Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H

A feature-loaded motherboard for AMD media machines

ONE OF THE FIRST MOTHERBOARDS to feature AMD's new 790GX chipset, the Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H is one of those rare jack-off-all-trades devices that offer good performance for a wide range of users.

This Socket AM2+ board can accomodate CPUs ranging from low-power-usage Athlon X2 chips to the rapid Phenom X4 9950. The 790GX chiopset offers a number of innovations, including a faster built-in GPU, increased energy efficiency when idle, and improved overclocking support with the AMD OverDrive utility's Advanced Clock Calibration feature. It can accommodate memory speeds up to DDR2 1066; its integrated Radeon HD 330 graphics processor features 128MB of dedicated DDR3 1333 memory.

In addition to ports for USB (12), FireWire (two), PS/2, a mouse, and a keyboard-as well as analog and digital audio outputs-the MA790GP-DS4H has motherboard connectors that allow you to add legacy serial and parallel ports. all that's missing is external Serial Ata (eSATA).

The MA790GP-DS4H is HDTV-ready, with an HDMI 1.3 port alongside both DVI and VGA connectors. Plus it offers full DirectX 10 (DX10) support and accelerated video playback. Audio comes courtesy of an ALC889A audio codec that supports eight-channel Dolby Digital Live sound. THe ALC889A supports Full Rate Lossless Audio for Blu-ray discs, which, along with its fanless design and power-saving features, makes the MA790GP-DS4H appealing in a home theater PC.



If you have an ATI Radeon HD 3450, 3470, 2400 Pro, or 2400XT video card, you can plug it in and enable Hybrid CrossFireX, which uses the motherboard graphics processor in conjunction with the GPU on the graphics card to boost performance. Just know that the PCI Express slots run in x8 mode, which doesn't quite deliver the performance of 790FX-based motherboards that can run two slots in x16 mode.-D.A.

Computer Shopper November 2008
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