Four Motherboards For AMD's Kaveri-Based APUs

Enthusiasts are a vocal bunch, and they're quick to point out when certain companies force obsolescence more frequently than others. A good example was when Intel switched from LGA 1156 to LGA 1155 for the sake of integration. The platform controller hubs themselves were interchangeable, and many of the folks shopping for upgrade parts couldn't fathom replacing an entire platform for the sake of a relatively-insignificant component.

Fans of AMD see their brand of choice a little differently, pointing out that the company has used the same processor interface over and over again. Minor alterations often allow previous-gen CPUs to drop into new platforms. By necessity, the reverse typically isn't true, though. AMD often leaves owners of older motherboards unable to upgrade their CPU. At least the motherboard makers are happy.

Not that we fault either company either way. Yes, we're quick to fire off criticism when a company kills a platform after just one generation. But we also understand that changes to power delivery, on-die functionality, and requisite pin-outs take precedence over forward or backward compatibility.

Our A88X block diagram looks familiar, as it should. The chipset claims a new XHCI version for improved peripheral compatibility and/or stability. Typically, changes that small would qualify as a new stepping of the previous product, rather than an update deserving of a new model designation.

Personally, I believe that the primary reason for the new chipset name is to assure builders that they’re getting PCIe 3.0-capable circuitry. Also, AMD's “new” socket is meant to prevent builders from accidentally putting Kaveri-based APUs into boards that haven't been updated to accept it.

Welcome to AMD’s version of Intel’s LGA 1156 to 1155 transition, with the usual AMD twist that you can at least upgrade your motherboard while using your old CPU, even if we don't expect a whole lot of that to happen.

Rather, Kaveri is the only reason we can think of for anyone who owns an A85X platform to take the A88X plunge. Fortunately, that's a pretty compelling justification to upgrade all on its own. AMD is hoping to leverage its work germinating the HSA Foundation, back software development of heterogeneous computing-aware applications, and ultimately demonstrate its GCN-based graphics hardware accelerating workloads beyond gaming. Some of our benchmarks already utilize AMD's shaders via OpenCL, and our hats are off to AMD for its role in advocating the use of whichever hardware resources yield the best overall experience. Hopefully, more developers follow suit.

A88X ATX Motherboard Features ASRock FM2A88X+ Killer Asus A88X-Pro Gigabyte F2A88X-UP4 MSI A88X-G45 Gaming PCB Revision 1.00 1.01 3.0 1.1 Chipset AMD A88X AMD A88X AMD A88X AMD A88X Voltage Regulator Six phases Eight phases Eight phases Six phases BIOS P1.80 (02/20/2014) 0904 (02/19/2014) F5c (02/06/2014) 1.0 (01/23/2014) 100.0 MHz BCLK 99.80 (-0.20%) 99.98 (-0.02%) 100.51 (+0.51%) 100.48 (+0.48%) I/O Panel Connectors P/S 2 1 1 1 1 USB 3.0 4 4 4 6 USB 2.0 4 2 2 2 Network 1 1 1 1 CLR_CMOS Button 1 None None None Digital Audio Out Optical Optical Optical Optical Digital Audio In None None None None Analog Audio 5 5 6 6 Video Out VGA, DVI-D, HDMI DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA, DVI-D VGA, DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort VGA, DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort Other Devices None Dual eSATA, USB BIOS Flashback eSATA None Internal Interfaces PCIe 3.0 x16 1 (x16 link) 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) 2 (x16/x0 or x8/x8) PCIe 2.0 x16 1 (x4 link) 1 (x4 link) 1 (x4 link) 1 (x4 link) PCIe 2.0 x1 2 2 3 (1-shared w/slot above) 3 (2 share 1-lane) USB 3.0 1 (2-ports) 1 (2-ports) 2 (4-ports) 1 (2-ports) USB 2.0 3 (6-ports) 4 (8-ports) 4 (8-ports) 3 (6-ports) SATA 6.0 Gb/s 8 6 7 8 4-Pin Fan 2 5 3 3 3-Pin Fan 4 None 1 2 FP-Audio 1 1 1 1 S/PDIF I/O None Output-only Output-only None Internal Buttons None MemOK, BIOS_FLBK, DirectKey Power, Reset, CMOS selector OC Genie, Power, Reset, CLR_CMOS Internal Switch None EPU, TPU None OC mode, Slow mode Diagnostics Panel None Numeric Numeric Numeric Other Devices 3x PCI, Serial COM port Serial COM port Serial COM port Serial COM port Mass Storage Controllers Chipset SATA 8 x SATA 6Gb/s 6 x SATA 6Gb/s 2 x eSATA 6Gb/s 7 x SATA 6Gb/s 1 x eSATA 6Gb/s 8 x SATA 6Gb/s Chipset RAID Modes 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 Add-In SATA None None None None USB 3.0 ASM1042 PCIe (2-ports) ASM1042 PCIe (2-ports) VLI VL805 PCIe (4-ports) VLI VL805 PCIe (4-ports) Networking Primary LAN Killer E2205 PCIe RTL8111GR PCIe RTL8111F PCIe Killer E2205 PCIe Secondary LAN None None None None Wi-Fi None None None None Bluetooth None None None None Audio HD Audio Codec ALC1150 ALC1150 ALC892 ALC1150 DDL/DTS Connect DTS Connect None None None Warranty Three years Three years Three years Three years

All four major manufacturers are targeting the performance-mainstream market with full-sized A88X-based motherboards priced from $105 to $120, and the most expensive one includes a game certificate worth at least $20. Builders who value that title at full price will find a mere $15 separating the field. With pricing differences almost trivial, let’s take a look at what each of these boards can give us for roughly $112.