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GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

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#1 ·
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Description:
Supports newest AMD AM3+ FX/AM3 Phenom II series processors, Advanced 8+2 phase CPU VRM power design for AMD high-TDP CPU support,3 PCI-E 2.0 interfaces for 2way AMD CrossFireX and SLI multi-graphics support, AMD SB950 provides 6 native SATA3 ports with superfast 6Gbps link speed and RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 support, Supports USB 3.0 with superfast transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps, GIGABYTE 3x USB Power with On/Off Charge USB ports, Ultra Durable 3 Classic Technology with copper cooled quality for lower working temperature, Turbo XHD technology accelerating hard drive performance with ease, Revolution energy saving design with Easy Energy Saver technology, Hi-def 108dB Signal-to-noise ratio Blu-ray DVD audio playback, Patented DualBIOS with Hybrid EFI technology for 3TB HDD support, Supports Dolby Home Theater audio,

Details:
DetailValue
BindingPersonal Computers
BrandGigabyte
EAN0818313012890
FeatureAudio: Realtek ALC889 codec , High Definition Audio, Dolby Home Theater, 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel, LAN: 10/100/1000 Mbit
Height3 inches
Length13 inches
Weight3.25 pounds
Width11 inches
LabelGigabyte
List Price$159.99
ManufacturerGigabyte
ModelGA-990FXA-UD3
MPNGA-990FXA-UD3
Package Quantity1
Product GroupPC Accessory
Product Type NameMOTHERBOARD
PublisherGigabyte
SKUGA990FXAUD3-DBA
StudioGigabyte
TitleGIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
UPC818313012890
Warranty3 years
 

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#2 ·
Nice board for AMD.

review by khaotickomputing

There are complaints of BIOS problem's and of overheating. Myself I have not had any issue with these. Its been a great board so far. I like the BIOS alot over my old ASUS board. I was on the fence about this board, or a Sabertooth board. Glad I got this one!

ProsCons
Good price, Great performance. Love the looks of the solid black board.See other thoughts.

Ratings
Overall4
 
#3 ·
Nice board for AMD.

review by khaotickomputing
No heating problem, but with 8 fans intake air is a bit normal ^ ^ I'm very happy with this motherboard to look very'' Black "marrying well with the Corsair H110 and Black HyperX series ^ ^ 2 PCIe 16x ports are real, it's really good for Crossfire/multi-gpu
 
#4 ·
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3

review by xpd541

Despite all of it's many features, like On/Off USB charge, USB3, ErP, SATA3, and "Hybrid EFI (READ: NOT EFI), I have had some frustrating issues with this board. So without further ado, here are my issues in an outline form to make everything easily distinguishable:

? BIOS takes a LONG time to load into, and then is not EFI, but Gigabyte's "Hybrid" EFI. -__________-.
? When you want to just boot to your OS, it takes FOREVER (10~30 seconds) for it to boot to your OS.
? Sometimes, at seemingly random intervals, will not boot to the OS.
? Sometimes, at seemingly random intervals, will not go into the BIOS.
? Without additional cooling and NB at 2600mhz, the NB will get to VERY HIGH TEMPERATURES! (75~95c Idle~Load).
? System becomes VERY unstable without additional cooling of the NB at frequencies above 2300mhz.

So there you have it. I know there are some people out there with better experiences than me regarding this board, but I cannot recommend it to anyone until Gigabyte fixes the BIOS and overheating issues. Had I known how severe my experiences would be with this board, I would have held out for better hardware.

mad.gif


ProsCons
Lots of top-tier features. AMD FX-Series support AND AM3 Legacy Support. BIOS takes a while to let you use the machine. BIOS can be sluggish, No EFI, BAD OVERHEATING!!!!

Ratings
Overall2
 
#5 ·
GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3

review by xpd541
Good review, wanted to add the point that the bios seems to be rather buggy for this board. Lots of holes when the multi is not used, incorrect algorithms for temp reporting, etc. Very tempermental board, but can give good results when enough patience is given, and the bios is studied intensively.
 
#9 ·
Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 Motherboard.

review by snipekill2445

The Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 is an AM3+ ready motherboard from Gigabyte. It supports all AM3 and new AM3+ processors. With an 8+2 power phase design this should be good for overclocking high end FX 8 core processors. The entire board is a sleek black that looks very sharp.

Looking at the box we have whole lot of information and specifications printing on the front and back. Opening the box we see the motherboard packaged inside an anit static bag with all accessories and manuals underneath. Overall it's well packaged and should remain safe during transit.

First looking at the motherboard, I am very impressed. For rear I/O we have eight USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, two eSata ports, an ethernet port, optical audio out and standard audio out ports.
Looking at internal connectors on the board, we have two PCI-E 2.0 slots running at 16x and 16x. We have two PCI-E 16x slots running at 4x. Two PCI-E x1 slots and a single PCI slot.
There are six Sata 6gbps connectors capable of running six drives at Sata3 6gbps. We have three onboard USB 2.0 ports along with a single USB 3.0 port. Standard HD audio and front panel port.
We have two 3pin system fan headers, a single 3pin power fan header and single CPU fan 4pin header for a total support of four fans.

The entire motherboard it black including all four DIMMS and each heatsink. I think it looks very good and will fit nearly any color scheme. The board sports heatsinks on the north bridge and mosfets, aswell as cooling on the FXA chipset. I experienced extreme heat from the vrm and north bridge cooling to a point it made me uncomfortable, I would recommend a small fan pointed at said heatsinks.

This is definitely a performance oriented motherboard, supporting 32gb of system memory at 2400mhz and up to two way crossfire and SLi. This makes it an ideal choice for a high end FX 8 core build, supporting heavy overclocking out of the box. The BIOS is decent and relatively easy to work with, with setting for overclocking and changing voltage to various chipsets on the board. I achieved a 3.8ghz overclock at 1.4vcore on my quad core Phenom II processor easily, and it remained stable throughout the time I used this motherboard.

I think this is a solid motherboard, it is great for overclocking and it supports a vast variety of processors, system memory and graphics card configurations.
It comes rather well priced too, this certainly gets my thumbs up of approval.



ProsCons
Good features, AMD/AM3+ Support, Looks great. VRM heatsink heat.

Ratings
Overall4
 
#11 ·
GA-990FXA-UD3

review by roadkill95

I got this board for a very cool 100$ on black Friday and I've been working with it since, trying to get a decent overclock out of my 1045T. This board overclocks fairly well, considering that I was able to get a 40%+ FSB overclock from my low binned Thuban. Personally I haven't had any problems with NB overheating at all, I have my NB at 2200mhz and it idles at ~30C which is respectable considering that the NB heatsink is very wobbly and is held in place by plastic-spring "locks" rather than nuts and bolts. I'd imagine that replacing the locks with bolts or screws should yield even better temperatures but I've not had a reason to do so. The motherboard posts fairly quick and the BIOS is your classic gigabyte bios; easy and simple.

The only negative point I can think of is LLC causing a fair amount of vboost, regardless of what setting I choose. Gigabyte needs to iron out LLC, but it's nothing deal breaking.

In conclusion, I think it's a great board board for the price. I can't talk about this board's overclocking limitations because I can only push my FSB so far. But it seems to run 280mhz FSB without a problem so I'd imagine that it would overclock like a champ with a multiplier unlocked CPU.

P.S - This review is for rev 1.1. I believe that the new rev 3.0 comes with a EFI bios and some other PCB improvements so it should be a fair step up from this board.

ProsCons
Lots of features, fairly good overclocker given the priceLack of EFI( rev 1.1), LLC causes vboost

Ratings
Overall4
 
#12 ·
Do not buy if you plan to Overclock!

review by tancolbert

I purchased this board from Gigabyte on the premise that it had ok reviews from Newegg and Amazon and it was at a reasonable price. If you do not plan on overclocking your CPU than this motherboard should do you fine if you are looking for a more budget friendly option. When overclocking my 8350 I experience voltage drops and extreme heat from the north bridge at just 4.2Ghz, was afraid to take it any higher than that. The heat sinks on the board are not attached very well and can be wiggled very easily from the board. The Bios isn't very intuitive with its overclocking options compared to other boards of this type. In conclusion, if you want to keep your CPU stock than its a great buy, If not please avoid this product.

I would definitely recommend the Asus Sabertooth 990fx rev 2.0 over this board. I'm currently at a 4.7ghz clock on it with ZERO voltage drops.

ProsCons
Sleek looking, Cheap, Plenty of PCI slots and USB slots.Overheating due to bad VRM, Bios is lacking

Ratings
Overall2
 
#13 ·
Do not buy if you plan to Overclock!

review by tancolbert
I had the same board and the same problem and fixed it with the the purchase of a Sabertooth and achieved the same result as you. The AMD 8350 is thermally to much for the UD3, unless the board is modded with fans on the mosfets, northbridge and most especially the VRM's. Good honest review by you.
 
#20 ·
2 Boards down

review by sicwizard

Like everyone else has stated the NB over heats this is currently my second board I have gotten after rmaing my first one. I have not overclocked anything yet just to break it in and see what happens. Go figure it overheats again. I have had both boards no longer then 3 months. Guess its time to RMA this one and hope for the best.

ProsCons
CheapOverheating NB
 
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