Last week, ASRock unveiled two of their upcoming A88X chipset based FM2+ socketed motherboards on their web portal. A week later, ASRock has officially introduced their entire lineup featuring a total of five new boards which feature the new ASRock A-Style features and support AMD's upcoming Kaveri and current Richland/Trinity APUs.
ASRock Unveils Entire A88X Chipset Motherboard Lineup
The top product of the A88X chipset lineup from ASRock is the FM2A88X Extreme6+ but the board that got my attention is the first mini-ITX A88X chipset based FM2A88X-ITX+ which is going to be a great board for mini-PCs and HTPC setups. The ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ features the FM2+ socket and equipped with a 6 phase supply with gold solid-state capacitors and high quality components to improve power efficiency. It is fitted with two DIMM slots to support a maximum of 32 GB memory capacity with speeds of 2600 MHz (O.C+). Power to the socket is supplied through a 4-Pin connector while the PCH rests beneath a aluminum fin heatsink located next to it.
Storage options include 6 SATA 6 Gbps ports and a PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot which could be used to support the latest graphic cards and addon cards. The I/O panel is loaded with 4 USB 2.0, 4 USB 3.0 (two from internal header), VGA, DVI, Dual HDMI, PS/2, E-SATA, Gigabit ethernet ports and a 7.1 channel audio jack. The motherboard looks fantastic.
The other two newly introduced A88X chipset boards from ASRock include the FM2A88M-HD+ which is a entry level model with 3+2 Phase VRM, two PCI-e x16 slots and a single PCI-e x1. Storage includes 6 SATA 6 Gbps ports and the I/O options are limited. The board is followed by another mainstream model known as the ASRock FM2 A88X Pro+ which is a slightly updated version of the HD+ featuring a 5 phase VRM powered through an 8- Pin connector, two PCI-e x16 slots, two PCI-e x1 and two PCI slots while storage options include 8 SATA 6 Gbps ports.
The ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+ features an 8+2 Phase Digital PWM design featuring premium gold capacitors and high grade components. The socket is supplied power through an 8-Pin connector allowing support for 95/65 and 100W APUs. The PCH and PWM supply are cooled off by two aluminum heatsinks which offer cooling under normal and overclocked load. The motherboard features four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting memory clocked at 2600 MHz (OC+) in 64 GB Capacity. Expansion slots include 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16, 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1, 2 x PCI supporting Dual Graphics, CrossFireX and Quad CrossFireX. Storage is provided through 7 x SATA3, 1 x eSATA, while I/O includes 6 USB 3.0, 8 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, DVI, Displayport, PS/2, Gigabit Ethernet and a 7.1 Channel Audio jack powered with Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec. The product page can be found here.
The ASRock FM2A88X Extreme4+ features a less powerful 6-Phase Digital PWM design featuring standard capacitors and high grade components. The socket is supplied power through an 8-Pin connector allowing support for 95/65 and 100W APUs. Only the PCH is cooled off by an aluminum heatsinks which offers cooling under normal and overclocked load. The motherboard features four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting memory clocked at 2600 MHz (OC+) in 64 GB Capacity. Expansion slots include 2 x PCIe 3.0 x16, 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16, 2 x PCIe 2.0 x1, 2 x PCI supporting Dual Graphics, CrossFireX and Quad CrossFireX. Storage is provided through 8 x SATA3, 1 x eSATA, while I/O includes 4 USB 3.0, 10 USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, DVI, PS/2, Gigabit Ethernet and a 7.1 Channel Audio jack powered with Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec. The product page can be found here.
Both motherboards are backed by ASRock’s A-Style features which include A-Tuning, XFast 555, X-Boost, Easy driver installer, FAN-Tastic Tuning, USB key. The Purity Sound design offers premium sound quality while utilities such as UEFI system browser deliver ease of accessibility. Both motherboards are expected to hit retail around fourth quarter for a price range around sub-$150 US.
Excuse me for the low quality pictures, the press material sent by ASRock included low size pictures which i had to resize to make them clear enough for everyone to see. Ill try to find or ask ASRock to sent high-quality pictures to update the article.
ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+
ASRock FM2A88X Pro+
ASRock FM2A88M HD+
ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+
