AMD 9-Series Chipset (990FX) Launch Review
featuring ASUS RoG Crosshair V Formula Motherboard
and MSI 990FXA-GD80 Motherboard
Back in April 2010 AMD launched their 890FX chipset, a new high end product which was designed to be combined with their high end Phenom CPUs, maximising gaming performance through the use of 2x16 PCIe configurations (or quad card CrossFire if desired). Since then motherboard manufacturers have been building boards based around this chipset which natively supported SATA 6Gb/s and we have seen some impressive products from all of the major manufacturers. In the same timeframe Intel have worked their way up to the Z68 chipset in the mainstream/enthusiast area with that product launching just a couple of weeks ago for the latest generation of Core i3-i7 processors. It's no secret that AMD has plans to expand their CPU range and that more often than not gives a CPU maker the chance to refresh their chipset offerings and that's what we have today, the launch of the 990FX chipset (and 900 series Southbridge options) which lay the groundwork for AM3+ CPUs but also bring one key feature to the AMD platform, SLI. Today we will be taking a look at two AMD 990FX boards and comparing them to a similarly spec'd Z68 system to find out what the new boards offer in today's marketplace. As always we will be focusing on motherboard specific tests such as USB3, PCIe and SATA 6Gb/s tests with a few more general benchmarks thrown in for good measure
ASUS Republic of Gamers Crosshair V Formula (990FX)
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The now familiar Republic of Gamers branding and box design is used once again for the latest Crosshair board, now on version 5 of the Formula series and we get some decent product information around the box and under the front flap. Inside the motherboard and bundle are separated into two separate boxes and included with this board is a huge amount of extras. These include SLI and 3-way SLI bridges, a crossfire connector, padded IO shield (Q-Shield), drive cables and a USB cable for the boards RoG Connect which allows us to monitor and control the system from an external device such as a laptop.
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The board itself is similar in appearance to the Crosshair IV Formula, using a red and black colour scheme to great effect. A large passive heatsink is used to cool the area surrounding the CPU and this features a single heatpipe to move heat between the three sections around the 8+2 phase power components. Further down the board we see a second, smaller heatsink on the boards Southbridge chipset.
As with most of the boards launching today the Crosshair V Formula uses the 990FX/SB950 configuration and a black CPU socket which is designed to differentiate the AM3 of older boards (white/cream) from AM3+. As with past AMD launches the new first batch of products released fully support existing CPUs such as the Phenom X6 1100T.
Also worth noting is that a new style of bracket is used by ASUS for CPU cooler attachment, it works with existing coolers but lacks the two bars which run down the sides of the processor. Other minor tweaks on the board include dual 12v connectors at the top edge (1x 4-pin and 1x 8-pin) along with dual CPU fan headers for those who use large, multi-fan products.
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Down at the bottom left of the 30.5x24.4cm PCB we find on-board power and reset buttons which sit beside the one touch overclock button. This allows novice users to have the board configure itself for safe overclocking settings, maximising performance of the components installed. To the left of these we find our Realtek based 7.1 audio chip which is certified to work with Creative X-Fi 2 software and then we have our PCI/PCIe slots. On the Crosshair V Formula these run from PCIe 16x through PCIe 1x, PCIe 8x, PCI, PCIe 16x to PCIe 4x. This means that AMD and ASUS are suggesting that users use slot 1 and 3 for dual GPU configurations, leaving plenty of airflow for the top graphics card.
Over at the bottom right of the board are our SATA sockets, six are 6Gb/s capable (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10) and run through the AMD Southbridge, the other is connected to the ASMedia SATA controller which is 6Gb/s enabled also. This combined with the eSATA which sits on the back panel means we have eight SATA3 ports on the latest Formula board.
Also dotted around this area are a few of ASUS on-board control chips such as DIGI+ and TurboV which combined with features such as Component Overheat Protection and ASUS CPU Parameter Recall make for a board which maximises performance, stability and energy efficiency.
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Up at the top right of the board we find our dual channel memory slots, these are capable of holding 32GB of DDR3 and speeds of up to 2133MHz are officially supported. Beside the slots we see a standard 24-pin PSU connector and board status LEDs. To the left of these a red header which provides us with front panel USB 3.0 connectivity via the ASMedia USB3 controller that sits beside the memory slots. In the very corner of the board we also find voltage monitoring points and the ASUS GO button for easy selection of boot profiles.
Over at the back panel we find plenty of connectivity which starts with PS/2 and continues through 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, eSATA3, optical audio out (Realtek), 2x USB 3.0, Intel GB LAN, 2xUSB 2.0, 4x USB 2.0 (one RoG connect) and ends with our Realtek based 3.5mm audio connectors with gold hardware. An external Clear CMOS button is also present.
BIOS/Software
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Back when the P67 chipset was launching for Intel we saw motherboard manufacturers start to move in earnest to GUI based BIOS layouts with mouse and keyboard functionality. Until now AMD boards had remained on the traditional style but that changes with these latest boards. Upon turning on the Crosshair V Formula we are presented with layout and functionality which is near identical to the Intel boards ASUS offer. We can go with basic settings which are displayed on one screen or move to advanced mode for full control of the system and it is great to see that ASUS EZ-Flash 2 is still present for quick and simple BIOS updates from a USB drive.
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Once in Windows we have the option to use AMD Overdrive to control the motherboard or alternatively we can go with AI Suite, ASUS own software. This suite of applications gives us huge control over the Crosshair V Formula so that me can maximise performance and tweak energy saving to our needs.
Finally, ASUS also fully support 3TB drives on this board and fast charging of portable devices is also present as are free copies of Kaspersky Anti-Virus and Daemon Tools Pro Standard.
MSI 990FXA-GD80 Motherboard
MSI package their 990FX board in a box which goes to great lengths to emphasise the build quality of the product. Also listed is a decent amount of information on the board specifications and inside we find a modest bundle. This includes plenty of documentation, drive cables, SLI cables, IO Shield and a bracket for two additional USB 3.0 ports.
The 990FXA-GD80 uses a 24.4x30.5cm black PCB and mixes it with blue, black and grey/silver components. AS expected we get a 990FX Northbridge, 950 Southbridge and black AM3+ capable CPU socket. The older style AM3 retention bracket is present here as is a large passive heatsink which cools the power circuitry to the left of the CPU before joining to the Northbridge cooler via a single heatpipe. A further heatsink is found on the Southbridge.
MSI provide us with status LEDs along the top edge of the board as one of its unique features and this MSI custom design continues through the use of "military class" components. This means solid capacitors with 10year lifespan, Hi-c CAP's with tantalum cores and Ferrite Core Chokes, all of which are designed to work with MSI's Dr MOS technology to enhance stability and reliability.
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Moving down to the left of the PCB we find the power and reset buttons alongside another for OC Genie, a simple one touch overclocking feature which enhances the performance of our components by finding a stable overclock automatically. At the left of this is a Realtek 7.1 powered THX Tru Studio certified audio chip and further up we can see the first of our NEC/Renesas USB 3.0 controllers. For add-in card slots we have PCIe 1x, PCIe 16x, PCIe 1x, PCIe8x, PCI, PCIe 16x, PCIe 4x which means like the board on the previous page dual GPU configurations will use the first and third large slots to ensure maximum airflow to the top card. In three card configurations we would have a 16x, 8x, 8x slot layout on 990FX.
At the right of the PCB we find six SATA 6Gb/s ports (RAID capable) which run off the AMD Southbridge and beside this, pointing out the front of the system rather than towards the case side we find a front panel USB 3.0 connector, again NEC controlled.
The final component of note in this area is a two character LED display which can assist with fault finding should our system fail to boot successfully.
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Up in the top right corner of the 990FXA-GD80 we find four dual channel DDR3 slots which are capable of holding 32GB of memory with official support hitting 2133MHz and these sit beside a standard 24-pin PSU connector.
Back panel connectivity comes in the form of 2x PS/2, optical and coaxial audio out (Realtek 892), Firewire (Via), 2x eSATA/USB combo ports (JMicron 362), 4x USB 2.0, Realtek 8111E GB LAN, 2x USB 2.0 (NEC) and 3.5mm audio in/out. A clear CMOS button is also present.
BIOS/Software
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MSI call their 990FXA-GD80 BIOS "Click BIOS". It has the same look and feel as older BIOS versions however MSI have added basic mouse functionality without going for a complete user interface overhaul. All of the key options are present such as overclocking, profiles and M-Flash for quick and easy updates from USB drives.
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MSI fully support 3TB drives on this board and provide "Super Charger" functionality for quick charging of USB devices and in terms of bundled software we get MSI Control Centre. This application gives us access to the overclocking and power controls and monitoring so that we can tweak our board within Windows, balancing performance and efficiency as we see fit.
Overclocking
There are two approaches to overclocking on the 990FX platform. We can tweak the system within Windows using software from MSI, ASUS and AMD or we can use the BIOS. For our testing we used the BIOS method and played about with the voltages, bus speed and multipliers.
| Stock | Max OC | |
| Crosshair V Formula | 200x16.5=3300 | 216*19.5=4215 |
| MSI 990FXA-GD80 | 200x16.5=3300 | 210*19.5=4095 |
It was always the case on the 890FX based boards that our Phenom CPUs were hitting limits on air and standard liquid cooling when they went above 4.1GHz (approx.). Therefore it comes as no surprise that nothing much has changed on the 990FX, we await the next generation of CPUs to find out how the overclocking experience changes on AMD based hardware.
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