Gigabyte Unveils New AMD 800 Series Motherboard Family

Haven't you heard? AMD has a new CPU out, and the bargain price is shaking up the industry in a big way. With each new processor from Intel or AMD comes a load of motherboards itching to support it, and if you're not going the pre-fab route, Gigabyte would like to encourage you to have a look at their newest options.

The company has just launched a new AMD 800 Series Motherboard family, featuring support for 4-way CrossFireX, CPU Core Auto Unlock, auto-charging for iPhones, USB 3.0 (yes!), 3x USB power (enough to charge an iPad, we bet) and quite a bit more. Unlike past boards, you can tell that Gigabyte's playing to win in terms of extra features; in the past, so long as a motherboard had plenty of slots and supported your favorite CPU, GPU and RAM, you were set. These days, it's all about the extras, and the flagship GA-890FXA-UD7 has plenty to go around.

For media lovers, the GA-880GMA-UD2H has an onboard ATI Radeon HD 4250, which should be plenty for living room usage. These new boards also support SATA 6Gbps, so your new hard drives will be able to have one less bottleneck in the way of blistering performance. All of these mainboards should be making their way to retail soon, but MSRPs aren't yet public.

-- GIGABYTE Unveils Industry-leading AMD 800 Series Motherboards --
-- Featuring 4-Way CrossfireX, CPU Core Auto Unlock, On/Off Charge for iPhones, USB 3.0, 3x USB Power and more... –

Taipei, Taiwan, April 27, 2010 - GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and other computing hardware solutions today unveiled an exciting range of motherboards based on the highly anticipated AMD 890FX, 880G and 870 chipsets. The new models are the GA-890FXA-UD7, GA-880GMA-UD2H and GA-870A-UD3, all of which support the AMD Phenom™ II X6 six-core processors, native SATA 6Gb/s (via the SB850 Chipset) and ATI CrossFireX™/Hybrid CrossFireX™ multi-GPU technologies. The new additions also boast unique GIGABYTE technologies such as Auto Unlock that enables hidden CPU cores, On/Off Charge for enhanced iPhone/ iPad/iPod Touch charging, USB 3.0 and 3x USB power that distinguish them as industry leaders in this market segment.

As the flagship model for the series, the GA-890FXA-UD7 is designed to appeal to extreme overclockers, gamers and tech enthusiasts who demand only the latest, most advanced equipment. It features the AMD 890FX + SB850 chipset combination with support for 4-way ATI CrossFireX™ on an XL-ATX form factor and the highest quality 8+2 CPU VRM power phase design that handles 140W CPU power requirements with ease. In addition, the GA-890FXA-UD7 comes with the unique Hybrid Silent Pipe that allows for highly efficient system cooling without generating fan noise. Other noteworthy features include GIGABYTE 333 Onboard Acceleration technologies, onboard debug LEDs, and support for DDR3 1866.

For media center enthusiasts, the GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H motherboard features ATI Radeon™ HD 4250 integrated graphics that offers exceptional power efficiency and versatile high definition graphics configurations for the living room. ATI Radeon™ HD 4250 graphics includes support for Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1, for next generation features and performance that make this solution a leader in its class. The GA-880GMA-UD2H can also accommodate discrete VGA cards with ATI Hybrid CrossFireX™ for those enthusiasts who want to play demanding games on their media centers.

GIGABYTE Auto Unlock technology features a unique Core Boost micro-processor that enables the CPU’s hidden cores (when available), effectively providing a CPU upgrade while running multi-threaded applications or multi-tasking. More information is available from the official GIGABYTE motherboard web page.

“The GIGABYTE 800 series motherboard line-up is one of the most exciting launches we’ve had in a while due to the sheer number of unique new features, from both AMD and GIGABYTE, that make their debut on these products,” commented Tim Handley, Deputy Director of Motherboard Marketing at GIGABYTE Technology Co. Ltd. “Perhaps the most interesting of these is On/Off Charge, the first of many unique features derived from GIGABYTE 3x USB Power technology. On/Off Charge USB ports will make their way onto a majority of GIGABYTE motherboard models in the coming months as a standard feature that iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users can look for when they upgrade their PCs.”

GIGABYTE On/Off Charge allows iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users to charge their devices from the USB ports of their PC regardless of whether it is on or off. This capability is enabled by the On/Off driver utility combined with a dedicated white and red On/Off Charge USB port connector that connects to two front panel USB ports for user convenience. In addition, GIGABYTE 3x USB Power technology allows these users to enjoy faster device recharging by tripling the current that is available from all USB ports.

USB 3.0 Support

The GIGABYTE AMD 800 series motherboards support USB 3.0 (SuperSpeed USB) via an onboard NEC uPD720200 host controller. With superfast transfer rates of up to 5 Gbps, users are able to experience an almost 10x improvement over USB 2.0. Additionally, backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 assures users of continued use of their legacy USB 2.0 devices. The onboard NEC SuperSpeed USB technology also provides new power management features that include increased maximum bus power and device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices.

3x USB Power Boost

The GIGABYTE AMD 800 series motherboards feature a 3x USB power boost, delivering greater compatibility and extra power for USB bus powered devices. GIGABYTE’s unique USB power design is also able to efficiently regulate output over the full voltage range, which greatly enhances USB device operation and compatibility. In addition, dedicated lower resistance fuses ensure lower voltage drops, and provide more stable and plentiful power delivery.

SATA 6 Gbps Support

GIGABYTE AMD 800 series motherboards feature 6 ports of high-speed native SATA Revision 3.0 with 6 Gbps link speeds for twice the data transfer rates of SATA Revision 2.0 (3 Gbps). Moreover, they support multiple RAID configurations that include RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 that provide users with a range of choices for high performance or high reliability data storage.

A list of XL-ATX suitable cases is available on the GA-890FXA-UD7 web page. More information about the GIGABYTE GA-890FXA-UD7, GA-880GMA-UD2H and GA-870A-UD3 motherboards is available from their respective product web pages. More information about GIGABYTE On/Off Charge and 3x USB Power is available from http://www.gigabyte.us/FileList/WebPage/mb_on-off-charge/on-off-charge.htm and www.usb3motherboard.com.

About GIGABYTE Upgrade Your Life

GIGABYTE, headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, is known as a global leading brand in the IT industry, with employees and business channels in almost every country. Founded in 1986, GIGABYTE started as a research and development team and has since taken the lead in the world's motherboard market. On top of motherboards and graphics accelerators, GIGABYTE further expanded its product portfolio to include notebook and desktop PCs, digital home entertainment appliances, networking servers, communications, mobile and handheld devices, servicing every facet of people's lives at home or business. Everyday GIGABYTE aims to “Upgrade Your Life” with the most innovative designs and impeccable quality and services. Visit www.gigabyte.com.tw for more information.