![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , July 27, 2010
- Author:
- Morry Teitelman
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
MSI 890FXA-GD70 Motherboard Review
MSI's newest offering supporting AMD's line of processors comes in the form of the 890FXA-GD70. This board could potentially be a P55 killer, with its balance of features and performance prowess. How does it do in the HardOCP gauntlet and better yet, how well does it overclock?
Performance Utilities
MSI Control Center
MSI included their Control Center application on the included driver DVD, used for Windows based board monitoring and overclocking. The application itself is divided in to 3 sections, System Information, Overclocking, and Green Power. The System Information section displays read-only statics concerning the onboard devices across 3 tabs, labeled Motherboard, CPU, and Memory.
The Overclocking section allows for use of preset overclocking profiles or manual selection of settings. The BIOS controlled overclocking functionality is controlled by a series of buttons across the top of the screen of the Basic tab, with the settings tied to each of the default profiles shown when the button associated to the profile is selected. The OverClock/OverVoltage section also allows for direct user manipulation of the board’s base clock speed, which affects both the CPU and memory speeds, and several of the board device voltages. You have the option of creating and using custom profiles through the Save and Load buttons, located in the screen’s lower right corner. The Advanced screen gives you the option of manipulating the memory timing settings.
The OC Genie Lite screen is used to enable BIOS controlled overclocking of the system. With this setting enabled, the BIOS will automatically configure board voltages, CPU and memory speeds to squeeze every last bit of performance out of the system.
The Green Power area is divided into Basic and Advanced sections. The Basic section shows stats on the current board power usage, with a series of profile presets shown across the top of the window. The Advance section is divided in to 2 areas, Mainboard and LED. The Mainboard screen allows for direct control of subsystem power phase usage and fan speeds, with the ability to load and save user profiles. The LED screen shows the location of all status LEDs on the board, providing the capability to enable or disable each LED bank individually. In addition, you have rudimentary fan control access as well.
AMD OverDrive
ASUS also includes the AMD OverDrive utility, designed specifically for use with the AMD AM3 chipset. Note that the app version show is 3.0.1. The application itself is split in to 4 specific areas - System Information, Status Monitor, Performance Control, and Preference. The System Information tab shows detailed information concerning speeds and settings of all onboard components, including memory and CPU settings, with the diagram tab showing a graphical representation of the current system components.
The Status Monitor tab is broken in to several screens displaying CPU related temperatures, voltages and bus speeds both numerically and graphically, as well board bus speeds and support GPU information. Note that you also have the option of configuring real-time logging for all monitored item.
The Preference tab contains application related settings, including a control for enabling Basic or Advanced mode within the Performance Control tab. There are capabilities for loading and saving customized profiles as well.
With the Performance Control mode set to Novice from within the Preference tab, the Novice Mode screen shows. Novice Mode allows for selection of pre-configured overclocking levels, with the maximum overclock achieved with the slider moved to the High Performance setting. Note that in this mode, the system sets all voltages and bus speeds for you.
When the Performance Control mode option within the Preference tab set to Advanced, the Clock/Voltage and Memory screens become user accessible. All system bus speeds, voltages, and multipliers (including the CPU and HyperTransport ratios) can be set via the Clock/Voltage screen. The Memory screen allows for direct user configuration of all memory related timing and speed settings. The Fan Control screen shows current fan activity, and allows for selection of automatic or manual control of the attached fans.
The AMD Smart Profile tab allows for setup of customized performance profile settings which can be configured to enable based on application startup detection, and customized on a per core setting basis.
The Benchmark screen contains controls for an AMD provided benchmarking utility, useful in gauging system performance. The Stability Test screen contains a set of tests for gauging system stability, with the ability to select individual tests as well as the overall test duration. The Auto Clock screen contains a system speed optimization tool, which will automatically set optimal overclocking parameters for your system.