Here we go, now after 2 years we finally get to see a most anticipated and welcome update to the AMD platform.  The Release of the AMD 890GX Chipset is official.  The intent of the new chipset is to provide the foundation for 2010 Client Platforms , specially with Windows 7.  It features the ATI Radeon™ HD 4290 Graphics, advanced SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 Connectivity.

Now with the new integrated HD4290, you can add a discrete HD5450 card for a Hybrid CrossFireX setup.  The same AMD 890GX motherboard which can be used to build either an efficient and slim home theater PC or upgraded to a gaming powerhouse with ATI Radeon™ HD 5870 Graphics and the visual realism of DirectX® 11.

Here are some example system configurations that can be used with the new motherboards with the AMD 890GX Chipset

The AMD 890GX Chipset supports the SATA 3.0 6Gbps hard drive interface to help speed application performance, decrease boot times, and provide faster access to information, HD video, photos and more.2 SATA 3.0 technology on the AMD 890GX Chipset can help speed application performance and Windows 7 data access speeds with high-bandwidth SATA 3.0 solid state drives and in multi-drive RAID configurations.
Many AMD 890GX-based motherboards feature SuperSpeed USB 3.0, quickly synchronizing and transferring digital media files on the new generation of USB 3.0 devices.2 With USB 3.0 and SATA 3.0 support, these platforms are designed to be ready for a new generation of high-speed hard drives and high resolution digital camcorders and media players.

Features

Architectural Diagram of the AMD 890GX Chipset

The first of the AMD 8-series chipsets serve as the foundation for 2010 VISION technology for AMD desktop platforms that are scheduled to be announced in the second quarter of 2010 and are designed to be compatible with the upcoming AMD Phenom™ II X6 six-core processor.

Performance increase example

Bottom line there are new features and support that are in line and keeping pace with Intel, Nvidia and technology advancements such as SATA III and USB 3.0.  Already we have many popular motherboard manufacturers like Asus, MSI and Gigabyte releasing their first 890GX boards.  PCWizKid's Tech Talk will be posting a video review showing the Asus version using the 890GX.

AMD continues to provide and focus on:
– Awesome gaming performance for the mainstream PC
– Support for Microsoft® DirectX® 10.1 and 11
– Support for high-end discrete ATI Radeon™ HD Premium Graphics & ATI CrossFireX™ Technology
– ATI Stream technology accelerates enabled applications
– Providing a balanced platform which can run demanding tasks fast
– ATI Avivo™ HD Technology featuring full 1080p HD playback
– Get dual-stream Picture in Picture on Blu-ray™ 1.1 playback2
– Support for DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort outputs
– SATA 3