Introduction



Finally! We had to wait for it quite some time, but since a few weeks, AMD has a working platform that support DDR3 memory, the successor of DDR2 with as biggest advantage the possibility of higher clock frequencies, which lead to higher bandwidth. Unlike most of the previous AMD hardware, the AM3 processors and motherboards are not completely backwards compatible: if you want to use the newer DDR3 memory, you will have to buy an AM3 processor and AM3 motherboard, since an AM2+ processors does not have the instructions to run DDR3. The opposite does work, though: AM3 processors have no problems running on AM2+ motherboards with DDR2 memory.

The biggest question is of course whether or not the extra bandwidth will make your system run any faster. Without even doing the tests to find out, we can be pretty sure it won't. Why?

"The effect of an increase memory frequency is only noticeable in memory intensive benchmarks, or better put: memory benchmarks. In real-life applications or benchmarks for non-memory hardware you will see no significant increase in performance."
(~ AMD Phenom II In-Depth Performance Scaling Analysis)

In our performance scaling article, launched 2009-03-16, we found out that increasing the memory frequency has quite a big influence on memory intensive benchmarks such as Lavalys Everest, but have little to no impact on the more daily usage programs. To be precise, increasing the frequency from 200MHz to 533MHz (166,5% increase), the SuperPi performance increased a mere 5% and the 3D performance even less!

However, at Madshrimps, we always check and double-check our thoughts, so instead of just trying out the two AM3 motherboards supplied by Dfi and MSI, we threw in our old and trusty Dfi AM2+ motherboard as well. The 790FX-GD70 and Lanparty DK 790FXB-M3H5 will not only battle against each other, they will have to take on an, in theory, smaller brother as well. This article will guide you through the complete package and bios, we will have a look at the performance of both boards, stock and overclocked, and, since there's quite a bit to tell you, we'll be spending more than a few words on the overclockability of both boards.

But before we throw you the numbers, let's have a look at the two products.

Diamond Flowers International, in short DFI, is an international IT expert based in Taiwan, with headquarters in Hsi-Chih City. DFI was established in 1981 by Mr. Y.C. Lu. dedicated to serving customers with high technology, DFI has been earning a worldwide reputation for quality, owing much to the continuing support from our customers, suppliers and affiliates as well as our own efforts over the past twenty years. With more than 20 years of computer product development and manufacturing, our team of highly skilled engineers helps DFI position ourselves as the standard setter of price-performance solutions in the manufacturing and marketing of computer products. DFI offers a complete line-up of advanced motherboards as well as graphics solutions and Applied Computing Platforms, to meet the expanding needs of the IT market. DFI also co-develops with Intel and 3rd party developers for the latest technology on IT solution. These relationships lead customers to adopt DFI products with confidence. With our Headquarter in Taiwan and Regional Offices in the States, Europe, China and Japan, DFI has been stably growing from its start 20 years ago into a leader in the IT field today. Close relationships with Intel, AMD, VIA and SiS ensure that DFI products reach the market with leading timing. DFI products are built with Quality as the rock base.

Previous reviews containing DFI motherboards:

7 Intel Core i7 X58 Motherboards Tested and Compared

DFI LanParty DK 790GX-M2RS Motherboard Review

DFI X48-T3RS review - redefining the high end ?

DFI Lanparty DK P45-T2RS Plus Motherboard Review

DFI Lanparty LT X38-T2R S775 Motherboard Review

4-Way Intel P35 Motherboard Overclocking Roundup

DFI nForce 680i LT-T2R Overclocking Motherboard Review

DFI Lanparty UT NF590 SLI-M2RG AM2 Motherboard Review

KT400A vs nForce2 vs SiS746

BOX AND ACCESSOIRES




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The package is pretty similar to what we're used to see in DFI Lanparty DK boxes: nothing to short, but definitely not an over packed box.

Below a list of what you'll be finding inside the box:

4 x SATA cable

2 x Molex to 2 x SATA connector

1 x Pata HDD cable

1 x Crossfire link cable

I/O back panel

Set of jumpers

User manual

ABS installation guide

Driver disk

MOTHERBOARD




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The yellow looking DFI motherboard has become kind of a trademark: whenever you see yellow PCI(-e) lanes, you think DFI. Since this is the more budget-minded version of DFI's AM3 motherboard, the heatsinks are not spread over the entire motherboard. In fact, for those who still remember our review of the AM2+ motherboard of DFI, the heatsinks actually look pretty much the same. The motherboard also seems to be quite similar to the AM2+ version, and although we can not give DFI the award for most innovative PCB design, we have to acknowledge the saying "Never change a winning team". The AM2+ worked flawlessly, so no need to change too much about the design.

Below a you find the features on this motherboard.

1 x Mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port

1 x Mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port

1 x Optical S/PDIF-out port

1 x Coaxial RCA S/PDIF-out port

6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports

1 x RJ45 LAN port

1 x Center/subwoofer, rear R/L and side R/L jacks

1 x Line-in, line-out (front R/L) and mic-in jacks

3 x PCI Express (Gen 2) x16 slots (16x16x4)

3 x PCI slot

3 x connectors for 6 additional external USB 2.0 ports

1 x connector for an external COM port

1 x front audio connector

1 x CD-in connector

1 x IrDA connector

1 x CIR connector

6 x Serial ATA connectors

1 x 40-pin IDE connector

1 x floppy connector

1 x 24-pin ATX power connector

1 x 8-pin 12V power connector

2 x 4-pin 5V/12V power connectors (FDD type)

1 x front panel connector

6 x fan connectors

1 x diagnostic LED

2 x EZ touch switches (power switch and reset switch)

Micro Star International was founded 22 years ago, back in 1986. From then on MSI grew to become one of the world largest mainboard manufacturer as well as being a market leader in the video card industry. But there is more, MSI is specialized in the server industry, notebooks, barebone systems, add-on cards, communication and many more consumer electronics. When you go visit your nearby computer retailer the chance that you stumble upon a MSI product is very real, not just because MSI offers a wide range of products but also because of their large availability in the entire world. Everyone who has done something with computers probable recognizes these three letters in group.

Previous reviews containing MSI motherboards:

7 Intel Core i7 X58 Motherboards Tested and Compared

MSI P45-8D Memory Lover Motherboard Review

P45 head-to-head: MSI P45 Platinum and Asus Maximus II Formula

MSI P7N SLI Platinum (750i) Motherboard Review

4-Way Intel P35 Motherboard Overclocking Roundup

MSI K9N SLI Platinum AM2 Motherboard Preview

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum A64 S939 Review

MSI K7N2 Delta2 Platinum Athlon XP nForce2 Review

VIA KT400 Chipset Overclocking

BOX AND ACCESSOIRES




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Not really an extremely elaborate package, but more than the common motherboards have to offer. That this motherboard is targeted to the enthusiasts market is pretty obvious: MSI added an extra manual focusing only on the overclocking aspects of the motherboard.

Below you find a list of what's inside the box:

4 x SATA cables

2 x ATI CrossFire bridges

1 x Driver disc

1 x Extra's disc

1 x Molex to two SATA power connector

1 x PCI bracket with two USB 2.0 ports

1 x I/O shield

1 x IDE cable

1 x floppy cables

1 x MSI quick install guide

1 x User's manual

1 x Quick guide

1 x HDD Backup manual

1 x Overclocking guide

MOTHERBOARD




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Similar to the X58 Eclipse we've tested a few weeks ago, this high-end AMD motherboard comes with a bigger DrMOS heatsink covering the mosfets, northbridge and Southbridge. Next to that, the usual feature you can find on any motherboard and on which I'm not going to spend that much time. Noteworthy may be the 4 PCI-e x16 lanes (2x16, 2x8) with which you can run 4 ATI crossfire-X-ready cards. Unlike on the Eclipse, the 790FX-GD70 offers a new overclocking feature, named the OC-Dial. Basically, it's an MSI-ation of what Asus already features on their Rampage Extreme motherboards: a solution to overclock in Windows without using software. Although it looks similar, it's not in terms of functionality as at the moment, it's only possible to increase the HTT frequency, but nothing more. Also, there's no read-out function ... yet! On the motherboard, we've found a 11 solder pads with the tag 'JDLED2' next to it. Furthermore, some of these pads are already supplied with voltage, so maybe MSI is planning to launch a new revision of the board WITH DLED2 support. Also, we've found a set of soldering pads with the tag 'JOCFP1' next to it ... could that be the interface for a future overclocking panel?

Here's a list of the features of this motherboard:

8 x USB 2.0 port

6 x Audio connection

2 x PS2 port

2 x RJ45 Ethernet connector

1 x Optical SPDIF

1 x Coaxial audio

1 x eSATA port

1 x Firewire port

2 x PCIe x16

2 x PCIe x8

1 x PCIe x1

2 x PCI

8 x Serial ATA II connectors

4 x Fan connector

2 x USB 2.0 connectors

1 x Floppy disk drive connector

1 x ATA133 HD connectors

1 x Serial port connector

1 x Clear CMOS button

1 x Power button

1 x Reset button

1 x SPDIF-Out connector

1 x Debug LED

1 x TPM module header (optional)

1 x ATX 24-pin power connector

1 x ATX 8-pin 12V CPU power connector

1 x CD-in connector

1 x Front panel audio connector

1 x Front panel connector

1 x Chassis intrusion switch connector

Usual bios options





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Overclocking options





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I don't want to spend too much words on the bios itself, the pictures explain most of it better than I can in a few sentences, but there's one special feature I want to address. The M-Flash utility now not only allows you to update the bios from the bios itself, but also allows you to boot from a bios saved on your USB drive. Basically, you save the .BIN file on your drive, go into the bios, set "boot bios from USB" in M-Flash and you can check out the new bios release. Note that if you want to change anything in the bios, you need to flash the bios.

Bios: overclocking variables

Test setup

Madshrimps' AMD Test Setup
CPU	AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE
Cooling	Sunbeamtech Core-Contact Freezer
Mainboard	DFI Lanparty DK 790GX-M2RS DFI Lanparty DK 790FX-M3H5 MSI 790FX-GD70
Memory	2 * 1GB Crucial Ballistix 2 * 1GB OCZ Platinum EB
Other	Sapphire 4870X2 Antec 1000W PSU Western Digital 250GB SATA HDD Windows XP SP3

Methodology: benchmarks

The following benchmarks were used:

Lavalys Everest: memory benchmark

SuperPi 1M

Wprime 32M

Wprime 1024M

PCMark05

TechArp X264 HD benchmark

Cinebench 10

3DMark2001SE

3DMark06

Methodology: test settings

For the AM3 motherboards, we used the following test settings: (cpu, imc, ht link, memory)

2.8GHz: 200x14, 2000MHz, 2000MHz, 667MHz 7-6-6-18

3.6GHz: 225x16, 2475MHz, 2025MHz, 750MHz 7-6-6-18

For the AM2+ motherboard, we used the following test settings: (cpu, imc, ht link, memory)

2.8GHz: 200x14, 2000MHz, 2000MHz, 400MHz 4-4-4-10

3.6GHz: 225x16, 2475MHz, 2025MHz, 600MHz 4-5-5-16

For the overclocking tests, we used the following voltages:



For Vdimm on the DDR2 platform, we used 2.1 and 2.4 volt.

SuperPi / Wprime

The mother of all “enthusiast” benchmarks, SuperPi, still is a good single core measurement tool to determine what's fast and what's not. When manufacturers switched to multi-core processors, the benchmarking community was in need of a new testing tool that scaled with different cores. Wprime is this kind of applications and highly popular with overclockers because of it's simplicity.



Not much of a difference in both SuperPi and Wprime scores, all three configurations are pretty well matched.



In the longer 1024M benchmark, we notice that the DDR2 platform is a tad faster in the 3.6GHz test scenario.

Lavalys Everest



We used the memory benchmark utility to measure the performance of the memory management.



In the stock settings benchmark scenario, we see that the lower clocked DDR2 definitely performs worse than both DDR3 motherboards. However, when we clock the memory to 600MHz CL4, the bandwidth is on par with the 800MHz CL7 configuration used in on the DDR3 boards. The M3H5 motherboard seems to have a lower bandwidth output than the GD70.



Same observations in the latency benchmark: at stock settings, the DDR2 is definitely slower than DDR3, but when overclocked to 600 CL4, it's pretty much capable of matching the DDR3 performance.

Futuremark benchmarks

These synthetic 3D benchmarks from Futuremark allow you to evaluate the expected performance of a system with different generation games. As each 3DMark uses different feature and quality settings, it allows you to get an idea of how a video card will perform in games. But be aware that since Futuremark takes DirectX guide lines to build their stress tests with all features available, performance can differ from real world games when those games don’t fully support/implement all DX features. So take these results with a grain of salt, and always compare them to our game benchmarks.

3DMark2001SE

The 3rd product in the 3DMark line has been around for ages now and still is used by many people to measure their system's power. Over the years, the benchmark has become more a system benchmark than a pure graphics benchmark.



At stock frequencies, a clear win for the MSI GD70 and DDR3 in general. At overclocked settings ... not so much!

3DMark06

The last of the DX9 benches in their series is still a graphics card benchmark; however, there's a place for CPU testing as well, as Futuremark developed a CPU test for this benchmark. The more cores, the merrier, so results with four cores will always be better than with two cores.



The difference between DDR2 and DDR3 is almost nothing, at most 2-3%. However, when fighting for world records, those 300 extra points may be worth all the trouble.

PCMark05

PCMark05 is the last benchmark of the PCMark series which works in Windows XP and it still offers the simplicity of multiple small benchmarks in one. We've selected the most interesting subtest and put the all in one chart.



The difference between all three boards is very small. Surprisingly, DDR3 doesn't give a clear advantage over the DDR2 configuration.

Cinebench R10



Cinebench is a benchmark that fully stresses the CPU and measures the raw power of your processing unit by rendering a high-quality image.



Again, we see a very small, almost insignificant, difference between DDR2 and DDR3 on the AMD Phenom II platform.

TechArp X264 HD benchmark



This benchmark has been introduced to me by Piotke, who used it in his QX9650 review. Using multiple cores it gives us quite a decent view on how fast our setup can encode a short DVD-MPEG2 video clip into an X264 clip. We used the latest HD resolution version of the benchmark to run our tests.



The MSI 790FX-GD70 clearly wins from its competitor. Note that the extra bandwidth provided by the higher clocked DDR3 is noticeable in this application. The difference is not spectacular, though.

Introductory remarks

When you're reading this, you have arrived at the overclocking pages which for me are always the most interesting parts to write. Since the AM3 motherboards have been on my test table, I've been able to test the overclockability for quite some time. For those who haven't seen the work-in-progress threads over at our forums, it may be good to read them through. They contain quite some information and give you a good image of how easy it was to overclock both boards (and CPU of course).

AMD Phenom II X3 720 BE - New sample at Madshrimps

MSI 790FX-G70 arrived

DFI Lanparty DK 790FXB-M3H5 pictures

For starters, we wanted to find out how all three boards perform on standard voltages. Since it came apparent that our processor was not the best one (and yes, I'm using an understatement), there wasn't that much fun overclocking the core frequency on air cooling. Actually, good processors should be capable of running 4 cores instead of 3, but this one just doesn't boot if I try to enable the fourth core. In addition, the highest 24/7 stable frequency of the processor seems to be around 3.6GHz, most likely due to a very badly overclocking core. However, next to the CPU frequency, we also aimed for the maximum frequency for HTT, the Memory and the IMC, which has quite the impact on the performance of this platform.

The frequencies reached are not suicide, but also not 24/7 stable. We ran an instance of Superpi 1M to check for stability.

Oh, before I forget: for some people it may be strange that we're also testing the DFI AM2+ motherboard for overclockability, since this still is an AM3 review. The reason is quite simple: on the two AM3 motherboards, we encountered a few weird overclocking issues and wanted to check whether or not this is due to the CPU or the AM3 platform. More on this in the different overclocking sections.



At standard settings, the AM2+ motherboard seems to be a tad better than both M3H5 and GD70, although we can't call this extraordinary. In the increased voltage scenario, all three boards pretty much max out at the same frequency, which means that at 1.45v, all three boards are capable of hitting the cpu's limits.



This is not so interesting for this 720 Black Edition, since the multiplier is unlocked, but it may come in handy for those who choose to buy a cheaper locked processor. To me, it seems that this cpu is maxing out at around 360MHz HTT, since the Dfi AM2+ has been able to reach a tad higher with my 940 Black Edition and as apparently voltage tweaking doesn't really help. The GD70 doesn't give us that much on stock voltage, but on increased voltages; it's 10MHz+ better than Dfi's M3H5. Note that when increasing the voltage even more, the Dfi has been able to hit well over 350MHz HTT (see next page).



This is the first reason why we tested the AM2+ motherboard as well. In our preliminary tests, we were astonished by the very low overclockability of the IMC of this 720 BE sample, whereas our previous Phenom II, the 940 BE, was able to reach 2.8GHz without an issue. Knowing that this CPU isn't really a good overclocker, we just had to check to make the correct conclusion.

Well, as you can see, the IMC overclocking goes very well on the AM2+ motherboard: 3GHz with increased voltages, which is pretty much the same as what our 940 BE does. We cannot be satisfied, however, by the overclockability on both AM3 motherboards, which both max out even below 2.8GHz! We don't have a definite explanation for this oddity, but it may be due to either technology (see memory section) or just bios issues. When first trying to overclock our Phenom II X4 940 BE on the DFI AM2+ motherboard, we noticed that our IMC was limited to 2.5GHz on air cooling whereas a lot of other overclockers managed to run 2.6-2.7GHz, so we updated the bios to the latest version. Result: 3GHz easy, just by updating the bios.



The second reason why we decided to break out our old and trusty AM2+ motherboard is the poor memory overclockability of both AM3 motherboards. As you can see, we only managed to run 840MHz / 875MHz on DFI / MSI, but that's not the biggest issue: neither voltage increments nor loosening the timings helped to increase the memory frequency. We tried different memory slots, but no real significant improvements. We tried three different kits, but no luck. Again, knowing that this CPU is a poor overclocker, we decided to check how well high this cpu would take the DDR2 memory ... and it's pretty high! In the increased voltage scenario, we managed to run 645MHz CL5 (using 3:8 divider), which definitely is not a low frequency. It seems that the poor DDR3 overclock was not due to a very IMC, but that the cause of this problem has to be searched elsewhere. A reliable source told me that the AM3 CPUs have a certain memory MHz limited (above 950MHz) and that AMD is trying to fix this problem. However, this would not explain why a memory kit that's capable of running 950MHz on Intel-based systems isn't capable of running even 900MHz on an AMD system.

First thoughts and remarks

Having the AM3 version of DFI’s excellent Lanparty DK 790GX-M2RS send over for testing sure was exciting; after all, the DDR2 version of this motherboard has given me the pleasure of an Phenom-II over 6GHz and holding the AMD PiFast world record for a few weeks. As the AM2+ version was outstanding in terms of overclocking and stability, I expected the exact same from the AM3 motherboard, but turned out it wasn't as good as I hoped for.

The first issue seems to be more of a general AM3 motherboard issue, either pure technology limitations or pre-mature bios releases from the motherboard manufacturers. In short, it looks like the memory overclocking capabilities are not good, at least not good enough in comparison to what we see on Intel platforms. Although certain overclockers have been able to reach 950MHz-ish frequencies none of the two motherboards I tested were capable of running anything near this speed. There are a few possible explanations:

1) The high-frequency scores are mostly done on cherry-picked hardware: CPUs, motherboards and memory are pre-tested to achieve only the top scores. Furthermore, this also means that crappy overclocks will not be shared with the community, so we have a very small view on the real capabilities of retail products.
2) The memory I used in this review may just not be capable of running 900MHz. Note that we have tested three different memory kits and each of them have been able to hit over 900MHz stable on Intel platforms.
3) The DDR3 memory controller is not entirely ready yet. This might not be thát far off from the truth, although we have indeed seen decent silicon that was able to hit these high frequencies.
4) There's still some work left to do on the motherboard, both in terms of engineering and bios instructions to get the most out of each and every component.

The fourth and last explanation seems to me as best fit as it's clear that the overclocking on AM3 is not as good as it is on AM2. Not only was it for us impossible to reach the 900MHz mark on the memory (regardless of timings and voltage), it seemed that the IMC was being held back on these two AM3 motherboards as well. Whereas the Dfi AM2+ motherboard reaches 2900MHz quite easily, both the AM3 and Msi's GD70 are maxing out around 2700-2750MHz. Not much, agreed, but the difference is significant. Add to that the fact that on our AM2+ motherboard the IMC was capable of running the memory at 600MHz CL4, which is quite a good overclock and definitely not easy, but incapable of running 900MHz CL9, which is relatively loose.

Another note to make is the HTT overclocking. Although the difference between the first generation of Phenoms (65nm) and second generation (45nm) is incredible, it's still a fact that most overclocks are not limited by the overclocking capabilities of the processor itself, but by the HTT frequency. If your motherboard only provides you stability until 300MHz HTT, there's simply nothing that will help you to go higher in overall frequency when your processor is locked. Luckily, we have seen a few setups that were able to run 400+ HTT and although we have information regarding the voltages used, we know that this is already good enough to find yourself limited by either the processor or the temperature (when on air). Both AM3 motherboards, however, don't hit that 400MHz barrier, but we have a few side notes to make:

1) The AM2+ motherboard didn't do 400MHz either, so this may be related to this particular sample
2) The highest HTT frequencies have been reached on processors with locked multipliers. I have no idea why, but it seems that unlocked processors never hit those high reference clock frequencies (i7 965's don't do 235MHz BCLK, but 920's do).

Underneath, two sections with tips to increase the chance of a decent overclock on the two AM3 motherboards we tested in this review.

Overclocking the DFI LP DK 790FXB-M3H5

When trying to find the maximum HTT overclock, there are two settings you need to adjust next to the HTT frequency setting: the HTT boot frequency and the HTT adjust gap.



Adjusting the 'htt adjust gap' from 5 to 1 gave me an increase of about ~10MHz. Changing it later to 3 gave me another ~15MHz, whereas increasing it to 13 made the system unstable at 345MHz HTT

Although the motherboard is capable of booting at 345MHz HTT, it seems to have issues booting when you overclock from 200 to 350 in one step. When taking two/three steps to get there (bios, reboot, bios, ...), I never had an issue climbing upto 330MHz+.

The steps I took were: 200/200, 275/276, 302/303 and 312/345.

Please note that when you've found stable working settings and want to use them 24/7, there's no problem. I tried to cold boot at 340MHz HTT and experienced no problems whatsoever. Apparently, this oddity is only a problem when the setup boots at 200MHz HTT.

The yellow memory banks seemed to give me a slight increase in overclockability, but not enough to guarantee you better overclocking.

For memory overclocking, it's always interesting to test whether or not the following features have an effect on the overclockability: "Auto tweak performance" and "Optimal performance mode"

Highest validated HTT overclock with this motherboard:



Overclocking the MSI 790FX-GD70

Use the MAXFSB feature in the bios to get an initial view on what the motherboard is capable of in terms of HTT overclocking. In my experience, the indicated maximum HTT value wasn't that far off the real maximum HTT. This is, and it has to be stressed, quite a well-designed feature.



Note that these are the best matches. In some cases, we found the motherboard to be auto-overclocked to only 272/282MHz, but after some minor changes in the bios, it went up to 340 MHz and more. Other overclockers have reported the same auto overclocks.

The OC-Dial is interesting when trying to shave off those last few seconds from your Superpi run or add those last hundreds of points to your 3DMark scores, but until the (few) issues already mentioned in this review are not fixed, I wouldn't recommend it to use as primary tool for overclocking.

Highest validated HTT overclock with this motherboard:

Pricing

Choosing for AM3 means choosing for the more expensive DDR3 memory. However, since this still mainly is a motherboard comparison, we won't make a price/performance chart based on DDR2 and DDR3 setups.

We looked up the current (22th April 2009) prices of the different motherboards in both Euro (€) and US Dollar ($). For our European-based readers, we used the pricewatch feature found on Geizhals.eu, for our US-based readers, we used the price tables found on Froogle.com.



Both tested AM3 motherboards have a price above the average AM3 motherboard. Although you may find this surprising, it's not: a lot of manufacturers still look at the AMD products as more budget-minded platforms and less as high-end gaming platforms. Therefore the amount of time spent on R&D and added features are less, which allows manufacturers to release very cheap motherboards. Both DFI and MSI are targeted at the enthusiasts and offer overclocking features and extra features.

The AM2+ motherboards are, in average, also much cheaper than their bigger AM3 brothers.

Evaluation

Dfi Lanparty DK 790FXB-M3H5

In terms of looks and added accessories, this motherboard is pretty much the same like the M2RS sample we tested a few weeks ago. Even the bios looks very similar, which gave us really high hopes for the main purpose of this motherboard: overclocking. The problem with high hopes is, however, that when these hopes do not come true, we might be a bit too harsh in the conclusion. It's true, this motherboard does do well in standard situations and gives the users quite a playground to tune and tweak his/her components, but ... after the great experience with the M2RS, I don't think this motherboard is ready for the extreme overclockers yet. Maybe, we'll have to wait for another bios release to get the board running as well as the M2RS version did. With a price a little above the average AM3 motherboard and knowing that there are not that many added accessories, I'd say this motherboard is good for the fans of Dfi (or yellow motherboards), but if you're on a budget, you may want to check lower priced motherboards.

+ Elaborate bios
+ Basic overclocking capabilities
- Price is relatively high
- Not ready to max out all your components yet.

MSI 790FX-GD70

As an overclocker I was not the least bit surprised to see MSI putting new overclocking features such as the OC Dial on their motherboards. Agreed, it may not be the most innovative concept, but against all expectations the OC Dial does work quite stable and can absolutely help you when overclocking. The MAXFSB feature, added in the bios, also works quite well. In despite of the added oc features, the GD70 still has a few problems to fix although it has to be said that the overclocking results are a tad better than those on the Dfi M3H5. This motherboard is targeted on the high-end and/or enthusiast market, which means that the price is targeted on the same market. Yes, it's one of the more expensive AM3 motherboards around and it's very difficult to recommend this motherboard to people who don't care about overclocking, but just want to have a working setup. For those who want to build a high-end system, this motherboard does give everything you need. Actually, with its four vga-ready pci-e lanes, it might not be so expensive to actually build a fast gaming rig: four middle-end ATI cards in Crossfire-X combined with a Phenom X4 II 955 processor should give you quite the gaming performance.

+ Elaborate bios
+ Basic overclocking capabilities
+ Added features such as OC Dial
+ 4 x PCIe x16
- Price is high
- Not ready to max out all your components yet.

Conclusive thoughts

Both AM3 products are fully functional when it comes to daily usage, let there be no doubt about that. For the average user, there's only the price issue that can play a significant role in the decision what board to purchase. For overclockers, both motherboards do offer a very good amount of options to tweak, although it has to be noted that further improvements will lead to better overclocks. For instance, the memory controller frequency and raw memory frequency can't seem to be maxed out on both boards, of which the MSI comes out a tad better than the DFI. We have high hopes for improvement, though, since we saw the exact same phenomenon (pun not intended) on the early Phenom II AM2+ motherboards.

BUT!! The difference between DDR2 and DDR3 is so fantastically small that it may be even better to choose an AM2+ motherboard for your AM3 processor. The memory is much cheaper as well the motherboards and with a bit of tweaking, you can easily match the performance of a DDR3 configuration.

To end with, I'd like to thank:

Janneke from MSI for sending us the MSI 790FX-GD70

Eric from DFI for providing us the Lanparty DK 790FXB-M3H5

'Till the next time!