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So far, MSI has released only two motherboards based on the new AMD 990FX chipset, one for the top mainstream market (990FXA-GD65), and one for the high-end market (990FXA-GD80). Let’s take a look at the MSI 990FXA-GD80.
The AMD 990FX chipset is basically an AMD 890FX chipset with a new name. There are no new features. The AMD 990FX chipset, however, is targeted to the new socket AM3+ platform, while the 890FX chipset is targeted to the socket AM3 platform. This way, AMD is providing an easy way to identify the platform through the chipset name. Socket AM3+ motherboards support the forthcoming AMD CPUs based on the new “Bulldozer” architecture. So, even though the chipset is the same, 890FX motherboards won’t support this new generation of AMD processors.
Figure 1: MSI 990FXA-GD80 motherboard
