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This is a “First Look” article, but you can check the performance of AMD 890GX chipset in our ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 review. Traditionally motherboards based on the same chipset achieve the same performance.
The new A890GXM-A2 is basically an updated version of the A890GXM-A with two USB 3.0 ports added. Smaller differences include a better color scheme, the removal of one PCI Express x1 slot (to add room for the USB 3.0 controller chip), and the addition of a core unlock feature, which is only available on the 2.0 revision of the A890GXM-A.
All other features are the same, with the SATA-600 ports and the three PCI Express x16 slots being the highlights. Another good feature is the presence of four different types of video connectors (although only two can be used at the same time), allowing you to connect this motherboard to any kind of video monitor.
This motherboard should please all sorts of users, like the user building an HTPC and the user that wants a system with the latest technologies but doesn’t want or doesn’t have the money to buy a video card right now. With this motherboard you can use its integrated graphics while you don’t have a decent video card, and the extra PCI Express x16 slots will ensure that you have room for additional video cards, in the case you want to boost your gaming performance by adding a second or even third card in CrossFireX mode in the future.
Motherboards from ECS usually come to market at a terrific price. Although this particular motherboard isn’t available yet, the A890GXM-A can be found today for USD 110, and we guess the A90GXM-A2 will be offered a little bit above that due to its USB 3.0 ports, bringing a terrific cost/benefit ratios for users in the situations described above.
