Test: DFI DK 790FXB M3H5

Konklusion

Det har været en fornøjelse at teste DFI's nyeste 790FX baserede bundkort, og det er rart at se DFI være tro mod chipsættet. Denne udtalelse grunder i boardets design, hvor man har valgt at vægte pladsen til 3 grafikkort i størrelse XXL, frem for en større og mere effektiv køling af boardets northbridge. Det er efter vores mening det rigtige valg at ta', da netop er 790FX chipsættets force, at kunne udnytte så mange grafikkort i et CrossFire-setup. Prisen har været at vi ikke har kunne overclocke systembussen ligeså meget som på andre 790FX bundkort vi har testet - spørgsmålet er så om det i virkeligheden er nødvendigt. Hvis man investerer i et bundkort som dette, for at smide to eller tre hammer-dyre grafikkort på, så er odds nok også at man har indkøbt en af AMD's Black Edition CPU'er i samme omgang, og så har man ulåst multiplier og masser af mulighed for at overclocke, uden at overbelaste bundkortets systembus.

Innovation/Teknologi - 5
790FX er det ypperste man kan komme inden for chipsæt til AMD for øjeblikket, og der vil endnu gå omkring et halvt års tid førend et nyere 890FX dukker op. Det er lang tid i denne branche. Det sagt, så skal man vide at det man betaler for ekstra ift. fx. 790X eller 790GX er mere PCIe båndbredde at lege med, hvilket vil sige at merprisen man betaler for dette chipsæt går næsten udelukkende til CrossFire-understøttelse.  

Bundle/Tilbehør - 2
Der er ikke den store tilbehørspakke med til dette bundkort, og det er en tilbagevendende trend, vi ser på stort set alt hvad der kommer ind af døren af AMD bundkort i øjeblikket. Bundkortproducenterne ved godt at de der køber AMD, er dem der ved hvor de fornuftigst kan få mest for deres penge, men at vedlægge så skrabet en bundle på et TOP-bundkort er efter vores mening en smule for fimset. 

Design/Layout - 5
DFI har fat i den lange ende, når de tilrettelægger et bundkort som dette, og virkelig er tro mod bundkortets store force, nemlig PCIe portene. Selv om det er gået ud over størrelsen på heatsinken til northbridgen, og det for os ser ud til at påvirke muligheden for at overclocke systembussen, så syntes vi stadig det er det helt rigtige valg de har taget. Der er plads til de allerstørste grafikkort i den heftigste konfiguration, med bedste mulighed for at skabe et optimalt airflow. Den eneste virkelige satsning går på, at folk der køber dette bundkort til disse formål, også har penge nok på lommen til at købe en Black Edition CPU, og det lyder ikke helt usandsynligt i vores ører. 

Software/BIOS - 5
DFI' s ret så geniale ABS-program der gør det muligt at gemme og dele BIOS-profiler i Windows, har endnu engang fundet sin vej i en softwarebundle, og det er vi glade for. For nu vi snakker BIOS, så har dette bundkort, som stort set alle andre DFI-bundkort, mange flere indstillinger at pille ved ift. de fleste af konkurrenternes. Det udløser tilsammen 5 points. 

Ydelse - 4
4 point synes vi fint kan berettiges i denne kategori, på trods af at vi ikke fik overclocket systembussen stabilt ved en særlig høj hastighed. Dette er naturligvis pga. nortbridgen der er flyttet og har fået en mindre heatsink på. Det er der til gengæld ikke det store problem i, og ej heller noget der forringer ydelsen ved overclock betydeligt, hvis ellers man bruger boardet sammen med en Black Edition CPU med ulåst multiplier, for så er det ikke nødvendigt at overclocke systembussen for at overclocke CPU'en. 

Pris - 5
DFI LanParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 er med en pris på lidt over kr. 1000,- et af de absolut billigste 790FX baserede bundkort til salg i Danmark. Det er et rigtig god pris for et DFI-bundkort, der ellers har for vane at tilhøre den dyere ende af prisskalaen. Så hvis man er ude efter et CrossFire-setup til en AMD maskine, og vil man ha' mulighed for et rigtig lækkert airflow, så kan DFI LanParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 helt klart anbefales.

Test: DFI DK 790FXB M3H5

Innovation / Teknologi	5
Bundle - Tilbehør	2
Design - Layout	5
Software - BIOS	5
Ydelse	4
Pris	5
Samlet	86%

UK Summary

It's been a pleasure to test the newest 790FX-based mainboard from DFI, and it's nice to see DFI being true to the chipset by designing it to hold 3 XXL sized video cards, instead of using more room to cool the northbridge a bit more efficiently. In our opinion it is the right choice to make, as the main force of the 790FX chipset is to be able to run that many video cards in a CrossFire setup. The price to pay, has been that we haven´t been able to overclock the systembus quite as much as on other 790FX mainboards we've tested - the question remains if this is really necessary. If you're investing in a mainboard like this in order to toss in 2 or 3 video cards for a CrossFire setup, then you've probably already bought a Black Edition CPU, making it unnecessary for you to overclock the systembus in order to overclock the CPU, due to the unlocked multiplier of Black Edition CPU's.

Innovation/Technology - 5
The 790FX chipset is the very top of available AMD chipsets at the moment, and we'll have to wait another 6 months or so before a newer 890FX will emerge. That's quite some time in this line of business. That being said, what you're paying extra for, compared to ie. 790X or 790GX, is more PCIe bandwidth to play around with, which means that the higher price you're paying for this mainboard, will almost exclusively be spent on the CrossFire support.

Bundle/Accessories - 2
There's no huge bundle coming along with this mainboard, but this is a recurring trend that we're observing with almost every AMD mainboard arriving through our door at the moment. The mainboard manufacturers know that those purchasing AMD are those who are well aware of how to get the most of the bucks they've spent, but a bundle of this tiny size for a top-of-the-line mainboard seems a tad too whimpy in our opinion.
 

Design/Layout - 5
DFI has caught the long end of the rope while organizing the layout of this mainboard, and they're really being true to the major force of its chipset, namely the PCIe ports. Even if this has a slight impact on the size on northbridge-heatsink and our ability to overclock the systembus, we still feel that they've made the right choice. There's room enough for all the largest video cards in a very hefty configuration, along with the best of opportunities for creating an optimal airflow. The only real chance they've taken is that they might be betting on people to be able to afford a Black Edition CPU - but to us this doesn't seem very unlikely at all.

Software/BIOS - 5
The very ingenious ABS-program from DFI makes it possible to save and share BIOS profiles in Windows, and it has made its way into a softwarebundle, which we're very pleased to see. While we're at it, this mainboard has - as almost every DFI mainboard - many more settings to fiddle with, compared to those of most of the competitors. All of this put together amounts to 5 points.
 

Performance - 4
4 points in this category seems to be justifiable, although we didn't manage to achieve a stable overclock of the systembus at a particular high speed. This is of course because that the northbridge has been moved and mounted with a smaller heatsink. However, this is really no big problem, and really nothing that severely hampers the performance if you're using a Black Edition CPU with an unlocked multiplier, allowing you to overclock without overclocking the systembus too.

Price - 5
With a pricetag of a little more than DKK 1000 (€ 133), the DFI LanParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 is among the very cheapest 790FX-based mainboards available for sale in Denmark. This is a very nice price for a DFI mainboard that usually belongs to the higher end of the pricescale. If you're looking for a CrossFire setup for an AMD machine while also looking for the ability to maintain a very nice airflow, the DFI LanParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 is highly recommended.