Gigabyte

GA-890FXA-UD5

Build Review
November 2010
 Putting together a PC using Gigabyte’s GA-890FXA-UD5
I have just taken delivery of Gigabyte’s GA-890FXA-UD5 AM3 motherboard and I thought others might be
interested in how the build goes and what I can get from the PC once everything is up and running.

I’m not going to go into the package details or the specifications for this motherboard as that has been done to
death by other’s but, if you are not familiar with Gigabyte products you can check out the specifications for this
motherboard here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3519&dl=1#ov

For the build I will be recycling parts from my current PC, which I think is the way that most users go when
upgrading. The steps are almost the same as for doing a new build but, before putting things together it is a
good idea to check that your components can be re-used. It is important to check that the CPU will be
supported by the motherboard or if it might need a BIOS update first. Another thing to double check is if the
RAM is compatible, just because it is working on your current system it doesn’t mean it will work on a new
motherboard. If you are doing a new build, these are things that you really should check before buying any
parts as it can save a lot of heartache. Another thing to do is download any new motherboard drivers and
BIOS update that you want. This is a good idea especially as the drivers that come on the supplied CD with
the motherboard have, in most cases, been updated since its launch.

It’s a good idea to do an initial build

on a bench or table, as this makes it
easier to troubleshoot if you run into
any problems. Make sure the build
area is clear and that you have all of
the parts you need close to hand.

To avoid any possible electrical

problems with the motherboard
shorting out it is a good idea to place
it onto something that is non-
conductive. I use the box that the
motherboard came in for this
purpose.
 The first thing to do is mount the CPU.

If you are reusing the CPU and cooler from

a previous PC you will need to use a little
thermal grease (new coolers usually come
with this pre-applied). Be careful not to use
too much as this can be just as bad as not
using enough. A small bead of about 3 mm
is normally enough.

You don’t need to spread this out as if you

twist the cooler slightly, when you position
on top of the CPU it will be spread for you.

Once you have mounted and locked down the

Cpu Cooler, attach the lead from the fan to the
CPU fan header on the motherboard.

Once the CPU and cooler

are attached it’s time to add
the RAM modules and, if
you are using an add-on
Graphic Card, that too.

If you are building on top of

a box then you need to
make sure that the back
edge of the motherboard
hangs over slightly to allow
for the bracket on the card.
That’s all that we need, to
allow the PC to boot.

Of course, to get going we

need some power so the 24
Pin ATX Lead and the 8 Pin
ATX 12V lead have to be in-
serted into the sockets on
the motherboard.

Remember to attach the

power lead to your graphic
card if it needs one. Some
of the larger graphic cards
need two power leads, so
watch out for this.

The GA-890FXA-UD5 comes with a Power Switch, Reset Switch and

Clear CMOS Switch built into the motherboard, a nice feature but, if
your motherboard doesn’t have these you will need to attach the
necessary cables from you PC Case. Don’t forget to add the PC
Speaker or a separate Motherboard Speaker so that you can hear
the POST Beeps.

This speaker should

come with the PC Case
not with the
motherboard.
If you are feeling
extravagant you can
invest £5.00 in a PC
Motherboard Test
Switch Kit that has
everything you need to
fire up your
motherboard outside
of the case.

You also need to connect a monitor and keyboard. Take care when attaching the monitor cable to the graphic
card as the card is not securely fixed at this stage and can come out from the slot on the motherboard.

I tend to use a PS2 keyboard when playing with BIOS

settings as I have found this to be more reliable but if
you only have a USB keyboard don’t worry, that will still
work.

Now you have made all the necessary connections you

can power up the PC for the first time. If everything is
working OK you should hear one beep from the
motherboard speaker, indicating that all is fine and the
Gigabyte Splash Screen should appear on your moni-
tor.
Congratulations, if everything is working properly you’ve now got your PC up and running. If you press the DEL
key (you may have to press this several times before it is picked up by BIOS) during the BOOT sequence you
can enter BIOS and make any changes that you may want to do at this stage. However, for me, the first thing I
am going to do is flash BIOS to the latest version using the Qflash Utility. If you are not sure how to flash BIOS
there is a useful guide that you can read here: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2441.0.html

Whenever I flash BIOS I use a USB stick as I have found this to be the easiest way.

On the QFlash homescreen highlight the update My USB Stick showed up as HDD 0-0.
BIOS from Drive option

As you can see from this image, my USB stick had Then I highlighted the actual update file
several folders on it. All I did was highlight the
folder that contained the BIOS update file.

QFlash then asked if I wanted to update BIOS I hit the enter key on my keyboard and the BIOS
updated without an issue.
 Once the BIOS updating process had completed I
pressed the F10 key to shutdown the PC. Re-Booted and
went back into BIOS by pressing the DEL key and loaded
Optimized Defaults. Pressed the F10 key again to the
changes to CMOS and then re-booted the PC again. It
was all very quick and utterly painless.

Now that I was happy that there were no issues with the basic hardware set-up and also that the motherboard
was functioning correctly it was time for me to swap out the CPU and CPU Cooler and build the PC inside the
PC Case.

When I removed the cooler from the CPU I could clearly

see how the Thermal Grease I had applied previously had
ben spread across the surface of the CPU. I wiped this
away using a piece of soft kitchen towel before I removed
the CPU from the socket on the motherboard.

I removed the CPU and replaced it with the Phenom ii X6

1090T that I will actually be using on this PC.

As I am replacing the stock AMD Cooler with a

Noctua NH-D14, there are a couple of steps that
need to be taken to allow for the fitting of this new
cooler. The first thing I had to do was remove the
Blue Cooler Mounting Bracket from the
motherboard. This is easy as it only has four
screws holding it in place.
I then had to attach the special mounting brackets
for the Noctua cooler.
The observant amongst you will have noticed that I
left my CPU in place during this process but it
would probably be better if you don’t do this!
 The Noctua NH-D14 is one of the larger Air coolers
available and it actually covers the four RAM Slots on the
motherboard. As I am using Corsair Dominator RAM 
Modules, I had to remove the cooling fins from the top of
the RAM modules and insert them into the RAM Slots on
the motherboard before I could attach the cooler.

I am re-using my NZXT Tempest Evo PC Case for

this build and I have stripped it down in preparation
for the re-build. I did leave the HDD’s and DVD/CD
writer in place as they don’t intrude and it saves a lot
of work. The standoffs for the motherboard are also
still in place from my previous motherboard. If you
are changing from an MATX to an ATX motherboard
or vice versa you will have to check the position of
these standoffs and reposition or remove/add them
as necessary. Also make sure that there are no
standoffs, screws or other bits under where the
motherboard sits as this is likely to cause your
motherboard to short out.

I then fitted the motherboard backplate into the PC Case (it

comes with the motherboard). It just pushes into the back of
the PC Case but a little bit of care is needed to make sure it
sits properly and also to avoid bending it as it is not the
strongest of items.

Next I added the Power Supply Unit (PSU) as it is

sometimes difficult to get this to fit after the
motherboard has been installed, especially if the
PC Case has the PSU fitted at the top of the case.
 Mounting the motherboard can sometimes be a little tricky but as
long as you line up the mounting holes on the motherboard with
the standoffs it shouldn’t cause too many problems. Don’t tighten
the fixing screws too much as you made need to slightly jiggle the
motherboard to get it to fit properly. As soon as I was happy that
the motherboard was sitting correctly I tightened the screws to
hold it in place. Don’t be tempted to overtighten these screws as
it could cause damage to the motherboard.

Once I had mounted the Motherboard I attached the 24 Pin ATX

cable and also the 8 Pin ATX 12V Cable, making sure they were
fully seated and locked in position. Because of the coolers at-
tached to the motherboard the 8 Pin plug was a little tricky to get
in position so it took a little while to get seated properly and if this
plug isn’t attached correctly the PC won’t start.

I then attached the Noctua cooler. As the fans on this cooler don’t
like the ramped voltage usually supplied from the motherboard
headers I will have to make some changes to BIOS to get them to
run properly from the motherboard fan headers. I actually attached
these to the PWR_Fan and SYS_FAN2 headers as they are both
three pin. This is due to the design of the Noctua fans and not due
to the motherboard.

Then came the front panel wiring from my PC Case. Even after all
the builds I have done, I still check this out from the User’s Manual
as it is easy to make a mistake.

I also attached the USB Header from the Case to the White USB
Header on the motherboard that allows for Gigabyte’s On/Off
charging. I also made sure that I attached the motherboard speaker
as there isn’t one built into my PC Case. This speaker came with
the Case and doesn’t come with the motherboard.

Once I was happy with the header connections I attached the SATA
cables to the Hard drives and the DVD/CD Writer. I do this before I
add the Graphic Card as I have found that with the length of some
of the high end cards this can be really awkward to do after it has
been installed.
 With the SATA Cables in place I then
add the Graphic Card, I’m using a
Sapphire 4850X2 with the aluminium
shroud removed in an effort to
reduce the noise this card makes
and also any other parts.

In my case I have added the PCI

Card for my M-Audio Delta 1010
Soundcard and an extra two USB
Ports to the rear from the add-on
USB Bracket (Part No. 12CR1-
1UB030-5*R) that I had from my
previous build.

The last thing to do is connect all the power leads from the Power Supply to the Graphics Card, Hard drives,
DVD/CD Writer and the case fans. That’s it the PC is now built and ready to be put through its paces.

Full list of Components:

Chassis: NZXT Tempest Evo
Motherboard: GA-890FXA-UD5 Rev. 2.1 (F5 BIOS)
CPU: AMD Phenom II x6 1090T BE 125W
Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 Air cooler
RAM: Corsair Dominator 2 x CMD4GX3M2B1600C8 (8 Gig)
GPU: Sapphire Radeon ATI 4850x2 (1 Gig)
Monitors: 1 x LG L1715S & 2 x LG L194WT
Sound Card: M-Audio Delta 1010
HDD's: 1 x Hitachi Deskstar 1TB, 2 X WD 640 Gig Caviar Black SATA3, 1 x Seagate 1TB
DVD/CD: Liteon SATA
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical USB
Keyboard: Microsoft Digital Media Pro
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (Retail)
So now the PC has been put together I can start setting up BIOS prior to loading the Operating System (OS).

It is always nice to see the POST Screen when you first

start up the PC and it shows that all of the Hard drives
and the DVD/CD Writer are being recognised along with
all of the RAM.

This screen also shows that the BIOS is version F5 and

the CPU I am using.

Pressing the DEL key on the keyboard at this stage

takes me into BIOS.

The BIOS Homescreen shows the various headings that

are available.

The first is for the Motherboard Intelligent Tweaker or M.I.T. This section allows you to change various settings
such as voltages and timings for the CPU and RAM. At this stage I leave this alone as I want to know how the
system will run at default settings BEFORE I start trying to adjust anything or do any overclocking.

Standard CMOS Features is where you can find details

of your Hard drives and you can also set the Date &
Time if needed.

I disable the Floppy Drive Option as I don’t have one.

The Advanced BIOS Features is where you can find the Virtualization, CPU Core Control, AMD CoolnQuiet
and CPU Unlock Options. This is also where you can disable the Full Screen LOGO Show to stop that from
showing every time you BOOT the PC and set your Graphic Card Priority, in my case I had to set this to PEG.

Under the heading Integrated Peripherals is where the main changes and settings are made to the on-board
hardware and SATA Controllers. I set the SATA Controllers to Native IDE and I disabled the E-SATA Option as
I do not have any E-SATA Devices. I also disabled the On-Board Audio as I am using a separate Soundcard,
the Serial Port and also the Parallel port as I don’t need those.

PC Health Status shows the System and CPU Temperatures and it is also in this section that I disable the
Smart Fan Controls for the System Fans and the CPU.
I have learnt to leave all of the other settings in BIOS at
their Default settings at this stage. Once I was happy
with the changes I had made to BIOS I pressed F10 on
the Keyboard to save them to CMOS and re-booted the
PC and then I shut it down as I wanted to remove three
of my hard drives, from the system before I installed the
OS. All I did was remove the power leads to the drives.
I then plugged in my USB stick that I use for loading
Windows 7 restarted the PC, pressed F12 on my key-
board to go to the BOOT Menu and selected USB-HDD
and Installed the OS.

There are lots of articles on the internet explaining how

to load Windows so I won’t go through it all here. What
I will say though it was quick and painless. As I had set
the SATA Controllers to Native IDE I didn’t need to use the F6 option to pre-load drivers and the whole install
took less than 20 minutes.

Once the OS was installed I loaded the Motherboard

Drivers. All I need were the Southbridge Chipset,
Realtek LAN and USB 3 Drivers. I then installed the
drivers for my Graphic Card and then, the drivers for the
Soundcard.

A quick check in Device Manager showed that

everything had installed correctly and that there were
no problems.

Then next task was to download the updates from

Microsoft for the OS. The whole task from starting to in-
stall the OS to being ready to use the PC took about 90
minutes, the longest part of this process was actually
downloading and installing the Microsoft updates.

CoreTemp and HWMonitor both showed that

the system was running nice and cool too!

The Re-boot time, at this stage was a pretty

impressive 53 seconds.
One of the first test I ran was CrystalDisk Mark to find out the transfer speeds to my Primary Hard drive. The
reason I did this was as a direct comparison to the Marvell 9128 SATA3 Chipset on my previous motherboard.
As you can see from the following images the AMD SB850 Chip handles this slightly better.

SATA3 Hard drive running on the AMD SB850 in The same SATA3 Hard drive running on the
Native IDE Mode Marvell 9128 Chipset in Native IDE Mode

With the OS loaded and initial test completed I can now get on with loading my programmes and using the PC.
I don’t bother with stress testing as I believe if the system is going to fall over at default settings I am soon
going to discover that.

For me, building this PC and setting up BIOS was a breeze but I have built a lot of computers using Gigabyte
Motherboards so I do have the advantage of being familiar with them. Setting the SATA Controllers to Native
IDE made installing the OS really easy but I know that others will want to use there system in either AHCI
mode or using a RAID configuration so, as a matter of interest I did re-install the OS a couple of times using
both options.

AHCI Mode presented no problems at all and, as in Native IDE Mode, I didn’t need to pre-load any drivers
during the Windows Install. Once I had installed the basic drivers for the motherboard I once again ran
CrystalDisk Mark. First I ran the test with the native AHCI Driver from Microsoft and then I installed the AMD
AHCI Driver. Both offered a slight improvement over Native IDE Mode but the Microsoft AHCI Driver actually
performed better than the AMD one

SATA3 Hard drive running on the AMD SB850 in SATA3 Hard drive running on the AMD SB850 in
AHCI Mode using the Microsoft Driver AHCI Mode using the AMD AHCI Driver
Setting up a RAID0 Array was a little more difficult but, by following the instructions in the User's Manual I
managed to figure it out.

I decided to build this array using two WD Caviar Black SATA3 HDD's mainly because these were all I had at
hand and also because I could not get these to work in RAID on the Marvell 9128 controller and I wanted to see
if they would work with the AMD SB850 controller. There were several steps that I had to go through to build the
RAID Array before I could install the OS.

I had to set the controller in BIOS to RAID When I re-booted the PC I initially thought something was
wrong as it seemed to hang before it showed
me this screen.

Pressing CTRL+F on the previous screen gave me this Once again I found this screen a little confusing but read-
screen. I had to hit the number 2 on my keyboard to get ing the User’s Manual pointed me in the right direction
to the next screen and pressing CTRL+C was what I had to do.

Using the Up/Down Arrows on the keyboard I highlighted I just hit the enter key when I came to this screen and
my Hard drives then hitting the space bar changed them used the default name for the Array.
to being active.
At this screen I had to hit the CTRL+Y keys to actually I then hit the Enter key to use all of the space on the Hard
set-up the Array drives rather than specify a different capacity.

Once I had completed all of the steps, hitting Y on the When I went to install Windows the RAID Array wasn’t
keyboard finished with the PC rebooting. immediately recognised....

....and I was asked to install the needed driver. Luckily I had loaded the driver on a USB Stick and once I
had located it and they were installed.....
... the RAID Array was recognised and Windows installed
With the OS installed and all of the drivers I ran
without a problem.
CrystalDisk Mark again and the returned speeds for the
RAID0 Array were approximately 2X that of a single drive.
Device Manager also showed that everything had installed
without a problem and that the RAID array was using the
AMD AHCI Compatible RAID Driver.

The reboot time for RAID was well over a minute.

This is primarily due to the way that the RAID is han-

dled in BIOS and it was quite disconcerting the first
couple of times I rebooted the PC as the
Monitor Screens went black with just a small white
cursor flashing in the top left-hand corner of the
screen, for what seemed like a very long time (10-15
seconds) before it moved on to recognising the RAID
Array and then into loading windows.

And that's it, the build is complete, the Operating System is installed and running, all without any grey hairs being
added. So what can I say about the GA-890FXA-UD5 motherboard?

Well, it is solid and well made. The ease of initially building the PC is enhanced by the addition of the Power and
Reset buttons built into the board and the fact that they are lit with blue LED's only adds to the overall feel of
quality. The Clear CMOS Button hasn't had to be used yet but I'm certain that it will prove just as useful when I
really start playing with the BIOS when it comes to actually Overclocking the system.... but that will be another
story.

The board’s layout and design is pretty standard but the Mosfet, Southbridge and Northbridge cooling didn’t in-
terfere with the Noctua CPU Cooler which had been an initial concern when I first unpacked the board.

If I were to make one criticism it would be with the position of the SATA ports. I know it is difficult to layout every-
thing that this motherboard carries, on to such a limited space but, positioning them just where a longer Graphic
Card will sit, makes it very difficult to attach SATA cables if it is done after the GPU is installed. It will also make
re-configuring the system a little harder to do should the need arise in the future.
Overall the GA890FXA-UD5 is an excellent motherboard, rich with features and a breeze when it comes to build-
ing a PC. The drivers installed without any problems and the fact that I was able to install in Native IDE, AHCI
and RAID0 with relative ease is another tribute to the motherboard’s capabilities.