Elitegroup A790GXM-A (AMD 790GX)
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Date: 23.11.2008 |
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AMD 790GX Chipset
A while after release of the highly successful chipset 780G, AMD is releasing the more advanced 790GX. From a certain viewpoint, 790GX can be seen as the "improved" 780G. The "improvement" was performed in two ways.
First, the rather fast integrated graphic core (based on RV610) is now even faster: the core speed has been increased from 500 MHz to 700 MHz. The remaining parameters left intact: 40 streaming processors, 16-bit graphic memory controller, support for the DirectX/OpenGL (10.1/2.1), DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, VGA, as well as the integrated UVD core for hardware acceleration of playing the HD content.
However, the rise of frequency allowed the marketing people at AMD to call the video core - Radeon HD3300 (Radeon HD3200 - on 780G). Extra performance gain was achieved through installation of video memory onboard following the SidePort technology. A similar technology is supported by 780G (Display Cache), but products on this chipset are positioned as cheaper, and normally have no integrated memory.
Integrated graphic memory on Elitegroup A790GXM-A
Like 780G, the new chipset supports the Hybrid CrossFireX (a joint operation of external video cards and the integrated video core), Hybrid Power (power-saving through disabling external video cards), as well as the SurroundView (plugging in up to six monitors).
Secondly, the new north bridge supports 26 PCI Express v2.0 bus lanes and allows arranging two PEG slots with 8 bus lanes on each. Therefore, products built on the 790GX offer support for the CrossFire and allow installing two video cards. It should be noted that the same number of PCI-E lanes was supported by 780G as well, but in that case the engineers has to solve technical problems in arranging two slots with symmetrical distribution of the bus lanes. Since the end-user motherboards were positioned as entry, no one was involved in that.
As regards the south bridges, the north bridge of 790GX is compatible to both SB700 and the most recent SB750 (which we talked of repeatedly).
Elitegroup A790GXM-A Specifications
| Elitegroup A790GXM-A |
| CPU |
- AMD Phenom FX /Phenom X4/Phenom X3/Athlon X2/Sempron |
| Chipset |
- North bridge AMD 790GX
- South bridge AMD SB750
- Interbridge communication: A-Link Xpress II |
| System memory |
- Four 240-pin slots for DDR-II SDRAM DIMM
- Maximum memory capacity 16 GB
- Dual-channel memory access
- Supported memory DDR2 400/533/667/800/1066 |
| Graphics |
- Two PCI Express x16 slots
- Integrated graphic core Radeon HD3300
- Integrated graphic memory DDR2-800, 128 MB |
| Expansion options |
- Two 32-bit PCI Bus Master slots
- Two PCI Express x1 slots
- Twelve USB 2.0 ports (6 integrated + 6 additional)
- Integrated High Definition Audio
- Two Gigabit Ethernet LAN controllers
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| Overclocking options |
- HTT adjustable within 200 to 355 MHz (5); HT multiplier adjustable
- Adjustable voltages on the CPU, memory, SidePort, and the chipset (nb + sb) |
| Disk subsystem |
- One UltraDMA133/100/66/33 Bus Master IDE link (with support for up to two ATAPI devices & RAID 0, 1)
- Support for SerialATA II (6 links - SB750, with support for RAID 0,1,5, 0+1 and JBOD)
- Support for LS-120 / ZIP / ATAPI CD-ROM;
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| BIOS |
- 8Mbit Flash ROM
- AMI BIOS with support for Enhanced ACPI, DMI, Green, PnP Features |
| Misc |
- One port for FDD, one serial port, ports for PS/2 mouse and keyboard
- Buttons to power-on and reboot
- IrDA
- STR (Suspend to RAM)
- SPDIF Out
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| Power management |
- Wake-up on modem, mouse, keyboard, LAN, timer, and USB
- 24-pin power connector ATX (ATX-PW)
- Additional 8-pin power connector
- Additional 4-pin Molex power connector |
| Monitoring |
-- Monitoring the temperatures of the CPU, system, voltages, indication of rotational speeds of the three fans
- SmartFan |
| Dimensions |
- ATX form factor, 244 mm x 305 mm (9.63" x 12") |
Elitegroup A790GXM-A: Layout and Features
There is nothing to complain about the PCB design, since the first PCI-Express video card does not block the DIMM latches.
Besides, we note that the main 24-pin power connector is installed on the board's bottom edge, with the additional 8-pin connector (the backward compatibility to the PSU with a 4-pin cable has been preserved) - near the power converter. There is also an additional 4-pin Molex power connector.
Near the CPU socket, there is a 4-pin CPU_FAN1 connector to plug in a CPU cooler.
Besides it, there are two more 3-pin connectors: SYS_FAN1 - near the power converter, and PWR_FAN1 - near DIMM slots.
On the north bridge, there is quite a large radiator with a logo of the Black series.
Then, there are four DIMM slots, and the maximum memory capacity makes 16 GB. We also note that DDR2-1066 is supported by AM2+ CPU only.
As regards the expansion options, the board uses two PCI Express x16 slots as well as two PCI Express x1 and two PCI slots.
Expansion options
Elitegroup A790GXM-A supports 6 SerialATA-II links due to the south bridge SB750. The respective connectors are installed near the "south bridge".
The board uses a couple of RTL 8111ะก Gigabit LAN controllers. The board offers support twelve USB 2.0 ports, six of which are mounted on the rear panel, with 6 more ports connected with brackets.
The last thing to dwell on is the integrated High Definition Audio. The ALC888S chip is used as the codec, which supports output to 8 channels.
The board's rear panel looks like this:
Note that ECS has left PS/2 ports for a mouse and keyboard, as well as one COM port. Instead of the LPT and the second COM port, the engineers have installed a VGA connector and a block for a couple of USB 2.0 ports and one HDMI.
Note that there are buttons to power-on and reboot the system onboard:
Now on to the BIOS settings.
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