# Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H Review



## The Sorcerer (May 13, 2010)

We’ll be seeing a lot of new boards from different manufacturers with  different form factors and features since AMD have introduced new  northbridge and Southbridge.

This board comes with HT 3.0 support and the new AMD 890GX/SB850 chipset  with an on-board HD 4290 (RV620 core) 700MHz core clock that can run  hybrid crossfire with ATi 5450. Just like the 880g, 890GX supports UVD2,  DVD upscaling and out-of-the-box X 6 support. The chipset can  accommodate D-SUB, DVI, HDMI and Display Port, but no dual display  option. The Northbridge can run pcie x16 2.0 with a single card and pcie  x8 on a crossfire setup.

Coming towards the Southbridge, the SB850 supports upto 6 sata 6 GB/s,  upto 14 USB 2.0, gigabit Ethernet, HD Audio and it holds on to support  FDD/IDE as well.
*img217.imageshack.us/img217/6043/introw.jpg​The board I will be reviewing is a mainstream model-  Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H. This is aimed to be a mainstream model to target  hardware enthusiasts, gamers and overclockers (or all of above),  fulfilling what Matx boards couldn’t and filling the “void” between a  low end and a high  end/expensive motherboard.

*Packaging, specification and contents
*​ 
*img35.imageshack.us/img35/7307/boxshot1w.th.jpg*img404.imageshack.us/img404/4308/boxshot2.th.jpg​A buyer who never bought a Gigabyte board before or   haven’t done much  research on it will learn everything about the  usual  and unique  offerings on this board (2 oz. Copper with all solid  caps,  dual bios, 128MB DDR3 sideport memory, on-board graphics with  full HD  support- list goes on) and even information on the other side  of the  board. Sure, the box comes with “eye-candy” logos but all the   information about the product is written in simple language and detailed   illustrations. This is something one will appreciate from Gigabyte,   especially by those who end up buying a board from a store if one is not   able to do any research. The box simply gives a vibe “You simply can’t   go wrong by picking me up”. Whether it performs as it should is   something we will find out when we progress with the review.
*img24.imageshack.us/img24/5949/specsyl.png

*img197.imageshack.us/img197/2230/contentse.jpg​The contents I received with this review sample are   pretty basic that we would expect in a UD2H series- an IDE cable with   sata connectors, a driver/utility disk and a user’s manual with a   multilingual guide to assemble the system together (and it’s easy to   follow so first time system builders will find some confidence when   assembling it for the first time). It would be awfully nice if Gigabyte   bundled crossfire connector with the board as some graphic card   manufacturers might bundle a smaller connector.
*Layout
*​ *img18.imageshack.us/img18/1082/layoutng.th.png*img7.imageshack.us/img7/9318/layoutwithsinks.th.jpg*img38.imageshack.us/img38/1267/layoutwithoutsinks.th.jpg​The board is a rev 1.0.The sinks are removed to give a better idea   of the motherboard, especially for overclockers and to those who want a   rock solid board with an effective passive cooling.

From the top left:

*img39.imageshack.us/img39/9846/upperleft.jpg​The 8 pin EPS connector is nestled next to the sink. Many would   find it bit inconvenient to install/remove the cable from here   especially  with the sink being too close.
*img442.imageshack.us/img442/3904/connector.jpg​ Though it’s not a problem for many, people will   appreciate even the smallest of liberty to connect/disconnect on a   mainstream board. The CPU_FAN header is placed properly. Gigabyte needs   to put their F_AUDIO headers near the USB/1394 headers- or maybe   somewhere near the sata/IDE connectors. A pcie x1 and SYS_FAN header is   cramped between the northbridge heatsink and the pcie x16 slot. Users   most likely will use the 2nd or 3rd pcie x1 slot as Gigabyte has    generously given 3 of them.
*img441.imageshack.us/img441/1082/s6301752.jpg​  Even for tall heatsinks with push-pull config, it stays within   the board's layout.

After removing the board’s sinks, you can see that the MOSFET sinks  are   meant to protect MOSFETs, VRM, 4+1 phase units and the solid    capacitors for the CPU.

This is the same story with the northbridge sink.  It cools down  890GX   and the sideport memory.  For the curious, the board uses a Hynix   128MB  DDR3 memory.
*img293.imageshack.us/img293/3949/sinks.jpg​Both the MOSFET and the northbridge have sinks with   thick fins and are  joined by a heat pipe, whereas the southbridge uses a   standalone sink. The mosfet uses 2 plastic pushpins, whereas the   northbridge uses spring  screws are secured from the other side of the   board. Seeing these setups  being done by Gigabyte, this board will be   preferred by overclockers  who need a good board as their main system.

From the top right:
*img695.imageshack.us/img695/2978/upperright.jpg​Depending on the heatsink and rams you buy, there   will be some obstruction.  The gap between the socket and the DIMM slots   is as same as what one  would see in an MATX board. If a user installs  a  mid-size-to-large  heatsinks, it will overshadow 2 DIMM slots. If  you  buy rams with a  tall heat spreader, you can only use the last 2  DIMM  options. A 3 pin  PWR_FAN header is next to the DIMM slots, along  with  the usual 24 pin  ATX and the IDE slot. 

*img696.imageshack.us/img696/1724/sata2controller.jpg​
The board comes with 6 SATA3 6GB/s but Gigabyte  have given a dedicated   sata 2 controller to power up 2 more SATA2 slots.  A big thumbs up for   this implementation, as users will sata2 hard  drives/dvd drives will   not end up wasting occupying a sata3 port. The  chip is made by J   Micron.

From the bottom left:
*img46.imageshack.us/img46/6684/lowerleftq.jpg​As being mentioned earlier, the board has 3 pcie x1   slots. The board  comes with 2x pcie slots which run on x8 mode on a   crossfire setup.  As  space is still available, Gigabyte given 2 pci   slots for the extra  add-ons. Towards the left, you will see a REALTEK   controller for LAN and  a chip for HD audio. The board comes with CD IN,   SPDIF IN and OUT  header, followed by a serial and a FDD connector  down  below. Towards the  right hand side (part of it is seen on this  and the  next photo) there  are 2 1394 headers. While one would think  for a  moment why there is a  pcie x1 slot cramped below the northbridge   sink.Most likely not be used  unless the other 2 slots are occupied. 

From the bottom right:
*img42.imageshack.us/img42/1813/lowerright.jpg​At the end of the pcie x16 slot, the board comes with a   Realtek rtm880n  clock generator chip and the dual bios chips. The   southbridge comes with  a standalone low profile heatsink which uses   plastic push pins and a  right angled sata connectors with all the front   panel headers below it.  At the bottom, comes with 4 USB headers and a  4  pin SYS_FAN header.

*img266.imageshack.us/img266/1103/iopanel.jpg​The I/O panel comes with 4 USB 2.0, 1 keyboard/mouse     PS/2 port, VGA,  DVI, HDMI, optical/SPDIF out connector, 2 USB3.0    connectors, an ethernet  port and 6 audio jacks. What would be nice to    see is an e-sata port,  which is also a norm for certain matx/most atx    sized boards especially Gigabyte.  People who  don’t need/use it, will    not bother.

*img265.imageshack.us/img265/8835/topviewx.jpg​  To give you a better idea of the board, I’ve installed Noctua     u12pse2, Asus xonar DX and an Evga 9600gt.
*img63.imageshack.us/img63/8216/ramview.jpg​ On the right side of the board, users who bought rams    with tall  heatspreaders will end up sacrificing the first 2 DIMM  slots.    Rams with  low profile heatspreaders wouldn’t have this  problem, but   you will have  to install the rams before installing such  heatsinks and   you will have  to remove the heatsinks if you want to  remove the rams.
*img175.imageshack.us/img175/1751/msview.jpg​  Even with tall heatsinks with push-pull configuration, there is    adequate  space between the MOSFETs and Northbridge sinks.
*img203.imageshack.us/img203/271/topview2.jpg​  As said earlier, people would be tempted to install the card on    the 3rd  slot. 
*img695.imageshack.us/img695/8224/sbview.jpg​ When I installed the 9600gt on the pcie x8 slot, I bumped into     something I wouldn’t like to see it on any atx board.

 There  is a little bit of space between the southbridge sink and the    card when  you install it on the pcie x8 slot. It shouldn’t be a problem    for  people who are interested to crossfiring, but they could have    placed it a  little away from the pcie x8 slot.

 The expandability option of the board cannot be questioned but it  comes    with some hiccups as far as organization is concerned. Many  wouldn’t    bother about it and few will not like to see this. It is manageable  in   any case. Another good point about this board (most Gigabyte  boards, if   you compare it with models from other brands) is that you  don't need  any  VGA switch card.

*Bios*​ *img72.imageshack.us/img72/368/bios1r.jpg​    The   board comes with dual bios and it uses Award bios. This board  that I   received came with F3 bios.
    MB Intelligent tweaker  is where overclockers will have all the setups   they need to tinker  around:
*img718.imageshack.us/img718/7776/bios2b.th.jpg*img199.imageshack.us/img199/4118/bios3v.th.jpg​    As usual, M.I.T. comes with clean and organized options. There are    more options under IGX configuration.
*img263.imageshack.us/img263/4595/s6301696.th.jpg​    Under IGX configuration, the first option lets you to allocate   ram’s  memory to your onboard graphics. Selecting UMA will allocate   memory only  to the onboard whereas selecting sideport will allocate   sideport memory  to your onboard.  By default it’s on UMA+ Sideport and I   left it with  that option. 
    UMA frame buffer size lets you to set the amount of  system memory to be   allocated to your onboard graphics. The options are  restricted to   auto, 128MB, 256MB and 512MB. Its left on default viz.  auto.

    Surround view lets you to choose the VGA output when using  dual   screens. However as highlighted before, the option is restricted    between D-SUB/DVI and D-SUB/HDMI. 

    VGA core clock control  is where you can enable the VGA core clock   option.
*img13.imageshack.us/img13/8769/bios4g.th.jpg​    VGA core clock is where you get the liberty to overclock your    onboard’s core clock. During benchmarking, the option is left at its    default clock speed i.e. 700 MHz. 

    Sideport  memory clock is where you can overclock your  sideport memory   with an  interval of 30 Mhz between each settings. This is a pretty  good  feature  for people to try to overclock their onboard and give it a  bit  of a  push, but it would be awful nice if Gigabyte allowed users  to  manually  set their own values just like how one can for VGA core  clock.  Still,  there’s a lot of option to tinker around the IGX  configuration.
*img638.imageshack.us/img638/6821/bios5.th.jpg​    Now back to the main M.I.T. screen,
*img638.imageshack.us/img638/8906/bios6multiplier.th.jpg*img72.imageshack.us/img72/4198/bios8cpufreq.th.jpg​    CPU clock ratio and CPU frequency is where you   overclock your processor  and memory clock allows you to set your ram’s   frequency. More frequency  option comes under memory clock when you  bump  the memory clock values.  NB frequency can be bumped by users as  well. 
*img338.imageshack.us/img338/1183/bios10dramconfig1.th.jpg*img532.imageshack.us/img532/3493/bios11dramconfig2.th.jpg​     DRAM configuration lets you change the memory’s latencies.  The   ram  kit which is inserted detected as 1333 MHz 9-9-9-24. You can simply    refer to SPD values and set it once you switch the DDR3 timing items   to  manual.
*img130.imageshack.us/img130/5807/bios11voltage.th.jpg​    Back to the main M.I.T. screen, 

    Once you switch the  system voltage control to manual, you can control   probably all the  voltage control you will need. The voltage options   available have an  interval between 50-100V when you choose the options.   Experienced  overclockers would have preferred to put in the voltage   manually, but  it’s not all that bad. Rather, it’s a good option for   many to be  satisfied.
    You can save upto 8 profile on your BIOS and also save  the settings on   your hard drive, floppy or USB.  This option is  fantastic and probably   one of those settings one might expect on higher  end UD5 models. The   problem I ran into F3 bios is that when I use the  pre-saved profile  and  restart the system, it switches itself off. After  starting it  back,  the system uses the settings under the profile.

*Test  setup and benchmarks
**img683.imageshack.us/img683/2928/setupjd.png​ * 
3D Mark 06*​      Settings:  Resolution: 1280 x 1024; Anti aliasing: none; texture   filtering: Optimal
*img69.imageshack.us/img69/261/25626536.png​ *3D Mark Vantage*
     Settings: Resolution:1024x 758; texture  filtering: Optimal; texture   quality/shadow shader quality/shadow  resolution quality/shader quality:   enable; all post processing options:  enabled
*img687.imageshack.us/img687/631/vantagel.png​ *Call of Juarez*
     Settings: Resolution: 1440x 900; Details: low;  shadows: none; AA: 2x   MSAA
*img63.imageshack.us/img63/8089/coj.png​ *Dirt   2*

     settings: 1280 x 1024; AA:  none; Night  lightning, shadows, mirrors,   distant vehicles, objects, trees, vehicle  reflection, water,;   particles, crowd, ground cover, cloth: low; Post  process: medium   Skidmark: on
*img99.imageshack.us/img99/851/97916267.png​ *S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat*
     Settings: 1280x 1024; preset:  low; Renderer: enhanced full dynamic   lightning (dx10 mode) ; MSAA/SSAO:  off.
*img294.imageshack.us/img294/5360/copbench.png*img41.imageshack.us/img41/9537/790.png​ *x264 Benchmark (3rd run)*
*img153.imageshack.us/img153/7379/x264.png​ *Winrar   x64 Benchmark*
     Benchmark is done with a main folder containing  20 sub folders and   images with total size of 1.21GB
*img245.imageshack.us/img245/8514/winrarf.png​ *Overclocking and conclusion
*​       The processor that I have is a c2  stepping AMD 550BE where I need to   use 1.44v to get it upto 3.6GHz on  the Biostar 790GXBE, but I used the   same voltage and on first try I was  able to get it to almost 3.8 GHz.   Other than that, I gave a minor bump  on HT Link and the on-board's   clock speed without bumping up the  respective voltage settings. 
*img101.imageshack.us/img101/5915/890oc.png​     Most of the users will end up getting a c3  revision. This board   is a great overclocker, provided the user takes  advantage of its full   potential. On stock without a discrete graphic  card, there's not much   difference with the 790GX chipset.

     The good: New board with new chipset and out-of-the-box support  for a   hexa core with 6 sata 3+ 2 sata ports and the rest of the goodies.
     -
     The  bad: No diagnostic LEDs (atleast), no e-sata port despite Gigabyte   able  to provide one on the UD2H series boards.
     -
     The annoying: Gigabyte  managed to put almost all the goodies in a   board, but needs to work on  certain areas like placing the DIMM slots   well away from the socket  enough to install tall heatsinks and the   southbridge. 

     F_Audio headers  need to the placed where it should be.

      If for any reason, anyone wants  to use a floppy on the system, the   port is on the lower left section.

      Also the f3 bios used to shut down the system after loading a profile    (even a profile with stock setting), but most likely that would be    corrected on new bios releases. 
     -------------------------------------------------------------
     Boards from another competitor has core  unlocking button on the board,   whereas core unlocking option on Gigabyte  called "core boost" is   available under Easy tune 6's advanced mode. It  would be nice if   Gigabyte put the core boost option on the bios itself,  which might be   implemented on their newer bios releases, assuming they  will do so.

         I've been told by Gigabyte that this board is worth Rs. 8500.   Assuming street price is going to be similar, that is a killer pricing   for a good board with a new chipset+ lot of expandability option, even   compared to h55/p55 boards and even considering certain hiccups. 

*Edit:* I confirmed with Gigabyte   and the pricing is Rs. 11,500/-. The street pricing will be less and   most likely be under Rs. 10,000-. 

Now a  counterpart with similar offerings from another brand (Asus  M4A89GTD-PRO/USB3) is worth Rs. 11,000 and uses a   VGA switch  card. For whatever reasons you go the AMD way, this will  be  one of the  boards that it will be on your hardware shopping list  and  if you pick up this board, you simply can't go wrong. This  board  gets a  thumbs up from my end. 

I thank Gigabyte India for providing this review   sample.​


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## azaad_shri75 (May 13, 2010)

thanks, for an excellent review .......


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## The Sorcerer (May 13, 2010)

As a side note for all who wants to know its overclocking potential, ud3h is a great overclocker provided one pushes it. This is how it went when a friend ln2 overclocked and benched the UD3H: *hwbot.org/community/submission/980097_harshal_cpu_z_phenom_ii_x4_965_be_6520_mhz


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