ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 Motherboard Review

Conclusions

Let’s first talk about the chipset. AMD 890GX is way better than AMD 785G, providing a performance gain between 33% and 37% in games. However, on-board video is still a bad way to play games: a very low-end Radeon HD 3450 with 64-bit memory interface and 256 MB was between 44% and 64% faster than AMD 890GX. Therefore if you are looking for a system to play games, even occasionally, you are still better off buying an add-on video card, even the cheapest one (this Radeon HD 3450 costs USD 35).

But that doesn’t mean that AMD 890GX should be ignored. Motherboard manufacturers will be providing motherboards based on this chipset with very good features, and you may want to pick a motherboard based on this chipset even if you want to install an add-on video card. Which is definitely the case of ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3.

Since this chipset natively supports SATA-600 ports, motherboards based on this chipset will probably be cheaper than motherboards that require an extra chip to do the same thing, helping to bring SATA-600 to the mainstream arena. And even if you don’t plan to use a SATA-600 hard drive or SSD, you will have a system ready for this new technology for a future upgrade, which is always desirable.

Now talking specifically about ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3, its main feature besides the SATA-600 ports is USB 3.0 ports. It also provides three different types of video outputs and therefore should please all sorts of users, like the user building an HTPC and the user that wants a system with the latest technologies and doesn’t mind having a low-end gaming performance or wants to try the on-board graphics from AMD 890GX before deciding if he or she will need an add-on video card. And also overclockers from all levels, as this motherboard provides several overclocking options.

This motherboard is estimated to arrive on the market costing between USD 130 and USD 160. We wish it cost less.