14 DAY TRIAL // AMD looks to a bright future, as the chip maker is planning to expand its product lineup with a couple of new additions that will provide consumers with better performance and new functionality. Such is the case with an upcoming chipset, the 890GX, paired with the new SB850 southbridge, reportedly due out in coming months. On that note, coming to confirm said rumor, Biostar, a Taiwanese manufacturer of computer platforms and motherboards, detailed today the TA890GXE board, said to support the latest AMD “Leo” enthusiast platform.
According to the specifications made available by the Taiwanese outfit, the new board will be featured with a micro ATX form factor and offer 4 DIMM slots. The board will boast an AM3-compatible socket and will enable support for the upcoming Phenom II X6 processors, codenanmed 'Thuban'. These 6-core processors will be combined with the board's integrated graphics chipset, featuring a core speed of 700Mhz and offering support for DirectX 10.1 and UVD 2.0.
One of the main characteristics of the new chipset combo, the 890GX and SB850 is the introduction of support for SATA 3 (6Gbps), which is available through the new soutbridge. In addition, the board will also provide support for ATI CrossFire and Hybrid CrossFire, HDMI 1.3a, DVI-D Dual-Link, optical S/PDIF, HD Audio output, 8 channel+2 Blu-ray Audio ready, eSATA, IEEE 1394a and on-board 128M DDR3 side port memory. The board also features GB Lan and comes with the manufacturer's proprietary D.P.U. (Digital Power Unit), G.P.U II (Green Power Utility) and BIO-Remote utility.
There are no details regarding the pricing or availability of the new board, but there's a good chance that this board will make an appearance at the upcoming CeBIT 2010 show in Hannover, Germany. The board is expected to support the AMD Overdrive functionality, enabling users to tweak their system's settings to improve performance.