AMD 990FX motherboards from Asus, ASRock and Gigabyte get rounded up and ranked
HotHardware just herded up a trio of new mainboards equipped with AMD's 990FX chipset, which will support those famed 8-core Bulldozer-based processors when they finally arrive, as well as being compatible with existing Phenom II and Athlon II chips. All the boards had similarly high performance, good connectivity and plenty of overclocking and tweaking potential. However, the $229 Asus CrossHair V Formula inched its way to overall victory thanks to its reliability, attractive build and smart layout. The ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Professional placed second despite being cheaper at $200 and having richer connectivity, including FireWire and a front-mountable USB 3.0 panel. Finally, the Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7 lagged behind due to its excessive $250 price tag, a lack of color coding to help guide less experienced builders, plus an ugly and outdated BIOS utility. So, there you have it: if you want to gear up for your next Bulldozer-ready AMD build, the Asus and ASRock 990FX boards are ripe for picking. Check out the source link for the full comparisons and benchmarks.
