Review: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3: ushering in AMD's 890GX chipset

by Parm Mann on 2 March 2010, 05:00 3.75

Tags: ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3, ASUSTeK (TPE:2357)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qawcp

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System setup

System AMD 890GX
Phenom II X4 965 BE
AMD 785G
Phenom II X4 965 BE
Intel H55
Core i5 661
Processors AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE (3.40GHz, 2MB L2, 6MB L3, AM3, quad-core, £137) AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE (3.40GHz, 2MB L2, 6MB L3, AM3, quad-core, £137) Intel Core i5 661 (3.33GHz, 512KB L2, 4MB L3, dual-core, £161
Motherboard ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 (890GX + SB850), approx. £130 Gigabyte MA785GPMT-UD2H (785G + SB710), £70 Intel DH55TC (Intel H55 + ICH10R), £78
BIOS revision 0402 (09/02/10) F4c beta (12/11/09) 0027 (19/11/09)
Memory 4GB (2 x 2GB) Kingston HyperX KHX1600C8D3K2/4GX 4GB (2 x 2GB) Kingston HyperX KHX1600C8D3K2/4GX 4GB (2 x 2GB) Crucial DDR3-1333
Memory timings and speed 9-9-9-24-2T @ DDR3-1,607MHz  9-9-9-24-2T @ DDR3-1,607MHz  9-9-9-24-1T @ DDR3-1,330MHz 
Hard disk drive Seagate 1000GB SATAII (ST31000528AS)
Optical drive Samsung SH-D163 SATA DVD-ROM
Motherboard software Standard drivers + AHCI 3.1.1540.127 Standard drivers + AHCI 3.1.1540.127 Intel Inf 9.1.1.1020 + Matrix Storage Manager 9.5.0.1037
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4290 IGP ATI Radeon HD 4200 IGP Intel HD Graphics IGP
Graphics driver Catalyst 10.3 beta Catalyst 9.11 15.16.4.64.2008_PV (8.15.10.2008)
Operating system Windows 7 Ultimate, 64-bit
Power supply Corsair CX400W
Monitor Dell 2405FPW/Dell 3007WFP-HC

Software

Benchmarks ScienceMark 2.0 memory latency
SiSoft Sandra 2010 (16.11), float buffered
HEXUS.PiFast calculation to 10m places
CINEBENCH R10 multi-CPU render 64-bit
POV-Ray 3.7.0 beta 34 64-bit
StaxRip X.264 + AAC encoder - two-pass (both passes recorded)

Company of Heroes: Opposing Forces v2.5 - DX9 and DX10
Call of Duty 4: MW v1.7.568 - DX9
Enemy Territory: Quake Wars v1.5 - OpenGL

Power-draw at idle and 2D load, as a platform

HDTach - SATA average read speed (890GX only)
HDTach - SATA burst speed (890GX only)
HDTach - USB average read speed (890GX only)
HDTach - FireWire average read speed (890GX only)