The new FM2 boards have started to surface together with processors in retail stores. We managed to get hold of a the processor A10-5800K and paired it up with the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 to do a quick overclocking test.

The processor is rated 3.8GHz turbo at 4.2GHz. As the multiplier is unlocked, we push it up to 44x. CPU CLK is marginally increased to 103MHz. The internal Radeon 6770D GPU Clk is also increased from 800MHz to 1000MHz. Memory is set to used XMP Profile #2 which later is somewhat lowered to CAS 12-13-12-31.

The system seems to have max. out at 4.5GHz with air cooling. It might be able to go higher if water cooling is used.

Vcore is set to 1.5v and VDimm at 1.65v. The rest of the voltages can be seen on the screen shot below :

AMD has unveiled it’s Trinity APUs and hope that this would create competition and cause Intel to slash it’s price to compete with them.

In the past AMD has been the alternative to Intel. In fact it has a strong following until recent years with it’s Socket FM1.

We spoke to a number of distributors and they are hesistant to bring in AMD FM2 boards and CPUs as there is not much of a demand in this region. Users who have high spending power naturally goes for Intel.

Adopting the new FM2 socket, AMD has released several Trinity APUs including quad-core A10-5800K, featuring integrated Radeon HD 7660D GPU, A10-5700, A8-5600K, A8-5500 and dual-core A4-5300.

Currently, Intel Core i3 series processor prices range from US$117-138, while AMD’s new Trinity APUs are priced at US$69-129.

The processors are pretty affordable and with motherboards at 70% of the price of Intel motherboards. It might also spur the sales of Intel processors and motherboards as vendors might start slashing prices, probably in a matter of time.

Pricing source : Digitimes

Review of BIOSTAR Hi-Fi A85X socket FM2 motherboard
28 Sept 2012

In a few days time, AMD will introduce their next generation of graphics integrated processor or APU. The new APU uses a different socket type FM2 from the previous generation Socket FM1. The new series of processors, also has an improved performance especially in the area of multimedia encoding compared to the earlier generation.

In conjunction with the new generation of AMD processors, BIOSTAR releases a A85 chipset motherboard. This motherboard belongs to the HiFi Series and is known as BIOSTAR HiFi A85X.

The mothboard HiFi A85X supports the newest FM2 socket processors A4, A6, A8 and A10 + Athlon II X4 processors with a maximum TDP of 100W. It has 4 DIMM slots which operates in Dual channel mode and supports up to 64GB of memory.

The board also caters for those who wants maximum graphics performance. It has 3 PCIe 2.0 x16 slots that can work in X16+x8+x4 in CrossFireX mode. There is also 3 PCIe 2.0 and 1 PCI slot.

Native support of SATA3 or SATA 6Gbps supporting 7 SATA 6Gbps + 1 eSATA in RAID 0,1,5,10 modes. There is also native support for USB 3.0. There are two USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 header, 4 USB 2.0 ports and 3 USB 2.0 header on board.

Depending on the APU used, it supports dual graphics technology and CrossFire with selected models of graphcis card (see manual). Alternatively, you can use Virtu MVP to boost performance with Virtu’s Hyperformance and Vsync feature.

The board is also Windows 8 compatible and comes with software like BIO-Remote2, Rapid Switch2, Debug3, BIOSFLasher, Charger booster, BIOS online Update etc to complement the UEFI BIOS.

The BIOSTAR HiFi A85X stands out from it’s competitors as it emphasis on good quality audio. The HiFi series of motherboard provides autio compoenents with independent power design to reduce electronic noise. In addition, it uses noise block multi layer PCB to isolate audio signals from digital sources. The board uses High quality ESD and a Hi-Fi AMP which can drive headphones with over 100dB loads and wide bandwidth of frequencies. There is also Hi-Fi Resistor and Hi-Fi cap which helps in the audio.

To complement the hardware, it has software that can do multi channel calibration (MCC). Audio performance is automatically calibrated to the dimensions of your room. There is another software known as Smart Ear which you can optimize your headphone experience. The board supports THX TruStudio Pro.

So much about the features, how will it perform against the Socket FM1 and Intel equivalent ? We will use the A10-5800K APU to test it against the A8-3850 (FM1) and INtel Core i5-3570K.

Virtu MVP isn’t a new player on motherboards. We first witness it’s performance gains on the Intel Z77 platform.

So, how well will it perform under the AMD platform you might ask. Basically virtu mvp works the same way. You can enable Virtu Hyperformance or Hyperformace + Vsync. This will give it a performance boost.

We witness a run of virtual mvp and found the results to be quite decent. In fact, we compared the results the our own Intel Z77 + Core i5 3570K + Radeon HD 7970 results, the AMD platform is just slightly behind it.

In 3DMark11 (X – 1920×1080), the benchmark was boosted by around 35%. In comparison to the Intel platform, it gave a 39% boost. The slightly better result could be due to Intel’s PCIe 3.0 as AMD is still running in PCIe 2.0 mode.

Below are benchmark results on the Intel Z77 platform for reference.

Normal HD 7970
X2760

With HD 7970+VSync+Hyperperfomrance turned on
X3836

Discuss

ASUS launches 4 socket fm2 boards F2A85 series motherboards. There are one matx and one full atx board.

The 4 boards are F2A85-V Pro, F2A85-M Pro, F2A85-M and F2A85-M LE.

All 4 boards supports the new socket Trinity FM2 processors. Chipset on board is the new AMD A85X FCH (Hudson D4).

For RAM support, other than the F2A85-M LE, the 3 other boards support 4 DIMM slots of up to DDR3-2400 (OC). AMD official spec for the FM2 is DDR3-1866. The F2A85-M LE supports only 2 DIMM Slots.

The F2A85-V Pro supports 3 single @16 or dula @ x8/x8 and 1 PCIe x4. The F2A85-M Pro supports 2 PCIe slots supports single 16x or dual 8x. The F2A85-M and F2A85-M LE supports 2 slots in either single x16 or dual @ x16/x4.

Graphics controller is built into the APU and supports Radoen hD 7600 series graphics and also support DX11 and CrossFIRE X.

The F2A85-V Pro and F2A85-M Pro supports Display port in addition to HDMI/DVI/D-SUB. The F2a85-M and F2A85-M LE do not support Display Port.

The audio used on the 2 higher end models are ALC892 while the two lower end uses ALC887. All board uses Realtek 8111F GbE LAN and has 7 SATA 6Gbps and 1 eSATA 6Gbps native ports.

The two higher end boards include 6 USB 3 and 10 USB 2.0 while the 2 lower end has 4 USB 3 and 10 USB 2.0 ports.

As we have mentioned that some newer board supports Virtu MVP, The ASUS does not seem to support it.

Stay tuned for more news at ocworkbench and post your comments here or in our forums or facebook.

BIOSTAR Officially Launches Latest AMD “Trinity” Based Hi-Fi Motherboard with Exclusive Integrated BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Technology

September 19, 2012, Taipei, Taiwan – BIOSTAR, a manufacturer of motherboards, VGA cards, industrial computer systems and other peripherals, has officially launched their latest edition to their high-end motherboard lineup, the Hi-Fi A85X. This newest ATX form factor motherboard supports all AMD Socket FM2 CPUs and offers native support for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and dual-channel memory up to DDR3 – 2400 in over-clocking mode. Socket FM2 is a CPU socket used by AMD’s upcoming Trinity Fusion APU’s which will also utilize AMD’s new A85X chipset. The Hi-Fi A85X has also received the official Windows 8 hardware certification from Microsoft.
One feature set that sets the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi A85X above and beyond typical motherboards is the integrated BIOSTAR Hi-Fi technology called “Puro Hi-Fi Technology”. Marketing Manager Eric Tung gets excited when given a chance to explain the value proposition with these motherboards. “It’s pretty cool how we have put a unique power delivery system just for the audio aficionados out there, like me” explained Eric. “With our professional quality sound and video capabilities on this board, a user can set up a full PC based home theater system with full THX support and true 7.1 surround sound…I mean the real thing, this isn’t simulated. You have to hear it to believe it”, he enthused.

Targeting audiophiles, HTPC enthusiasts and high-end gamers alike, Puro Hi-Fi sports an integrated independent audio power design with a built-in amplifier. The technology utilizes audio components with an independent power design for a significant reduction in electronic noise producing superb sound quality. The unique noise-blocking multi-layer PCB layout is conducive for an exceptionally clean signal. That design feature, together with a sampling rate of 192kHz/24-bit, delivers a high quality audio through an analog connection to your home theater system, multi-channel speakers or high-end headphones allowing you to enjoy true high-definition 7.1-channel surround sound.

Part of the Puro Hi-Fi design includes high-quality “Non-Polarized Electrolysis Electric audio capacitors” for each individual audio channel circuit delivering low noise, low distortion, and a wide bandwidth to achieve the highest sound resolution and sound expansion for the most realistic sound effects. Furthermore, the resistors used by the system are of the metal-oxide film type with metal oxides such as tin. The electric characteristics are that of greater stability and reliability than regular metal film resistors when operating in an extremely broad working temperature range. These special components are typically used in applications with high endurance audio demands.

With BIOSTAR’s implementation of four unique technologies, Puro Hi-Fi, THX, Lucid MVP and SmartSpeedLAN, the brand new Hi-Fi series of motherboards increases sound, network and graphics performance dramatically. For a powerful gaming masterpiece with even a limited budget, this new Hi-Fi series motherboard is the best choice and will become a new favorite among gamers and movie watchers.

In less than 2 weeks time, AMD is back with it’s newer incarnation of APUs. It will launch it’s new series of Trinity APU for the desktop market on October 1.

The Trinity APU adopts a 32nm process from Globalfoundries. It has an integrated graphics of Radeon HD 7000.

The models of APUs to be launched are A10-5800K, A10-5700, A8-5600K, A8-5500, Athlon X4 750K/740, A6-5400K and A4-5300 together with the new A55, A75 and A85X.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD: 3.72, -0.30, -7.36%) slumped 6% on Tuesday morning after Chief Financial Officer Thomas Seifert became the latest high-level executive to exit the struggling chip maker.

Analysts at BMO (BMO: 58.42, +0.04, +0.07%) slashed their price target on AMD to $4 from $5, though they maintained a “market perform” rating on the stock. Wedbush cut AMD to $4.50 from $5, keeping a “neutral” rating.

Wall Street sent AMD’s shares dropping 5.99% to $3.77 in recent trading, bringing their 2012 tumble to about 30% and one-year slide to almost 50%.

AMD is going to launch their new Socket FM2 in October, will that turn the company around after Socket FM1 failed miserably ?

Source

AMD is set to launch its latest A series APUs codenamed Trinity in May and will initially only release models for notebooks with models for desktops to wait until August, while the company’s 40nm tablet PC processors codenamed Hondo is set to launch in the fourth quarter to timely fit in with the release of Windows 8, according to sources from notebook players.

The Trinity processors adopt a Piledriver structure and will have a 25% improvement in overall performance and 50% in graphics performance comparing to the existing Llano processors, noted the sources.

AMD is set to launch its desktop Trinity processors including A10-5800K, A10-5700, A8-5600K, A8-5500, while will also releasing A6 (Weatherford) and A4 (Richland) series processors. All these processors are manufactured by Globalfoundries, adopting a 32nm process.

In June, AMD will release low-power consumption, entry-level Brazos 2.0 – the new C and E series processors including 18W E2-1800 (1.7GHz) and E1-1200 (1.4GHz). In the third quarter, AMD will release new FX series processors including FX-8350, FX-6300 and FX-4320.

After Bulldozer, AMD will release Steamroller structure in 2013 and Excavator in 2015 and for notebook processors, the company will launch Kaveri processors to replace Trinity and Kabini APUs to replace Brazos 2.0.

Source

 Right after Intel launches it’s third generation, there are news that AMD will launch their 2nd generation APUs this May 15th 2012. The Piledriver based APUs are divided into 3 categories. It is rumoured to spot the new Socket FM2 and has memory support of DDR3-2133. The integrated graphics is a Radeon HD 7000.  The highest performance APU A10-5800K will clock at 3.8GHz with Turbo at 4.2GHz and will have a TDP of 100W. AMD also adopted the “K” series indicating the multiplier is unlocked (formerly known as Black edition).

“Trinity“, “Weatherford” and “Richland” (all 32 nm)

Piledriver based APUs will be divided into three main versions for specific price-points and markets

• Trinity covers the performance segment of the APU line. It will replace the Llano based A8-series.
• Weatherford covers the upper-mainstream segment. Replacing the Llano based A6-series.
• Richland covers the lower-mainstream segment. It is to replace the Llano based A4-series.

At Computex Taipei 2011, AMD reveals it’s roadmap for its AMD Client Platform for Mainstream, Ultrathin/Notebook and Tablet for 2011-2012.

From the chart, it is not surprising that APU is the way to go for AMD for the comnig year. While LIano processors are still not on sale (scheduled for early July as we heard), Trinity (Bulldozer core) will be the next big thing in 2012. Likewise for the Ultrathin / Noteboko we have a transition from Ontario to Krishna. As for Tablets, it will be from Desna to  Hondo.

Photo Courtesy of mycom.co.jp

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