Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 Motherboard Review

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Gigabyte.

The second generation of AMD A-Series APUs is now among us. Hopefully you have been able to read our articles about the newest AMD Trinity Processors. Those APUs are nice, but they amount to nothing without a motherboard to pair them with. At Benchmark Reviews, we tested those APUs with the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 Socket FM2 A85X Motherboard. While the A85X chipset brings a few minor changes to the FCH, Gigabyte has added a lot of their own features to the F2A85X-UP4 motherboard to ensure that it meets all of the needs of early FM2 adopters.

Both AMD and Intel are working frantically toward moving everything they possibly can onto the CPU die. North and south bridges are a thing of the past. The CPUs themselves have taken over the functions of the now defunct Northbridge and, in the case of AMD, the Southbridge has been rebranded as the Fusion Controller Hub (FCH).

As the next step in this move toward single-chip dominancy, AMD has released the second generation of A-Series APUs, built on the Piledriver CPU and named the Trinity series. I find it a little odd that this generation of APUs is called Trinity, when it consists of four series of APUs; the A10, A8, A6, and A4. Last generation's APUs were the A8, A6, and A4, which may have made more sense in terms of trinity. Either way, with the APUs came a new socket and a new FCH. The socket is the FM2 socket, which holds the 904-Pin Trinity APUs. This socket replaces the FM1 socket, which held the 905-Pin Llano APUs. Unfortunately, the two sockets are mutually exclusive and neither can support the other's APUs.

The new FCH is the A85X chipset. The previous generation's A75 and A55 chipsets are still used with the new generation of AMD A-Series APUs as well. This could lead to some confusion in naming as the purchase of an A75 or A55 motherboards doesn't necessarily equate to automatic support with the APU, which could be a Llano or Trinity model. Luckily, if you buy an A85X motherboard, you can be sure that it only supports FM2 APUs. For a sure bet, look for the F1 or F2 moniker in the motherboard name.

So, without much competition in the FM2 motherboard market as of yet, especially with board sporting the A85X chipset, what exactly does Gigabyte offer with the F2A85X-UP4? Follow along inside to find out.

F2A85X-UP4 Final Thoughts

The Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 is a good start for the A85X chipset. I wouldn't really call it an "enthusiast" or "overclocker" motherboard, but since it is paired with the Trinity APUs, there really isn't much need for that anyway. If you happen to be an overclocker on a budget, the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 offers a lot features, such as high-end components and a great Digital PWM to help you channel more voltage toward the components and push the envelope a little. The added EasyTune6 software helps make that easy.

But the Second Generation of A-Series APUs isn't necessarily your average overclocker fare. These APUs don't even have an L3 cache. They certainly don't compare in any way to the high end i5 or i7 processors. They do match the performance level of the Intel processors nearest their price range, but these APUs are really for entry-level and up to mid-level computers.

Because of that, I can't blame Gigabyte for not including a bigger PWM or more enthusiast features like better heat management over the MOSFETs. I do have to give them credit for including as many features as they did.

The Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 includes every video port you could need, and you can use any three of them to power three monitors. Gigabyte included four rear panel USB 3.0 ports in addition to the internal header. There is an external SATA port on the rear I/O as well. Add that to the seven internal ports and you have eight total.

At $129.99, the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 certainly has a lot of features to help out any system builder. The onboard diagnostic LEDs, power switch, and clear CMOS button. The F2A85X-UP4 even includes two BIOS chips for extra redundancy in case something goes wrong. Overall, I'd say it's well worth the price. That being said, the A85X doesn't really improve much over the A75 chipset other than giving users the ability to run dual discrete GPUs. There are a lot of A75 FM2 motherboards for much lower prices.

The fact of the matter is I recently built a computer for a good friend of mine. The Trinity APUs were a perfect choice, but I opted for an A75 FM2 motherboard instead of an A85X solely because of the price. I think the A85X occupies a tough selling point. Enthusiast and overclockers who would use a second discrete GPU may opt for Bulldozer or Ivy Bridge instead. Gamers looking for a great deal that will still play games or other users looking for a good deal might opt to save $50 or more going with the A75 chipset instead.

Bottom line: Great motherboard at a good price but in a niche market. Go A75 and save the cash.

Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 Conclusion

The Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 is an excellent motherboard. It has tons of features and is very well built using high quality components. It is easy to overclock and has a great UEFI. The Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 would be a good choice for a budget minded gamer who is looking for something that will play the games now, but that can be upgraded with better GPUs in SLI or CrossFire later on for even better performance. Anything less than that and an A75 would be a good fit. Anything more and the 990FX or Z77 would be a better choice.

The performance of the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 was great. The UEFI was easy to use and setting everything up was a breeze with the onboard features. My RAM was automatically detected and ran at 1866MHz. Believe it or not, that's a big deal and you'll probably want to check to make sure that you own RAM is running at the speeds its rated for. Most motherboards will run it at 1333MHz standard. The USB charging performance was excellent, since the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 pushes out 3 times the normal voltage on the USB ports.

The Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 looks pretty good, not amazing though. It's all black with subdued heatsinks and subtle grays highlighting certain areas. It doesn't stand out all that much, but it does look professional and straightforward. If looks > stats is your thing, you may want to go elsewhere.

The construction quality on the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 is outstanding. Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 5 technology used on the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 won a Tom's Hardware award at Computex 2012. The components are built well, they will last a long time, and they will stand up to a lot of torture and overclocking. They are built to withstand high current flows and higher voltages. Even the PCB is built up to higher than standard specification.

Functionally, the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 offers everything you need in an A85X motherboard and a lot that you don't. It doesn't step up to the level of high-end motherboards, but the target market for an FM2 motherboard wouldn't be looking for that stuff anyway. With the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 you get plenty of USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, a power switch and clear CMOS button on the motherboard, and the ability to run dual discrete graphics if you want to. Additionally, the added Easy Tune 6 software allows for easy and automatic overclocking and the On/Off charger lets you charge USB devices even when your computer is off.

Pros:

Cons:

- Small MOSFET heatsink
- UEFI is a little difficult to navigate

Ratings:

• Performance: 8.75
• Appearance: 8.00
• Construction: 9.50
• Functionality: 9.00
• Value: 8.00

Final Score: 8.65 out of 10.

Benchmark Reviews invites you to leave constructive feedback below, or ask questions in our Discussion Forum.

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