MSI 890GXM G65 review (AMD 890GX chipset) - Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

The AMD 890GX chipset is an interesting new addition to their current line of available AMD chipsets. When looking at overall performance in both the default baseline and overclocking you will however not see any difference whatsoever to say the 785 or 790 chipsets, it's exactly the same stuff looking at it from a performance point of view,

What the 890GX release brings to the market is more features and compatibility. It is hinted that this chipset was released for the upcoming six-core Thuban series processors. Quite honestly I do not see any reason as to why a 785/790 chipset could not run that processor either.  And along these lines I do think that some ODMs will release a BIOS update to support Thuban on 785/790 as well.

Where the new chipset really shines though is the improved IGP within the Northbridge, it's a little faster and though similar to AMD785, it offers the benefit of UVD 2.0 and armed with 40 Shader processors that simply opens up gateways to proper post-process of high-definition video. Especially with software like Media Player Classic HT edition this is a tremendous feature.

So the Northbridge SB890GX ASIC definitely is creepy similar to the AMD 785 Northbridge, but we do see a very nice update for the Southbridge. The SB850 can now support 14 USB 2.0 devices, it has an embedded Gigabit Ethernet and the most prominent feature is of course the support of six SATA 6G storage devices, and that my friends is the sweet butter on top of the waffle. By doing so AMD is separating itself from Intel and takes a large step forward. Especially compared to H55 with a Clarkdale Core i3 / i5 processor the dynamic shifts a lot. The AMD 890GX chipset is without doubt much faster and more feature rich and sure, combined with the right processor cheaper as well. And that has always been AMD's strong point, value for features and performance, this is a very future proof motherboard chipset,

A few words on the MSI 890GXM-G65 motherboard that is featured in this article. It's a just such a versatile and lovely motherboard. We expect it to retail for roughly 140 USD, slightly higher then some of the competition we assume, but that's due to the additional NEC USB 3.0 controller they had to place onto this motherboard. The MSI 890GXM-G65 has a little something for everybody. It's an awesome net PC or work PC that is power efficient yet delivers a good punch for your business. The wide connectivity feature set and embedded IGP make this motherboard a truly excellent HTPC as well. You can go nuts as the package has plenty of features and performance to deal properly with high-definition content.

The last segment is the more enthusiast user and the gamers. Again the board offers a lot, the combination of SATA 6G will make sure your RAID is as fast as can be, and current and future SSDs will receive the bandwidth they deserve. In addition to that the choice of adding USB 3.0 was a very clever one as well, it's the hottest feature currently requested by enthusiast end-users. MSI threw in a little extra loving by including a very tweak friendly motherboard You can have the board overclock itself with the Easy to use Genie function, or as we did, overclock manually. We reached 4 GHz on the processor easily and without much effort on a cheesy cheap heatpipe cooler. And that's just lovely. Anyway we very much can recommend this motherboard.

So with that I like to conclude. The AMD 890GX chipset is more about additional features (which we love) opposed to bringing more performance or overclock options to the table. Let's face it, ever since the introduction of the AMD 790 chipset AMD had all it's tweaking cards and strategy right already, so there wasn't much work left there to improve anyway. And with a Black Edition processor it surely offers an extremely lot of fun.

We like the 890GX chipset, we don't feel it's reason enough to upgrade from say the series 785/790. But if you are out on the market for an update or new PC, then this obviously is what you need to take into account. We love the integration of native SATA6G and with a board like this you'll be a lot more future proof. Now my hand are getting itchy; bring on the six-core Phenom II X6 processors dammit !

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