ASUS Releases First FM2+ Motherboards

Top-tier motherboard manufacturer, ASUS has released to market the first two products to support upcoming Kaveri APUs from AMD, confirming new features in the process. The new motherboards are poetically named A55BM-A/USB3 and A88XM-A and are based on AMD current A55 chipset and new A88X chipset, respectively. Both boards have the same overall layout with one PCI-E x16, one PCI-E x1 and one PCI slot. They both feature a couple USB 3.0 ports on the back panel; the A88X chipset does it natively, while the A55BM-A/USB3 must rely on a third party controller to do so. They both fit the micro ATX size for installation in smaller size cases.

Asus A88XM-A Motherboard - Image Courtesy Asus — Asus A88XM-A Motherboard (Courtesy ASUS)

Overall, these new products probably wouldn’t make the headlines if it wasn’t for the new features they confirm. For starters, the new FM2+ socket is designed to support the upcoming Kaveri APUs with all of its features, but it is also said to support current Trinity and Richland parts in FM2 format. This makes for an easy upgrade path, as AMD users have gotten used to in the past with smooth transition from sockets and processors. Furthermore, the new Kaveri APUs will support PCI-E 3.0 graphics interface and as such, the new boards have PCI-E 3.0/2.0 compliant slots.

Consumers wanting to build a Richland-based system will now have the option of doing so using a FM2+ motherboard for easy upgrade to Kaveri in the future. The new APUs from AMD are said to bring a number of technology and performance improvements over current generation products such as new Steamroller CPU cores, Graphics Core Next GPU architecture and 28nm manufacturing process. AMD has said Kaveri is on track for appearance in the market by late 2013.

Source: Hardware.fr

– dostov

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Knufire

Senior Member

13,235 messages 1 likes

#1 Jul 28, 2013

I swear it seems like Richland didn't come out that long ago, more APUs already?

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X@nder36

Member

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#2 Jul 28, 2013

It said end of 2013, holiday release? Also the first news I'm hearing of steamroller. Excited to see some benches vs. Richland.

dostov

Overclockers.com Reporter

601 messages 0 likes

#3 Jul 28, 2013

Kaveri is slated for late 2013 but people in the industry are really expecting an early 2014 release. It will feature Steamroller cores which are said to bring a nice upgrade in performance.

Sadly, no sign of those new cores for desktop yet. AMD hasn't even included any SR parts in its server roadmap until mid-2014. AMD is all focused on APUs as of late, as they should.

#4 Jul 28, 2013

AMD is all focused on APUs as of late, as they should.

Agreed. Releasing steamroller desktop before the APU would likely be a miss, I doubt it can catch intel's lead (though one can hope). Their APU segment is a lot more unique.

My x6 still chugs along quite nicely, and I can't find any reason to justify upgrading to either side of the fence. Intel just isn't worth the money for a performance margin I probably won't use.

Glad to see PCIe 3.0 on the new chipset though, a step in the right direction. Hopefully the rest of the chipset can compare to Z87...I feel like that's half the reason for going 1155.

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ATMINSIDE

Sim Racing Aficionado Co-Owner

23,925 messages 432 likes

#5 Jul 28, 2013

I think Richland was just a mid model refresh wasn't it?

#6 Jul 29, 2013

Yep. It's not much more than a tweaked Trinity part. Kaveri, on the other hand, is an all new design with improvements on all fronts: CPU, GPU, power management, hUMA... It's something to look forward to.

#7 Jul 29, 2013

hUMA could be epic

#8 Sep 13, 2013

ASUS A88XM-A FM2+ has quietly hit the retail market and is, as far as I know, the first FM2+ motherboard to do so. People wanting to buy a Kaveri-ready board can now buy one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132045