The acquisition of ATI Technologies back in 2006 opened the way for AMD to enter the development of new chipset series that integrate powerful graphics. AMD's latest chipset, the 790GX, integrates advanced performance tuning for AMD Phenom processors, plus ATI RadeonTM HD 3300 motherboard graphics processor (mGPU).

Today we will test two motherboards based on the AMD 790GX series, the Gigabyte MA790GP-DS4H and the Foxconn A7DA-S. Both implementations look quite similar in terms of specifications and we are about to see how they perform in real tests and under overclocking. But first, let's say a few words about the the AMD 790GX chipset.

AMD's latest offering is based on the 780G/SB700 chipsets but adds a few improvements. The most noticeable improvement is the clock speed of the IGP that now rumps at 700 MHz, while the SidePort (on board) memory which is GDDR-3 is running at 1333MHz offering an extra 2.6GB/sec bandwidth. In our test samples of this review, the Sideport is 128MB, but generally it can also can be 64MB.

The 790GX series is compatible with the AM2+ socket and supports HT 3.0. The passively cooled chip has been manufactured using the 55nm process. It also requires less power than the 780G series.

Passing to more technical details, it supports 26 PCI-e 2.0 lanes, which are useful for CrossFire. However, the 790GX splits into 2x 8x PCI-e, occupying the 16 lans. A full CrossFire configuration would need at least 32 lanes (for 2x 16x PCI-e setup). While this might not be the fastest solution for CrossFire, it should handle it without problems.

Another improvement is the inclusion of SB750 southbridge chip that adds RAID5 functionality among with ACC (Advanced Clock Calibration). The latest function is useful when overclocking and hopefully helps the overall process, as we will find out later in our review. Last but not least, the AMD 790GX series output VGA, DVI and HDMI interfaces, making it a great add-on for HTC users. For more information about 790GX series, visit ATI/AMD website.