| ASUS F1A75-M PRO FM1 Motherboard |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards | |
| Written by Hank Tolman | |
| Monday, 11 July 2011 | |
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Page 5 of 16
ASUS Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (uEFI)As with most of their recent motherboards, ASUS has integrated their uEFI instead of a BIOS. I am a big fan of this and I hope most other manufacturers will make the move if they haven't already.
When you enter the ASUS uEFI (by pressing DEL at the boot screen), you are greeted with the EZ Mode screen. Here you get a snapshot of your system. The date and time are present up at the top along with some system information like the model of your motherboard, the uEFI version and build date, the CPU model and speed, and the amount and speed of your system memory. You also have the option to change the language, but I prefer English. Some core measurements are given a little lower on the screen. These include CPU and Motherboard temps, CPU and rail voltages, and fan speeds. Just below that you get the option of tweaking your system performance slightly by just choosing one of the three options. The first option is for better energy savings, the middle option is normal, and the last option is for better performance. The performance settings increase the base clock to 103 from 100, giving you a very slight overclock. The last thing you can do on the EZ Mode screen is change the boot order of your attached devices. To get more options, click on the Exit/Advanced Mode icon and enter advanced mode.
The Main screen in Advanced Mode basically just shows the same information that was located at the top of the screen in EZ Mode. The option to change the language is there, as is the option to add a system and administrative password to your computer.
The next screen is the AI Tweaker screen. Here you can manually adjust almost all of your system settings. You can also allow the uEFI to overclock automatically for you. The APU frequency is the base clock, and this is the setting you will use to do any overclocking of the system. While you can adjust the APU multiplier here too, this won't actually do anything to your system, because the multiplier is locked. One thing I found useful here is the memory frequency button. It allows you to choose between the different speeds that your RAM supports, and automatically overclocks the settings you chose based on the APU frequency. After choosing the RAM speed, you can go in and tweak the DRAM Timings to fit your needs. You can also adjust voltages on this screen, though I recommend letting the uEFI do that automatically, even when overclocking.
The Advanced screen gives you access to configure the settings of a lot of your peripherals. You can configure the CPU, including C6 states and PowerNow functionality, as well as your SATA ports, USB ports, and your integrated devices, like the GPU. The SATA ports can be set here to AHCI and you get set your primary video device to something other than the APU if you so desire. Within the onboard devices configuration, you can activate the Asmedia USB 3.0 Battery Charging Support, which gives the enhanced battery charging function ASUS touts.
The Monitor screen goes a little bit further than the EZ Mode screen when showing the system vitals. This screen gives a comprehensive look at the CPU and Motherboard temperatures, fan speeds, and voltages just like the EZ Mode screen, but it also allows you to enable the Q-Fan controls if your CPU or Chassis fan has that fourth pin. With that, you can use the uEFI or AI Suite to control the fan speed and, in so doing, control the noise level.
The next screen is the Boot screen. Here you have the age old option to turn on NumLock when your computer starts up and other options such as what you see when the system is booting up. You can also switch the uEFI here to start up in Advanced Mode automatically. You have three boot options to choose from, so pick your boot priorities wisely.
The final screen on the uEFI is the Tool screen. This screen allows you to flash the uEFI (this already came in handy, as we received a uEFI update halfway through testing) and set your personal O.C. profiles. You can use those profiles later to auto-load an overclock that you have previously tested and found worthy for your game or program. ASUS SPD information can also be found on this screen.
Overall, I have found the uEFI to be far superior the the BIOS. Just the mouse support and screen capture capability would have been enough, but ASUS goes further and integrates a lot of customizability here that is made easy by using the click of a mouse button rather than typing in all the amounts by hand. I think this is the definitely the way of the future for desktop PCs and I am sure any manufacturers that haven't will be jumping on board shortly.
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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.