DFI LANParty DK 790FXB-M3H5
Features and Layout
DFI’s high-end LANParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 comes at a decidedly mid-market price, lacking a fourth graphics-card slot and a FireWire controller that competing models offer.
DFI uses the reduced number of x16 slots as a good way to spread these farther apart for enhanced graphics cooling. The top-two slots are locked with x16 pathways, while the third slot uses four of 790FX’s six left-over PCI Express 2.0 links to provide the same bandwidth that previous-generation x8 slots do. The third slot should offer adequate performance for cards up to the single-GPU Radeon HD 4870, while Radeon HD 4870 X2 users will prefer the two x16 slots.
DFI takes a symbolic lead over Asus in Ultra ATA and especially floppy header placement (for anyone who still uses those legacy interfaces), but the lower drive cage of some older case designs could block its forward-facing SATA ports. However, forward-facing ports allow cables to slip under the end of long expansion cards.
DFI is the only company in today’s line-up to provide a method for clearing custom BIOS settings from outside of an already-built system. A jumper on the rear panel is a little more cumbersome than a button would be, but it greatly reduces the likelihood of accidental engagement.
Great layout choices include a front-panel audio connector at the center–rather than at the bottom–of the rear edge, which is far enough below the top x16 slot to prevent collision with over-sized graphics coolers.
We have no layout complaints for the LANParty DK 790FXB-M3H5, but one minor caveat concerns the eight-pin CPU power connector. Since it is around 1.5" below the top edge, attaching the power connector may pose problems for builders who prefer to wrap this cable around the back of the motherboard tray from bottom-mounted power supplies.
BIOS
Voltage and frequency ranges for the LANParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 can be found in a comparative chart in this article’s overclocking section.
DFI’s Genie BIOS has all the most important frequency controls, but some of the labels might appear unfamiliar to users of other brands.
A fairly broad selection of DRAM timing controls are found in a Genie BIOS submenu, but the voltage sub-menu is slightly less elaborate.
Accessories
DFI still provides a round Ultra ATA cable, but the LANParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 lacks any floppy cable. DFI also includes four replacement jumpers with easy-grip tabs.
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It would be interesting to see how much AM3 processors improve over AM2+ especially come the next gen of graphics cards. Is the jump to AM3 boards worth the extra upgrade from AM2+? Im currently using a X2 6000+ but im doubtful that jumping to AM3 processors is worth it atm especially for gaming. My next upgrade will probally be the processor to prevent bottlenecking since my 4870 manages 22" easily but Id preferably like to get a mobo with 2X 16XPCIe lanes.
It would be interesting to see how much AM3 processors improve over AM2+ especially come the next gen of graphics cards. Is the jump to AM3 boards worth the extra upgrade from AM2+? Im currently using a X2 6000+ but im doubtful that jumping to AM3 processors is worth it atm especially for gaming. My next upgrade will probally be the processor to prevent bottlenecking since my 4870 manages 22" easily but Id preferably like to get a mobo with 2X 16XPCIe lanes.
I am going to switch back to AMD even if they perform less than intel. Why? I am not going to buy a motherboard for every processor. Who knows how many pins the next processor of Intel has. Upgrading is a major reason to choose a platform. Besides I do not need the power of i7 to game on a 20"
LOL, I doubt even Intel knows. It used to be 1160, but then they removed 4 pins in October and now they're talking about LGA1156. Anyway, point taken, the i5 CPUs won't work in either LGA775 or LGA1366 boards.
That Gigabyte board sounds perfect for somebody who might want 9 hard drives and a burner, because it has 10 SATA ports. I was looking for such a thing. This paragraph:
We have no layout complaints, but builders should be aware that all four of the MA790FX-UD5P's add-in SATA ports (white) share a single PCIe pathway through the JMicron JMB363 controller, for a maximum combined throughput of 250 MB/s. That’s far short of the 1,200 MB/s combined bandwidth that four 3.0 Gb/s ports are theoretically capable of supporting.
is a bit scary, but in fact it's not a problem IMO. Even if you happen to copy a huge file from HDD 7 to HDD 8 (both on the JMicron controller), you still get over 100 MB/s bandwidth for each, and that's pretty much the average read/write rate of the WD Caviar Black 1TB. That is, there's no bottleneck after all.