ASRock FM2A85X-ITX Review

With Mini-ITX being ever more popular with consumers and budget being an ever growing factor, we take a look at a solution from the AMD camp on the FM2 platform.

Product on Review: FM2A85X-ITX
Manufacturer: ASRock
Street Price: £75 (at time of review)

With the Mini-ITX platform becoming ever popular with builders and enthusiasts alike, lots of people ask the question, does the small size mean it’s not as powerful as an ATX counterpart? Well this is simply not the case as manufacturers have gone leaps and bounds in providing high performing Mini-ITX solutions without sacrificing quality and features.

ASRock are no different in this respect, having released Mini-ITX boards across many different platforms. Today we will be taking a look at one from their AMD range and in particular their latest and flagship Mini-ITX model on the FM2 platform. With the release of the new A85X chipset with more features such as having more SATA3 ports and aimed at those who want to squeeze the highest possible performance from their APU.

Today we will be taking a look at the ASRock FM2A85X-ITX

About ASrock

ASRock Inc. is established in 2002, specialized in the field of motherboards. ASRock strives to build up its own brand. With the 3C design concept, “Creativity, Consideration, Cost-effectiveness”, the company explores the limit of motherboards manufacturing while paying attention on the eco issue at the same time, developing products with the consideration of eco-friendly concept. ASRock has been growing fast and become world third largest motherboard brand with headquarter in Taipei, Taiwan and branches in Europe and the USA. The young and vibrant company targets from mainstream to enthusiast MB segments for different kinds of users, owning reputation around the world market with its reliability and proficiency.

Technical Specifications

General

CPU – Support for Socket FM2 100W processors
– 4 + 2 Power Phase Design
– Dual-Stack MOSFET (DSM)
– Supports AMD’s Cool ‘n’ Quiet Technology
– UMI-Link GEN2

Chipset
– AMD A85X (Hudson-D4)

Memory
– Dual Channel DDR3 memory technology
– 2 x DDR3 DIMM slots
– Supports DDR3 2400+(OC)/2133(OC)/1866/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
– Max. capacity of system memory: 32GB*
– Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 1.3 / 1.2
– Supports AMD Memory Profile (AMP) *To reach the maximum 32GB of system memory, memory modules with 16GB capacity or above are required. ASRock will update the memory support list on the official website once these memory modules are available on the market. **Due to the operating system limitation, the actual memory size may be less than 4GB for the reservation for system usage under Windows® 32-bit OS. For Windows® 64-bit OS with 64-bit CPU, there is no such limitation.

BIOS
– 64Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with GUI support
– Supports “Plug and Play” – ACPI 1.1 Compliance Wake Up Events – Supports jumper free
– SMBIOS 2.3.1 Support
– DRAM, APU PCIE VDDP, SB, CPU and CPU NB/GFX Voltage Multi-adjustment

Audio, Video and Networking Graphics
– Integrated AMD Radeon HD 7000 series graphics in A-series APU
– DirectX 11, Pixel Shader 5.0
– Max. shared memory 2GB
– Multi VGA Output options: D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI
– Supports HDMI Technology with max. resolution up to 1920×1200 @ 60Hz
– Supports Dual-link DVI-D with max. resolution up to 2560×1600 @ 75Hz
– Supports D-Sub with max. resolution up to 1920×1600 @ 60Hz
– Supports Auto Lip Sync, Deep Colour (12bpc), xvYCC and HBR (High Bit Rate Audio) with HDMI (Compliant HDMI monitor is required)
– Supports Blu-ray Stereoscopic 3D with HDMI
– Supports AMD Steady Video™ 2.0: New video post processing capability for automatic jutter reduction on home/online video
– Supports HDCP function with DVI-D and HDMI ports
– Supports Full HD 1080p Blu-ray (BD) / HD-DVD playback with DVI-DI and HDMI ports

Audio
– 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)
– Premium Blu-ray audio support
– Supports THX TruStudio™

LAN
– PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s
– Realtek RTL8111E – Supports Wake-On-LAN
– Supports LAN Cable Detection – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
– Supports PXE

Expansion / Connectivity Slots
– 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot
– Supports AMD Dual Graphics SATA3
– 7 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10), NCQ, AHCI and “Hot Plug” functions USB 3.0
– 2 x Rear USB 3.0 ports, support USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s
– 1 x Front USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports), supports USB 1.1/2.0/3.0 up to 5Gb/s Connector
– 7 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s connectors
– 1 x CIR header – 1 x HDMI_SPDIF header
– 1 x Chassis Intrusion header
– 2 x CPU Fan connectors (1 x 4-pin, 1 x 3-pin)
– 1 x Chassis Fan connector (4-pin)
– 24 pin ATX power connector
– 4 pin 12V power connector
– Front panel audio connector
– 2 x USB 2.0 headers (support 4 USB 2.0 ports)
– 1 x USB 3.0 header (supports 2 USB 3.0 ports) Rear Panel I/O I/O Panel
– 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port
– 1 x D-Sub Port
– 1 x DVI-D Port
– 1 x HDMI Port
– 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
– 4 x Ready-to-Use USB 2.0 Ports
– 1 x eSATA3 Connector
– 2 x Ready-to-Use USB 3.0 Ports
– 1 x RJ-45 LAN Port with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
– HD Audio Jack: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone

Other Features / Miscellaneous Unique Feature
– ASRock Extreme Tuning Utility (AXTU)
– ASRock Instant Boot
– ASRock Instant Flash
– ASRock APP Charger
– ASRock XFast USB
– ASRock XFast LAN
– ASRock XFast RAM
– ASRock Crashless BIOS
– ASRock OMG (Online Management Guard)
– ASRock Internet Flash
– ASRock UEFI System Browser
– ASRock On/Off Play Technology
– ASRock Dehumidifier Function
– ASRock Easy RAID Installer
– ASRock Interactive UEFI
– ASRock Fast Boot
– ASRock X-Boost
– ASRock Restart to UEFI
– Hybrid Booster:
– ASRock U-COP

Support CD
– Drivers, Utilities, Antivirus Software (Trial Version), CyberLink MediaEspresso 6.5 Trial, Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar

Accessories
– Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
– 4 x SATA Data Cables

Hardware Monitor
– CPU Temperature Sensing
– Chassis Temperature Sensing
– CPU Fan Tachometer
– Chassis Fan Tachometer
– CPU Quiet Fan
– CPU/Chassis Fan Multi-Speed Control
– CASE OPEN detection
– Voltage Monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, Vcore

Form Factor
– Mini-ITX Form Factor
– 6 Layer PCB
– Premium Gold Capacitor design (100% Japan-made high-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors)

OS
– Microsoft® Windows® 8 / 8 64-bit / 7 / 7 64-bit / Vista™ / Vista™ 64-bit compliant Certifications
– FCC, CE, WHQL
– ErP/EuP Ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)

Packaging & First Look

On the front of the box we have an illustration of ASRocks 555 moniker with 5 x LAN speed, 5 x USB speed and 5 x system speeds. The main part of the box is presented in a dark grey colour with the model number, the general AMD information logos and notes that the board is Windows 8 ready.

As we take a look at the rear, we are greeted with a very detailed list of specifications and features that the motherboard has. Again like the front we have that two tone blackish grey colour with yellowish highlights on the illustrations.

The ASRock FM2A85X-ITX comes bundled with a driver and utilities disc, quick installation manual, 4 black USB cables and as always the rear I/O shield.

From a quick first glance you can see the PCB is a medium shade of brown, and being in ITX form factor, has only 2 dimm slots. We have 4+2 power phases just underneath the CPU and have 7 SATA3 connections which we think is fantastic, not a single SATA2 port in sight. We also have 1 x PCI-EX 2.0 x 16 port for supported and compatible graphics cards.

Closer Look

Around the CPU socket which supports FM2 socket AMD CPUs, we can clearly see the 4+2 power phases. We can also see the PCI EX 2.0 x16 slot and where the bios battery is situated.

Here we have 2 x 240pin dimm slots for DDR3 memory, and the 24pin ATX power connector. The board itself supports up to a maximum capacity of 32GB in total and supports dual channel with speeds up to 2400+(OC)

Here we have the USB 3.0 front panel connector, also a closer view of the 4+2 power phase that the ASRock board comes equipped with.

The FM2A85X-ITX board has support for up to 7 SATA3 6Gbps which is powered by the latest AMD A85X Hudson D4 chipset which allows you to attach devices such as the latest SSDs etc.

Closer Look Continued

On the bottom right of the board we have the medium sized Southbridge heatsink. It is a shiny gun-metal grey and compliments the design of the board very well.

In terms of I/O connections we have 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 2 x USB 3.0 ports, 1 x RJ45 LAN port, 1 x PS/2 keyboard port, 1 x eSATA3 connector, 7.1 HD audio jacks including optical and a plethora of connections for your monitor including HDMI, DVI-D, and D-Sub.

BIOS

ASRock features the UEFI bios which has a very clean and user friendly interface. We found it very easy to navigate around and had no issues in finding exactly what we were looking for due to the layout.

Test Setup & Overclocking

A85X Setup

APU – A8-5600K
Motherboard – ASRock FM2A85X-ITX
RAM – Xtreem LV PC3 19200 DDR3 LV 2400
HDD – Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 7200RPM SATAII
Power Supply – NZXT Hale82 650W
Cooler – CoolerMaster Hyper 212+

Overclocking our AMD A8 5600k processor was relatively painless although really struggled to hit 4.5GHz stable with an IGPU overclock of 950mhz but we think that’s down to the lack of power phase available. Knowing our chip was capable we decided to plough on and at least try to get as close as we could to our target.

With our overclock target of 4.5GHz and 950MHz not obtainable, we decided to lower our expectations slightly and went for a slightly reduced clock speed of 4.4ghz. After changing the multiplier down to x44 and increased the graphics back up to 950MHz (which wouldn’t boot with 4.5GHz previously) we booted straight into windows first time. After running prime95 for 30 minutes just to check stability, we were happy with the results. Our main issue with the board was the lack of FSB control and we feel if we had been able to adjust this, our 4.5GHz target would have been possible. The board only comes with 4+2 power phases and it is Mini-ITX so we feel it did very well all things considered.

It has to be noted that this is a Mini-ITX board so we can’t fully compare it to a full sized ATX motherboard on overclocking performance alone. 4.4ghz is stll a huge improvement from stock and while we couldn’t hit our target, we are happy with what we achieved.

Our final clocks were 4392.16GHz on the CPU core and 950MHz on the GPU.

Power Consumption

It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards because energy results can fluctuate between manufacturers due to the features and specifications that are integrated. First of all, for the idle tests the system is cold booted into Windows and no additional applications are executed – the watts are noted on the external energy monitor we use. Then the system is loaded with LinX 0.6.4 and MSI Kombustor simultainiously – watts are again monitored throughout the period of testing and the highest rated watts are then noted down. Below are the results of this energy test.

Synthetic Benchmarks: AIDA64

CPU Queen

This simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example – with HyperThreading disabled – the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs. 31-step long pipeline. The CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.

CPU Photoworxx Benchmark

This benchmark stresses the integer arithmetic and multiplication execution units of the CPU and also the memory subsystem. Due to the fact that this test performs high memory read/write traffic, it cannot effectively scale in situations where more than 2 processing threads used. For example, on a 8-way Pentium III Xeon system the 8 processing threads will be “fighting” over the memory, creating a serious bottleneck that would lead to as low scores as a 2-way or 4-way similar processor based system could achieve. CPU PhotoWorxx test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

CPU AES Benchmark

This benchmark measures CPU performance using AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) data encryption. In cryptography AES is a symmetric-key encryption standard. AES is used in several compression tools today, like 7z, RAR, WinZip, and also in disk encryption solutions like BitLocker, FileVault (Mac OS X), TrueCrypt.CPU AES test uses only the basic x86 instructions, and it’s hardware accelerated on VIA PadLock Security Engine capable VIA C3, VIA C7, VIA Nano and VIA QuadCore processors; and on Intel AES-NI instruction set extension capable processors. The test is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

Mandel Benchmark

This benchmark measures the double precision (also known as 64-bit) floating-point performance through the computation of several frames of the popular “Mandelbrot” fractal. The code behind this benchmark method is written in Assembly, and it is extremely optimized for every popular AMD, Intel and VIA processor core variants by utilizing the appropriate x87, SSE2, AVX or FMA4 instruction set extension. FPU Mandel test is HyperThreading, multi-processor (SMP) and multi-core (CMP) aware.

Synthetic Benchmarks: x264 HD

Simply put, this test measures how fast your machine can encode a short, DVD quality MPEG-2 video clip into a high-quality x264 video clip. What’s x264, you ask? It’s more or less the next-generation Xvid/DivX codec. I think it’s ideal for a benchmark because the application (x264.exe) reports fairly accurate compression results (in frames per second) for each pass of the video encoding process, and it uses multi-core processors very efficiently.

Synthetic Benchmarks: Cinebench 11.5

CPU Rendering

CINEBENCH can measure systems with up to 64 processor threads. This test scene contains approximately 2,000 objects which in turn contain more than 300,000 polygons in total, and uses sharp and blurred reflections, area lights, shadows, procedural shaders, antialiasing, and much more. The result is displayed in points (pts). The higher the number, the faster your processor.

Open GL Graphics Rendering

Synthetic Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA 2012

SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but I believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.

Synthetic Benchmarks: 3DMark Vantage & 3DMark 11

3DMark Vantage

3DMark Vantage is the industry standard performance benchmark for DirectX 10 gaming PCs. It includes two graphics tests, two CPU tests and six feature tests. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark Vantage is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 10 under game-like loads.

3DMark 11

Designed to measure your PC’s gaming performance 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

Synthetic Benchmarks: UNIGINE Heaven 3.0

3D Benchmarks: Unigine Heaven 3.0

Unigine’s benchmark is to showcase the benefits of DX 11 and the use of tessellation as opposed to normal rendering techniques. The demo has impressive visuals that give an insight into what we can expect from gaming in the future.

Game Benchmarks: BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite

Set in 1912 during the growth of American exceptionalism, BioShock Infinite is a thrid person shooter developed by Irrational games and published by 2K Games. It is the third instalment of the BioShock franchise. the game utilises the Unreal Engine 3, modifying it with their own lighting engine to present a visually stunning experience like no other.