TSeries TA990FXE Leads AM3+ Charge for Biostar

[btarunr]

Biostar is keeping a low profile with high-end motherboards, these days. It's been a long while since the company released its last TPower-branded motherboard, but has been pushing its 'value' TSeries motherboards into every segment. One such offering for the AMD socket AM3+ platform is the Biostar TSeries TA990FXE. Based on the AMD 990FX + SB950 chipset, this board packs a lot of high-end styling with its heatsinks and components load-out. It packs a 4+1 phase VRM to power the AM3+ socket, and dual-channel DDR3 memory. Current generation Phenom II, and future FX Series processors are supported.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (x16/x4/x16/x4), and two PCI. There are five internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, with the sixth one being assigned as eSATA. Most other connectivity is fairly standard for this category, you've got 8-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports (two by header), and gigabit Ethernet. The board features standard AMIBIOS, and some overclocker-accessible features such as power/reset switches and diagnostic LED.



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[devguy]

990FX + non black socket =

 

[Damn_Smooth]

990FX + non black socket =

I get the 940fx. (890+990)/2

 

[micropage7]

wow, it aint photoshoped right?
i like the red color
biostar board is friendly to your wallet and the performance is good

 

[Yukikaze]

PCIe slot layout is an epic failure.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

to bad its only a 4+1 phase vrm means the board is likely to pop when overclocked much like the MSI boards that were known to catch fire under heavy overclocks with Phenom II x4 and x6 cpus.. to bad really i was hoping Biostar would have a good board but they went with a terrible design layout and cheaped out on the VRMs

 

[jalex3]

bad layout.... :shadedshu

 

[devguy]

bad layout.... :shadedshu

Yup, Gigabyte tried this layout a while back. It was a poor idea then, and a poor idea now, but at least they had an 8+2 power phase.

 

[Strider]

Biostar is a good brand that's been around for a long time. I have used many of them in many builds over the years, and none have let me down. I have used a few of these T-Series boards, the most recent in a re-build for my wife. Fantastic series from Biostar. Good price to performance when you break it down.

Looks like this new AM3+ T-Series board will be another good product from Biostar.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

doubtfull it will be a good board at least for overclocking or multi gpu, Biostar used to shine offering enthusiast layouts and a good vrm with a simple design at a great price

4+1 phase power means the board is in the same boat as previous MSI FX boards that used 4+1 and the number of those boards that burnt up and caught fire is crazy.

Shitty layout
Low quality 4+1 phase VRM
5 sata ports. I already use 5 gonna up that to 7 soon

with a better layout and vrm design the board would be worth a look as i can pass up sata ports if i need to but just damn great LOOKING board but lacking any real punch would rather just buy a better quality 990x board that will have better VRM and layout but be cheaper

 

[Dopamin3]

Just because it's 4+1 doesn't mean it sucks. You guys need to understand quality is a major factor. The Biostar 890FX only used a 5+1 phase, but you didn't see reports of it exploding did you? No, it could capably handle all hexacores overclocked. MSI 4+1 phases were terrible quality, that's why they were prone to failure On the other hand, it seems these Biostar boards use much better quality VRMs, chokes, and everything that lead to a better quality board capable of overclocking.

However, only 5 SATA ports and the horrible expansion layout ruins the board anyway.

 

[Suhidu]

doubtfull it will be a good board at least for overclocking or multi gpu, Biostar used to shine offering enthusiast layouts and a good vrm with a simple design at a great price

4+1 phase power means the board is in the same boat as previous MSI FX boards that used 4+1 and the number of those boards that burnt up and caught fire is crazy.

Shitty layout
Low quality 4+1 phase VRM
5 sata ports. I already use 5 gonna up that to 7 soon

with a better layout and vrm design the board would be worth a look as i can pass up sata ports if i need to but just damn great LOOKING board but lacking any real punch would rather just buy a better quality 990x board that will have better VRM and layout but be cheaper

This very similar 890fx board (ta890fxe) was a 4+2 phase design, and this 890gx board (ta890gxe) was a 4+1 phase design. Both of which have many fans, and post great records. It seems not all phases are the same.
Those two were also quite affordable relatively, especially the ta890fxe.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

well tell that to users of MSI's miltary grade component boards

and oh biostar boards popped to dont think they didnt give me a minute ill get the list for you all.

http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/943109-why-vrms-big-issue-why-choose.html

and heres a google spread sheet with all the info on the motherboards and there failures and why they failed

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0Avoxk_HEpJEbdDYyU3BOenBQRWhSdkpKejFwQzBUTXc&w=100&h=1400

now i dont give a damn HOW you want to word it a 4+1 phase vrm on a top end chipset board is just BS, in all respect this will probably be onyl $10-20 cheaper then a good 990FX and it probably wont even compare to a 990x that would be cheaper ill stand by my points 4+1 isnt enough if overclocking , stock sure, but then who buys a 990FX board for there own rig and stays at stock speeds?

 

[Suhidu]

and oh biostar boards popped to dont think they didnt give me a minute ill get the list for you all.

http://www.overclock.net/amd-cpus/943109-why-vrms-big-issue-why-choose.html

I actually linked to that thread in my post as well. A quote from it:

Regarding phase count & why this is not necessarily important
Now, does amount of phases have everything to do with a motherboard? Usually, but this is where brand name gets taken into account. For example, The majority of 2010-released MSI AMD motherboards with 4+1 phase or similar, heatsinked or not, were far from good quality. However, take the Biostar TA890FXE, it comes with a similar 4+2 power phase. Completely rock-solid.

And my point was simply that the TA990FXE seems pretty similar to the TA890FXE.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

i still wouldnt trust it, difference in price from a 4+1 to an 8+2 isnt that large again when boards are out the Biostar will be what $20 cheaper? would you get the biostar board over a better quality board for such a tiny difference? i wouldnt now when it comes to overclocking.

and the 890 was a 4+2 this is a 4+1 thats slightly lower quality not by any large margin but it does mean the 990fx has a lesser vrm design then the 890

 

[nanohead]

Nearly identical to the 890FX board I have from them. I will NOT buy this one. The SATA layout and PCIe layout are lousy, and the BIOS is simply not up to par for a gamer. I really like Biostar board, and we have 7 of them in my family for all the regular machines and servers, but for gaming and tweaking, they have a looooonnnnnnggggg way to go

 

[Disparia]

Chop it to mATX, design win!

 

[Yukikaze]

Chop it to mATX, design win!

Now that's an idea.