GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD7 or MSI 890FXA-GD70??

[Radeon28]

The title says it all. I'm starting to plan out my next rig and I can't decide between these 2 motherboards. I'm leaning towards the MSI because of its fantastic BIOS setup and I really like the OC Genie (I'm semi-new to OCing, and it would be nice for me), however I know that GIGABYTE builds great motherboards and alot of people have recommended it.

I was wondering if anyone out there who has used one or both of these motherboards could shed some light on them so I can make a more informed decision.

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[ChanceCoats123]

Well, most people don't recommend the UD7. It's an Extended-ATX motherboard and full tower case is a must. The UD5 however is a fantastic board. I have its little brother and it's a fantastic board. The Bios are easy to work in and there are plenty of oc'ing utilities. I've never been impressed with MSI's quality, so I would take the Gigabyte.

 

[QuietIce]

Chance made the Gigabyte plug (which I agree with!) and I'll make the ASUS plug. The M4A89TD PRO (also comes in a USB3 version) is a good choice, too. A little warning, though - all the 890FX boards are still going through BIOS revisions. Nothing spectacular but the chipset is relatively new and there have been minor BIOS issues with all the boards ...

 

[Radeon28]

Well, most people don't recommend the UD7. It's an Extended-ATX motherboard and full tower case is a must. The UD5 however is a fantastic board. I have its little brother and it's a fantastic board. The Bios are easy to work in and there are plenty of oc'ing utilities. I've never been impressed with MSI's quality, so I would take the Gigabyte.

Thanks for the heads up on the UD5 over the UD7, I'll be sure to research that. Can you elaborate a bit more on why you were unimpressed with MSI? All the newegg reviews for that board were great (take it with a grain of salt though cause sometimes there are some people on newegg), and the OC genie is basically being considered "god's gift to new oc'ers"

QuietIce: Thanks for the heads up about the 890FX BIOS issues!

 

[xoke]

Yea, there are a few BIOS quirks with all of them best I can tell. But still all are very fast and usable.

 

[Radeon28]

Does anyone out there have any experience with the MSI 890FXA-GD70??? I really would like to know if the OC genie is as good as everyone says it is...

 

[QuietIce]

As a Public Service Announcement I will applaud anybody here who would step forward and actually admit to using a BIOS overclocker instead of doing it manually.


Seriously, on this forum you're not likely to find many takers. This is Overclockers.com and playing with BIOS settings is a common interest and hobby. Very few, if any, of the members here use "Otto" to overclock - but I wish you luck in your quest ...

 

[Radeon28]

As a Public Service Announcement I will applaud anybody here who would step forward and actually admit to using a BIOS overclocker instead of doing it manually.


Seriously, on this forum you're not likely to find many takers. This is Overclockers.com and playing with BIOS settings is a common interest and hobby. Very few, if any, of the members here use "Otto" to overclock - but I wish you luck in your quest ...

Please, don't get me wrong there! I would never say that pressing an OC genie button in any way equates to the fine tuning and adjustment that we do in the BIOS, HOWEVER, a button that shows us a "quick jump" in performance so that we can ballpark where we should be going with our components does seem appealing... not to mention the OC genie allows the user 6 different OCing profiles that you can switch through with a button on the Mobo... but maybe I'm arguing for the MSI to much...

 

[QuietIce]

If you like it that much I'm sure no one is going to dis you for buying it, either. It's an 890FX board and that really is the main thing here. There are several people on here who got good OC's from it's 790FX predecessor ...

 

[Cisco Kid]

Between the 2 if those are your only choices i would go the UD5 atx board

Over at overclock.net you can find alot of info on the MSI 890FX, some who jumped over returned it, due to odd slow USB performance. I previously had an MSI 790FX GD70, it was without a doubt excellent and I really thought the MSI 890FX would be an extension of it but from everything I read from reviews and personal users led me to make another choice

Asus Crosshair IV, it will cost you more but it is the best 890FX board imho. I have to agree to those above you will eventually end up manually overclocking

 

[ChanceCoats123]

The reason I dislike Msi is the "quality." In my opinion a board that still uses 4+2 phase power is ridiculous. People always talk quality over quantity, but the phase used on Giga's boards are easily comparable. In the case of equal quality, I go for the best quantity. And that is the case here. I got a Giga 790FX board that has 8+2 phase over the 790FX Msi because it was 4+2.

 

[Cisco Kid]

The reason I dislike Msi is the "quality." In my opinion a board that still uses 4+2 phase power is ridiculous. People always talk quality over quantity, but the phase used on Giga's boards are easily comparable. In the case of equal quality, I go for the best quantity. And that is the case here. I got a Giga 790FX board that has 8+2 phase over the 790FX Msi because it was 4+2.

i hear your point but the MSI 790FX had no issues at all using 4+2 phase power, it was easily the most common, and also was the overclockers choice from majority of sites for a 790fx board. MSI has got away with 4+2 regardless, not to say 8+2 can not be better, but somehow MSI has done well using 4+2

 

[ChanceCoats123]

I agree completely. I was pondering posting that, but it was literally my reason. My Gigabyte has no problem supplying my 720 with 1.65v + with zero vdroop or "vgain." Simply my choice, and the Msi did work for many people, I just had a great experience with my Gigabyte.