Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H Motherboard Review :: Layout

The CPU Socket is in the usual position of above the memory slots, under the MOSFET heatsink and 8-pin power connector. There is plenty of room for after-market cooling solutions. Note the interface is Socket AM2+, meaning that the motherboard can use either AM2+ or AM3 CPUs as they both fit and work with this interface.

There are four DIMM Sockets for up to 16GB of dual channel DDR2-1200MHz memory. Note that due to the limitations of the AM2+ or AM3 CPUs, the memory speed is limited to 1066MHz if more than one DIMM is installed per channel. Also note that if you are installing more than 4GB of DDR2 memory you will require a 64-bit operating system like Windows Vista 64-bit or Linux.

The GA-MA790GP-UD4H has two PCI Express x16 Generation 2.0 slots for video cards. You can install up to two ATI HD 4870 x2 video cards in CrossfireX mode, as there is enough spacing between the two slots to install both cards without difficulty. Once you install the cards you connect them via two Crossfire bridges and you will be ready to go once the drivers are installed. Also on the board are three PCI Express x1 slots and two PCI slots for legacy expansion.

The GA-MA790GP-UD4H motherboard has six SATA ports for HDD expansion. ATI's SB 750 chipset has apparently fixed the issues with RAID array setup I've had with previous ATI chipset motherboards. The motherboard supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 and JBOD. RAID 5 is new to the SB 750 Southbridge as earlier South bridges did not support it. Also on the board is a single IDE and FDD port.

The 24-pin power connector is precisely where it should be on the bottom right hand corner of the board. The 8-pin connector is below the IO area, meaning easy access to the connector from the PSU. There are four fan connectors including the CPU fan connector on the board, allowing for cool operation of multiple fans. The IO connectors are in a small black connector, and labeled. Two Firewire and 4 USB headers adorn the board, bringing the total supported to 3 and 12 respectively.

The onboard audio is based upon Realtek's ALC889A CODEC. This is a popular CODEC among motherboard manufacturers and supports the High Definition Audio standard. 2/4/5.1/7.1 Surround Sound is supported as well as Dolby Home Theater certification. This CODEC also supports Blu-ray/HD-DVD Full Rate Audio support and supports 7.1+2 channel High Definition Output at the same time.

The rear IO on the board consists of a PS/2 mouse, a PS/2 keyboard, a D-Sub port, a DVI-D port, a HDMI port, an optical S/PDIF Out connector, a Firewire port, 4 USB 2.0 ports, a RJ-45 jack for the onboard Gigabit LAN, and the audio jacks: Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/ Rear Speaker out/ Side Speaker Out/Line IN/Line Out/Microphone. The motherboard has every connector that a video card would, including HDMI, a DVI-D port that does not support DVI-D to D-Sub adapters and a D-sub port.