Gentlemen, start your engines! Gigabyte RD790 preview!

I've never built my own rig, and I've been waiting as patiently as I can since May for these boards to come out so that I can do just that. Here's one taker, maybe not the Gigabyte, but definitely RD790 of some flavor!

I don't understand Gigabyte's PCIe layout on this board, though. There will be a handful of fools out there who will want to put three HD 2900 XTs in one of these boards, and these slots are too close together to do that. It's an enthusiast chipset on an enthusiast board, but you can't get retarded with the GPU setup unless you get lower end cards? C'mon. :D Granted though, this means Gigabyte will probably sell about 3 less boards.

I'm just about convinced these boards are coming out September 10th, which would be an excellent time for reviews and benches on Phenom to start leaking out.....

And yes, I know it's the Inq and it's probably just some sensational fud, but this article reads like Simon Solotko, the AMD desktop product manager, says a late October launch of Phenom. This is the earliest suggested release I've seen, and I hope it's true.
 
Well, I'm a self-described hardware nut, and love to try new things. For years I only bought AMD and was always very happy with the performance, but the long dry spell from them kind of forced me to get my fix on the Intel side of the aisle, and it's been a hell of an enjoyable ride. Just bought a Q6600 and loving it. Having said all of that, I'm still getting an RD790 board when they come out, and a quad-core Phenom when that comes out as well (Quad-core is addictive: once you've had quads, anything else plods). So personally I'm stoked, although I agree that Gigabyte, with its Tammy Faye Baker color-schemes, isn't my first choice. I hope abit comes out with a board that makes the most of whatever the RD790 has to offer just as they have been doing recently with Intel boards. My one reservation is the pairing with the SB600, which frankly is functional but pales compared to almost every other SB out there. Anyone heard when SB700 is due out?
 
Which slots are you supposed to use for Crossfire, the blue ones? They should have staggered them with the PCI so you could throw in a 3rd card. Aren't we supposed to be able to use an 1900 series card for physics?
 
Pepsiennis said:
My one reservation is the pairing with the SB600, which frankly is functional but pales compared to almost every other SB out there. Anyone heard when SB700 is due out?
Click to expand...

Earliest I've heard is December.

ND40oz said:
Which slots are you supposed to use for Crossfire, the blue ones? They should have staggered them with the PCI so you could throw in a 3rd card. Aren't we supposed to be able to use an 1900 series card for physics?
Click to expand...

Yeah, these things are supposed to support all kinds of multi GPU configurations, but it makes it hard when you can' physically fit the cards in the slots! The M3A32-MVP Deluxe appears to have two PCIe x16 slots total, which seems like a waste given the NB capabilities. The only RD790 board I've seen that has all 4 PCIe x16 slots separated is the MSI K9A2 Platinum.
 
jwlangs said:
Earliest I've heard is December.



Yeah, these things are supposed to support all kinds of multi GPU configurations, but it makes it hard when you can' physically fit the cards in the slots! The M3A32-MVP Deluxe appears to have two PCIe x16 slots total, which seems like a waste given the NB capabilities. The only RD790 board I've seen that has all 4 PCIe x16 slots separated is the MSI K9A2 Platinum.
Click to expand...

Nice to see their X38 board is configured the same way. I held onto my two X1950XTXs on the slim hope that they would work in conjunction with my two 2900XTs, hopefully we'll get some more info soon.
 
Wow, just wow.
I thought SLI was a big deal.
I wonder how many PSUs you'll need to run those GPUs. You'd need a dedicated 20 amp line in your house.:eek:
 
If they can't take duel slots then ATI's next gen must be single slot?
 
Keep in mind that RV670 won't be the new hi end ATI GPU, but the next flagship card from them will be on a process smaller than 80 nm. This should help keep the power requirements down a little. Of course, it also reminds of the 1600W PSU on the home page. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the X38 will provide as many PCIe lanes to all of their slots as will RD790. So, this is how AMD will try to take back the performance crown, with a quad gpu configuration that the X38 will physically be unable to match. This setup ought to set some stupid records on 3DMark. Now that AMD owns ATI and Intel is coming out with Larabee next year, this is no longer about comparing cpus or gpus. This is about an entire platform stacking up against another. If only NVIDIA made processors, this could get even better!
 
jwlangs said:
Keep in mind that RV670 won't be the new hi end ATI GPU, but the next flagship card from them will be on a process smaller than 80 nm. This should help keep the power requirements down a little. Of course, it also reminds of the 1600W PSU on the home page. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the X38 will provide as many PCIe lanes to all of their slots as will RD790. So, this is how AMD will try to take back the performance crown, with a quad gpu configuration that the X38 will physically be unable to match. This setup ought to set some stupid records on 3DMark. Now that AMD owns ATI and Intel is coming out with Larabee next year, this is no longer about comparing cpus or gpus. This is about an entire platform stacking up against another. If only NVIDIA made processors, this could get even better!
Click to expand...

X38 should be able to run 8x to 4 slots or 16x to 2 slots. No reason it can't hang with RD790 on the GPU side of things.
 
No reason at all! Of course, that eliminates using an AMD cpu, which is an eventuality I'm sure the RD790's developers hope to avoid. ;)
 
It's all starting to come together, and the RD790 news is coming more frequently. Yesterday, suggestions Asus and Gigabyte will have theirs ready at chipset launch early September, and now Tweaktown has pics of the MSI K9A2. Not a bad looking board, and it's nice to see they got the memory slots seperated for better RAM ventilation (something I always disliked on the Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe). I didn't catch if it has the onboard X-Fi audio, as MSI has been doing recently, but that would be sweet if it did. Take a gander if it scratches your dander! :D Come on Abit, I'm eyeballing you, boy!

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/8077/index.html
 
I'm curious, Fuad says the K9A2 Platinum is socket 1207+, anyone heard anything else about this? That'll make it solely for the Agena and Kuma FX processors.
 
LOL so now when u get the money to afford 2 extra 2900s the next gen will be out and you'll be getting a whole 20 extra fps haha what a marketing scheme.
 
*PING*...
jwlangs said:
I'm curious, Fuad says the K9A2 Platinum is socket 1207+, anyone heard anything else about this? That'll make it solely for the Agena and Kuma FX processors.
Click to expand...

My link beats your link, as to currency of information, anyway. Also, why go through the trouble of black PCB and colored connectors for a server-board, which is what the 1207 platform usually is? Nah, that's AM2+.

*PONG*...
Back to Tweaktown, where they have picks from a live demo of Gigabyte's board running the X2 6400+ on their RD790 board.
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/8067/wcg_australia_gigabyte_amd_rd790_demo/index.html
 
Pepsiennis said:
*PING*...


My link beats your link, as to currency of information, anyway. Also, why go through the trouble of black PCB and colored connectors for a server-board, which is what the 1207 platform usually is? Nah, that's AM2+.

*PONG*...
Back to Tweaktown, where they have picks from a live demo of Gigabyte's board running the X2 6400+ on their RD790 board.
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/8067/wcg_australia_gigabyte_amd_rd790_demo/index.html
Click to expand...

AMD's 4x4 platform for their FX-70, 72, & 74 cpus uses the Asus L1N64-SLI board, which has 2 1207+ sockets. That's what makes me wonder about the socket on that MSI board.

As for that Tweaktown article from WCG, cosidering the Inq's K10 claims.......
X2 6400+ (2 cores, HT 1) vs 3.0 GHz Agena (4 cores, HT 3) = a difference of 18,000 points in 3DMark06!!! :D
I somehow doubt it.....
 
jwlangs said:
...As for that Tweaktown article from WCG, cosidering the Inq's K10 claims....... X2 6400+ (2 cores, HT 1) vs 3.0 GHz Agena (4 cores, HT 3) = a difference of 18,000 points in 3DMark06!!! :D I somehow doubt it.....
Click to expand...

As do I, brother. But their hyperbole aside, it does sound promising overall. And when I say promising, think 'competitive'. A competitive offering would be a reasonable expectation, and certainly well overdue from them. If I remember the speculation leading up to the HD 2900XT launch, there was already worrisome talk from the same sources quoted above. But with the RD790, it sounds decidedly more positive. Seems there'll be something to pay attention to.
 
i am fixing to update my poor old agp system this looks like the right board.some new cpu,2 next gen video cards from nvidia chunk in some more parts...:D magic.hot damn
 
jwlangs said:
As for that Tweaktown article from WCG, cosidering the Inq's K10 claims.......
X2 6400+ (2 cores, HT 1) vs 3.0 GHz Agena (4 cores, HT 3) = a difference of 18,000 points in 3DMark06!!! :D
I somehow doubt it.....
Click to expand...

I would go so far as to say that's impossible, especially since 06 is so GPU dependent. If they said 01, I would agree. If the motherboard/chipset can make up 18,000 3dmark points with the same video cards, I'd be pissed that they didn't make crossfire that efficient up front.
 
Carnage311 said:
Tweaktown has some new info/pics on DFI's upcoming RD790 mobo. http://www.tweaktown.com/news/8145/next_gen_dfi_lanparty_sneak_peek/index.html
Click to expand...

Thanks, Carnage! So far we've heard about Gigabyte, MSI, and now DFI, with Asus rumors floating about but no pics yet. It'd be interesting to know what others are getting onboard the RD790 (keep in mind the SB700 is rumored to be released in November, and some of the more cautious ducks may wait until then before releasing a board). Well, we'll hear in another two days, more than likely.
 
For what it's worth, here's SuperPi 1M and 3DMark '03 on a GA-M790-DQ6 and an Athlon 64 X2 4800+ @ 2.9 GHz. Anyone have any idea how this might compare to an X2 4800+ (or a 6000+ given the overclock) on say an RD580 board?

RD790 benches
 
InorganicMatter said:
AMD chipsets....LOL! Let's see if this one does any better than the tech joke known as RD600. :p
Click to expand...

Wait long enough and the worm will turn. Or would you rather the hardware world existed as if frozen in an aeon's old block of antarctic ice; never changing, evolving, revolutionizing... never exciting nor dramatic? Would that banal, prosaic hardware scene be more to your liking?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top