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ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3

19 Mar 2010

The ASUS M4A89GTD/PRO3 is based on AMD 890GX chipset with SB850 Southbridge, supporting AM3 AMD processors. It supports CrossFireX, SATA 6Gbit/s and USB 3.0. ASUS' Core Unlocker, TurboV EVO and MemOK! are some of the features included.

Tags: asus, usb 3.0, sata 6gbit/s, amd 890gx

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HWZ's Overall Rating: 8.5

Performance:

8.5

Features:

Value:

8.5

Excellent layout

Unique core unlocking feature

Scores in power consumption

Quirky implementation of some features

Relatively expensive locally

<div id="product-review" class="article">
			<h2 class="header-green">A Trio of AMD 890GX Boards - More Mainstream AMD Madness</h2>
		<span class="byline">Article by Vincent Chang on Friday, 16 Apr 2010</span>
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		 		<h2 class="page-title">More AMD 890GX Motherboards</h2>
		 		<h3 class="page_title">More AMD 890GX Motherboards</h3>
<p>In our <a href="/view/6250" target="_blank">previous article</a> introducing the new AMD&nbsp;890GX&nbsp;chipset, we looked at the major changes from the older 790GX. The new Southbridge was the highlight, bringing native SATA&nbsp;6Gbit/s support while the integrated graphics got a minor boost, mostly in the standards and compatibility aspect. Enthusiasts however, found that AMD&nbsp;has removed from the 890GX the Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC)&nbsp;feature that allowed users to unlock AMD&nbsp;processors on the 790GX.</p>
<p>While our initial article featured a microATX&nbsp;board and a normal ATX-sized board from MSI&nbsp;and Gigabyte, we are returning to the 890GX&nbsp;scene with three more ATX&nbsp;boards, from ASUS, ECS&nbsp;and Jetway. Interestingly, the ASUS&nbsp;M4A89GTD&nbsp;PRO/USB3 touts a hardware Core Unlocker feature that apparently allows for hassle-free unlocking of the AMD CPU's cores with a flick of a switch. That immediately piqued our interest, but before we explore the ASUS board, here's a comparison of the three boards featured today.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<table width="95%" border="1" align="center">
    <caption>Three AMD 890GX Boards Compared</caption>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <th valign="middle" align="center">&nbsp;</th>
            <th valign="middle" align="center">ASUS&nbsp;M4A89GTD PRO/USB3</th>
            <th valign="middle" align="center">ECS&nbsp;A890GXM-A</th>
            <th valign="middle" align="center">Jetway HA09</th>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>CPU Support</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="center" colspan="3" class="rtecenter">Support for AM3 processors - AMD Phenom II/Athlon II</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Chipset</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="center" colspan="3" class="rtecenter">AMD 890GX + SB850</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Graphics</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="center" colspan="3" class="rtecenter">Integrated Radeon HD 4290 graphics processor with 128MB DDR3 SidePort Memory</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Memory</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Supports 4 unbuffered DIMM of DDR3-1866 (O.C)/1333/1066 SDRAM</li>
                <li>Supports up to 16GB memory size</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Supports 4 unbuffered DIMM of DDR3-1600 (O.C)/1333/1066/800 SDRAM</li>
                <li>Supports up to 16GB memory size</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Supports 4 unbuffered DIMM of DDR3-1333/1066/800 SDRAM</li>
                <li>Supports up to 8GB memory size</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Storage</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Southbridge
                <ul>
                    <li>6 x SATA 6Gbit/s ports</li>
                    <li>Support AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and JBOD configurations</li>
                </ul>
                </li>
                <li>JMicron JMB361 controller<br />
                <ul>
                    <li>1 x Ultra DMA 133/100 for up to 2 PATA devices</li>
                    <li>1 x eSATA 3.0Gbps port</li>
                </ul>
                </li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Southbridge
                <ul>
                    <li>5 x SATA 6Gbit/s ports</li>
                    <li>1 x eSATA&nbsp;port (rear)</li>
                    <li>Support AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and JBOD configurations</li>
                </ul>
                </li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Southbridge
                <ul>
                    <li>6 x SATA 6Gbit/s ports</li>
                    <li>Support AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and JBOD configurations</li>
                </ul>
                </li>
                <li>JMB368 controller
                <ul>
                    <li>1 x Ultra DMA 133/100 for up to 2 PATA devices</li>
                    <li>1 x eSATA&nbsp;port (rear)</li>
                </ul>
                </li>
                <li>1 x floppy drive connector</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Audio</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Realtek ALC892 HD CODEC</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Realtek ALC892 HD CODEC</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Realtek ALC888 HD CODEC</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Networking</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Realtek 8111E Gigabit Ethernet controller</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Dual Realtek 8111DL Gigabit Ethernet controller</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Realtek 8111DL Gigabit Ethernet controller</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>IEEE 1394 (FireWire)</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>VIA VT6308P chip</li>
                <li>Up to 2 IEEE 1394a ports (1 rear, 1 header)</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Nil</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>Nil</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>I/O Interface</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports</li>
                <li>2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (blue)</li>
                <li>1 x RJ45 LAN port</li>
                <li>6 x audio jacks</li>
                <li>1 x Optical S/PDIF output</li>
                <li>1 x eSATA&nbsp;port</li>
                <li>1 x IEEE 1394a port</li>
                <li>1 x PS/2 keyboard port</li>
                <li>1 x HDMI</li>
                <li>1 x DVI-D</li>
                <li>1 x VGA analog output</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports</li>
                <li>2 x RJ45 LAN port</li>
                <li>6 x audio jacks</li>
                <li>1 x Optical S/PDIF output</li>
                <li>1 x eSATA&nbsp;port</li>
                <li>1 x HDMI</li>
                <li>1 x DisplayPort</li>
                <li>1 x DVI-D</li>
                <li>1 x VGA analog output</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>1 x eSATA port</li>
                <li>4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports</li>
                <li>1 x RJ45 LAN port</li>
                <li>6 x audio jacks</li>
                <li>1 x Optical S/PDIF output</li>
                <li>1 x Coaxial S/PDIF&nbsp;output</li>
                <li>1 x PS/2 keyboard</li>
                <li>1 x PS/2 mouse</li>
                <li>1 x DVI-I</li>
                <li>1 x HDMI</li>
                <li>1 x VGA analog output</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Expansion Slots</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 if both slots filled)</li>
                <li>1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 slot</li>
                <li>1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slot</li>
                <li>2 x PCI slots</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 if both slots filled)</li>
                <li>1 x PCIe 2.0 x4 slot</li>
                <li>2 x PCIe x1 slots</li>
                <li>1 x PCI slot</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 slot  (x8/x8 if both slots filled)</li>
                <li>1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 slot</li>
                <li>1 x mini PCIe slot</li>
                <li>1 x PCI slot</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>Special Features</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>ASUS&nbsp;EPU</li>
                <li>MemOK!</li>
                <li>TurboV&nbsp;EVO</li>
                <li>ExpressGate</li>
                <li>Turbo Key II</li>
                <li>Core Unlocker</li>
                <li>CrashFree BIOS 3</li>
                <li>EZ&nbsp;Flash 2</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>&nbsp;eJiffy</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
            <td valign="middle" align="left">
            <ul>
                <li>3D&nbsp;Audio</li>
                <li>Green Power Indicator</li>
            </ul>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <th>PCB</th>
            <td valign="middle" align="center" class="rtecenter" colspan="3">mATX Form Factor (24.4 x 24.4cm)</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>
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