AMD 790GX Head to Head

 

As you can see, because both boards are based around the exact same chipset there are very few differences between the two offerings. Gigabyte have opted to stick with the tried and tested PS/2 mouse port where as MSI have added two extra USB ports instead, eradicating the need for the use of an extra PCI bracket should you have more than 4 USB items. There’s also a very slight difference in the codecs used for the audio with the Gigabyte utilising the newer 889A as opposed to MSIs realtec 888 based codec. The differences between the two codecs will no doubt be negligible at best and anyone who can tell the difference between the two would no doubt opt for a dedicated sound card anyway so the difference there is perhaps a moot point.

 

The last main difference between the two motherboards is that the Gigabyte has an extra PCIe x1 slot above the PCIe 16x slot which the MSI doesn’t have. Other than that, both boards have identical specifications and appear to be very evenly matched.

 

Let’s now take a look at how both boards are presented, starting with the MSI DKA790GX Platinum…