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Foxconn A7DA-S & MSI DKA790GX Platinum Review
[Abstract]
Introduction When AMD launched its 780G chipset early this year, it was hailed as one of the best integrated chipsets in the market. Intel was yet to deliver on its newer 4-series chipset then ...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
As a new chipset to bridge the positioning of the enthusiast level 790FX and the mainstream 780G, the 790GX adds some variety to the market but ultimately, it feels like an upgraded 780 series and not so much a '790'. True, there's a new Southbridge with the SB750 but for most users, the relevant upgrade from that would be RAID 5 functionality and extra USB/SATA ports. Even then, like most AMD chipsets, we felt that there could have been more SATA ports, though vendors could add in extra controllers.
The main upgrade has been in the IGP department, where the Radeon HD 3200 becomes the 3300 thanks to a core clock boost of 200MHz and most boards of its class come with dedicated onboard DDR3 frame buffer. This is evident from the benchmarks, where the Radeon HD 3300 was clearly superior to the 3200. Nevertheless, it's still a far cry from mainstream discrete solutions and while it would easily claim the throne of top integrated GPU, it's quite unlikely for enthusiasts not to plan for a discrete GPU when shopping for a performance mainstream motherboard.
So given the relative lack of importance that the IGP plays for such enthusiasts, the saving grace then becomes the presence of two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots that enabled proper CrossFireX support on the 790GX. This is probably the reason why you would get the 790GX, for instance to link up two of ATI's very competitive Radeon HD 4800 series GPUs. And for that, the 790GX looks to be a cheaper alternative to the 790FX. Throw in the secrecy cloaked Advanced Clock Calibration that's only found on the SB750 and enthusiasts may have a field day pushing their Phenoms to unprecedented heights.
When it came to the two 790GX boards tested today, the MSI DKA790GX Platinum generally has the performance edge over the Foxconn, though this margin may vary from one benchmark to another. Importantly, MSI has a more comprehensive and user friendly BIOS compared to the Foxconn A7DA-S. In terms of features, both are rather similar, with the Foxconn perhaps faring a bit lighter when it came to ticking features off a checklist. Both vendors also had their own proprietary utilities for monitoring and tweaking.
As we mentioned, the 790GX is a more affordable option for those who require CrossFireX on the AMD platform and the prices that we found for the two 790GX boards reviewed today reflect that. The Foxconn A7DA-S can be found at around US$125, which is very affordable for a decent if standard, enthusiast oriented board. MSI's DKA790GX Platinum is more pricey at around US$155 so if its slightly better performance and generally more polished package gets your fancy, forking out the difference seems quite reasonable too.
Awards
Its lack of frills and average performance makes this Foxconn 790GX a rather standard implementation. |
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With a performance that is on par with some of the better AMD chipsets we have seen, the MSI DKA790GX Platinum is worth checking out. |
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