Conclusions
Contents
The MSI 990FXA-GD80 brings several nice features, such as four PCI Express x16 slots, two FireWire ports, two USB 3.0 ports, six SATA-600 ports, POST diagnostics display, decent audio quality with coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs, a very high-end voltage regulator circuit, and a terrific set of overclocking options. In addition, the OC Genie button allows you to overclock your system without the need of manually changing any complicated settings.
Of course it is not the cheapest motherboard around, but it comes with a fair price for its set of features.
The only drawback we see with the 990FXA-GD80 is its audio codec. Since it is a high-end model, MSI should have used a better codec such as the Realtek ALC889. Also, keep in mind that, for best performance, if you have two video cards, you must install the second one in the third PCI Express x16 slot, not in the second.
Even though the MSI 990FXA-GD80 is mainly targeted to the forthcoming CPUs based on the AMD “Bulldozer” architecture, it is already available on the market, supporting current-generation CPUs.
