Thursday, February 18th 2016

GIGABYTE Unveils the 990FX-Gaming Socket AM3+ Motherboard

GIGABYTE unveiled its flagship socket AM3+ motherboard featuring an up-to-date feature-set, the 990FX-Gaming. The board is part of the new wave of socket AM3+ motherboards AMD promised, in its recent AMD FX + Wraith release, to serve up modern connectivity such as USB 3.1 and M.2 slots with NVMe support. The board supports 220W FX-9000 series processors, in addition to the latest FX-8370, out of the box. It draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, and conditions it using a 10-phase VRM.

The AM3+ socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2400 MHz memory; and the AMD 990FX north bridge. This chip puts out two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots. The board's third PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot is electrical x4, and wired to the SB950 southbridge. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and an M.2 (20 Gb/s) slot. The board features GIGABYTE's top of the line AMP-Up onboard audio implementation, including a 110 dBA SNR CODEC, a TI Burr Brown OPA2134 user-replaceable OPAMP, Nichicon Muse capacitors, and ground-layer isolation. Networking is care of a Killer E2201 controller. Modern connectivity includes two USB 3.1 ports, and four USB 3.0 ports. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS, and features GIGABYTE's dual-UEFI tech. GIGABYTE is pricing the 990FX-Gaming at US $150.
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21 Comments on GIGABYTE Unveils the 990FX-Gaming Socket AM3+ Motherboard

#2
Kyrios74
a good upgrade for those who do not immediately switch to zen
Posted on Reply
#3
dj-electric
ChaitanyaThis is old news, I don't know why techpowerup was sleeping so long. You there is a 970 gaming board that gigabyte introduced at the same time as this one.

www.overclockersclub.com/news/39866/
Well... its not THAT old...
Posted on Reply
#4
mxthunder
Its nice to see something new from Gigabyte on the AMD platform, but this is a far cry from a flagship board. Ill stick with my UD7. This thing can only run 2 way. Looks very cheap too.
Posted on Reply
#5
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
I hate how gigabyte and MSI have gone to the same naming and color scheme.
Posted on Reply
#6
Batou1986
Still putting makeup on the AM3+ pig I see :shadedshu:
Posted on Reply
#7
Basard
Kyrios74a good upgrade for those who do not immediately switch to zen
I've been eyeballing this board for almost a month now... but my little Phenom still seems good enough. Well, maybe the 8350 just isn't a good enough upgrade (to me). Sure it's about twice as fast, when you OC.... And sure, this board supports faster hard drives, and stuff.... and USB 3..... But then my OEM Windows will go to hell, but at least the full versions are getting cheaper than they've been.

Meh.... I'll probably end up waiting for zen. Then I can really soak up a good upgrade feeling when I finally do switch from USB 2, SATA II, and hard disks to something about 4-5x faster.

Holy crap I'm a cheap fucker.
Dj-ElectriCWell... its not THAT old...
Actually it's been out for a month or more, I believe. It's pretty old news, and for such a cool board (frig off, haters, it's a cool board! :) ) I'm surprised it wasn't on TPU already.....

I haven't found an actual review of it though.
Posted on Reply
#8
ThE_MaD_ShOt
Nice looking board but I don't see a reason to move from my Ud3. Oh an @btarunr , per Gigabytes website this board only supports up to 32gb of memory.
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#9
Ruru
S.T.A.R.S.
Gigabyte FTW, but thinking that AM3+ is about 5 years old.. Thinking about that, it would be funny if Intel would still have 1155 at their main socket.
Posted on Reply
#10
Jism
AMD still sells AM3 based CPU's. This is why you see vendors still putting out AM3 motherboards. You can get an 8 core CPU for less the money an intel-system costs.

It's good news. It gives both AMD and Gigabyte cashflow again.

You need a beefy motherboard anyway to run a high-end AM3+ 8 Core CPU, esp when overclocking. I am still working on my Thuban X6 1055T at 4.2GHz with a crosshair IV.
Posted on Reply
#11
Steevo
Still waiting for zen before I upgrade to Intel or a new AMD system.


Also... where is the more cores meme, it appropriate.
Posted on Reply
#12
Countryside
SteevoStill waiting for zen before I upgrade to Intel or a new AMD system.


Also... where is the more cores meme, it appropriate.
Posted on Reply
#13
Hood
PCIe 2.0? Why bother? 2007 tech...PCIe 3.0 has been out since 2010. The gimped M.2 slot is useless as well (20gb/s) - as if any AMD budget builder would buy an expensive M.2 drive and then run it at half speed!
Posted on Reply
#14
Melvis
BasardI've been eyeballing this board for almost a month now... but my little Phenom still seems good enough. Well, maybe the 8350 just isn't a good enough upgrade (to me). Sure it's about twice as fast, when you OC.... And sure, this board supports faster hard drives, and stuff.... and USB 3..... But then my OEM Windows will go to hell, but at least the full versions are getting cheaper than they've been.
Depends on what you use your PC for I guess? mainly gaming or if you do any sort of transcoding? multitasking etc. I found my 8350 to give (depending on the game) anywhere from the same performance to double the performance and in transcoding it just smashed my Phenom II 965 out of the park. 3yrs down the track and that gap has increased even more to be honest with the 965 having to work alot more now in pretty much everything I do on the PC. The 8350 still runs everything out there with no issues and with a bit of room to breath :)
Posted on Reply
#15
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
HoodPCIe 2.0? Why bother? 2007 tech...PCIe 3.0 has been out since 2010. The gimped M.2 slot is useless as well (20gb/s) - as if any AMD budget builder would buy an expensive M.2 drive and then run it at half speed!
Find me a drive where it matters. Even the 10gb/s max out the speeds the nvme parts hit in real world use, you know after the controller has overheated and gone into gimp mode.
Posted on Reply
#16
Basard
MelvisDepends on what you use your PC for I guess? mainly gaming or if you do any sort of transcoding? multitasking etc. I found my 8350 to give (depending on the game) anywhere from the same performance to double the performance and in transcoding it just smashed my Phenom II 965 out of the park. 3yrs down the track and that gap has increased even more to be honest with the 965 having to work alot more now in pretty much everything I do on the PC. The 8350 still runs everything out there with no issues and with a bit of room to breath :)
Just bought this along with an 850 EVO 250GB and Win10 Pro full version! MUA HAHA!!! And, if I cant torture my Phenom II up past 4Ghz, I'll be buying an 8350 for it soon too (they're gettin cheap, cheap!)!

SO EXCITING! There better be a bad-ass sticker in the box!

AND I ordered the old lady a Phanteks Enthoo Pro! That case makes me wanna orgasm!
Posted on Reply
#18
Melvis
BasardJust bought this along with an 850 EVO 250GB and Win10 Pro full version! MUA HAHA!!! And, if I cant torture my Phenom II up past 4Ghz, I'll be buying an 8350 for it soon too (they're gettin cheap, cheap!)!

SO EXCITING! There better be a bad-ass sticker in the box!

AND I ordered the old lady a Phanteks Enthoo Pro! That case makes me wanna orgasm!
I wish the prices here for the FX CPU's where cheap, they have gone UP in price not down, it sux!
Posted on Reply
#19
Basard
MelvisI wish the prices here for the FX CPU's where cheap, they have gone UP in price not down, it sux!
Damn... that sucks... 8350's are at 170 bucks here.
Posted on Reply
#20
Melvis
BasardDamn... that sucks... 8350's are at 170 bucks here.
Your looking at around $260 for the 8350 at the moment...when I got mine it was $220 I think by memory.
Posted on Reply
#21
eidairaman1
The Exiled Airman
ThE_MaD_ShOtNice looking board but I don't see a reason to move from my Ud3. Oh an @btarunr , per Gigabytes website this board only supports up to 32gb of memory.
Im not Moving Until Zen is out. My wifes rig will get my Am3 board, cpu, ram. Pretty good upgrade for her, my gpu will have a wc complete cover block on it when im on zen
Posted on Reply
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