AMD's 790FX chipset

Review @ The Tech Report

Zitat

Spider is an ambitious attempt at an enthusiast platform, and while Phenom and the Radeon HD 3800 series might grab all the headlines, the 790FX chipset is undoubtedly a key component of the overall equation. With support for HyperTransport 3 and second generation PCI Express, the 790FX has the high-bandwidth connectivity needed to fully exploit Phenom processors on one end and Radeon HD 3800 series graphics cards on the other. In fact, the 790FX is the only chipset currently on the market that fully supports all the features packed into new Phenom processors. Couple that with excellent OverDrive tweaking and overclocking software that we're told will be widely-supported by motherboard makers, and the 790FX looks pretty good.

Except for one or two not so minor problems.

Despite being the first new enthusiast chipset for AM2 processors in more than a year and a half, the 790FX relies on a dated SB600 south bridge chip whose limited connectivity options hardly befit a cutting-edge enthusiast platform. The SB600's comparatively poor PCI and USB performance only make matters worse. With a new SB700 south bridge due to arrive early next year on a second wave of 790FX boards, it's hard to get excited about current implementations.

The first crop of 790FX boards certainly has its share of problems, too. Gigabyte's GA-MA790FX-DQ6 suffers from a number of BIOS-related issues that really need to be fixed before we would even consider recommending the board. And it's not like this is a pre-release product whose kinks are still being worked out; the DQ6 was selling online before the 790FX officially launched. The DQ6 also suffers from a poor graphics slot layout and alarmingly high power consumption given the 790FX's 10W TDP. It's not cheap, either. With street prices currently hovering around $270, the DQ6 costs nearly as much as the fastest Phenom you can buy.

Die schlechte USB- und PCI-Performance ist aber noch ein Mythos aus der wirklich schlechten Vorgängergeneration, zumindest wenn man die SB600 USB-Performance mit der Konkurrenz vergleicht kann ich eher sogar einen Vorteil ausmachen.

Dennoch würd ich auch noch definitiv auf die SB700 warten. Der 790 Chipsatz ist zur Zeit aber auf alle Fälle einer der wenigen Lichtblicke im AMD-Konzern.