GIGABYTE Readies Cost-effective Socket AM3+ Motherboard with FX-9590 Support

[btarunr]

Only a select club of high-end socket AM3+ motherboards come with support for AMD's FX-9590 5.00 GHz eight-core processor, with a gargantuan 220W TDP, and even among some of them, support is 'unofficial,' and through use of beta BIOS (use of which is generally not covered by motherboard warranties). GIGABYTE plans to change that, with a new cost-effective motherboard with out of the box support for high-TDP AMD CPUs, such as the FX-9590, FX-9370, and FX-8770. Called GIGABYTE 970A-UD3P, the motherboard is built in the standard ATX (244 x 305 mm) form-factor.

The 970A-UD3P features an AM3+ CPU socket, with a 10-phase VRM tuned for high-TDP CPUs. It is based on AMD 970 + SB950 chipset. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory; and the AMD 970 northbridge. The northbridge gives out the board's sole PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot, and three other PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots; the other physical x16 slot is electrical x4, and wired to the southbridge. Two legacy PCI slots take seats. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. The board provides four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by header). 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, gigabit Ethernet, and a PS/2 combo port make for the rest of connectivity. The board is driven by AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, backed by dual-UEFI. It wouldn't surprise us if GIGABYTE prices this board under $100.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[HumanSmoke]

So there's a market for people who buy $900 CPUs and want to pair it with a cheap motherboard with a reduced feature set ?

 

[d1nky]

wow!

what was they thinking, however this may be a clever strategy. lets face it, no one spending $900 on a cpu will buy a $100 mobo. so I bet this is actually targeted at people buying 8350's and wanting an inexpensive board, knowing its designed for higher TDP.

 

[dj-electric]

IMO it is just too little too late.

 

[btarunr]

So there's a market for people who buy $900 CPUs and want to pair it with a cheap motherboard with a reduced feature set ?

Market for when 220W TDP AMD CPUs become 'affordable.'

 

[HumanSmoke]

So there's a market for people who buy $900 CPUs and want to pair it with a cheap motherboard with a reduced feature set ?

Market for when 220W TDP AMD CPUs become 'affordable.'

I don't know which prospect is worse- that AMD's future business strategy will see the on going need for marketing 220W TDP processors, or that 220W chips will see expansion into the mainstream.

 

[commission3r]

considering 1x16 slot it would have made more sense for this to be matx size

 

[Jorge]

What this is in reality...is Gigabyte fixing the problem with their current line of AM3+ mobos which have VRM circuits designed for Phenom II CPUs and not for overclocked FX 8-core CPUs. When you OC an 8-core FX processor on Gigabyte AM3+ mobos, the VRM circuit overheats and throttles the CPU frequency and vcore. Properly designed mobos like Asrock's 990FX Fatality or Extreme9 with a 12-phase VRM circuit do not have the issues that the Gigabyte mobos have - and they ARE officially approved for the FX-9590 CPUs.

Gigabyte has known about their mobo VRM circuit issues for several years and has consistently advised owners that the VRM issues were not an issue for Gigabyte and that they were NOT going to fix their AM3+ mobos. This new low feature mobo is a face saving effort as their other AM3+ mobos don't have a chance in Hell of running the FX-9590 or similar or even an well OC'd FX-8350, without VRM throttling.

Gigabyte will get someone to use this featureless mobo to achieve some high overclock and then sell a ton of them to the sheeple who don't know any better.

 

[Hood]

Another good reason to avoid AMD procs, any money you save is lost when you have to buy a high end board to run the power-hungry inefficient CPU and expensive cooler to keep it from frying.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Whats an Fx8770 then??

Some Enthusiasts are not chasing the best efficiency rating guys, some are after pure FPS and are not assed about economy yet dont have enough money to buy an intel top end system either, and some wanted more pciex lanes then intel provides(on lower boards), its horses for courses simples.

 

[Frick]

Another good reason to avoid AMD procs, any money you save is lost when you have to buy a high end board to run the power-hungry inefficient CPU and expensive cooler to keep it from frying.

A motherboard suitable for some overclocking and an FX-8320 is still cheaper than the cheapest motherboard and an i5. But yeah for AM3+ it is a bit of a problem.

 

[oNyX]

The FX-9590 is actually very efficient considering that some oil heaters are over 2000W. 220W TDP should be enough to heat your room during the cold winter. If you have 3x4 meter bedroom like me it shouldn't take long to heat up, just close the window and door though.

AMD Rules!!

 

[btarunr]

Post updated with pictures.

 

[Frick]

It'll be interesting to see how much this will cost when it comes out here. When is the release btw?

 

[suraswami]

Still no heat-pipe, why do they keep using cheap hs on the NB?

 

[de.das.dude]

So there's a market for people who buy $900 CPUs and want to pair it with a cheap motherboard with a reduced feature set ?

its called marketing, kid.

 

[d1nky]

its called marketing, kid.

hmm wouldn't be a sensible move really. especially if they planned on adding multiple gpus.

I got a feeling this isn't really for the 9590 etc.

for its price and proposed features I bet itll make a pretty good AM3+ LN2 board.

 

[oNyX]

If you have the money: FX-9590 + HD7990

 

[EarthDog]

The FX-9590 is actually very efficient considering that some oil heaters are over 2000W. 220W TDP should be enough to heat your room during the cold winter. If you have 3x4 meter bedroom like me it shouldn't take long to heat up, just close the window and door though.

AMD Rules!!

"Oil" heater using 2000W? Doesn't an oil heater BURN oil and not use wall outlet power?

220W heater would take a while to heat up a room like yours. There is a reason why they make those little foot heaters at 1000-1500W and all...

 

[Fourstaff]

"Oil" heater using 2000W? Doesn't an oil heater BURN oil and not use wall outlet power?

220W heater would take a while to heat up a room like yours. There is a reason why they make those little foot heaters at 1000-1500W and all...

I think he is thinking of those electric ones with oil inside.

This is good news for people thinking overclocking their FX processors.

 

[Am*]

Only a select club of high-end socket AM3+ motherboards come with support for AMD's FX-9590 5.00 GHz eight-core processor, with a gargantuan 220W TDP, and even among some of them, support is 'unofficial,' and through use of beta BIOS (use of which is generally not covered by motherboard warranties). GIGABYTE plans to change that, with a new cost-effective motherboard with out of the box support for high-TDP AMD CPUs, such as the FX-9590, FX-9370, and FX-8770. Called GIGABYTE 970A-UD3P, the motherboard is built in the standard ATX (244 x 305 mm) form-factor.

The 970A-UD3P features an AM3+ CPU socket, with a 10-phase VRM tuned for high-TDP CPUs. It is based on AMD 970 + SB950 chipset. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory; and the AMD 970 northbridge. The northbridge gives out the board's sole PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot, and three other PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots; the other physical x16 slot is electrical x4, and wired to the southbridge. Two legacy PCI slots take seats. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. The board provides four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by header). 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, gigabit Ethernet, and a PS/2 combo port make for the rest of connectivity. The board is driven by AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, backed by dual-UEFI. It wouldn't surprise us if GIGABYTE prices this board under $100.

64GB across 4 slots? So it supports 16GB DIMMs? This can't be right, can you double check this?