AMD 790GX: RV610 For Enthusiasts?

[Guest]

appreciating your hard work , but I'm really excited about the new ACC capability .

so , could you please give us some benchmark results comparing phenom 3.2+ Ghz , with price-wise competing intel processors ?

As the phenom 9950 be is not expensive , ocing it to 3.2 with just software tweaking is amazing !

 

[czar1020]

Not to steal your thread but, the crowd that is into this is much more "happy". I just read a Mac review and there was WTFPWNED Mac sucks blah blah blah hate going on (regardless of your feeling). Nice to see everyone responding well to a review, and the author providing extra feedback.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Bzz]

I disagree about IGP + overclocking potential being a bad combination.

I'm actually surprised all the reviews I read are bashing on that and not realizing the benefits.

There are a lot of enthusiasts and professionals who don't need gaming performance. Someone who does low budget 3d modeling would benefit a lot from that - you don't really need a blazing fast graphics card, but you need all the processing power you can get for rendering. Programmers etc probably same for them... This is a great platform.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]Bzz[/nom]I disagree about IGP + overclocking potential being a bad combination.I'm actually surprised all the reviews I read are bashing on that and not realizing the benefits.There are a lot of enthusiasts and professionals who don't need gaming performance. Someone who does low budget 3d modeling would benefit a lot from that - you don't really need a blazing fast graphics card, but you need all the processing power you can get for rendering. Programmers etc probably same for them... This is a great platform.[/citation]

But I'd argue back that the guys who need lots of processing power are not overclocking the snot out of their Phenoms, either.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]czar1020[/nom]Not to steal your thread but, the crowd that is into this is much more "happy". I just read a Mac review and there was WTFPWNED Mac sucks blah blah blah hate going on (regardless of your feeling). Nice to see everyone responding well to a review, and the author providing extra feedback.Keep up the good work.[/citation]

Thanks Czar! =)

 

[Bzz]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]But I'd argue back that the guys who need lots of processing power are not overclocking the snot out of their Phenoms, either. [/citation]

I am not sure about that... why wouldn't they? Programs like 3ds max have the best scaling for both number of cpu cores and Mhz. In fact it makes sense that any software which works mostly with the CPU and not the GPU will scale very well, and overclocking makes a lot of sense.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]Bzz[/nom]I am not sure about that... why wouldn't they? Programs like 3ds max have the best scaling for both number of cpu cores and Mhz. In fact it makes sense that any software which works mostly with the CPU and not the GPU will scale very well, and overclocking makes a lot of sense.[/citation]

Well, if I were doing 3ds Max work, it'd likely be on a business workstation. Hopefully I'm not losing my edge, but on any box responsible for making me money, I'd rather spend extra money for a faster CPU at its stock frequency than risk an aggressive overclock and potential hardware issue deep into a project due the next day =) While I agree with you that it makes a lot of sense, I disagree in that I wouldn't necessarily find it prudent.

 

[Pei-chen]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]It isn't PowerPlay that we had trouble with. Rather, the functionality that AMD first explained when it launched 780G, whereby it'd turn off a discrete card if your display output came from the motherboard in a Hybrid CrossFireX mode. [/citation]
So if I have a 790GX board + 4850 and connect the monitor to the board, Hybrid CrossFireX will power down the 4850 and use just the 790GX in 2D mode?

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]Pei-chen[/nom]So if I have a 790GX board + 4850 and connect the monitor to the board, Hybrid CrossFireX will power down the 4850 and use just the 790GX in 2D mode?[/citation]

It will not--that's the killer feature that AMD seems to be missing. The was originally the plan with 780G; however, to get our system running in Hybrid CrossFire, we HAD to plug the monitor into the discrete card, ensuring it'd never be turned off. That is what I consider to be the missing killer feature for this integrated platform in an enthusiast's machine.

 

[Guest]

Any chance of a comparison with the new SB750 FX boards, against Intel P45 based Xfire boards, at same price ranges, say $350, $450, $550, for proc/mobo? and add in overclock with an air cooler.

I am interested in building a new system within the next couple months, and I am an AMD fan having gone through 3 previous systems, athlon, athlon 64, athlon 64x2. But so far all the Phenom benchmarks have shown less performance against the same cost Intel processors; with worse overclocking capability. Even so far that it appears Intels sub $200 Q6600 is > then a $235 9950 BE, and will overclock much better as well.

Would a 9850 BE on a 790FX (750SB), overclockd to limit, be faster then a Q6600 on a P45, overclockd to limit?

 

[monkeypilot]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]It will not--that's the killer feature that AMD seems to be missing. The was originally the plan with 780G; however, to get our system running in Hybrid CrossFire, we HAD to plug the monitor into the discrete card, ensuring it'd never be turned off. That is what I consider to be the missing killer feature for this integrated platform in an enthusiast's machine. [/citation]

Well that is a massive letdown, I was under the assumption the 790gx was going to allow me to power down a 4870 when outside games in favour of the IGP. Does this mean a driver update could possibly get this feature going or is this feature just not possible on 790gx?
I heard this feature may only work under Vista, but I am guessing you would have tested it with vista.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]monkeypilot[/nom]Well that is a massive letdown, I was under the assumption the 790gx was going to allow me to power down a 4870 when outside games in favour of the IGP. Does this mean a driver update could possibly get this feature going or is this feature just not possible on 790gx?I heard this feature may only work under Vista, but I am guessing you would have tested it with vista.[/citation]

I'm honestly not sure if it could be added via driver. If you wanted a feature like that today, though, you'd really have to go with HybridPower and a GeForce 9800 or GTX board, at least until AMD gets it figured out.

 

[monkeypilot]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]I'm honestly not sure if it could be added via driver. [/citation]

Just wondered if maybe its there but kinda broken at the moment. Not that I am planing on buying a 790gx and crossing my fingers just for that feature.

 

[nirgal]

What I can't believe is that no review ever questions the existence of HDCP. Basically useless waste of power that wouldn't even be needed if the big four entered this century (or even the previous).

 

[ZootyGray]

Chris Angelini you are amazing.

I have been very critical of a lot of reviews here and have been away from toms for a couple weeks (in disgust).

This is a well written coherent review. You here are responding to a barrage of questions. I am impressed.

And you even mentioned the mosfet issue on the 780G's!!!! Anand has yet to clear that up - it's like messy unfinished business. And people need to know about that.

Echo what Czar said - great happy interest in genuine discussion with no flaming fanboy junk. Wow. What a pleasant experience. You should be CEO in charge of reviews!

Thank you very much, Chris. Well done! Very thorough. Very clear.

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]ZootyGray[/nom]Chris Angelini you are amazing.I have been very critical of a lot of reviews here and have been away from toms for a couple weeks (in disgust).This is a well written coherent review. You here are responding to a barrage of questions. I am impressed.And you even mentioned the mosfet issue on the 780G's!!!! Anand has yet to clear that up - it's like messy unfinished business. And people need to know about that.Echo what Czar said - great happy interest in genuine discussion with no flaming fanboy junk. Wow. What a pleasant experience. You should be CEO in charge of reviews!Thank you very much, Chris. Well done! Very thorough. Very clear.[/citation]

Thanks Zooty! Nice to wake up to a comment like that. I actually am the new managing editor here, so hopefully you'll be seeing more stories like this one, plus others from some of our other writers =) Have a good weekend all!

 

[mig1619]

Ok this look like a great board to overclock the Phenom CPU, But will it help the overclock of an Athlon 5000+ BE ?

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]mig1619[/nom]Ok this look like a great board to overclock the Phenom CPU, But will it help the overclock of an Athlon 5000+ BE ?[/citation]

ACC specifically will not help, mig. You need a Phenom to take advantage of that feature.

 

[mig1619]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]ACC specifically will not help, mig. You need a Phenom to take advantage of that feature. [/citation]
Thank you for the info this look like a nice board for a HTPC but i'll wait for the 45nm phenoms.

 

[Ephebus]

I'm really sorry to be skeptical about anything new from AMD, since they can't even get a simple utility like AMD Power Monitor right. AMD Power Monitor won't report the cores' clocks correctly anymore if the processor is overclocked - it shows the values as if it wasn't overclocked. The last version that worked OK with overclocked processors was version 1.0.2. There have been 3 releases since that version, and I've complained to AMD every time a new release would come out that the utility had stopped working correctly. Then finally some AMD guy said he tested it under Vista and it worked OK, but not under XP. Maybe they are not aware of all the people who won't touch Vista with a ten-foot pole? I was really disappointed by this kind of "support" and pretty much gave up on AMD. I've been buying inferior processors from them just to support the company (yes, I'm that idealist), but in my next upgrade I'll go Intel all the way.

 

[Pei-chen]

[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]It will not--that's the killer feature that AMD seems to be missing. The was originally the plan with 780G; however, to get our system running in Hybrid CrossFire, we HAD to plug the monitor into the discrete card, ensuring it'd never be turned off. That is what I consider to be the missing killer feature for this integrated platform in an enthusiast's machine. [/citation]
Great review, thanks a mil.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I am disappointed that all of the MOBO vendors have chosen to only implement full ATX boards. I understand that this was done in order to bring out both PCIe 8X slots, but some of us are just fine with the 790GX IGP, especially now that everyone is adding side port memory.

What has happened to AMD proposed DTX standard for SFF/HTPC ? This chipset would do well in that market space.