GIGABYTE F2A85XN-WiFi Review: FM2 and Richland in mini-ITX
by Ian Cutress on August 21, 2013 10:00 AM ESTMany thanks to...
We must thank the following companies for kindly providing hardware for our test bed:
Thank you to OCZ for providing us with 1250W Gold Power Supplies.
Thank you to G.Skill for providing us with memory kits.
Thank you to Corsair for providing us with an AX1200i PSU, Corsair H80i CLC and 16GB 2400C10 memory.
Thank you to ASUS for providing us with the AMD GPUs and some IO Testing kit.
Thank you to ECS for providing us with the NVIDIA GPUs.
Thank you to Rosewill for providing us with the BlackHawk Ultra, and 1600W Hercules PSU for extreme dual CPU + quad GPU testing, and RK-9100 keyboards.
Thank you to ASRock for providing us with the 802.11ac wireless router for testing.
Test Setup
| Processor |
AMD Trinity A10-6800K APU 2 Modules, 4 Threads, 4.1 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo) |
| Motherboards | GIGABYTE F2A85XN-WiFi |
| Cooling |
Corsair H80i Thermalright TRUE Copper |
| Power Supply |
OCZ 1250W Gold ZX Series Corsair AX1200i Platinum PSU |
| Memory |
GSkill TridentX 4x4 GB DDR3-2400 10-12-12 Kit Corsair Vengeance Pro 2x8 GB DDR3 2400 10-12-12 Kit |
| Memory Settings | XMP (2400 10-12-12) |
| Video Cards |
ASUS HD7970 3GB ECS GTX 580 1536MB |
| Video Drivers |
Catalyst 13.1 NVIDIA Drivers 310.90 WHQL |
| Hard Drive | OCZ Vertex 3 256GB |
| Optical Drive | LG GH22NS50 |
| Case | Open Test Bed |
| Operating System | Windows 7 64-bit |
| USB 2/3 Testing | OCZ Vertex 3 240GB with SATA->USB Adaptor |
| WiFi Testing | D-Link DIR-865L 802.11ac Dual Band Router |
As this is our first review using a Richland processor on FM2, and our first FM2 on mini-ITX, various results will be taken from our previous reviews featuring Trinity processors and/or mini-ITX models.
Power Consumption
Power consumption was tested on the system as a whole with a wall meter connected to the OCZ 1250W power supply, while in a dual 7970 GPU configuration. This power supply is Gold rated, and as I am in the UK on a 230-240 V supply, leads to ~75% efficiency > 50W, and 90%+ efficiency at 250W, which is suitable for both idle and multi-GPU loading. This method of power reading allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.
While this method for power measurement may not be ideal, and you feel these numbers are not representative due to the high wattage power supply being used (we use the same PSU to remain consistent over a series of reviews, and the fact that some boards on our test bed get tested with three or four high powered GPUs), the important point to take away is the relationship between the numbers. These boards are all under the same conditions, and thus the differences between them should be easy to spot.
Compared to the other FM2 motherboards we have tested, the FM2 ITX seems a little on the high side, even though all processors in there are rated at 100W (Trinity and Richland).
Windows 7 POST Time
Different motherboards have different POST sequences before an operating system is initialized. A lot of this is dependent on the board itself, and POST boot time is determined by the controllers on board (and the sequence of how those extras are organized). As part of our testing, we are now going to look at the POST Boot Time - this is the time from pressing the ON button on the computer to when Windows 7 starts loading. (We discount Windows loading as it is highly variable given Windows specific features.) These results are subject to human error, so please allow +/- 1 second in these results.
Surprisingly enough, we get a sizable ~1 second boost when stripping down the BIOS for booting, and the GIGABYTE inches near a good 12 second target.
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IanCutress - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
The motherboard manufacturer has options when deciding which digital display outputs are put on the motherboard itself. Typically we see HDMI, DP and DVI-D, though as I mention in comparison to other motherboards, some manufacturers can switch up the DP to a HDMI like this motherboard here. Other manufacturers will only use two digital displays (HDMI/DVI-D or DP/HDMI) and take the VGA from the chipset. I've never used a DP monitor in my personal life (I used DP for the 4K article), so I guess I would prefer multiple HDMI ports to rig up a couple of 1080p monitors. Manufacturers have an option of a DVI-I (combined DVI-D and VGA), although few actually do so.I happen to be working with a mini-ITX motherboard that goes along all three digital displays (HDMI/DP) with the combination DVI-I right now :)
Ian
geok1ng - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
Please clarify me this point: you mean this mobo can run 3 monitors using cheap HDMI>DVI adapters at the same time, for example, in stock market/online poker?DanNeely - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
AFAIK AMD hasn't made any GPUs (discrete or integrated) that have 3 legacy (VGA/DVi/HDMI) clock generators; as a result you'd need an active adapter. Intel's the same; with only some of nVidia's higher end cards supporting 3 non-DP displays.thatbox - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
My Radeon 5770 does that, if that counts as AMD.DanNeely - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
AFAIK all of those cards just put the active displayport to HDMI/etc converter on the card instead of requiring you to buy a dongle. The CPU chip itself is still limited to two legacy outputs.thatbox - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
Had to check to see how everything was plugged in. None of my monitors has DP (the most recent one was made in 2006). One CRT (1920x1440x75Hz) using the DVI output with a VGA adapter, one LCD (1280x1024x60Hz) using the DP output with a DVI adapter, and one LCD (1920x1200x60Hz) using the HDMI output with a DVI adapter. I guess maybe the DP>DVI adapter could be active, if it can be active without being powered, but two a year and a half ago it was like twenty bucks as opposed to the sixty or seventy or more most others were and everything works fine. It was not a big a deal as the scary research I'd done suggested it would be.paperwastage - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
only the active DP->dual-link DVI is expensive(>$60) and typically needs a power source (via USB)the active DP->single-link DVI has been around $20-$30 for the past few years now, don't need power source. I remember getting mine for $30 in 2010
paperwastage - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
AMD itself hasn't made any reference design for 3 legacy clock, but it's partners have (though the demand is weak)eg: Sapphire Flex - see only 2 "in-stock" versions on newegg
http://www.sapphiretech.com/Flex/FleX_Eng_apply.ht...
GonzaloMin - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
Love my job, since I've been bringing in $82h… I sit at home, music playing while I work in front of my new iMac that I got now that I'm making it online. (Home more information)http://goo.gl/UDMcRU
meacupla - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
dual HDMI is probably for HDMI TV and HDMI receiver.not that DVI or DP can't be converted to HDMI, at extra hassle for the end user, so DP would be nice.