ASUS Launches New AMD 9 Series Motherboards
Subject: Motherboards | May 31, 2011 - 12:19 PM | John Davis
Tagged: motherboard, cpus, computex, asus, amd
Taipei, Taiwan (May 31th, 2011) — ASUS has announced a new lineup of AMD based motherboards that support the 990FX/990X/970 chipsets and AM3+ CPUs, the first company in the market to provide fully compatible AM3+ motherboards. The models available are the M5A99/97 Series, the TUF SABERTOOTH 990FX and the ROG Crosshair V Formula. The M5A99/97 Series feature ASUS exclusive Dual Intelligent Processors (DIP), comprised of the TurboV Processor Unit (TPU) and Energy Processor Unit (EPU), which has been stated to be the “best power management technology” by worldwide media. Premium models also feature UEFI BIOS and the second generation of DIP that contains DIGI+ VRM (Digital power design), a first for AMD based boards. The new motherboards will be the first on the AMD chipset based platform to support both multi-GPU technologies AMD CrossFireX™ and NVIDIA® SLI™.
Dual Intelligent Processors 2 with DIGI+ VRM
The ASUS M5A99/97 Series motherboards offer unsurpassed compatibility with new AMD AM3+ socket CPUs, while also being backwards compatible with the previous generation AM3 CPU. The M5A99/97 core series is equipped with DIP2, which features DIGI+ VRM technology in addition to the TPU and EPU. DIGI+ VRM power delivery allows a user to precisely adjust and control power settings digitally for precise power control and flexible tuning of their system, perfectly serving the AM3+ CPU specification’s power demand. Digital control differs from analog controls by eliminating digital-to-analog conversion lag, which helps to improve overclocking capabilities. This means precise power flow adjustment and management as well as easy and flexible tuning, including extra DRAM power control for the AMD platform. It’s the most precise power delivery available, providing the best-in-class in power efficiency, performance and stability while also helping to maximize the overall overclocking potential. Also included on the M5A99/97 Series motherboards is the intuitive UEFI BIOS menu interface. UEFI BIOS allows a user to control and adjust their BIOS settings through the use of a mouse-enabled interface for more user-friendly navigation. The built-in EZ Mode option also provides a drag-and-drop boot priority option, for easier management of boot devices.
Specs:
Taipei, Taiwan (May 31th, 2011) — ASUS has announced a new lineup of AMD based motherboards that support the 990FX/990X/970 chipsets and AM3+ CPUs, the first company in the market to provide fully compatible AM3+ motherboards. The models available are the M5A99/97 Series, the TUF SABERTOOTH 990FX and the ROG Crosshair V Formula. The M5A99/97 Series feature ASUS exclusive Dual Intelligent Processors (DIP), comprised of the TurboV Processor Unit (TPU) and Energy Processor Unit (EPU), which has been stated to be the “best power management technology” by worldwide media. Premium models also feature UEFI BIOS and the second generation of DIP that contains DIGI+ VRM (Digital power design), a first for AMD based boards. The new motherboards will be the first on the AMD chipset based platform to support both multi-GPU technologies AMD CrossFireX™ and NVIDIA® SLI™.
Dual Intelligent Processors 2 with DIGI+ VRM
The ASUS M5A99/97 Series motherboards offer unsurpassed compatibility with new AMD AM3+ socket CPUs, while also being backwards compatible with the previous generation AM3 CPU. The M5A99/97 core series is equipped with DIP2, which features DIGI+ VRM technology in addition to the TPU and EPU. DIGI+ VRM power delivery allows a user to precisely adjust and control power settings digitally for precise power control and flexible tuning of their system, perfectly serving the AM3+ CPU specification’s power demand. Digital control differs from analog controls by eliminating digital-to-analog conversion lag, which helps to improve overclocking capabilities. This means precise power flow adjustment and management as well as easy and flexible tuning, including extra DRAM power control for the AMD platform. It’s the most precise power delivery available, providing the best-in-class in power efficiency, performance and stability while also helping to maximize the overall overclocking potential. Also included on the M5A99/97 Series motherboards is the intuitive UEFI BIOS menu interface. UEFI BIOS allows a user to control and adjust their BIOS settings through the use of a mouse-enabled interface for more user-friendly navigation. The built-in EZ Mode option also provides a drag-and-drop boot priority option, for easier management of boot devices.
Specs:
|
Model |
M5A99X EVO |
M5A97 EVO |
M5A97 PRO |
M5A97 |
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CPU Socket |
AMD Socket AM3+ for AMD FX Series CPU up to 8-core, Compatible with AMD Socket AM3 for AMD Phenom™ II /Athlon™ II /Sempron™ 100 Series Processors |
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Chipset |
AMD 990X/SB950 |
AMD 970/SB950 |
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Memory |
DDR3 2133(O.C.) / 1866 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 MHz Support |
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Power Phase Design |
DIGI+ VRM 6+2 |
4+2 |
|
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PCIe x16 Slots |
3 |
2 |
|
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Multi-GPU |
CrossFireX / SLI |
CrossFireX |
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LAN |
Realtek® Gigabit LAN |
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Audio |
8 - Channel HD, DTS |
8 - Channel HD |
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Storage |
6 x SATA 6Gb/s |
6 x SATA 6Gb/s |
6 x SATA 6Gb/s |
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USB |
4 x USB 3.0 (2 ports at back panel, 2 ports at front panel), 14 x USB 2.0 |
2 x USB 3.0 (back), 14 x USB 2.0 |
2 x USB 3.0 (back), 12 x USB 2.0 |
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Dual Intelligent Processors 2 with DIGI+ VRM |
V |
V |
V |
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UEFI BIOS |
V |
V |
V |
V |
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TPU (with onboard switch) |
V |
V |
V (without onboard switch) |
V (without onboard switch) |
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EPU (with onboard switch) |
V |
V |
V (without onboard switch) |
V (without onboard switch) |
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Phenom II End of Line
It was January, 2009 when AMD released their first 45 nm product to the desktop market. While the server market actually received the first 45 nm parts some months earlier, they were pretty rare until AMD finished ramping production and was able to release the next generation of Phenom parts into the wild. The Phenom II proved an able competitor to Intel’s seemingly unstoppable Core 2 architecture. While the Phenom II typically had to be clocked slightly higher than the competing products, they held up well in terms of price and performance.
AMD was finally able to overcome the stigma of the original Phenom launch, which was late, slow, and featured that wonderful revision B2 bug. The Phenom II showed none of those problems, per clock performance was enhanced, and the chips were able to run at speeds of 3.0 GHz. These chips were able to hit speeds of 4+ GHz on water cooling, and 5+ GHz using LNO2. AMD seemed finally back in the game. The Phenom II looked to propel AMD back into competitiveness with Intel, and the leaks pertaining to the 6 core versions of the architecture only made consumers all the more excited for what was to come.
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