ASUS F1A75-M Pro AMD APU Motherboard Review

ASUS F1A75-M Pro Socket FM1 APU Motherboard

A few weeks back Legit Reviews was able to take a look at the new AMD Llano ‘Sabine’ mobile platform, without a doubt in our minds we were able to give it our “Editors Choice” award for the impressive performance we saw from the system. Today we have the opportunity to look at the desktop version of Llano code named “Lynx”. The architecture between the mobile and desktop versions is virtually identical. For our delve into the AMD “Lynx” platform our board of choice is the ASUS F1A75-M Pro motherboard. This particular motherboard became available earlier in the day prior to the official embargo lift and is retailing for $119.99 plus shipping. While it may be a low cost board, it is by no means lacking in features.

The ASUS F1A75-M Pro features DIGI+ VRM with dual intelligent processors. The first of the two is the TPU, also known as the TurboV Processing unit. The TPU will automatically adjust your systems performance with a simple switch onboard the F1A75-M Pro or it can be accomplished through the use of ASUS AI Suite II software. The second of the intelligent processors is the EPU. Like the TPU the EPU can be accessed on the motherboard by flipping a switch, or through AI Suite II as well. The EPU will moderate the power consumption and

The ASUS F1A75-M Pro offers the latest technologies available. The AMD A75 FCH supports the latest SATA III 6Gbps interface as well as Super Speed USB 3.0. Super Speed USB 3.0 offers up to 5Gbps transfer rates and is up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0! The ASUS F1A75-M Pro combined with the AMD A8-3850 APU offers DirectX 11 capabilities via the AMD Radeon HD 6550D integrated in to the APU itself.

The AMD A8-3850 we will be using in conjunction with the ASUS F1A75-M Pro uses a base frequency of 100MHz and a 29x multiplier to achieve the 2900MHz core clock. All of the A Series APUs have locked multipliers which means that any overclocking will have to be done through the base clock.

The AMD A8-3850 has a discrete level graphics engine built right in to it. The AMD Radeon HD 6550D. The Radeon HD 6550D has 400 Radeon ‘STARS’ cores, 5 SIMDs, 20 Texture Units, and a GPU Core Clock Speed of 600MHz. the total GPU Peak Compute power is 480 GFLOPS.

ASUS F1A75-M Pro Features and Specifications

CPU	AMD Socket FM1 A- Series/E2- Series Accelerated Processors Supports CPU up to 4 cores Supports AMD Turbo Core 2.0 Technology
Chipset	AMD A75 FCH (Hudson D3)
Memory	4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 Hz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel Memory Architecture
Graphic	Integrated AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series Graphics in Llano APU Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DVI/RGB ports – Supports HDMI with max. resolution 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz – Supports DVI with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz – Supports RGB with max. resolution 1920 x 1600 @ 60 Hz Dual independent displays support with HDMI/DVI and D-Sub AMD Dual Graphics technology support Supports DirectX 11
Multi-GPU Support	Supports AMD CrossFireX Technology
Expansion Slots	1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (blue) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode, black) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1 1 x PCI
Storage	AMD A75 FCH (Hudson D3) chipset : 6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), gray Support Raid 0, 1, 10, JBOD
LAN	Realtek 8111E , 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller
Audio	Realtek ALC 892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC – Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking Audio Feature : – Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel
USB Ports	AMD A75 FCH (Hudson D3) chipset : 4 x USB 3.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board) AMD A75 FCH (Hudson D3) chipset : 10 x USB 2.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, black, 8 at mid-board) ASMedia USB 3.0 controller : 2 x USB 3.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, blue)
Overclocking Features	Overclocking Protection : – ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)
Special Features	ASUS Dual Intelligent Processors 2 with DIGI+ VRM : ASUS TPU : – Auto Tuning – TurboV – TPU switch ASUS EPU : – EPU – EPU switch ASUS Digital Power Design : – Industry leading Digital 4 +2 Phase Power Design ASUS Exclusive Features : – MemOK! – AI Suite II – Ai Charger+ – Anti-Surge – ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode featuring friendly graphics user interface ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution : – Stylish Fanless Design Heat-sink solution – ASUS Fan Xpert ASUS EZ DIY : – ASUS Q-Shield – ASUS O.C. Profile – ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3 – ASUS EZ Flash 2 – ASUS MyLogo 2 – Multi-language BIOS 100% All High-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors
Back I/O Ports	1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s) 1 x DVI-D 1 x D-Sub 1 x HDMI 1 x LAN (RJ45) port 4 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 1 x Optical S/PDIF out 6 x Audio jack(s)
Internal I/O Ports	1 x USB 3.0 connector support additional 2 USB 3.0 port 4 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 8 USB 2.0 port(s) 1 x COM port(s) connector(s) 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s) 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) 2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) 1 x Power Fan connector(s) 1 x S/PDIF out header(s) 1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s) 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s) 1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP) 1 x System panel(s)
Accessories	User’s manual ASUS Q-Shield 2 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
BIOS	Support Disc
Support Disc	Drivers ASUS PC Probe II ASUS Update Anti-virus software (OEM version)
Form Factor	uATX Form Factor 9.6 inch x 9.6 inch ( 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm )