3DNews Vendor Reference English Resource -
All you need to know about your products!
Digital-Daily.com
Digital-Daily

Elitegroup A790GXM-A (AMD 790GX)

Author:
Date: 23/11/2008

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.

AMD 790GX: integrated graphic 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).

AMD 790GX GPU-Z

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.

AMD 790GX: layout diagram

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

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;

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

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.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: board layout

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.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: socket

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.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A, north bridge

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.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: DIMM slots

As regards the expansion options, the board uses two PCI Express x16 slots as well as two PCI Express x1 and two PCI slots.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: expansion 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".

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: corner

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:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: rear panel

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:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: buttons

Now on to the BIOS settings.

BIOS

The BIOS of Elitegroup A790GXM-A is built on the AMI BIOS version.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A BIOS

The extended pack of memory settings is in the "M.I.B" section:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: memory settings 1

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: memory settings 2

The parameter in charge of selecting the memory operating frequency is also over there:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: memory frequency

Now move on to the section to do with the system monitoring.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: system monitoring

The board keeps track of the CPU's and system's current temperatures and rotational speeds of the three fans. Besides, the user can control the rotational speed of the CPU cooler with the Smart Fan feature.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: the Smart Fan technology

There are few parameters for tuning the integrated video core. One of them allows allocating memory capacity for the needs of integrated graphics:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: graphic memory capacity

There is one more parameter that determines the speed of the integrated video memory:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: frequency of the integrated memory

Overclocking and stability

Now let's look at the power converter. It uses an 5-phase power scheme in which there are five 270 mkF and ten 820 mkF capacitors.

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: PWM without a radiator

There is a small radiator on the power components:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A PWM

Now on to the overclocking features:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: overclocking tools

First off, Elitegroup A790GXM-A allows adjusting the HTT speed within 200 to 355 MHz in 5 MHz increments. Secondly, the user can adjust the HyperTransport bus multiplier between the NB and CPU:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: the HT multiplier

Here are the remaining overclocking tools:

Motherboard Elitegroup A790GXM-A
CPU multiplier adjustable -
HTT adjustable within 200 MHz to 355 MHz (5 MHz)
Vcore adjustment within +0 to +0.3V (0.02 V);
Vmem adjustment within +0 to +0.63V (0.01V)
Vdd adjustment within +0 to +0.315V (0.005V)
Vsb adjustment within 1.2V to 1.35V (0.05V)
Vsp (V SidePort) adjustable within 1.8 to 2.1V (0.1V)
PCI-E adjustment -

We attained the maximum stable HTT frequency which amounted to 250 MHz:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: overclocking the CPU

And this result is the same both when using the integrated video core and using an external video card.

As regards the integrated graphic core, it retained its functionality to frequencies up to 930 MHz:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: overclocking the integrated core

Performance tests

Elitegroup A790GXM-A is very precise at setting the nominal HTT speed:

Elitegroup A790GXM-A: nominal frequency

In our performance tests, we benchmarked Elitegroup A790GXM-A versus Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (AMD 780G) and ASUS M3N-HT Deluxe (nForce 780a SLI).

In our test setup, we used the following hardware:


Test setup
CPU AMD Phenom X3 8750 (2.4 GHz; Toliman)
Cooler Gigabyte 3D Cooler GP Edition
Video card Integrated graphic core
Sound card -
HDD Samsung HD160JJ
Memory 2x 1024 MB GoodRAM DDR2 GP1066D264L5/2GDC
Power supply unit FSP 550 W
OS MS Vista

Let's first take a look at the results of synthetic benchmarks.

Performance test, Everest

Performance test, Everest

Performance test in 3DMark

CPU performance test in 3DMark

Now on to the gaming benchmarks.


Performance test in Quake 4

Performance test in Serious Sam 2

Performance test in Company of Heroes

Performance test in Crysis

Performance test in PTB

Performance test in Supreme Commander

Performance test in Unreal Tournament 3

Performance test in World in Conflict

Tests of application software.


Performance test in 3D Max

Performance test in CineBench

Performance test in POV

Video encoding (DivX, Xvid) was measured in seconds, i.e. the less the better.

Performance test in DivX

Performance test in Xvid

Data compression (WinRAR) was measured in Kb/sec, i.e. the more, the better.

Performance test in WinRAR

Final Words

We start with conclusions regarding the chipset AMD 790GX. Engineers at AMD have slightly improved the 780G chipset and produced a superb product of higher class at minimum cost. It's just this chipset that the motherboard manufacturers started release of mid-end and higher-end products. Therefore, their price will be much higher than that for motherboards based on the 780G. In particular, in the Moscow retail chain the few motherboard offerings built on the 790GX are available at prices within 3000 to 4500 rubles ($120-$180), which in our view is pretty too much.

As regards Elitegroup A790GXM-A, its price is still unknown. It is even hard to imagine what it will be like. The thing is, ECS is specializing at entry produce, so we can expect that A790GXM-A will also be cheap enough. On the other hand, this motherboard is definitely higher than the mid-end: apart from two PCI Express x16 slots, it offers two Gigabit LAN controllers. We should also note the great number of features for overclocking both the CPU and the integrated video core. While the overclocking results for Phenom did not impress us, we were able to overclock the Radeon HD3300 core to 930 MHz!

Conclusion

Pros:

  • excellent stability and performance;
  • two PCI Express x16 slots;
  • integrated graphic core Radeon HD3300 + additional video memory;
  • support for the CrossFireX;
  • support for SerialATA II (6 links, RAID);
  • support for ParallelATA (1 link);
  • two Gigabit LAN controllers and integrated 8-channel High Definition Audio;
  • support for the USB2.0 interface (12 ports).

Cons:

  • Not found.

The board's specific features:

  • middling CPU overclocking results;
  • superb overclocking results for the integrated video core;
  • Power, Reset buttons.
- Discuss the material in the conference


Copyright © 2005 Digital-Daily. All Rights Reserved.
contact -