DFI LanParty UT 790FX Motherboard Review

In the times before mainstream overclocking hit the enthusiast community you would be hard pressed to find a system that allowed you to overclock and when you did a cryptic set of jumpers was usually all you got. As overclocking matured so did the hardware offerings. Instead of jumper "trial and error" process you get a BIOS level interface to control just about everything from voltage to frequency and timings.  Of course when it comes to getting the most out of an overclock you have to consider your hardware and most importantly the motherboard.

As you can imagine core logic (or the chipset) plays a major role in how well a system can overclock, and having a skillful motherboard maker behind the scenes can't hurt either.

In this review we will be looking at the latest motherboard from DFI called the LanParty UT 790FX-M2R. This motherboard is built around the new AMD 790FX chipset that is designed specifically for PC enthusiasts with performance and overclocking in mind. The 790FX is a monster chipset supporting a variety of things including the new HyperTransport 3.0, Quad core processors, and Quad-Graphics.

AMD has this to say:

Exhilarating quadraphonic gaming for mind-blowing action
The native ATI CrossFireX™ configuration was designed to introduce the world to quadraphonic gaming. Annihilate your opponents and blaze through levels - with the power of quad-graphics behind you.

DFI is using a yellow and black color scheme on this motherboard which is no surprise considering that the yellow expansion slots have been reserved for the AMD line of motherboards, even since the beginning,

The back of the motherboard is typical however does feature a metal heatsink reinforcement plate. This bracket is recommended by AMD and helps to prevent PCB flexing under high heatsink pressure. Now if only waterblocks could use a similar method we'd be all set.