After careful consideration I have decided to transfer all hardware review activities to a new domain. I purchased Hardwareasylum.com in 2012 and have been working hard to build a new and improved Ninjalane on that domain. If you are reading this you have reached one of the archived articles, news, projects and/or reviews that were left behind during the site migration.
Please update your bookmarks and be sure to visit the new and improved Ninjalane at Hardwareasylum.com
DFI LanParty Jr 790GX Motherboard Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Sunday, December 07, 2008
Board Layout and Features
The overall board layout is rather compact but does concentrate on the features that any aspiring gamer is looking for. The first thing that many of you will notice is the 2 16x PCI Express slots. These are 2nd Gen PCI Express slots each supporting up to 8x lanes each when using CrossFire. A unique feature available on the 790GX is Hybrid CrossFire which allows you to use 2 different ATI video cards and link them together without a bridge.
The other expansion slots include a single 1x PCI Express slot and a standard PCI slot. Given that this is a MicroATX motherboard 4 expansion options is about all you will get.
The other expansion slots include a single 1x PCI Express slot and a standard PCI slot. Given that this is a MicroATX motherboard 4 expansion options is about all you will get.
The DFI 790GX supports up to 8GB of DDR2 memory across 4 memory slots, the supported memory speed will vary depending on what processor you have installed. In terms of power a 24pin + 8pin power supply is highly recommended.
The onboard power supply is your typical analog unit comprised of 4 phases for the CPU and 1 for the chipset. DFI has started doing this on most of their midrange boards for added chipset stability and wider range of voltage options.
The onboard power supply is your typical analog unit comprised of 4 phases for the CPU and 1 for the chipset. DFI has started doing this on most of their midrange boards for added chipset stability and wider range of voltage options.
Here we have a feature packed ATX connector including 4x USB, 1x Ethernet, 8 channel HD audio, digital audio connections, HDMI and DVI video connections. On the surface this appears to be a HTPC just waiting to happen.
AM2 940pin processors are supported in a variety of core configurations. The "hot" processor of the season is the quad core Phenom, not only is it powerful but it also takes advantage of the new HyperTransport 3.0. We will be using the X4 9850 Phenom in this review just to see how it does.
