MSI K9A2 Platinum @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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MSI K9A2 Platinum - The AMD 790FX chipset is definitely popular with motherboard manufacturers who are all churning out their own boards using the chipset. Today we look at MSI’s 790FX the K9A2 Platinum and take it for a little test run.

The MSI K9A2 Platinum is a motherboard that was built specifically for running AMD’s Phenom processor and CrossFireX. If that is what you use it for it works well with a Black Edition processor. It can run stable and enjoys some healthy Phenom multiplier overclocking but you need to be aware that you need to put some airflow on the board’s passive cooling devices.
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Hey I'm guessing you guys didnt try this mobo with any non-phenom cpus? I'd be interested to read how it would perform with an x2 6000+, for example... :D
 
Thanks for the review! After over two months, I'm still glad I went with the Gigabyte GA-MA790FX-DQ6. I'd be interested in seeing what the DFI LANPARTY UT-790FX-M2R has to offer, if DFI were to send ya'll one. And if you get it, be sure to flash the Bios a few times to see what happens. By the way Dan, what does the BIOS Menu "User Settings" entail? I didn't see a description in the review and it's an awfully general title.

P.S. Thanks you guys for keeping up with the 790FX boards!
 
might it be safe to assume that a phenom ready board that overclocks well with a windsor would overclock well with a be phenom? i bought the uber crappy version of the msi board in this review, the k9a2cf. after reading through another user's thread about how his very same board cooked the voltage regs, i was a bit apprehensive about beginning my own build. before assembling the rig, i attached a coolermaster northbridge block from the old aquagate system as well as applying as5 to the southbridge. using the aod utility i was able to achieve a 260mhz overclock with an x2 3800. the system hung with any increase beyond 260mhz until i reduced the ht multiplier to 4. aod froze every time i attempted this so i had to make the change in bios. i was able to overclock using aod until i tried to get past 290mhz. i then made voltage changes in bios to get to 295mhz, but aod never worked again. every time i tried to launch the utility, i got a bsod. i assumed the overclock was unstable, but the system lasted over 4 hours in orthos with real-time hdr running.
 
Don't make that assumption. MA69GM-S2H is a godsend for Athlon64, but sucks for Phenom.
 
One of the very first motherboards to support SAS Hard drives!
I really want to see how fast a 15k SAS drive would be with the on board controller!

Enthusiasts want these things.
 
Wow I overlooked that... SAS "Ready" though? What does "Ready" mean?
 
Page 2 Typo: "I was using the later for my screen captures and stability testing." Later -> latter?
 
xappie said:
Hey I'm guessing you guys didnt try this mobo with any non-phenom cpus? I'd be interested to read how it would perform with an x2 6000+, for example... :D
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Is this the board that MSI dropped support for 125watt CPUs (or just the CF boards)? The 4 pin power plug dosent look too reassuring to me. (especially wit the possibility of 4 GPUs being added.
 
What interests me more is this 'hybrid' graphics technology that ATI/AMD is putting out there... where the built-in graphics can piggyback the card and boost overall performance. I thought this chipset supported that, doesnt it?

If so, it would be interesting to see how it improves, say, a 3870GX2 or regular 3870 in comparison to the 8800 GTX, or even a 8800 GTS 512.

Im in the boat where I want to build a new system because my 7900GTX OC just runs too choppy on CoD4, even with a reformatting of the hdd. So do I wait for the 9800 GTX (or GX2)? Doesnt seem worth it if G100's are due in a few months. So the 8800 GTS 512 looks like the 'stopgap' I need. OR, could this 'hybrid' graphics technology help a 3870GX2 enough to be more worth it? Normally, I wouldnt care since I dont plan on using SLI or crossfire, but this 'hybrid' thing... hmmm.... It weighs heavily on my decision because it pretty much looks like Im either going to go Intel CPU/nVidia-intelx48 Chipset/nVidia GPU OR: AMDphenom,790FX,ATI GPU. Sorry to bring up 'system building' here, but I think it might be a question on a few other's minds as well. Since it seems you have to pick your CPU/chipset in concert with your GPU these days...

edit: scratch that... hybrid crossfire is only good for low end GPU's anyways, so it is of no concern anyways. Looks like chipsets are meaningless then unless you plan on SLI or Crossfire... except from the performance standpoint, then the 790 might be a tad bit better than sticking with my Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe.
 
I got one question, why don't you (the reviewers) like the position of the pciE x16 slots? I thought this would be the most optimal solution, you could have up to 4 dual slot graphics cards if you have the case with an extra pci bracket on the bottom of the case. So far with all of the other 4x pciE 16 boards the last 2 slots are sitting right next to eachother meaning you would need atleast 2 single slot cards, where here you may only need one if that.

Of course all of the above hinges on ATi coming out with that crossfireX driver. ?

I would also like to see this board be tested with a K8 processor, see how far this board can take it.
 
undertheradar said:
What interests me more is this 'hybrid' graphics technology that ATI/AMD is putting out there... where the built-in graphics can piggyback the card and boost overall performance. I thought this chipset supported that, doesnt it?
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That's RS780G.
Simpson5774 said:
I got one question, why don't you (the reviewers) like the position of the pciE x16 slots? I thought this would be the most optimal solution, you could have up to 4 dual slot graphics cards if you have the case with an extra pci bracket on the bottom of the case. So far with all of the other 4x pciE 16 boards the last 2 slots are sitting right next to eachother meaning you would need atleast 2 single slot cards, where here you may only need one if that.
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How much do you block by plugging stuff in? Think accessibility and airflow, as well as cable routing in general.
 
mavalpha said:
How much do you block by plugging stuff in? Think accessibility and airflow, as well as cable routing in general.
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Looking at the motherboard, at the bottom pciE slot, if you have a dual slot card in there, access to the floppy cable, a fan header and t he front panel hookups, but their shouldn't be a clearance problem with the card and the wires hooked up to the board. The biggest issue I see is with the sata slots, if you had a 3870x2 in that slot it may be a problem unless you had sata cables with a 90 degree bend.
 
Great review as always fellows. I thought I would point out a typo on paragraph 2 you call the board MA790FX-DQ6 which I believe is the Gigabyte. I have played with this board and pretty much shared your impressions. A friend of mine uses it with his X2 and it can get very high FSB numbers with that chip. You are right that it definitely works better with AMD Overdrive than any other 790FX board I have used (Gigabyte, Asus, DFI).

Thanks for continuing coverage of all this AMD gear even though it may not be quite as hot as it was a few years back :)
 
Since you showed that their are differences between canned benchmarks for video cards, are their differences between canned benchmarks for CPUs as well?
 
debello_64 said:
Since you showed that their are differences between canned benchmarks for video cards, are their differences between canned benchmarks for CPUs as well?
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I was wondering that as well, after the great article. If gaming is GPU bound, and native benchmarks whack, what do they tell us about the motherboard?
 
No.
Most CPU benchmarks are using realistic performance metrics. How long it takes to encode audio files, encode video files, render a 3Dsmax project, etc. Those are all realistic representations of how powerful a CPU is and the time gain you save.

Gaming is not CPU limited, so it's almost completely irrelevant other than just a generic CPU -> CPU processing power comparison. In CPU/mobo benchmarks I typically gloss over any gaming analysis.
 
Menelmarar said:
Gaming is not CPU limited, so it's almost completely irrelevant other than just a generic CPU -> CPU processing power comparison. In CPU/mobo benchmarks I typically gloss over any gaming analysis.
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In the Canned CPU gaming benchmarks with the low resolution, games are CPU limitied. I would like to know if the CPU canned benchmark relates quality to actuall game play at that resolution.
 
debello_64 said:
In the Canned CPU gaming benchmarks with the low resolution, games are CPU limitied. I would like to know if the CPU canned benchmark relates quality to actuall game play at that resolution.
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That's the point, there is NO gameplay quality.

It is not a gameplay analysis. Completely different style of review, with different focus.
 
Simpson5774 said:
I got one question, why don't you (the reviewers) like the position of the pciE x16 slots? I thought this would be the most optimal solution, you could have up to 4 dual slot graphics cards if you have the case with an extra pci bracket on the bottom of the case. So far with all of the other 4x pciE 16 boards the last 2 slots are sitting right next to eachother meaning you would need atleast 2 single slot cards, where here you may only need one if that.

Of course all of the above hinges on ATi coming out with that crossfireX driver. ?

I would also like to see this board be tested with a K8 processor, see how far this board can take it.
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I didn't like the layout for a number of reasons. Some of the issues with the PCIe x16 slots aren't so much related to the slots but the position of other things in relation to them. The DIMM slots are too close to the primary PCIe x16 slot. The second slot runs smack into the middle of the SATA ports. The third slot is ok but the last slot is absolutely horrible. Yes the positioning is better than it would be on other motherboards but it hardly qualifies as useful. Show me more than one or two cases that have an extra PCIe bracket at the bottom so that you could use a dual slot video card. I bet you can't. Certianly nothing normal. That makes that last slot pretty useless in my opinion. At least for any dual slot devices.

Again the slots are ok but the overall board layout sucks.
 
Damn, I was thinking about buying this board. But now I don't even know if a Tuniq Tower would fit. Any good 790FX boards out there?
 
In the conclusions
I have to agree with Dan on this one. The MSI is a strong and stable 780FX motherboard, but it is not leading the way in the enthusiast class at least when it comes to front side bus overclocking.
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790FX?
 
Angelus897 said:
Damn, I was thinking about buying this board. But now I don't even know if a Tuniq Tower would fit. Any good 790FX boards out there?
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i like my ga-ma790fx-ds5 mobo from gigabyte...... my tuniq fits nicely too.... my only complaint is the sb heatsink is literally 1 cm away from my video card so there is no possibility of adding a fan to it what so ever..... then again i havent noticed any temp problems with it so its no big deal.... just being picky..... some of this line have been buggy but mine has been rock solid
 
tokey43074 said:
i like my ga-ma790fx-ds5 mobo from gigabyte...... my tuniq fits nicely too.... my only complaint is the sb heatsink is literally 1 cm away from my video card so there is no possibility of adding a fan to it what so ever..... then again i havent noticed any temp problems with it so its no big deal.... just being picky..... some of this line have been buggy but mine has been rock solid
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I was thinking about it, but I read that it has a lot of issues. Plus, at $200 it's a little too expensive for an AMD motherboard. Newegg just got a new DFI board in stock for $149, I'm hoping it gets positive reviews.
 
tokey43074 said:
i like my ga-ma790fx-ds5 mobo from gigabyte...... my tuniq fits nicely too.... my only complaint is the sb heatsink is literally 1 cm away from my video card so there is no possibility of adding a fan to it what so ever..... then again i havent noticed any temp problems with it so its no big deal.... just being picky..... some of this line have been buggy but mine has been rock solid
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You shouldn't have any issues with south bridge temperatures. The ATI chipsets (which is what the AMD 790FX comes from) tend to run very cool.

Angelus897 said:
I was thinking about it, but I read that it has a lot of issues. Plus, at $200 it's a little too expensive for an AMD motherboard. Newegg just got a new DFI board in stock for $149, I'm hoping it gets positive reviews.
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DFI is typically hit or miss.
 
well it would be nice to see a review on the ds5.... but all in all i have no troubles what so ever i poped my phenom in set up the bios and installed vista...... i flashed the bios to f3 just to update it but i have had no troubles with this board.... infact any bsod's i have had have either been vista related or me doing somethen stupid.... no bsod's of any sort due to hardware what so ever....... i have owned 7 gigabyte boards and not a single one of them has even been a bit unstable..... to me the $200 is worth it..... sure i would like to see them alot cheaper but i am happy with my choice...... phenom has to be a slight let down tho.... but hopefully they will get them right with b3.... i am awaiting the b3 version to hit stores.... as i have stated in other posts went with amd cause they have never let me down..... this is a first for them... i hope they get their act together real soon.... i could have gone with intel but my trust has always been with amd......lol thats another thread sorry.... if your looking at this board its been a champ for me despite what others say. i have had zero issues
 
tokey43074 said:
well it would be nice to see a review on the ds5.... but all in all i have no troubles what so ever i poped my phenom in set up the bios and installed vista...... i flashed the bios to f3 just to update it but i have had no troubles with this board.... infact any bsod's i have had have either been vista related or me doing somethen stupid.... no bsod's of any sort due to hardware what so ever....... i have owned 7 gigabyte boards and not a single one of them has even been a bit unstable..... to me the $200 is worth it..... sure i would like to see them alot cheaper but i am happy with my choice...... phenom has to be a slight let down tho.... but hopefully they will get them right with b3.... i am awaiting the b3 version to hit stores.... as i have stated in other posts went with amd cause they have never let me down..... this is a first for them... i hope they get their act together real soon.... i could have gone with intel but my trust has always been with amd......lol thats another thread sorry.... if your looking at this board its been a champ for me despite what others say. i have had zero issues
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I agree on the quality of Gigabyte boards (granted I only owned Intel versions). As for AMD vs Intel, I have no allegiance to either. I just happen to have a Athlon X2 5000+ BE and a Radeon HD2900Pro laying around so I figured I'd go for an AMD chipset on this build.
 
Do you guys see any REAL performance gains from switching out a Asus M2N32SLI (nVidia 590 chipset) to a 790 board like this if I upgrade the CPU from a x2 to a 9900 phenom? I thought about just swapping out the x2 (4200) in my mobo for a phenom, but I dont want to handycap it too much with. Or, should I just wait on the phenoms to get even better and stick to the 590 chipset for now?

This computer is mostly for games, FWIW... er rather, thats where the performance comes in.
 
undertheradar said:
Do you guys see any REAL performance gains from switching out a Asus M2N32SLI (nVidia 590 chipset) to a 790 board like this if I upgrade the CPU from a x2 to a 9900 phenom? I thought about just swapping out the x2 (4200) in my mobo for a phenom, but I dont want to handycap it too much with. Or, should I just wait on the phenoms to get even better and stick to the 590 chipset for now?

This computer is mostly for games, FWIW... er rather, thats where the performance comes in.
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i got rid of my evga 590 sli board and got the cheaper version of the board in this review, the msi k9a2cf. the cpu used in my 590 build ran into a brick wall at 2.7ghz, but the same chip in the phenom ready board sits pretty at 2.95ghz. my case may be an isolated incident, because i've heard of a lot of bad experiences with the board.
 
Damn, I was thinking about buying this board. But now I don't even know if a Tuniq Tower would fit. Any good 790FX boards out there?
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The Tuniq Tower fits perfectly on this board actually.
 
undertheradar said:
Do you guys see any REAL performance gains from switching out a Asus M2N32SLI (nVidia 590 chipset) to a 790 board like this if I upgrade the CPU from a x2 to a 9900 phenom? I thought about just swapping out the x2 (4200) in my mobo for a phenom, but I dont want to handycap it too much with. Or, should I just wait on the phenoms to get even better and stick to the 590 chipset for now?

This computer is mostly for games, FWIW... er rather, thats where the performance comes in.
Click to expand...

Since the memory controller is integrated you won't see any gain going to the 790FX. You should only go to the 790FX for a couple of reasons. If your existing board doesn't support Phenom and you actually want a Phenom, then the 790FX might be for you. If you want to run Crossfire X then you'll have to switch as well. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.
 
I am using both the K9A2 Platinum and the CF. I can attest to V1 CF's not being able to handle 125 W CPU's... MSI did a fine repair job though and their customer support actually supported me. I use a 5000BE in it now and a 6400BE in the Platinum. I have a 5000BE in a Abit K9 SLI and it will OC to 3.2 in a heartbeat. Not so with the CF, best I could do was 3.1 and even then not 100% stable. I have both comps at default speeds now and they are just fine as you would expect.

I am interested in trying a 790GX with a 750 southbridge, We'll see who comes out with it.

Right now DFI and Gigabyte are a little more usable, but MSI is a good value too. I am much more familiar with abit's SoftMenu for the CMOS Interface (BIOS) and don't seem to have the knack for MSI's Cell menu.

I run Vista 64 Ultimate on the Platinum and 64 Home premium on the CF

The V2 CF board has passive cooling of the mosfets and will handle the 125 W CPU's
 
I have a question about this board and the 790fx chipset. We know that it supports 2 x16 cards or 1 x16 and 2 x8, or 4 x8. My question is when I have 2 x16 video cards installed and I want to plug in a pcix1 card into one of the x16 slots will that also affect the speed of the other slots?

Suppose I am running 2 way CF and install an ide x1 card to one of the x16 slots, will this drop the 2nd x16 to x8?

I have not read anywhere of anyone trying this, nor have I read it in any literature about the board.



UM....sorry about posting to an old thread. I guess I should have looked at the date before typing.
 
bungholio said:
I have a question about this board and the 790fx chipset. We know that it supports 2 x16 cards or 1 x16 and 2 x8, or 4 x8. My question is when I have 2 x16 video cards installed and I want to plug in a pcix1 card into one of the x16 slots will that also affect the speed of the other slots?

Suppose I am running 2 way CF and install an ide x1 card to one of the x16 slots, will this drop the 2nd x16 to x8?

I have not read anywhere of anyone trying this, nor have I read it in any literature about the board.

UM....sorry about posting to an old thread. I guess I should have looked at the date before typing.
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I would assume with a constant set of lanes available, and the data below, yes this would drop the speed of the 2nd so it will be 16x 8x 8x

http://www.google.com/search?q=790f...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

Slots
Four PCI Express X16 slots , support ATI CrossFire Technology (PCI Express Bus Specification v2.0 compliant)
{Slot configurations: Dual CrossFire (16X+16X), Triple CrossFire (16X+8X+8X), Quad CrossFire (8X+8X+8X+8X)}
One PCI Express X1 slot
Two 32-bit PCI slots (3.3v/5v PCI Bus Master slots

http://hothardware.com/Articles/MSI_K9A2_Platinum_AMD_790FX_Motherboard/
 
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