Mini-review of Gigabyte MA790GP-UD4H (w/pII 940BE)

[Malakai]

Just wanted to let anyone looking for a PII DDR2 mobo that I got this and it runs great. In system in sig. Just got started oc'ing but so far it's running like a pro, zero problems setting up and doing a mild oc (stock cooler cleaned & arctic silver 5 applied).

There aren't many formal reviews of the board. It is a 790GX/SB750 setup, one of the best of the boards using this combo IMO. It has extra copper in the pcb, and uses name brand japanese capacitors. I have had caps blow on mobo's and vid cards (and kill other hardware due to leakage) so I appreciate this. Also, very nice heatpiped northbridge and mosfet cooling, and a WIDE range of OC settings and voltages to set.

Note that this mobo is new, just came out in Dec'08/Jan'09. There is a new bios as of 3 days ago (get it, it fixes the bug where your DDR2 is set to single channel and the option to change it in the bios disappears), but the important part is the stock bios works with any PII out right now. So you don't need to stick an older AM2 chip in first and flash like you do with many 790* boards you can get.

On a side note, under load, holy **** the stock fan is loud @full speed! And an unlocked multiplier brings back old memories of a paint unlocked tbird =)

I got this in a combo deal at newegg with the 940BE, -$50 off the total for the win. I have 2 more 2gb sticks of this ram, but it probably won't run @1066 with all 4 slots filled. I will give it a try soon though and report back. For the time being I am still giggly over the massive increase in speed from my old 2.2ghz x2 brisbane @ 2gb of ddr2-800

 

[Malakai]

Self bump, I have built a few more P2 systems for friends and customers, and I still find this to be the best board I have used so far.

The layout of the board is great. Plenty of room around the CPU socket for heatsinks and such. Great passive heatpipe cooling of the northbridge and the CPU power system. The bios is laid out so much better than Asus (the other brand I have been using). All the oc settings and voltages are in 1 window, detailed descriptions of every settings, and it shows defaults to base your changes off of.

Another massively nice thing I found, was that the bios displays the memory SPD next to the number you select for every timing, just just the usual 5-5-5-15. So you do not need to guess at any timings at all!

 

[QuietIce]

I have seen other good results from that board.


The BIOS is a personal thing. After using ASUS almost exclusively for three years I'm very comfortable with their BIOS layout and labels. But everybody has their own preference when it comes to that ...

 

[cderrow]

I plan on getting the exact same cpu and mobo. If you had to give this motherboard a rating, 1-10, what would you give it?

 

[Malakai]

Out of other 790GX mobo's, a definite 10.

I would say a 9 overall since 790FX mobo's (according to most reviews and results with my C2 stepping 940BE) overclock slightly better.'

However I still prefer the gx and having to use more voltage or a few less mhz. I've had situations where my vid card died and I was screwed out of using my pc till I found someone with an oldie sitting around to get back on. Now if I lose a vid card for whatever reason I am still able to use the sys without sticking old hardware in, and even fully accelerate aero.

Also, when more programs using STREAM tech to use the gpu as a cpu come out, we have a fairly powerful second GPU on hand.

Lastly with 2 dvi on my 4830 and 1 from the onboard, if I ever get a third monitor I can run triplehead monitors. Who needs matrox? =)

This board has some nice extras that really top it off. Good japanese capacitors, double the amount of copper in the pcb compared to most boards (both their claim but have never seen them disputed, also have never heard of one dying or overheating yet), great cooling, and a fantastic layout!

I have seen other good results from that board.


The BIOS is a personal thing. After using ASUS almost exclusively for three years I'm very comfortable with their BIOS layout and labels. But everybody has their own preference when it comes to that ...

I also used lots of asus in my day, my last was an M3A for my old x2 brisbane. I was used to the bios too, but this giga bios has every oc setting for cpu and ram all well laid out on 1 page, and huge margins for a ton of voltages.

 

[kendzlic]

Hey man, Looks like you have an awesome set up there. I was searching through the forum and saw that you are using the same exact MB and CPU as I just ordered to replace my old P4 3.2 that I built back in 04. This will be my first build with an AMD processor and I hope to get up to an OC of about 3.4ghz.

My question is do you think I will be able to get that OC running stable with a Cooler Master GeminII S? I wish I would have found these forums before I placed my order or I may have ordered a different HSF.

Anyway, any tips also regarding install or anything I should know?

Thanks, Brandon

 

[QuietIce]

The GeminII isn't a bad cooler. I'm using two of them, one ona P 9950BE, one on a Q6600. Those dual 120's do a great job of keeping the RAM, chipsets, and MOSFETs happy. Temps are maybe 3-4°C higher with the GeminII over the TRUE but that's not bad ...

 

[kendzlic]

The GeminII isn't a bad cooler. I'm using two of them, one ona P 9950BE, one on a Q6600. Those dual 120's do a great job of keeping the RAM, chipsets, and MOSFETs happy. Temps are maybe 3-4°C higher with the GeminII over the TRUE but that's not bad ...

Thats good news but isn't the GeminII S different the the regular GeminII? I believe the one I ordered only comes with one 120mm fan. Is it still just as good?

 

[QuietIce]

IDK. I liked the 2x120's because the rigs I'm using them on are table-top machines.

It looks very similar to the stock AMD cooler except it has 5 pipes instead of four - and a better fan. It should do OK ...

 

[Malakai]

Been a few months, the board is still running like a champ. Since I bumped up my cooling to a 4 fan antec 300 and sunbeam core contact I have been running 3.6ghz 1.45v 24/7. It can do 3.75 at 1.55 but i dont like that much voltage.

Now running everything on windows 7 7100 too. Runs great!

 

[Myv]

I got the same motherboard and CPU, at first I had high idle temperature on stock setting (40-45C, full load to 58C) and after a F2 BIOS update the temperature dropped ~8C!!! I easily overclocked to 3.6ghz with 200x18 using just 1.375V and its stable, idle temps ranges from 35-40C (just using browser+msn now and its at 35C) and full load is about 48-50C and this is on a Noctua NH-U12P HSF. I no longer go above 50C at maximum load even after hours of gaming/stability tests. I too am runnning Windows 7 7100 with no problems~ Love it!

 

[Malakai]

Awesome Myv, great testimonial!

This board had 3 newegg reviews (all 5 star) when I bought it, so it was kind of a gamble. Now it is up to 130+ reviews, 75%+ of which are 5-stars.

It also has a little cousin that is 25-30 bucks cheaper and uses the 790X northbridge. It is on a combo deal with the 720/940 BE chips so if you dont need integrated graphics it is a cheap alternative in the combo deal, and still a great board using the same quality parts and layout as the board this thread is about!

720BE+Giga 790x board combo deal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190734
At 218.99, the 720+board deal here is the ideal foundation to any budget gaming rig. Easily overclocks to 3.5ghz+ and only a hair over 300 total with 8gb ddr2-1066. With only 4gb you have the entire core of your build, and you can probably squeeze in a top of the line $40 dollar cpu cooler, for only 300 bucks! This will be right on the tail of an i7 920 system in gaming performance (but not other tasks with only 3 cores obviously) for a fraction of the price.
With only 4gb and 3 cores you can really overclock this budget build to the limits, eeking every drop of clockspeed out of the cpu and just 2 sticks of ddr2. They really scream at 3.5+ghz and 1100mhz on the ram.
And lastly as this mobo uses the SB750 southbridge, you get your dice roll chance the 4th core can be enabled. If you are on anything slower than this I would find it almost impossible to pass this upgrade up. Dump your phenom 1's and X2's and get this NOW!


920BE+giga 790x board combo deal
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.190732
Sick deal at 269.99 total, 940 and mobo for less than the i7 920 alone, a system with these components and 8gb of quality ddr2-1066 will be 1/2 the cost of a 920, mobo, and 6gb of the cheapest ddr3-1600 u can find.
IMO you will get a lot more out of the money you saved going p2/ddr2 by investing it elsewhere in the system, a few % more raw computing power or memory bandwidth is hardly worth double HDD performance with raid0, a second video card, or a few more inches on your display.

 

[velozzity]

Malakai, Just out of curiosity, have you ever ran your memory at 1066 and had it stable, I have the cousin to your board the 790x-ud4p, and It am having major stability issues with it and have almost ruled it down to it not really liking 1066 memory....just curious about your experience with that aspect of the board because if I dont find resolution to my constant blue screening while running prime blend no matter how high the vcore......If thinking about rma'ing mine and trying to talk gigabyte into letting me pay the difference in that board, or just flat out selling mine and buying the 790gp-ud4h

 

[Malakai]

Malakai, Just out of curiosity, have you ever ran your memory at 1066 and had it stable, I have the cousin to your board the 790x-ud4p, and It am having major stability issues with it and have almost ruled it down to it not really liking 1066 memory....just curious about your experience with that aspect of the board because if I dont find resolution to my constant blue screening while running prime blend no matter how high the vcore......If thinking about rma'ing mine and trying to talk gigabyte into letting me pay the difference in that board, or just flat out selling mine and buying the 790gp-ud4h

With only 2 sticks installed, I could run 1066 @2-2.05v easily. With 4 slots populated they only do a little faster than I have now at 2v. At 2.1v they can only go up to about 1000mhz.

If your populating all 4 slots, its just a gamble whether the mem controller can handle all 4 at 1066, remember 1066 is not a real spec, the mem controllers on intel and amd systems have trouble with 4 sticks at 1066.

Not the mobos fault, you can always try more voltage. I dont really like going past 2.0v i plan to use it awhile!

 

[Malakai]

Just a quick bump, several threads have popped up asking about a good am2+ board for Phenom 2's. The Gigabyte 790GX/FX/X boards are pretty much the best of class for each of those chipsets, or close enough to call. Quality parts, great bios, nice layout, good cooling, priced well at each chipsets price point; 790x cheapest, 790gx middle, 790fx top. Funny since you really get the most out of the GX =)

 

[Malakai]

FYI the board just wen't on sale at newegg for -$10, 129.99.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128384

Up to 160+ reviews over 70% 5-stars. One of the best reviewed boards on newegg at the moment! It deserves it

 

[Talyn24]

for the record, i have this mobo, it wouldnt boot with p2 940, i may have had bad chip, cuz it booted just fine with my new am3 p2 955. i am able to use 8GB of ddr2 1066 ganged 4 sticks, so with this board/chip you can have dual channel ddr in excess of 4gb.

I DID NEED TO UPDATE THE BIOS TO GET 128 BIT MEMORY AND CORRECT VOLTS/CLOCK SPEED DEFAULT, however it was bootable and using gigabytes @BioS i didnt even need to do anything but go to their site run @BioS and reboot and the new bios was in and working (so much easier than flashing with a floppy)

set volts to 1.4, im showing 1.39, running 18x200 3600mhz stable off the bat.
i havent seen my system hit 49c when gaming yet, 40c idle. im using a cooler similar to sunbeams core contact freezer, but this has an easier clip to use, its called a XT-1264 by kingwin. fan can be a lil loud@full rpm but works out ok with the sound of the 4870s fan @ 60 percent.
im very pleased with the sysmtem it is a quantum leap above my old OCed FX60.

my system:
Gigabye MA790GP-UD4H
8 GB (4x2gb) G.Skill DDR2 1066 (5-5-15) 2.1v
AMD Phenom II 955 @ 3600mhz (on all 4 cores, i shut Cool n Q off)
Ati/HIS ICEQ4+ 4870 1gb @ 825 core 1100 mem, never goes over 64c w/ fan at 60%
SATA 2 500gb 16mb cache, SATA 2 200gb 8mb cache, both 7200rpm
Corsair TX 750 PSU
I am thinking of replacing these with either raptors or ssds, any input would be welcome.
I bought the entire system from newegg with vista, total cost was aprox 800 bucks, not bad given that i can keep up with much more expensive core i7. Comporable system not built by me, say from best buy, would have cost at least 350 bucks more, im very pleased. i dont think ddr 3 neccesary atm, i saved money going w/ ddr2, and was able to put more ram in for less money (its not like p2 is short on bandwith at the clock speed its at w/ ddr2). *I beleive i get more out oh having 8gb ddr 2 1066 then i would get out of ddr 3 1333 6hg* I do plan on adding another HIS IceQ4+ 4870 1gb for Xfire when they go under 200 w/o the rebate since you can only rebate once (wich sux)

its definatley a huge jump over my old, wich was
FX 60 @ 2.8
2GB ddr 500
2x 7900GS (oc) in SLI
coolermaster 600 watt psu
ASUS SLI mobo

the old system was my first (and last) asus they didnt support it for crap, at least not compared to the support ive been getting since i bought the gigabyte, but i guess its a matter of opinion. however the asus was more expensive, the gigabyte to me is so much more worth the money, esp with the ability to use the onbaord hd3300 as a phsy-x unit or as a hybrid xfire setup, it will even let me xfire 2 4870 and use the onboard for physics, wich is nice.
I am very pleased with this system and would recommend to anyone, i score 5.9s in vista except for my HD, wich scores 5.4