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.
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:
AMD AM3+ FX processor
AMD AM3 Phenom™ II processor/ AMD Athlon™ II processor
(Please refer “CPU Support List” for more information.)
Hyper Transport Bus
4800 MT/s
Chipset
North Bridge: AMD 990FX
South Bridge: AMD SB950
Memory
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.
Dual channel memory architecture
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.
Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules
(Please refer “Memory Support List” for more information.)
Audio
Realtek® ALC1150 codec
TI Burr Brown® OPA2134 operational amplifier
High Definition Audio
2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
Support for S/PDIF Out
LAN
Rivet Networks Killer™ E2201 LAN chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots
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.
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 x PCI Express x1 slots
(All of the PCI Express slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
Multi-Graphics Technology
Support for 2-Way AMD CrossFire™ and 2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
Storage Interface
South Bridge:
1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280 SATA and PCIe x4/x2/x1 SSD support)
6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
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.
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:
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:
1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support
1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel
Internal I/O Connectors
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector
6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
1 x CPU fan header
2 x system fan headers
1 x power fan header
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
1 x S/PDIF Out header
1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header
3 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
1 x serial port header
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
1 x audio gain control switch
1 x power button
1 x reset button
1 x Clear CMOS button
Back Panel Connectors
1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 support
1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red)
2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports
6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
1 x RJ-45 port
1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In)
I/O Controller
iTE® I/O Controller Chip
H/W Monitoring
System voltage detection
CPU/System temperature detection
CPU/System/Power fan speed detection
CPU overheating warning
CPU/System/Power fan fail warning
CPU/System fan speed control
* Whether the fan speed control function is supported will depend on the cooler you install.
BIOS
2 x 32 Mbit flash
Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS
Support for DualBIOS™
PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0
Unique Features
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
Support for Q-Flash
Support for ON/OFF Charge
Support for Smart Switch
Support for Xpress Install
Bundle Software
Norton® Internet Security (OEM version)
Operating System
Support for Windows 10/8.1/7
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm
Remark
Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors’ website or 3rd party website.
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.
