AMD built one heck of a north bridge chip with the 780G. Not only does it feature the fastest integrated graphics core around in the Radeon HD 3200, but the 780G is also capable of full Blu-ray decode acceleration for silky smooth 1080p playback with nominal CPU utilization. The 780G is an energy-efficient affair thanks to advanced 55nm fabrication technology, and it's loaded with 26 second-gen PCI Express lanes should your gaming aspirations grow beyond modest resolutions and in-game detail levels.

This tiny piece of silicon is so good that AMD's decided to spin it into a new model: the 790GX. With its graphics core boosted from 500 to 700MHz and the addition of sideport memory riding shotgun, the 790GX is perhaps best thought of as a 780G Type R. The graphics upgrades hit the PCI Express front, too, with the 790GX arriving on motherboards designed to accommodate dual-x8 CrossFire configurations.

The 790GX hasn't come alone, either. This chipset also brings with it AMD's new SB750 south bridge chip. This upgraded SB700 adds RAID 5 functionality and an Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC) feature that AMD says allows Phenom processor to overclock higher. Read on for the skinny on ACC, how well it works, and whether AMD has made a great chipset even better with the 790GX.