Overclocking
All of the boards today were able to max out the X6 1090T just shy of 4GHz. With any unlocked processor, we might get some variances of the highest speed, but none of the boards could push this chip significantly higher than the others.
I like to install and test motherboards in actual cases. This allows me to get a better feeling of thermals in an average setting as compared to an open test environment. We also get to see how the boards fit, where components line up, and how spacing could be an issue.
Things were a bit more interesting when testing the base clock speeds. Most recent 790FX and 890FX motherboards have few problems going over 280 MHz, with some of the more memorable ones hitting 330 MHz and above. The Asus 990FX was able to go to 333 MHz+. It really was ludicrous attempting to go faster. The older MSI G65 board was able to hit 325 MHz with few problems. Unfortunately, the MSI 990FXA-GD80 was only able to go to 250 MHz. This is a far cry from the 320+ MHz romp from the older 890FXA-GD70 for that matter.
Auto overclocking was nearly as disappointing for MSI as well. For all the promise of OC Genie II (it was pretty groundbreaking when the original was first introduced), it failed to deliver. It went to 3.6 GHz on the processor with the HTT bus running at 225 MHz. The one nice thing about this overclock was the handling of the memory. Usually we just see the memory dropped down to the lowest divisor. In this case the memory was running at DDR-3 1200 speeds.
Note the minimal amount of dust in said case. I’m turning my life around one dust bunny at a time. Both boards are about the same size and fit decently in a medium sized case. As with all recent boards, a dual slot cooler will invariably cover up some of the SATA ports making the rare swap more of a hastle than some would like.
The Asus board in auto OC mode was able to push 3.724 GHz with a HTT clock of 232 MHz. Unfortunately for Asus, it did pull the memory down to DDR-3 930 MHz speeds. Even with that issue, I was impressed by how much more the Asus board overclocked the CPU, and it remained nice and stable.
Pretty good writeup, the “I’m
Pretty good writeup, the “I’m bored” comments were kind of unwanted, but I wanted to ask something and I am not sure if you noticed it or I missed it when reading.
The MSI board allows the PCI-E x1 slot to be used in addition to dual gpu setups, while the ASUS board covers the PCI-E x1 slot no matter what.
You could use the extra x16 slots if need be, but wouldn’t that cut down the PCI-E x16/x16 bandwidth?
That alone sways what board to get for me, despite the asus board being better. I need a PCI-E x1 slot for wireless, here’s to hoping MSI fixes the bios and other issues quickly.
EDIT: The asus board only has 6 slots, which is kind of odd.
Generally speaking, and you
Generally speaking, and you would have to consult the individual manufactures user manual for the specifics. But particularly on the older (same?) 890FX boards, specifically the MSI890FXA, there are only two true electrically x16 slots.
When running in a x16/x16 configuration, one of the slots is disabled (if memory serves it was the lower most slot), and the middle “x16 size” slot, which is physically only x8 electrically, would only being allowed x4 bandwidth.
Now, if you populate the lower most “disabled” slot (x8 electrically), it will be given x8 bandwidth, and the above true x16 slot would be reduced to a x8 as well, as the lanes on those slots are split. Which is why in a true x16/x16 configuration, it is effectively disabled.
So it is completely dependent on how the manufactures split the lanes on the board, and what slots share those lanes when split. And MOST (not all) manufactures usually give a comprehensive slot population chart to explain how it will work. But on average with a x16/x16 configuration, there will always be one remaining x4 electrically, x16 physically slot.
Usage of the slots and add in
Usage of the slots and add in cards is obviously going to differ by individual. The MSI board does give slightly more flexibility in that you can use both the PCI slot and 1x PCI-E slot even when in Crossfire or SLI. So yeah, their layout is better overall than the Asus board. Then again the DIMM slots on the MSI board are physically closer to the socket by a decent amount, which is going to cause headaches for some folks.
But in terms of a better overall board in testing, Asus has the edge here.
Agreed, definitely wooped
Agreed, definitely wooped them. Hopefully september when the fx is out (rumor) and by then the MSI big bang conquerer/AMD board is out, with something that isn’t this bad.
Unless you must have a 1x
Unless you must have a 1x PCI-E slot I see no reason to buy the MSI board over the Asus one unless there is a large discrepancy in price.
I have nothing against MSI, heck my backup PC uses a P55-GD65 and a MSI 4870×2 which I’m using to type this message, but I was sorely disappointed by the 990FXA-GD80 given the stellar performance of the 890FXA-GD65.
I need one for wireless, so
I need one for wireless, so yes, I need one. I am working on trying a powerline setup, but the power in my house isn’t the best.
I just don’t get why they leave off a slot. The heatsink blocks it, but why not go up with the heatsink, not like anything is going right there.
FYI, MSI Bought(?)
FYI, MSI Bought(?) Afterburner’s from guru3d’s RivaTuner. A good utility like that, working for all boards would be welcome.
Hmm I purchased this board
Hmm I purchased this board and really am not a fan of the BIOS but reading MSI forums it looks like this should be resolved relatively soon.
Overall, the board is working solid and while it may not be perfect, it is not “bad” to the point of not wanting to own one.
I think a lot of the issues
I think a lot of the issues with the board are related to the BIOS in one way or another. ClickBIOS II is supposed to be a major upgrade, and should feel a whole lot faster than the current one. I would imagine that overclocking the HTT bus will also show improvements, as well as the random network issues that have been reported for this board by a handful of reviewers.
Glad you are having a good experience with your board though. You are right, it is far from being a bad board, but it just didn’t quite match the level of its predecessors and competition.
I bought the Sabertooth last
I bought the Sabertooth last week.
But I have a problem with AI Suite II. It won’t start, generating an APPCRASH on my Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (x64).
I tried to uninstall it, but it leaves a bunch of entries in registry and two related services still running…
Did you run the installer
Did you run the installer from the CD, or download it from the Asus website? I have found that often it is preferable to download that version, as sometimes the ones on the CD are more than a little old and could have poor support with new products. This is something of an issue with most motherboard manufacturers.