GIGABYTE Announces FM2+ A88X Series Motherboards for Kaveri
by Ian Cutress on August 16, 2013 10:17 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- Gigabyte
- FM2
- Kaveri
The evolution of the Bulldozer module, through Piledriver, and Steamroller on Kaveri to come has been an eventful journey. Despite recent rumors floating around the Internet reporting delays to AMD’s deployment of Kaveri (which AMD have since confirmed to the media that Kaveri will ship to customers in Q4-2013), motherboard manufacturers, like GIGABYTE, are announcing their lineup for Steamroller based APUs.
These APUs will be using the FM2+ socket, which is backwards compatible with Trinity/Richland FM2 APUs (FM2 based motherboards are not forwards compatible), as well as a new chipset in the form of A88X, which as far as we know is for FM2+ only. These new APUs offer native support for PCIe 3.0 as well as DX11.1 and 4K support – something all AMD partners will be keen to promote.
GIGABYTE’s initial FM2+ lineup will consist of seven models with four ATX and three micro-ATX:
G1.Sniper A88X
F2A88X-UP4
F2A88X-D3H
F2A88X-HD3
F2A88XM-D3H
F2A85XM-DS2
F2A88XM-HD3
Continuing on the Sniper theme, the G1.Sniper A88X is aimed at the gaming market with two new exclusive audio features – GIGABYTE USB DAC-UP (a feature for optimized power to user DACs) and Gain Boost where high gain output is required. This board will also feature the high end audio solution from the G1.Sniper 5 (the Intel Z87 version), including OP-AMP, audio tracing separation and filter caps to improve noise quality. Below the G1.Sniper A88X is the F2A88X-UP4, which will feature 60A IR3550 ICs in its power delivery, similar to the F2A85X-UP4 which we reviewed in our initial Trinity coverage.
Release date for these motherboards is likely to be the same day that AMD release Kaveri, which should be in the hands of system integrators by the end of the year.
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hasmidzuljojo - Friday, August 16, 2013 - link
I have been waiting for FM2+ update.Thanks anandtechTheremings759 - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
like Paula replied I'm impressed that people can make $9114 in four weeks on the computer. Learn More Here http://jobs63.comezjohny - Monday, September 9, 2013 - link
this is a scam.meacupla - Friday, August 16, 2013 - link
From the looks of it, no mITX, which is disappointing.C'mon, we need a decent FM2/FM2+ mITX board!
The only makers that offer anything are asrock, of which their initial design caught fire.
Paul Tarnowski - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
Since it's ASRock, I must ask: was that literally, or was it just popular?meacupla - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
their FM2A75M-ITX literally caught fire.Their second iteration, FM2A85X-ITX seems to fair much better.
jensend - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
You're wrong. MSI released a decent FM2 ITX board when Trinity first launched (FM2-A75IA-E53), and Gigabyte finally came out with theirs, which is rather nice, about a month ago (GA-F2A85XN-WIFI).meacupla - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
In that case, I stand corrected.MSI offering is lacking quite a few rear ports... VGA, HDMI and optical are decent, but having DVI, DP and wifi would have been even better.
The gigabyte, on the other hand, looks very interesting. It's just unfortunate they didn't have it 6 months ago, because it would have been really nice to recommend that and A8 over i3-3225 and H77N-wifi.
piggys - Sunday, August 18, 2013 - link
What are you talking about? The MSI has bluetooth, and Wifi.yannigr - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
It's nice to see 7 mobos for an AMD platform from one manufacturer and not just one or two. I was really disappointed the last months seeing dozens Intel motherboard and only o few for AMD.