GIGABYTE F2A88X-UP4 Review
by Ian Cutress on March 24, 2014 11:59 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- AMD
- Gigabyte
- FM2
GIGABYTE F2A88X-UP4 Conclusion
There are many areas where a motherboard needs to excel to get a hardened recommendation. The trouble is many of these areas require predictions many months in advance to be accurate, which in itself is a hard task to master. Hardware choices, price points, usability, controller choice, port numbers, temperatures, BIOS implantation and software are just a few. The ultimate winners in these areas often end up with more sales and a better rapport when it comes to online enthusiast support.
Thus when it comes to AMD’s flagship processor and chipset, it might be expected that motherboard manufacturers go all in. Reality is not that simple – the AMD market is a nudge or two lower than Intel in terms of price points, and thus it can be limiting to innovate in this area. Combine that with the economies of scale when it comes to sales, and the high end AMD motherboards are rarely pushing $120, let alone $150 or $200.
The GIGABYTE F2A88X-UP4 is at the top of GIGABYTE’s FM2+ A88X product line – there is no UP5/UP7, this is it. There is an A88X Sniper which sits alongside the UP4 with upgraded audio. The UP4 currently retails at $105, and to get the IR355x power delivery on a $105 motherboard is no easy task. This power delivery can be expensive (economies of scale reduce the bill of materials cost), and sometimes other areas of the design have to suffer. The F2A88X-UP4 is ‘Ultra Durable 5 Plus’ enabled, which means GIGABYTE uses the IR355x ICs as well as placing eight USB 3.0 ports on the motherboard (among other things). As a result the audio/network is a cheaper Realtek combination, using an ALC892 codec where other motherboards at this price point use an ALC898 or ALC1150. The UP4 does have two internal USB 3.0 headers, useful for a number of cases on the market that have four USB 3.0 ports on the front of the case.
GIGABYTE needs to update its software and BIOS packages on the AMD APU line. Currently we have the older BIOS and older EasyTune software, whereas the Intel range is getting the more recent updates. Other FM2+ motherboard manufacturers have some form of synergy between the two, either consistency along the BIOS or along the software.
The benchmark results from the GIGABYTE F2A88X-UP4 trade blows with FM2+ products we have reviewed (and tested internally), although the 20W less power consumption at load is a big plus point. So far from the $105 FM2+ motherboards I have reviewed, a mix between the GIGABYTE with the superior power delivery and the ASRock’s BIOS and software might make a good combination.
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PrimarchLion - Monday, March 24, 2014 - link
Nice catch. Hope they fix it (It's on the Teat Setup page).Ryan Smith - Tuesday, March 25, 2014 - link
Thanks. It has been corrected.ricster7227@gmail.com - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Ian,I am finnding many of the same shortfalls in my build as you have mentioned. I did have a big hastle in the loading a fresh copy of Win 7 into my machine however I am using an older A5800K APU. I was lucky that the board came with the updated Bios but even then it was unstable. It has been a challenge. All said and done iot is working pretty well and is OC'd to 4.3 Mghz. Next step is to get the Kaveri and a graphics card for Adobe works.
frozenland - Wednesday, March 26, 2014 - link
Why do they keep making ATX boards with FM2+ socket? What is the point in researching boards with this much potential for additional graphics power when the CPU that is intended to be used here has GPU built-in? Why can't they spend more money into researching better AM3+ FX platforms where the CPU performance can be better than the top-of-line 7850K and better potential for graphics?APU in my opinion is for small form factors, and if you really want discrete graphics card, why bother with A series at all? FX + discrete card (or intel) makes more sense.
ricster7227@gmail.com - Thursday, March 27, 2014 - link
If you follow the logic of the overall effort that AMD is taking for website and Adobe type creation you will find that additional high powerred graphics cards will be added to make this all possible. Presently you can spend a good $ 30,000 for an Intel - Nvidia Solution and use it for a year only to start over again by your standards. Life is not all gaming or mining.Dirk Broer - Saturday, March 29, 2014 - link
I am using FM1 and FM2 ATX motherboards with great satisfaction as a cruncher. I prefer ATX above small form factors due to the greater flexibility in amout of memory and number of GPUs.warrenstraw222 - Monday, April 14, 2014 - link
Swiss watch brand Alpina <strong><a href="http://werachaiyodvilai.yolasite.com/">Rep... Watches</a></strong> continues development of its watches with the arrival at the end of the yearvic_neoh - Wednesday, April 30, 2014 - link
I purchased this motherboard and the AMD A-10-7850 CPU. This board meets my expectations and needs except in one area. It only provides one 10 pin audio connector on the board. If it is used for the case audio connections it is not available for my 5.25" usb/sata/eta/audio/power media front panel device. I have found not solution short of devising my own dual audio connection cable.