Gigabyte F2A85XN-WIFI review - Introduction

Gigabyte F2A85XN-WIFI For The Richland AMD A-Series Has Arrived

Recently AMD released a spin-ff APU series called Richland, basically in short wording it was a re-spin of Trinity. Alongside that A10 series APU release multiple motherboards have been updated to match the channel demand a little better. And yeah, what we'll see today is impressive for what it is. We review the cute and tiny mini-ITX based Gigabyte F2A85XN-WIFI motherboard and arm it with a Richland based AMD A10 6800K APU processor. The motherboard is only 17x17 CM yet offers great features and is incredible fun. Value and fun is what the platform offers. Pop on a nice seriers 6800 APU from AMD and for normal daily usage is just fine and heck, it's great for HTPCs and even a game or two.

Before we start off this review, let me state this like we always do with APU reviews; see we are a bit of an enthusiast based website so I want to make it very clear here, the A10 and A8 APU processors are entry level to mid-range targeted processors, please do understand that very clearly. That means you are looking at reasonable desktop CPU experience versus (in AMDs case) an enhanced integrated GPU, and all that for very interesting prices. But they are not intended as enthusiast class PC gaming rigs, okay?

So it's all about value, and that shows as the Mini-ITX motherboard today maybe will cost you 90 EUR. For that money it will be locked and loaded with some impressive features alright. Heck Gigabyte has managed to even squeeze on-board Wi-Fi and dual HDMI ports onto the 17cm wide PCB, alongside a x16 PCIe slot and even four 6Gbps SATA3 slots. The PCB uses a 6-phase VRM to power the APU. When you look at it, it immediately becomes clear that the F2A85XN-WIFI has been built on Ultra Durable 4 Plus spec with high-grade PowIRstage driver-MOSFETs and VRM controllers, made by International Rectifier. Alongside all that you will see two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory. The high-end specs do not stop there though as you will get a nice four USB 3.0 ports, dual-link DVI and two HDMI display outputs, 8-channel HD audio, Gigabit Ethernet, and 802.11 b/g/n WiFi

In this review today we'll have an overview of the product and of course we dive a little deeper into the performance. Next page please.