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Gigabyte Keeping AM3+ Alive in 2016 with GA-990FX-Gaming Motherboard

AMD’s AM3+ socket is approaching five years of age and in tech-years, that is practically ancient and even though AMD’s philosophy has always been delivering bang-for-buck value, five years is a long time to keep a standard alive. For their part, top motherboard manufacturer Gigabyte is not giving up on the socket and is delivering current storage comforts to the old platform. With the GA-990FX-Gaming motherboard, Gigabyte provides USB 3.1 Type-C (through an ASMedia controller) and PCI-E x4 M.2 support just like what most of the latest Intel Skylake motherboards offer.

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The good news does not stop there as those who are hoping to run 220W beasts such as the FX-9590 can do so on the GA-990FX-Gaming with its 8+2 phase VRM and official CPU support right out of the gate with F1 version of the BIOS. It also features Killer E2201 Gigabit LAN, 2-way SLI/Crossfire support, dual-BIOS, Realtek ALC1150 HD Audio with Burr-Brown OPA2134 OpAmps, onboard buttons, and Gigabyte USB DAC ports with dedicated power. AMD fans will certainly appreciate the mileage they are getting with their AM3+ CPU upgrading to this motherboard.

CPU AM3+ Socket:

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  1. AMD AM3+ FX processor
  2. AMD AM3 Phenom™ II processor/ AMD Athlon™ II processor

(Please refer “CPU Support List” for more information.)

Hyper Transport Bus
  1. 4800 MT/s
Chipset
  1. North Bridge: AMD 990FX
  2. South Bridge: AMD SB950
Memory
  1. 4 x DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory
    * Due to a Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than the size of the physical memory installed.
  2. Dual channel memory architecture
  3. Support for DDR3 2000(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules
    * To support a DDR3 1866 MHz (and above) memory, you must install an AM3+ CPU first.
  4. Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules

(Please refer “Memory Support List” for more information.)

Audio
  1. Realtek® ALC1150 codec
  2. TI Burr Brown® OPA2134 operational amplifier
  3. High Definition Audio
  4. 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
  5. Support for S/PDIF Out
LAN
  1. Rivet Networks Killer™ E2201 LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots
  1. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1/PCIEX16_2)
    * For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16_1 slot; if you are installing two PCI Express graphics cards, it is recommended that you install them in the PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2 slots.
  2. 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4)
    * The PCIEX4 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX1_3 slot. When PCIEX1_3 is populated with a PCI Express expansion card, the PCIEX4 slot will operate at up to x2 mode.
  3. 3 x PCI Express x1 slots
    (All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
Multi-Graphics Technology
  1. Support for 2-Way AMD CrossFire™ and 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
Storage Interface South Bridge:

  1. 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA and PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD support)
  2. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
  3. Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, and JBOD
    * Refer to “1-9 Internal Connectors,” for the supported configurations with the M.2 and SATA connectors.
USB South Bridge:

  1. 12 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports (6 ports on the back panel, 6 ports available through the internal USB headers)

VIA® VL805 chip:

  1. 4 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)

ASMedia® USB 3.1 Controller:

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  1. 1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support
  2. 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel
Internal I/O Connectors
  1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
  2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
  3. 1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector
  4. 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
  5. 1 x CPU fan header
  6. 2 x system fan headers
  7. 1 x power fan header
  8. 1 x front panel header
  9. 1 x front panel audio header
  10. 1 x S/PDIF Out header
  11. 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header
  12. 3 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  13. 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
  14. 1 x serial port header
  15. 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
  16. 1 x audio gain control switch
  17. 1 x power button
  18. 1 x reset button
  19. 1 x Clear CMOS button
Back Panel Connectors
  1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
  2. 1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 support
  3. 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red)
  4. 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
  5. 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
  6. 1 x RJ-45 port
  7. 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
  8. 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In)
I/O Controller
  1. iTE® I/O Controller Chip
H/W Monitoring
  1. System voltage detection
  2. CPU/System temperature detection
  3. CPU/System/Power fan speed detection
  4. CPU overheating warning
  5. CPU/System/Power fan fail warning
  6. CPU/System fan speed control
    * Whether the fan speed control function is supported will depend on the cooler you install.
BIOS
  1. 2 x 32 Mbit flash
  2. Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS
  3. Support for DualBIOS™
  4. PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
Unique Features
  1. Support for APP Center
    * Available applications in APP Center may vary by motherboard model. Supported functions of each application may also vary depending on motherboard specifications.
    @BIOS
    Ambient LED
    Cloud Station
    EasyTune
    Game Controller
    Smart TimeLock
    Smart Recovery 2
    System Information Viewer
    USB Blocker
  2. Support for Q-Flash
  3. Support for ON/OFF Charge
  4. Support for Smart Switch
  5. Support for Xpress Install
Bundle Software
  1. Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)
Operating System
  1. Support for Windows 10/8.1/7
Form Factor
  1. ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm
Remark
  1. Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors’ website or 3rd party website.
  2. Most hardware/software vendors may no longer offer drivers to support Win9X/ME/2000/XP. If drivers are available from the vendors, we will update them on the GIGABYTE website.

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