buttons. With the Trinergy MSI adds THX TruStudio PC and Creative's EAX Advanced HD 5 to the board by help of an additional Quantum Wave Audio card, we see an external OC dashboard and thus full PCIe bandwidth thanks to an added NF200 nVIDIA bridge chip.
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When Intel released the P55 chipset and along with it the Core i5 750, Core i7 860 and 870 processors we already knew that we'd be dealing with a lot of P55 motherboard reviews. We certainly reviewed our share already and guess what ? We have more in store for you. Today the turn goes towards Jetway with a really affordable P55 offering in that saturated motherboard market -- meet the HI05 p55 based motherboard.
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Today we look at a P55 motherboard in the extremely high-end range .. it's the all new eVGA P55 Classified 200. A board designed for the extreme overclockers a board for the uber enthusiast PC aficionado's. The motherboard we'll look into today is the absolute finest offering from eVGA ... in all its ways a black and red colored motherboard with a very nice feature set and then some more in the form overclocking options, a tweakers wet dream really.
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Today we'll look at Gigabyte's offering with their P55 UD5 motherboard. The UD5 features Gigabyte's UD3 suite of features, which include 2oz of copper throughout the PCB, Japanese solid capacitors, low RDS MOSFETs, high-quality ferrite core chokes, and more. The UD5 comes equipped with a modest 12 phase power design. s standard the board has ten USB 2.0 ports and additional USB headers to add another 14 USB ports should you want to. Extra's can be found in an eSATA porta, Clear CMOS, power and reset micro switches, Optical SPDIF audio output controlled by 8 Channel Realtek AL888S HD Audio.
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Today we'll review the Maximus Gene III, for what I feel is one of the best tweaker / gamer P55 motherboards currently available in the market. The ROG addition motherboards lure the Guru3D.com audience, it's a perfect match -- it's that simple. This is what you, me and everybody else would like to see in our PCs alright. With the Maximum III Gene ASUS built a nearly perfect motherboard, the PCB is stuffed full with goodies.
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In a somewhat lower price segment you however can always find ECS, originally being an OEM supplier that slowly penetrated the retail market they make really nice gear these days, but always with a lower budget in mind. Face it, the high-end market is crowded and as such ECS always tries to deliver a product that certainly can compete at a baseline level, yet at a better price. Today as such we'll have a look at yet another P55 motherboard, ECS is launching their P55H-A which is a Black Edition that comes with some nifty additional features and really tasty looks.
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The motherboard we'll look into today is the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe ... in all its ways a bright blue colored motherboard with a very nice feature set and then some more in the form overclocking options and kit. This board has a lot of overclocker-friendly features, such as on-board DIP switches to control voltages. You'll notice in the photo shoot that is comes with 3x 16x PCIe slots 2.0 e board features eight SATA II 3.0Gbps ports as well as dual gigabit Ethernet, as well as a Via VT2020 10-channel (9.1) hi-def audio codec and the Express Gate instant-on OS feature. The board also comes bundled with a TurboV overclocking remote and corresponding software, Turbo Key, Xtreme Phase, Anti-EMI, and StackCool 3+ The board comes with what is called their 'Hybrid' TurboV EVO processor, it makes overclocking easier. It works together with ASUS’ Auto Tuning, TurboV and Turbo Key technologies. Um yeah .. just read the review.
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MSI's P55-GD80 motherboard will be the flagship P55 motherboard, it oozes with features and performance and stands out alright. Next to the six standard SATA II ports an additional JMicron controller provides two internal and one external SATA ports, and one IDE connector. Two gigabit Ethernet connections, 8-channel audio, Firewire, and 14 USB ports make for the rest of the package. Other specs include support for 4 x DDR3-2133 memory allowing up-to 16GB to be installed, 3 PCIe x16 slots for SLI and CrossfireX (limited to an 8/8/4 setup though), 8 SATA ports, 1 eSATA port, 14 USB 2.0 ports, Dual Gbit/s LAN, 8-channel audio. And that's really just the regular stuff.
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The motherboard we'll preview today is the ASUS P7P55D Deluxe, and it promises to be a red rose of a motherboard based on that p55 chipset. The motherboard featuring a 16 + 3 phase design rather than 12-phase. It offers four DDR3-2133 (!) memory slots. This board also has a lot of overclocker-friendly features, such as on-board DIP switches to control voltages. You'll notice in the photo shoot that is comes with 3x 16x PCIe slots 2.0 two of which are split off from the main PCI-E bus coming directly from the CPU. he board features eight SATA II 3.0Gbps ports as well as dual gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 Realtek HD audio and the Express Gate instant-on OS feature. The board also comes bundled with a TurboV overclocking remote and corresponding software, Turbo Key, Xtreme Phase, Anti-EMI, and StackCool 3+ The board comes with what is called their 'Hybrid' TurboV EVO processor, it makes overclocking easier. It works together with ASUS’ Auto Tuning, TurboV and Turbo Key technologies.
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AMD today releases the new AMD 785G chipset. A chipset that positions itself in the mainstream segment as you can run all the latest Socket AM3 Phenom II processors on them, yet comes with a smaller price tag than the very popular AMD 790G chipset. The board supports socket AM3 and thus DDR3 memory allowing the latest Phenom II processors. More importantly, incorporated into the chipset is ATI's Radeon HD 4200 IGP
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We have a nice preview to offer you guys on the upcoming MSI P55-GD80 Lynnfield Motherboard. This board has a lot of overclocker-friendly features, such as on-board controls for clock-speeds, clear-CMOS, OC-Genie, a DIP switch to control voltages, and voltage-sensing points that make measuring voltages convenient. part from the Intel P55 chipset, it uses an NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chip that broadcasts 16 PCI-Express lanes (from the processor root complex) to 32 lanes on the PCI-E x16 slots. And next to the six standard SATA II ports an additional JMicron controller provides two internal and one external SATA ports, and one IDE connector. Two gigabit Ethernet connections, 8-channel audio, Firewire, and 14 USB ports make for the rest of the package.
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We test an ION 330 based motherboard - ION is a relatively low cost GPU assisted solution that will allow this industry on very short notice to have netbooks with full HD playback quality, in multi-channel HD audio. A solution that even supports CUDA and therefore some simple PhysX functionality, but since it's CUDA compatible, it'll also allow encoding and acceleration of popular video content. A platform that supports Gigabit Ethernet, dual-link DVI (high resolution monitors), acceleration in Photoshop CS4 and heck... you can even play a couple of games or make a mini HTPC out of it, it's just really interesting as the product might be little, yet offers a lot.
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We have the opportunity to show you a P55 motherboard stripped down butt-nekkid. Now we can't say much more about the chipset, neither can we test it with a processor. So this sneak preview is merely a quickie session with photo's about Gigabyte's P55 offering. Meet and greet the Gigabyte P55 UD4P motherboard.
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Let me introduce the Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P which comes with AMD 770 chipset (770 Northbridge and AMD SB710 Southbridge) and is AM3 Ready. So get this I spotted this little cute Gigabyte motherboard still with 6x SATA, Gigabyte Ethernet, RAID, 4 DIMM slots, integrated audio, dual-BIOS and the entire Gigabyte enchilada of motherboards features for roughly 79 USD. Here in Europe you can even pick them up at just over 50 EUR. Pop on a nice value AMD Phenom II processors (as yes it's AM3 ready as well) and you might have purchased a heap of value.
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Gigabyte submitted one of their Ultra Durable 3 series motherboards (yeah the ones with quality Jap caps, super duper mosfets and an OZ extra copper), well the ladies do say that girth matters .. but the model they submitted comes with a G45 Intel chipset. And that means value as you can already think and spell HTPC and integration there. Let's have a peek at what Gigabyte is offering us for just over 100 EUR, oh yeah .. and it overclocks quite well too.
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Today the turn goes to the folks from Jetway. A company that you do not hear often from. They are rather sizable in OEM production and deliver a lot of material towards other motherboard and graphics card 'manufacturers'. But they handle retail products as well though. Their somewhat more exclusive motherboard series is tagged as 'Hummer' series. Which always brings a smile to my face as I immediately have to think about that big ass military car. Today we look at the Jetway Hummer HA08-LF motherboard. Armed with a lot of features, performance and an AMD 790GX chipset. There fairly little to dislike really.
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eVGA developped the X58 SLI Classified motherboard. An X58 based motherboard with more features, more design and aesthetics that make you scratch that head of yours. Armed at the really enthusiast end-users that wanted to create something so special and exclusive that it would bring shock and awe in the retail channel.
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When we reviewed the 1st batch of AM3 processors, we did so on Socket AM2+ to prove how sound that chipset really is. We also promised to review a Phenom II AM3 processor on the new DDR3 (AM3) platform. And that's what we'll be doing today. We will review the A790GXM-AD3 motherboard from the folks at ECS Elitegroup. This article will entail two primary focuses. The first being a review on this motherboard, the second... to observe if we actually see a performance increase from DDR2 over DDR3 memory.
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