Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H - Gigabyte is known for making solid overclocking and feature rich motherboards at virtually every possible price point. We've been very pleased with the Gigabyte boards we've reviewed and hopefully this trend continues with Gigabyte's latest AM2+ mbo, the MA790GP-DS4H.

The Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4 is an incredibly solid and stable workhorse of a motherboard that has all the features a new motherboard should have, and at a nice price. Running your DDR2 RAM at 1066MHz should not be an issue and we are seeing many folks around the Net returning overclocking results of 3.1GHz+ with “Black” processors.
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Finally, a board that seems solid enough to me. If you used this board in an AMD/ATI system setup, I wonder how far you'd be behind an Intel solution. Hm.
 
3080 mhz 1.264 V phenom 9850BE DFI lanparty-ut 790FX M2R
3100 mhz 1.297 V phenom 9850BE Gigabyte MA790-FX DQ6
3000 mhz got print right now 24 H dualorthos affinity, 1.264 V gigabyte, 1.256 V DFI.

However!, dfi manages to boot @ 1.45 V 3.5 ghz, while my gigabyte DOESNT boot over 3.1 ghz no matter voltage.

I doooo not know the reason, and bios resets which should be done automaticly at the 790fx-dq6 DOESNT HAPPEN!
However, 5000+be phenom ES 1.6 ghz be2350 4850 5600 Opty 1222 le1620 le1600 works on the motherboard very well, except better results on the dfi, due to voltage system is off the hook, 0.00625 increase + a special vid selection: 0.16 % increase per setting. normal voltage to 1.6 V and % to 125% so 2V max.

Gigabyte, 1.3V = 1.345 V 1.35 V = 1.38 1.45 = 1.51 which isnt veeery good.

Might ONLY be that differs the dfi and the gigabyte.

LE 1620 gigabyte:3708 mhz(air) le1620dfi ~3760

This only says HOW CRUCIAL the voltage is for amd's, i will try to get a contact of me which does reviews and is getting sponsor items from gigabyte to reply, for amd i feel the dfi gave me much better options.(except lockup issues at low voltage long time idle in vista, linux running fine!)

Need proofs for my clocks, just ask... i got all the prints on my clocking drive.
Results: opty 1222 3.4 ghz le1620 3.75ghz le1600 3.4 ghz 5000be 3.6 ghz phenom9850 3.3ghz phenom 1.6 ES 2 ghz 2350be 3.4 ghz 4850 3ghz (poor cooling scaling test)

ALL is on a noctua cooler and with both the gigabyte and dfi, was in a rush to test them, to find out who to sell and who to keep.

HARDOCP: fiiiind a chip like mine whiiich can do sub 1.3 V (BORROW maybe) @ 3ghz, mine does it at 1.255 V which is indeeeed veeery good, so im actually in love with my phenom, anywayz not talk about that, just get a hold of one, AMD taunts that it will push out 200 mhz extra, if you guys can test the DQ6 vs the 790GX and actually see, ohh its clocking better, the normal am2 isnt hard to clock, lower HT multi, increase voltage slightly, increase HTT freq.

There are some defects in the SB600, which dfi have made another chip for or something, not really sure about that, but the PLL thingy, got issues with phenoms which makes it.... crash @ high freqs.. maybe do explaination bout it, cause my am2's/939's clock very well(well enough)
 
Nice to see the stability numbers. I'm curious as to why you didn't try overclocking via multiplier on the 9950 and had no information on ACC tests? You hit ctrl-f1 to activate the "extra options" and activate it in the BIOS in case you missed it. I haven't been able to get AOD to recognize it though yet.
 
None of the CTRL+F1 options help me in Phenom OC. 790fx-DQ6 might added to 790GX. i havnt tried the 790GX yet, i got it somewhere in norway! i just dont know where it is atm, and dont got time for testing it.. work work school work school....

well, amd says 200 mhz extra OC.. maybe with a good chip and suffecient cooling, i dunno! if it posts @ higher than 790 dq6 im suprised =) i could do suicide at 3150 on the phenom in windows, which is... little low when i can do orthos for a while till the heats kill the cpu @ 3.3...



Anywayz, hardocp get a decent 9850. run it on some mobo's... on water too ofc =) cause my baby gets hot hot hot! gonna test water sometime, all my runs was simple air on noctua using artic silver 5 on the low wattage, and some other very good stuff on phenom, 5000+be le1620.

WR phenom = 3.71 GHZ 1.48 V btw hardocp, USE ALOT OF TIME! my only advice. cause those are hard to clock, sensetive to heat, voltage, and all settings, almost like a delicate chemical... makes it actually fun when you got a chip you can push =) hope ya guys do it sometime, to actually put the mobo's on a real test and see when they really wont go futher..
cause my 790fx-dq6 is a stubborn bitch on my 9850be phenom.
 
AtkinS said:
None of the CTRL+F1 options help me in Phenom OC. 790fx-DQ6 might added to 790GX. i havnt tried the 790GX yet, i got it somewhere in norway! i just dont know where it is atm, and dont got time for testing it.. work work school work school....

well, amd says 200 mhz extra OC.. maybe with a good chip and suffecient cooling, i dunno! if it posts @ higher than 790 dq6 im suprised =) i could do suicide at 3150 on the phenom in windows, which is... little low when i can do orthos for a while till the heats kill the cpu @ 3.3...



Anywayz, hardocp get a decent 9850. run it on some mobo's... on water too ofc =) cause my baby gets hot hot hot! gonna test water sometime, all my runs was simple air on noctua using artic silver 5 on the low wattage, and some other very good stuff on phenom, 5000+be le1620.

WR phenom = 3.71 GHZ 1.48 V btw hardocp, USE ALOT OF TIME! my only advice. cause those are hard to clock, sensetive to heat, voltage, and all settings, almost like a delicate chemical... makes it actually fun when you got a chip you can push =) hope ya guys do it sometime, to actually put the mobo's on a real test and see when they really wont go futher..
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What have you set ACC to in the bios out of curiosity? And the world record is actually barely under 4Ghz I think:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=199643
 
no such thing with that name in my bioses :p
gave it a search, seems like SB750 Exclusive... 790fx m2r and 790fx-dq6 uses old SB600.
780G uses SB700
790GX uses SB750(I want, if I want a new dfi it will take me another 4 months prolly, since it cannot be retailed in Norway)

New WR =) kool old was 1.48 V DFI m2rS 9850 BE 3.71 GHZ Water.

Phenom 9850 BE 3ghz DFI:1.255 V / Gigabyte 1.264 V

ALL settings Default:
Memory (gigabyte) 1066 mhz EPP
DFI 1066 5-5-4-15(cannot go lower due to phenom limits) gives craploads of bandwidth anywayz)
Rest is alll standard.
(multi ofc 15 or FID0F DID 1
What helps the DFI more is the voltages, but i did more adjustments, i dont remember them all, i can write em down when i do my next reboot.
 
Very informative review guys! I appreciate how you covered the quirks you experienced with this board, Great work!
 
One thing I would have liked to see in this review is a comparison between the disk controllers, since I have read that the sb750 still isn't as good as what Nvidia or Intel have.
 
ivansoze1 said:
Good review - pity the AMD cpu performance in general is only a % of Intel's Core(TM?) ATM....As for you peeps worrying about [H]'s cpu, I understand where you are coming from but your own good overclocking AMD cpu's are not the norm - good Phenom overclocks seem rare - when compared to overclocking an e8400 for instance...hence Kyle's and Dan's experience is one most can expect and is more relevant than finding a 'special' cpu and testing that...no offense meant, just an observation...GL!!!
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Actually completely ignoring the unlocked multiplier on a black edition CPU as well as not testing the ACC feature of the new southbridge seems very out of place. The norm with the new southbridge IS in fact hitting 3Ghz+ easy. Why focus just on the bus?
 
A bit surprised that in a motherboard that is really geared towards the HTPC market, no mention was made in the article about the board's ability to send lossless audio via HDMI. This is a HUGE factor for the HTPC enthusiest.
 
Please please don't call HTT bus overclocking FSB, Front side bus is an Intel architecture and nothing to do with AMD at all.

Increasing HTT bus does not make Phemom work faster over just raising its multiplier, overall a BE CPU will gain more by just raising the multiplier and playing with the memory controller bus speed.HTT bus overclocking is just a means of dialing in the memory speed where you want it with the tighter sub 1066 mode memory controller timings, remember Phenom loosens up a little when you go 1066 although careful tweaking can gain most of the lost speed back, especially if you raise the MCH multiplier also.

CPU core speed is HTTx CPU multi, it does not matter how you get there the core speed is always the same

IMC core speed is HTTx IMC multi, again it does not matter how you get there, the speed is always the same.

HT speed is HTTx HT multi, again it does not mater how you get there.

IMC speed has to be =or> than HT speed for Phenom to work correctly

HT speed helps IGP a great deal, higher HT= faster IGP performance

Higher IMC speed helps gain performance from higher ram speed. So you have to increase IMC speed to see gains from pushing higher memory speeds.

I am actually disappointed with this review, it did not show 9950 at all well. pretty much all will do 3GHZ dead easy. most will do 2.6GHZ IMC core speed also. I am sure 3.2GHZ CPU, 2.6GHZ IMC and 4GB DDr2 at 1066 would have shown Phenom to be quite fast; couple some PCIE bus overclocking also for the Xfire cards and we would have had a much better showing for the board and the CPU used.
 
bigtoe, so right ;P

I think they use way to little time on everything, and they should have a decent chip, what kinda cooling, temps..

Phenom is all about correct voltage and using time...
 
bigtoe said:
Please please don't call HTT bus overclocking FSB, Front side bus is an Intel architecture and nothing to do with AMD at all.

Increasing HTT bus does not make Phemom work faster over just raising its multiplier, overall a BE CPU will gain more by just raising the multiplier and playing with the memory controller bus speed.HTT bus overclocking is just a means of dialing in the memory speed where you want it with the tighter sub 1066 mode memory controller timings, remember Phenom loosens up a little when you go 1066 although careful tweaking can gain most of the lost speed back, especially if you raise the MCH multiplier also.

CPU core speed is HTTx CPU multi, it does not matter how you get there the core speed is always the same

IMC core speed is HTTx IMC multi, again it does not matter how you get there, the speed is always the same.

HT speed is HTTx HT multi, again it does not mater how you get there.

IMC speed has to be =or> than HT speed for Phenom to work correctly

HT speed helps IGP a great deal, higher HT= faster IGP performance

Higher IMC speed helps gain performance from higher ram speed. So you have to increase IMC speed to see gains from pushing higher memory speeds.

I am actually disappointed with this review, it did not show 9950 at all well. pretty much all will do 3GHZ dead easy. most will do 2.6GHZ IMC core speed also. I am sure 3.2GHZ CPU, 2.6GHZ IMC and 4GB DDr2 at 1066 would have shown Phenom to be quite fast; couple some PCIE bus overclocking also for the Xfire cards and we would have had a much better showing for the board and the CPU used.
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+1

BTW there bigtoe after seeing what you got with that 9850 and the DFI M2R I would be curious to see what you could do with one of these new SB750 boards. Any plans on playing with one and sharing? :D
 
I mentioned memory problems in the "megathread" that was started for this board, but thought I'd mention it in the review section.

Anyone have this board working well in 1066 memory mode? I have some OCZ memory which is rated for 1066 that I consistently get errors with in memtest+. It works fine in 800 mode. I've been waiting for a BIOS update from Gigabyte but they don't seem to be in a rush to get that out...
 
right. this thread is just what i need.

i purchased this board last weekend. 4GB of 800MHz RAM, 9950 BE Phenom, and a RAID 5 config with 4 320GB discs. and a Corsair modular 550W PSU & an Saphire HD4850.

i was couragous enough to install Vista on it, as i wanted to pass the 4GB limit in 32 Bit OS's.
I has heared of the bad Vista performance issues, but i figured that with all this top-range hardware (it is to me anyway) it wouldnt matter, the system would fly off the desk by itself...

some things i noticed:
1. Company of heroes in 1440x900 is faster on my 2 year old Asus P5WH Deluxe
2. i took me 48 hours to get sound working properly (driver issue)
3. the overall feel is that my XP SP3 machine with half the hardware is 50% faster.


is this just Vista? (Ultimate 64 bit btw)

some questions:
would it help to OC the processor?
if so, what is the maximum temerature you would recommend for use with a stock cooler?

noob question: i have no experience what so ever with overclocking RAM; this is my memory: http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr2_pc2_6400_system_integrator_series anyone can tell me what exactly i can do with this?

thanks in advance

PS:if you want to install a 4 disc RAID array, your gonna have a hard time with all them damn cables but make sure you take care of that b4 you insert the videocard. and when you insertvideocard, plug power straight in, or you'll never get it in bacause of all those */$ç cables in that part of the computer
(my DVD is also SATA - i use almost all sata ports)
 
I'm using it with a regular P1 chip and have had no issues. This is also the board used to overclock to 6Ghz with the P2 so I'd say it's a decent board.
 
Im using it with a 940 phenom 2 . It needs a bios update to use the denebs, but its a great board other wise . I put together this board with a 940 and a 4850 sapphire and with the card clocked at 700/1090 and a mild overclock on cpu ,just 200 megahertz, i was able to get a score of 14800 on 3d mark06. I am very plesed with this setup for under 500.00 dollars. The board can be overclockrd from a windows program, and the bios can be updated by an internet download. The board will post with a 940 but will only run at 2300 till you upgrade bios. It was very easy. Im no expert by any means. The only complaint I had was i coulndnt get the onboard sound to work and the gigabyte lan to work.I havent had any problems so far and i know I can push this setup much harder, but I can play crysis at 1600 by 1200 with everything cranked up except AA with is set at 2x.I might get another 4850 to run crossfire, But i only have a 20.5 monitor so i dont know if its worth it. Iany questions are welcome.
 
SSinner said:
Im using it with a 940 phenom 2 . It needs a bios update to use the denebs, but its a great board other wise . I put together this board with a 940 and a 4850 sapphire and with the card clocked at 700/1090 and a mild overclock on cpu ,just 200 megahertz, i was able to get a score of 14800 on 3d mark06. I am very plesed with this setup for under 500.00 dollars. The board can be overclockrd from a windows program, and the bios can be updated by an internet download. The board will post with a 940 but will only run at 2300 till you upgrade bios. It was very easy. Im no expert by any means. The only complaint I had was i coulndnt get the onboard sound to work and the gigabyte lan to work.I havent had any problems so far and i know I can push this setup much harder, but I can play crysis at 1600 by 1200 with everything cranked up except AA with is set at 2x.I might get another 4850 to run crossfire, But i only have a 20.5 monitor so i dont know if its worth it. Iany questions are welcome.
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Oooh.. I'm interested to see how far you can push that 940.
 
I have had it up to 3700. I was testing with prime95, which ran for 30 minutes with no errors, but the core temp went above 60 degrees celcius, so I shut it down. I was wondering if someone could tell me what is more important, core temp or cpu temp? I was using an artic cooling frezer 64 pro and the cpu temp went to 48 with about 63 for core temp. This board has some bios problems so i dont know if these temps are accurate
 
I've had no temp issues that I'm aware of with a 9950, I idle on 35 or so in a warm office and hit in the low 40s on load at stock. Are you running the latest bios 3h? What does AOD say you are running at temperature-wise?
 
Im running at 3499 right now with a core temp of 33 degrees celcius. I ran prime95 for an hour at the temp went up to 56 degrees. I found out the fan was only turning at 600 rpm so i disabled the CNC and know its turning at 2200 which seems to have made a big difference.
 
SSinner said:
Im running at 3499 right now with a core temp of 33 degrees celcius. I ran prime95 for an hour at the temp went up to 56 degrees. I found out the fan was only turning at 600 rpm so i disabled the CNC and know its turning at 2200 which seems to have made a big difference.
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CNC?
 
Sombody called it cnc for some reason. I meant to say amds cool and quiet bios program. it
 
Gah.

I got a new one of these boards 2 weeks ago alongside a x3 720BE chip, and had it running quite nicely with the 4th core enabled (ACC Trick) for at +0.05v @3.2Ghz, with only a cold boot problem ( needing to hit reset after power on) to report.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to fix the cold boot problem, Gigabyte provided me with a F4a bios version that also fixed the 4th core "problem". Hmm, annoying :/

Wolfsbane2k
 
Wolfsbane2k said:
Gah.

I got a new one of these boards 2 weeks ago alongside a x3 720BE chip, and had it running quite nicely with the 4th core enabled (ACC Trick) for at +0.05v @3.2Ghz, with only a cold boot problem ( needing to hit reset after power on) to report.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to fix the cold boot problem, Gigabyte provided me with a F4a bios version that also fixed the 4th core "problem". Hmm, annoying :/

Wolfsbane2k
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I got a new GA-MA790X-UD4P 2 weeks ago. What Bios number was the 4th core enabled on your board :confused:? Have you tried to back up to the older bios ?

Anyone else here using the GA-MA790X-UD4P?

BTW I'm running a 17xMult for a 3400Mhz OC (temp 30 C Air cooled).... Completely stable with the X3BE. What about you ?
 
AMDExclusive said:
I got a new GA-MA790X-UD4P 2 weeks ago. What Bios number was the 4th core enabled on your board :confused:? Have you tried to back up to the older bios ?

Anyone else here using the GA-MA790X-UD4P?

BTW I'm running a 17xMult for a 3400Mhz OC (temp 30 C Air cooled).... Completely stable with the X3BE. What about you ?
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Bios F2b should unlock the fourth core, but you may have cold boot issues.
 
An old thread but I thought it was worth mentioning Gigabyte's latest BIOS. They've implemented an interesting technology/trick 'EC Firmware Hybrid' which resolves the cold boot problems when enabling the fourth core. The F5 BIOS has been working great for me on the DS4H with four cores of my x3 720 enabled.
 
emolitor said:
An old thread but I thought it was worth mentioning Gigabyte's latest BIOS. They've implemented an interesting technology/trick 'EC Firmware Hybrid' which resolves the cold boot problems when enabling the fourth core. The F5 BIOS has been working great for me on the DS4H with four cores of my x3 720 enabled.
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The hybrid trick also worked for me, now my phenom x2 550 is a fully stable, working phenom II x4 B50. You cannot beat that value for just over 70 bucks.
 
Havign just got the F5 bios via a random search on another forum, i can confirm that the EC Hybrid setting has now let me hit 3.6Ghz with 4 cores at + .1v. Nice
 
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