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@ 2009/04/13These motherboards span a $70 range between $110 and $180. That's the meat of the mid-range market and probably most of the high end, at least for Socket AM3 processors. The GA-MA790FXT-UD5P and the MSI 790FX-GD70 may sell for less than two bills each, but with support for full-bandwidth CrossFire configurations and a wealth of connectivity options and integrated peripherals, they're about as loaded as Phenom II boards get. I just don't see myself buying either to pair with a Phenom II, though.
Don't get me wrong—the UD5P and GD70 are both fine boards. I like the MSI's four physical x16 slots, and the Gigabyte's ALC889A codec is the only one of the bunch that can do a SoundStorm impression. However, both are high-end boards for a processor lineup that lacks high-end parts. The Phenom II X3 720 and X4 940 are the only Socket AM3 chips I'd consider recommending, and neither needs a $180 motherboard. The results of our memory performance, games, and application tests make it clear these more expensive motherboards aren't any faster than their competition. And we've yet to see evidence that a dual-x16 CrossFire implementation is any faster than a dual-x8 setup with second-generation PCI Express.
Don't get me wrong—the UD5P and GD70 are both fine boards. I like the MSI's four physical x16 slots, and the Gigabyte's ALC889A codec is the only one of the bunch that can do a SoundStorm impression. However, both are high-end boards for a processor lineup that lacks high-end parts. The Phenom II X3 720 and X4 940 are the only Socket AM3 chips I'd consider recommending, and neither needs a $180 motherboard. The results of our memory performance, games, and application tests make it clear these more expensive motherboards aren't any faster than their competition. And we've yet to see evidence that a dual-x16 CrossFire implementation is any faster than a dual-x8 setup with second-generation PCI Express.
