A Gallery of AMD FM2 Socket Based Motherboards Seen at Computex 2012
AMD's Trinity APUs for the desktop market won't hit retail till late this year, but almost every major motherboard vendor has FM2 socket based motherboards all lined up and ready to go. Here's a quick roundup of the various Socket FM2 equipped motherboards from Computex.
The Boards Are Here But Where's Trinity?
According to sources, the expected release date of AMD's desktop Trinity APU is expected to be in early Q4 this year, tentatively around October. That means the desktop Trinity APUs are being delayed (again) from the initial Q3 expectations. Their current impediment seems to stem from inadequate volume to sustain demand. In our assessment, AMD seems to be putting their notebook efforts in priority and we don't blame them since it's a crucial market for Trinity to succeed. We just hope that by the time Trinity APUs are out for the desktop, they don't get sidelined like the desktop Llano parts.
Meanwhile we saw countless FM2-socket based motherboards that are ready to roll out and is only missing the AMD Trinity APU before manufacturers can send them to retail. Do remember that the new FM2 socket isn't backward compatible with existing FM1-socket friendly processors (existing AMD Llano APUs use FM1). This further aggravates the board makers because they can't flush out the old FM1 boards in favor of FM2 until unless the desktop Trinity APUs are available - despite the fact that both processors are compatible with existing A75 chipset.
For the FM2 socket based boards, in addition to the A75, there will also be the A85X and the A55 series of AMD chipsets. Primarily, the A85X will have Cross Fire support and has more USB 3.0 ports supported than A75 (six vs. four), amongst a few other minor updates. The A55 will however not have SATA 6Gbps, USB 3.0, nor CrossFire support. Essentially, a more entry-level version of the A75, it will only support SATA 3Gbps and USB 2.0 ports. Other than these, there are no other major changes coming for the desktop Trinity APU platform that we already know about from the APU's own capabilities.
While we await for desktop Trinity APUs to be available in the later part of the year, we present you some of the boards you can expect to see from major vendors.
MSI Hybrid Digital Power Featured on its FM2 Boards
Based on MSI’s Hybrid Digital Power design, its four FM2 socket-based motherboards come in different form factors to meet various needs of rig builders. All the boards also feature the Military Class III components for durability.
MSI's Hybrid Digital Power design allows voltage options to be adjusted with more precision to provide more stable power in order to achieve better power efficiency as well as higher overclocking performance.
MSI A85XA-G65
This is the largest of the FM2 boards based on the AMD 85X chipset at MSI's booth. Most other boards are microATX in nature, but this is using a standard ATX form factor for better expandability.
The MSI A85XA-G65 is obviously targeted at overclockers due to the presence of large VRM heatsinks in the vicinity of the FM2 socket.
There is no shortage of video connectors here but there are only two USB 3.0 ports here.
MSI A85IA-E53
This mini-ITX board is touted to be the new standard for HTPCs. It sports Bluetooth and Wi-Fi adapters for seamless connectivity for sharing media files on the home network.
Unlike its naming scheme suggests, the MSI A85IA-E53 features the older AMD A75 chipset. Although it's only a mini-ITX board, it still boasts of respectable Military III Class components.
MSI A85MA-E35
For the consumer who needs more expansion slots when building a home theater system, the MSI A85MA-E35 board is just the answer.
This board features more expansion slots than the MSI A85IA-E53 as it has more PCB real estate. It does not have any onboard wireless connectivity solution as well.
MSI A55M-P33 (F2)
This AMD A55 chipset board is featured as an upgrade option for customers who need to get a secondary PC up and running. With some spare memory modules and an extra HDD, the board with an FM2 AMD processor installed can be set up quickly without exceeding one's budget. Do note that there is no support for USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps on the AMD A55 chipset.
The board has two DIMM slots that can be installed with memory modules that are rated for speeds up to DDR3-1866MHz and a maximum capacity of 16GB.
ASRock's AMD FM2 Offerings
ASRock FM2A75 Pro 4
This ATX form factor board is based on the AMD A75 chipset. It features ASRock X555 Fast technology as well as quad-GPU setup for CorssFire and SLI.
This board has ample expansion slots with three legacy PCI slots thrown into the mix. It supports dual-channel DDR3-2400+ memory modules, up to a maximum capacity of 32GB.
ASRock FM2A75 Pro 4-M
This board is the microATX version of the above mentioned ASRock FM2A75 Pro 4, ideal for those who don't need the extra legacy PCI slots.
The ASRock FM2A75 Pro 4-M is a microATX board but it essentially has the same features as its larger cousin. It even has support for quad CrossFire or SLI configurations!
ASRock FM2A75M-DGS
This microATX board is the most modest among its peers as it offers no support for quad-GPU configurations - which is not an important trait for platforms of this class in our opinion.
The ASRock FM2A75M-DGS is a microATX board that has only two other expansion slots besides its PCIe x16 slot. It has a pair of DIMM slots for DDR3-2400+ memory modules up to a maximum capacity of 16GB.
As for the new AMD A85X chipset, we did not chance upon any boards featuring them at the company's booth.
A Triplet of FM2 Boards from ASUS
ASUS F2A85-V
This ASUS F2A85-V is the top-end board featuring the AMD A85X chipset. Do note that ASUS has removed the VRM heatsinks for some of its AMD 85X chipset-based boards that were on display.
The ASUS F2A85-V features seven SATA 6Gbps connectors.
ASUS F2A85-M
The ASUS F2A85-M comes with less expansion slots in an microATX form factor; however, in terms of memory support, it is the same as the ASUS F2A85-V, supporting up to 64GB of DDR3-2400+ memory.
The ASUS F2A85-M sports two PCIe x16 slots and seven SATA 6Gbps connectors. Six of them are faced front while one is top-facing connector.
ASUS F2A85-M LE
The ASUS F2A85-M LE is an even simpler board than the F2A85-M with a few less frills and only a pair of DIMM slots for 16GB of memory support.
The ASUS F2A85-M LE
Black Series FM2 Boards from ECS
ECS A85F2-A Deluxe
This top-end AMD Z85X board, the ECS A85F2-A Deluxe, is one of the latest additional to its Black Series motherboards.
The ECS A85F2-A Deluxe Black Series motherboard is missing the gilded treatment that is usually accorded to such high-end boards.
This is one of the rare few Trinity APU gaming rigs on display at the ECS booth - it was fitted with a PowerColor HD 7970 Vortex II graphics card.
The specifications of the gaming rig that stated it featured "ECS A85F2-AX Deluxe" - is this a new addition to the Black Series AMD 85X motherboards? We'll update you know once we obtain more details from ECS.
ECS A75F2-A2
This ATX board features the AMD A75 chipset and has only a pair of DIMM slots that can support up to 32GB of DDR3-1866MHz memory modules.
The board has no shortage of expansion and PEG slots. It is perfect for rig builders who need to build a system that acts as a file server for a SOHO work environment.
ECS A55F2-M3
This microATX board features the AMD A55 chipset. As mentioned earlier, this chipset has no support for SATA 6Gbps devices, nor USB 3.0 support. However, its pair of DIMM slots can support up to 32GB of DDR3-1866MHz memory modules.
The ECS A55F2-M3
This section of the article is an excerpt from a news article that we filed earlier last week.
Gigabyte's Triple Offerings for Trinity APUs
The three FM2 motherboards for AMD’s Trinity APUs on show at Gigabyte's exhibition area were the GA-F2A85X-UP4, GA-F2A55-DS3 and GA-F2A55M-DS2.
The Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4.
The GA-F2A85X-UP4 is based on AMD’s A85X chipset for the upcoming Trinity APUs and since this is slated to be one of the higher-end FM2 motherboards, it features the use of Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable 5 technology (we discussed this at length in an earlier article) as denoted by the "UP" in its model name. It also supports 2-way CrossFireX.
The GA-F2A55-DS3.
The GA-F2A55M-DS2
The GA-F2A55-DS3 and GA-F2A55M-DS2 are using the A55 chipset and is positioned a rung below the above mentioned GA-F2A85X-UP4, hence it does not come with the latest Ultra Durable 5 technology and goes with the previous iteration of Ultra Durable 4. In addition, the GA-F2A55M-D2 is of the smaller microATX form factor. The two boards are really targeted at entry-level, mainstream users, who have general computing needs such as word processing and web browsing, but would also like to indulge in some light gaming occasionally.
Biostar's Party of Four
Biostar A75MH2
This microATX board featuring the AMD A75 chipset is ideal for a budget HTPC setup that can double up as a media file server for the home.
The board features HDMI, DVI-I and D-Sub ports which are just sufficient to meet the AV needs of a regular home user.
Biostar Hi-Fi A85S
This lone microATX board is among the three AMD A85 chipset-based motherboards that feature Biostar's new Hi-Fi technology. This new audio technology promises high-fidelity sound due to its ability to isolate the electrical interference from other onboard components, from its audio components.
Despite its miniscule form factor, it has four DIMM slots that supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2400+ memory. It has two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, a PCIe x1 slot and a legacy PCI slot. Besides sporting six SATA 6Gbps connectors, it has the following video ports:- HDMI, DVI-I and D-Sub.
Biostar Hi-Fi A85W
This mid-range ATX board holds the middle ground among the trio.
The board has four DIMM slots that supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2400+ memory. It has two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, PCIe x1 slots and two legacy PCI slots. The board has the same standard video ports (HDMI, DVI-I and D-Sub) as its mATX counterpart; however, it has eight SATA 6Gbps connectors.
Biostar Hi-Fi A85X
The Biostar Hi-Fi A85X is the company's top-end AMD A85 board on display.
The board has four DIMM slots that supports up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2400+ memory. It has three PCIe 2.0 x16 slots, three PCIe x1 slots and a single legacy PCI slots. Besides the usual standard video ports (HDMI, DVI-I and D-Sub), it has a DisplayPort output too. Storage-wise, it has eight SATA 6Gbps connectors and a lone eSATA 6Gbps rear port.
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