Value -
Value is another very subjective topic. What is expensive to some might be a deal to others. You can look at this topic in multiple ways. One is raw price and the other is what you get for the money. Each is accurate and both are correct ways to look at price/value. We tend to look at features, performance and real-property when we discuss value. However, we also take into account the raw cash cost of the item.
$245 is about what you can expect to pay if you are looking into the Gigabyte 890FXA-UD7. This is about $15 more than its nearest competitor. Of course with the 890FXA you get the option for Quad Crossfire at x8 while most other boards in this range will only give you three-way crossfire. That all on its own should be worth the extra $15. Of course there are other items like the extra cooling options (water and extended passive air Via the Silent Pipe II) that will add to the value of this board. It really does balance out with some features on the 890FXA-UD7 helping to make the higher price tag worth the stretch if you are in the market for an AMD AM3 motherboard.
Conclusion -
I like Gigabyte’s 890FXA-UD7, it does pack quite a bit into a fairly clean package. I can see this board as relatively inexpensive base for a workstation/gaming rig. With 8GB of DDR3 2000 and a pair of HD 5870s plus a Phenom II X6 1090T this would be quite the station for 3D Animation along with great gaming potential. I would have to recommend getting an add-in audio card though to complete the set as the existing Realtek, while nice, just does not match up to my tastes in audio. In terms of overclocking I had some minor success with overclocking, I think if I play around with this board more I might see what I can get from a lower clocked CPU (as well as trying out the auto unlocker utility). I have to say that while I was tinkering around with the 890FXA-UD7 I did not even think about the On/Off Charge. I know that Gigabyte sees this as a major feature, but to be honest it is not one that most consumers (especially enthusiasts) are going to go for. Still there is plenty to like about the 890FXA if you are looking into getting an AMD CPU. It is one of the better boards out there and with its extra cooling is one that will be sure to last you a while. As for the small performance anomalies we saw, I have a feeling that mush of this will be addressed in BIOS updates as Gigabyte has been improving in their time to market with updates and fixes for their products.
To wrap things up; I think that Gigabyte’s new push back into the enthusiast component market (especially motherboards) is in full swing. They are quickly learning what works and what does not. The 890FXA-UD7 is an example of what works. We hope to play around with this board more in the next month or so to see what it can do under different CPU, and GPUs. For now I will say that if you are looking into an AMD AM3 CPU then you will want to take a long hard look at the 890FXA-UD7.
