| ASUS F1A75-M PRO FM1 Motherboard |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards | |
| Written by Hank Tolman | |
| Monday, 11 July 2011 | |
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Page 4 of 16
AMD A-Series A75 Fusion ChipsetBefore we begin our look at the ASUS F1A75-M Pro motherboard, let's look at the A75 Fusion Controller Hub that powers the F1A75-M Pro. The A75 FCH is one of a pair that was launched with the Fusion for desktop release. The A55 FCH is the other. Both platforms support the new socket FM1 APUs and have almost all of the same features. With the Sandy Bridge release, we found ourselves with two very distinct platforms, one supporting the on-die graphics, the other allowing for limited overclocking. With the Fusion launch, the A55 FCH just seems like an antiquated and outdated version of the A75 FCH. I have to be honest, I'm not really sure what the purpose of the A55 FCH is, except that it is used in a lot of notebooks. The A75 motherboards can be found from near $100, so they are at a good price point, and the few differences between the two ensure longevity and expandability.
The reason I call it antiquated is because of the features differentiating the A75 FCH and the A55 FCH. There are really only three. The first, and most shocking, difference is the lack of native SATA 6Gb/s functionality on the A55 FCH. The reason this is shocking is that SATA 6Gb/s has been a standard since the 890 Chipset and has even been an add-in due to third-party controllers since before that. I'm not really sure why AMD would leave it off of any of their newer chipsets. Granted, the need for SATA 6Gb/s ports is still low, as is the availability of devices that take advantage of the higher transfer rates. But things don't stay the way they are for long in the computer hardware industry and limiting yourself to SATA 3Gb/s is a good way to ensure yourself slower speeds in the near future. Undoubtedly, many of the motherboard manufacturers will include SATA 6Gb/s capabilities through the use of a third-party controller. Or maybe they won't. That would cost them more money, and with the price of the A75 motherboards already pretty low, why bother? The second difference is in the USB ports. Both the A55 and the A75 FCH offer two USB 1.1 ports, very outdated but still useful. They also offer a wide array of USB 2.0 ports. The A75 chipset offers up to ten USB 2.0 ports while the A55 offers up to fourteen. Those four extra that are included with the A55 FCH is made up by the four native SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports that are available on the A75 chipset. The A55 offers no native USB 3.0 compatibility. This isn't quite as shocking, considering none of the Sandy Bridge motherboards offer native USB 3.0 capabilities. All that means, really, is that a third-party controller has to be used. But again, with the price of the A75 motherboards, what is the point? The final difference between the A55 and A75 chipsets is also related to the SATA ports. The SATA ports on the A75 FCH can utilize FIS Based Switching, while those on the A55 FCH cannot. This difference is the least concerning because it probably won't affect most users. FIS switching basically splits the bandwidth of a single SATA port so that you can utilize more than drive on a single port. Remember the IDE/PATA days where we hooked up multiple devices on a single port? This is similar. Hooking up two devices onto a single SATA 6Gb/s port would effectively split its bandwidth, giving you, essentially, two SATA 3Gb/s ports. That's not exactly true, because FIS based switching chooses how to allocate the available bandwidth. It's more like an external USB hub that you power off a single USB port from your computer. I suppose what they technically means is that you could have up to a total of 12 SATA 3Gb/s lanes on the A75 FCH. I am a little unclear on exactly how many times the FIS Based Switching could potentially split the available bandwidth from a single SATA 6Gb/s port, but the potential for a lot of devices is there. I'm not sure how many users interested in the A75 chipset would need more than 6 SATA devices in the first place, but it does speak to the possibility of a very large home server of sorts.
Everything else about the chipsets is identical. The APU itself controls, of course, the GPU and the Memory Controller in addition to the CPU. The DDR3 RAM supported by the socket FM1 APUs includes speeds up to 1866MHz not overclocked. This is certainly more compatibility than the Sandy Bridge CPUs, which only support up to 1333MHz DDR3 RAM. The APU also houses support for a single PCIe x16 lane and four PCIe x1 lanes. Naturally, the APU controls the capabilities of the GPU, which include the legacy VGA in addition to HDMI and DVI. The APU is linked to the FCH through a Unified Media Interface with a bandwidth of 2GB/s. The FCH (both the A55 and the A75) offers a few more additives, similar to what you find in a Southbridge, were this a legacy motherboard. The FCH controls another four PCIe x1 lanes, the 16 total USB ports (in their varying capacities), the SATA ports, the Audio controller, and the PCI port. A couple of interesting add-ins include an SD controller, an IR controller, and a controller for the APU Fan.
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Comments
How is that a con ?
Their inclusion adds functionality. It may be a function you have no need for , but it is there.
HDMI, DVI + D-Sub.... your logic... I dont need HDMI or DVI so it is a con that they have those ports.
That makes no sense at all.
The funny thing is, almost no one uses CRT monitors anymore and LCD monitors are inherently digital. If you have an old VGA LCD then you are losing twice since you signal has to be converted to analog to go through the cable, then back to digital to be read by your monitor.
If you see it as a Pro, then good for you. I see it as a con. That's just my opinion.
-Hank
Thanks for review, I found it very informative.
PS--Don't feed the trolls.
Passmark 7.0, where it's second place only to the i5.
PCMark Vantage Music test, where the score is extremely low.
Either there's an error in the graphs, or these results should be investigated.
As for the CPU tests in Passmark 7.0, those are correct too. It might have a lot to do with the fact that the "northbridge" was moved onto the die so communication between the CPU and other parts of the system is dramatically increased. Check out the Cinebench results, too. You have a 2.9GHz CPU that is very close to the same performance as a 3.2GHz CPU. A lot has changed with the architecture and different tests will respond in different ways to those changes.
Nice review. And one question i can't understand here, on z68 and so on:
if 1st PCIE is x16 and 2nd is x4, with XFire and 2 dedicated video boards, it will work in x8/x8? or only in x16/x4? that means no AFR like?
Thanks a lot in advance for anyone's answer.
Michael.
I was wondering wether the F1A75-M PRO is a MB that you would personally buy for its value? Would you recommend any other MB's for around the same price, for I am in a jolly of a pickle in choosing the optimal MB. I would be using it for video processing, video games, and etc.
Thanks in advance,
Mosi.
1st of all, take my advice w/ a grain of salt. My pov could be biased, or at least not entirely fitting your needs.
my 1st choise is usually Asus, no matter is AMD or Intel. but i do respect Gigabyte, MSI, EVGA and i do believe AsRock is a good value.
Remember, in entry/main level big brands usually will charge u extra just for the brand. I mean in entry/main u DO have alternatives. otherwise, the MB is ok, BUT:
before, a little philosophy about video boards (GPU). i always pick a MB w/ BOTH SLI and XFire. cause never now when i'll switch between NVidia and AMD-ATI and which will be my pick in dual GPU boards. But with those new CPU w/ integrated video, philosophy may change a little. if its AMD CPU, we should go AMD GPU. the video in 3850 amd cpu it's way more powerful than intel i3, even i5 competition. but the CPU is below i3 2100 a little. not much. anyway your MB of choice despite it has 2 pcie slots, it will work in x16/x4 mode only AFAIK! so 2 discrete AMD board, even XFire scale better than SLI, will not be a perfect choise if u plan, i repeat, to go w/ 2 discrete graphic boards. but if u don't the MB u've picked is OK. but the
F1A75-V EVO will work on x8/x8.
this whole GPU discussion it's about hardcore gaming (let's say metro2033) at big resolutions. Today a top/near top AMD GPU will handle with no problem but in a year or some, maybe u,ll need more power and the future proof solution is to get yourself a 2nd GPU and bam! u're "safe" for another 1-2 year.
!!! if u planned this way BUY A GOOD PSU, at least 750W. never underestimate the PSU!!!
If it's A, the processor should be fine, I mean the biggest, A8-3850, and u'll have to invest more in RAM (8G at least) and in powerfull HDD's: use RAID 0 with 2 HDD FULL 7200, not GREEN. i' working with Velocyraptors and older Raptors (all 10 000 RPM). if u have enough money, go SSD, BUT, u should pick powerfull and big ones which cost u a lot. A good solution COULD be Hybrid SSD-HDD new harddiscs, but i didn't dig enough to recommend this. Anyway, for video editing u should work in a RAID 0 config with 2 HDDs.
if it's B, video rendering, IMO the processor it's on the limit, i rather go if AMD with a 6 core proc (likeX6 1100T) skt AM3+. or intel starting on i5-2400.
in amd variant u'll not have integrated video in CPU, but u have to decide what fits your needs.
So your MB choise is very decent for the money, just be sure 'll use just one discrete GPU.
Both series from intel i3 and amd A IMO are for laptops and decent desktops. but that's all. told u in he beginnig i'm a little biased towards hardcore games and video editing. And in high end the choice is, unfortunately, only one.
It's hard to recommend, in the end the amount of $ make the difference. and the needs. and the management, and little things, and so on :)
And i don't pretend my pow is perfect. no way. Everyone feel free to upgrade it.
Good luck
If you are using this for high-end gaming or video processing, you should probably go with a completely different setup. The A series processors aren't meant for high end performance. They compete with the i3s. I'd go with a H67 for price and an i5 and a good discrete GPU for better performance, unless Bulldozer comes out soon and we can see how they perform.
10x Hank for forming me that MB's like that are ONLY x16/x4 and NOT x8/x8 too. for a vast majority of user it's ok. for me is BS.
Back to your toughs about Mozyz rig: as i saw, he hasn't enough money and my assumption is that he's only on the beginning on the road in video editing (escuse if wrong, but let's say a few cuts and transitons + a titler for youtube). and maybe medium gamer and so on. So, my philosopy was just don't go top of the top when u don't know the differences and just testing the path. Otherwise, i just made a config for a friend, video editor but with no much $ to spend: yes, it starts with i5.
nice day.
-Hank
Try DVI/HDMI Cable. It works but powerdvd downscale about 10%, totalmedia theater 5 work find but no sound in few ISO.
Any one try 3D bluray playback with HDMI 1.4 in this motherboard?
Windows7 64bit/Asus F1A75-M pro/AMD 3650
Thanks.