http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813128074

Absolutly wonderfull product. Built like a rock. I was an Asus boy for years. Gigabyte in my opinion was always the wallmart of MBs. This MB runs cool, built well. Very well layed out cooling. Great packaging. Awsome support CD.

PERFECT install with 4x1gig sticks and Vista 64 unltimate. Not one problem, hitch or freeze. The Raid-0 setup was flawless. Utterly a bolt in and boot build for me.

system:

-GIGABYTE GA-MA790FX-DS5 AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
-X2 6400 CPU
-4x1 gig sticks of high performance Patriot 2.2v stock ddr800
-XFI plat
-2 10k raptors in raid 0
-Zalman 9700 cooler
-Antec 900 case(kick ass, built like a rock awsome case)
-Antec 850w PSU
-Asus 8800GT 512(buying the next ATI release as this is not compatable with the DX10 version coming out)

Hi , can i ask did you have any problems with your ethernet controller (rtl8168) ? I have an almost identical setup to you and all works fine except i cant connect to the internet . Ive had nothing but problems with it and am curious to know if yours works ok and did you use the drivers off the disk supplied , thanks , Steve

Your onboard lan maybe dead. Its not uncommen. If it is RMA it.

Another ASUS-fanboy who bought this Gigabyte-mobo. Absolutely rock solid, no problems at all. Now I'm looking forward to overclock my 5000+ BE!

I also bought 8500 Ram modules to be ready for a Phenom when AMD gets them all fixed, and I'll buy another 3870 to boost the graphichs performance in some months. A very nice rig ready, easy and cheap to upgrade.

I have always used Abit which I love, but they are in bed with Nvidia right now and don't offer a 790FX so I got this board and have been quite pleased. My 5000BE is at 3.0 and I am sure I can go farther but will probably wait for better cooling. My Zalman 7000Al Cu keeps it under 55 C under load which is about as hot as I want it.

I have my 5000BE running at 3.0 and when I run Prime95 torture test, the cpu temp goes to 60C! Does anyone else have this problem with this board? My core temp never reaches 45C. My cooler isn't the latest and greatest but it seems theses temps are out of line based on my experience with other systems, thanks

This board does run great with 64x2 amd processors and regular ddr2 800 ram and vista 64 ultimate. BUT, doesn't do good, right now anyway, with the new phenom 9850 and some corsair 1066 dominators (2x2GB). I finally got it running after having to reinstall vista 64. It is not as stable AND not as quick as my original setup believe it or not. I can see a small decrease in performance. It is still fast. The bios updates from gigabyte only go to the phenom 9750. I hope they come out with a bios patch for the phenom 9850 soon. I may put my original processor/ram back in until they do. I hat wasting this "new" hardware though.

Original setup (very fast/very stable) New Setup (not as fast/less stable)
anantec 900 case (6 fans) Everything the same except the following changes:
1000 watt anantec power supply Phenom 9850 quad core
GA-MA790FX-DS5 mobo Corsair 2x2GB 1066 Dominators
AM2 64X2 6000+
4X1GB Crucial ddr2 800 RAM
(one) BFG nvidia 8800 GTS
(setup with dual display to 1 benq 21" and (main) 47" LCD flat screen)
Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Pro (w/ external box)
2xseagate 250GB HD in RAID0 (with only 250GB for C
(also)2xseagate 250GB in RAID0 for all other stuff (games)
External ESATA 500GB HD
dual layer DVD-ROM
Floppy

Nate: My son has a 5400 2.8 and not OC'ed it runs pretty hot. I would say in the 45-50C range. I'm going to put on the same Heatsink I have running my Phenom (stays at 18-21C and it's OCed big time) to see what my temps are.

First suggestion I will give you is to reseat your Heatsink.

1) Clean it really good with Alcohol. Both the CPU and the Heatsink. Make sure there is no residual compound. Make sure you use a lint free paper like eye glass paper so you don't scratch the surface.
2) Let it dry for a minute then redo the thermal compound. Moving in one direction cover the surface of both the CPU and Heatsink.
3) Then wipe it off with the paper. Do not use your finger as your finger contains oils which is really bad. How bad? Pour some Soda in a Glass so that fizzes up and then stick your finger into the fiz. Notice the Fiz dropping in a very rapid fashion? That bad.
4) Seat your CPU in the slot and this is the important part... Put a dab about the size of a grain of rice in the center of the CPU. Now seat your Heatsink.
A lot of people just smear the stuff on and then wonder why the temps skyrocket. What they fail to understand is that the Thermal Compound can actually act as an Insulator if done wrong. I've actually burned up a CPU once and now I'm pretty steadfast in making sure I don't use the entire tube of Artic Ceramic Thermal Paste.

what is the realy different between the 790x and 790fx ds4 and ds5