GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD5 AMD 900 Series Motherboard

[loans87]

Anyone personally own this board or one of the series? I'm looking for anyone who'd recommend it or steer me away from that board due to issues they've had.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=667674&CatId=7246 169.99

Maybe you know of a better price too

 

[o1die]

Check newegg.com for their customer reviews. Or google for a review of the board online, such as this one: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/4387/gigabyte_ga_990fxa_ud5_amd_990fx_motherboard_review/index.html

 

[Wisecracker]

I've got the GA-990FXA-UD3 running BIOS F5 -- there is a beta F6 floating around.

In order to avoid frustration you should flash each chip of the dual BIOS with the same BIOS version! It's a simple process found in the manual or lookee here. It will make tweaking much more enjoyable.

Everything works just dandy. I run 2 external 5-bay HDD enclosures off the 2xeSATA using the port-multiplier. It has unlocked an X3 Rana and PhII 555, and clocked a PhII 965 to 4GHz+ without difficulty, in spite of an Antec Earthwatts 650w with a ripple issue. I haven't Crossfired anything but I assume it will function as spec'ed.

I boot to an OCZ Agility SSD in less than 20 seconds -- it's got plenty of fan headers. I can't speak to the thru-put of the USB3.

Early revisions have VDroop and don't offer LLC -- fixed in updated versions. I'll wait for BD-II and a serious price drop in a year or so before going AM3+.

Sleeps at 5w and wakes without issue -- I'm using it to stream media ...

 

[loans87]

thanks for info, that was really helpful

 

[Wisecracker]

No worries, mate.

The main difference between the -UD5 and -UD3 is in the PWM. It's upgraded on the -UD5 for really serious over-clocking ...

 

[loans87]

thanks again cracker, OC'ing is the plan, so I'll be posting next week on how to do it lol

 

[Wisecracker]

The fine folks in the THG AMD Over-Clocking Forum will be glad to help !!

[:jaydeejohn:5]

 

[loans87]

Best answer selected by Loans87.

 

[loans87]

sorry to bump, but I've got probs in my BIOS with this board. Everything is running fine for the most part guys but I cannot get my extra slave HDDs to be detected BUT more importantly the majority of my BIOS settings are locked! (blued out) I cannot select any (except a few) options! Why are the options locked, I had setup a password, and also entered it upon entering my BIOS. So I dont know if its a security issue.

 

[loans87]

Ok, so I've got the slave drives operating now.

BIOS settings are still on lockdown though

 

[Wisecracker]

At the main BIOS screen hold down the <Ctrl><F1> keys to expand your menu options!