MSI 990FXA-GD80

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 7 expert reviews

Excellent:

3
Good:

3
Average:

1
Bad:

0

Pros:

Good overclocking potential.
Good performance.
High-quality components used.

Cons:

Included software did not work.
PCI Express card slots aren’t labeled to indicate bandwidth.

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Last revision on March 21, 2013

Reviewers Liked

Good overclocking potential
Good performance
High-quality components used
Great price
UEFI BIOS
LED error display
USB SuperCharger
Supports both CrossFireX and SLI
Good variety of both current and legacy ports
Inexpensive
Excellent performance
PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports

Reviewers Didn't Like

Included software did not work
PCI Express card slots aren’t labeled to indicate bandwidth
BIOS supports mouse but isn’t graphical
UEFI BIOS needs usability work
Skimpy manual
Couldn't match ASUS overclock
Only a single PWM fan header

Expert reviews and ratings

MSI has taken a different path to the over-the-top builds of GIGABYTE, ASUS and ASRock. With the top-end GD80 more in line with the low cost ethos of the AMD FX processor, it's packed in a number of nice features but managed to keep the price tag...

By APC Magazine on January 14, 2012

The MSI 990FXA-GD80 is an excellent addition to MSI's lineup of AMD boards. It comes stacked to the brim with attractive features and high-quality components. We really liked the military class components on the board, and though there is no way to...

By Bjorn3D on December 28, 2011

With its reasonable price and good support for both older add-ons and cutting-edge cards, the 990FXA-GD80 is a good choice for building a socket AM3+ system....

By Computer Shopper on December 15, 2011

A motherboard is the foundation of your rig, and thus merits the lion's share of your attention when deciding on components. If you're building a new AMD system, I think a 990FX platform is the way to go, especially for gamers: you can run any...

By Benchmark Reviews on October 19, 2011

The big difference between this 990FXA-GD80 and MSI's much cheaper 970A-GD45 (besides the befuddling array of characters) is the chipset. The 990FX chipset will let you play with multiple graphics cards, whether they're Nvidia or AMD-flavoured....

By TechRadar on September 22, 2011

The 990FXA-GD80 was limited in the overclocking department but compensated with a high CPU frequency. The resulting speed wasn’t amazing compared with the competition, but it was enough to secure a solid position. The most disappointing aspect of...

By Bit-tech.net on August 26, 2011

After having tested a pretty big cross section of MSI's Intel lineup I was looking forward to getting a crack at what they have to offer in the way of a board built to use AMD's latest "Bulldozer" processors and the 990FX/SB950 chipsets. As you...

By Overclockers Club on November 10, 2011

Official motherboard page MSI 990FXA-GD80 is currently the highest-end solution in company's Socket AM3+ series. As such it has and supports everything MSI can offer today. Nonetheless, this motherboard is practical and reasonable enough, without...

By iXBT Labs on October 31, 2011

Back in early June the AMD 990FX chipset release took us a little off-guard, I mean here we have this all new motherboard series yet are lacking the Bulldozer FX processors to show off the (hopefully) true muscle power. Meanwhile all reviews and...

By Guru of 3D on July 19, 2011

The MSI 990FXA-GD80 brings several nice features, such as four PCI Express x16 slots, two FireWire ports, two USB 3.0 ports, six SATA-600 ports, POST diagnostics display, decent audio quality with coaxial and optical SPDIF outputs, a very high-end...

By Hardware Secrets on June 13, 2011

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