The AM1 Kabini Motherboard Preview: Analyzing the Hardware
by Ian Cutress on April 19, 2014 2:00 PM ESTMSI AM1I
MSI has a single AM1 motherboard at Newegg at the time of writing, a mini-ITX model that takes a slightly different line. Being the cheapest AM1 mini-ITX motherboard (the Biostar AM1ML is more a half-way to micro-ATX), MSI has gone slightly creative and added a mini-PCIe slot. This opens up the platform for an integrated WiFi solution. It would be interesting to see what bundle price MSI could produce with a combined 802.11ac card.
MSI has learned from other mini-ITX projects and helpfully placed the 24-pin ATX connector outside the DRAM slots. The DRAM slots themselves use single-sided latches, to help with removing memory when a large PCIe device is installed. The PCIe slot, while an x4 designation from the chipset, seems to be fully populated with pins (which is a little odd).
Next to the mini-PCIe slot is a pair of SATA 6 Gbps ports, angled away from each other to allow easy removal of locking SATA cables. Perhaps confusingly the COM header and the front panel header are next to each other just inside the DRAM slots, and the front panel header is not labeled. Ideally this would be outside the DRAM slots on the right and labeled for ease of use.
The 4-pin CPU power connector is in a good position for cable management, and MSI have tried to save some cost by having the motherboard battery stuck to the rear panel.
The rear panel is similar to the previous motherboards, consisting of PS/2 ports, video outputs, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and ALC887 audio jacks.
| MSI AM1I | |
| Price | Link |
| Size | Mini-ITX |
| CPU Interface | FS1b |
| Chipset | Kabini |
| Memory Slots |
Two DDR3 DRAM slots, supporting 32GB Single Channel, 1333/1600 MHz |
| Video Outputs |
VGA (1920x1200) DVI-D (1920x1200) HDMI (4096x2160) |
| Onboard LAN | Realtek RTL8111G (10/100/1000) |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC887 |
| Expansion Slots |
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4) 1 x mini-PCIe |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | 2 x SATA 6 Gbps |
| USB 3.0 | 2 x USB 3.0 (Chipset) [back panel] |
| Onboard |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps 2 x USB 2.0 Headers 2 x Fan Headers 1 x TPM Header 1 x COM Header Front Audio Header Front Panel Header |
| Power Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 4-pin CPU |
| Fan Headers |
1 x CPU (3-pin) 1 x SYS (4-pin) |
| IO Panel |
1 x PS/2 Mouse Port 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port VGA DVI-D HDMI 2 x USB 2.0 2 x USB 3.0 1 x Gigabit Ethernet Audio Jacks (ALC887) |
| Product Page | Link |
So far we have moved from $33 to $36 in our analysis and the changes made between the Biostar and MSI are actually quite drastic. The MSI platform (including MSI’s standard software one would assume), while slightly more expensive, offers a lot better value. The only downside is perhaps the name. Putting an ‘I’ next to a ‘1’, in the wrong font, makes the AM1I look odd.
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coolhardware - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
Sorry for the error on my part, I got the 5150 and 5350 mixed up :-(As per your original post, where did you see that nice 5150 OC? With an ASUS board should the same type OC be possible with the 5350?
Thanks!
yannigr - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - link
At techpowerup. http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/amd-kabi...But overclocking on this platform is still a big question mark. At Phoronix for example they also tried to overclock ALL the four processors available on the same motherboard and in ALL cases they had stability problems over 105MHz bus speed. So more time is needed to have a definite idea about the overclocking potential on this platform.
As for 5350 I don't know what frequency it can reach. 2100MHz should be easy I guess with just a multiplier change from 20.5 to 21, gut it does make you wonder why AMD didn't gave 5350 the 21 multiplier in the first place.
tech6 - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
The problem with the Kabini platform is that it makes too many sacrifices for too little gain. You can buy an Intel G3220 and an MSI H81M mobo for around $100 and while it may consume 10-15W (on paper) more power it will give you about twice the CPU power.As for real world power consumption, I recently build a G3220 system and even when under 100% max CPU and GPU compute using Hash Suite it never exceeded 60W. Under most everyday loads it used about 40W. Given these numbers it is difficult to make a case for the Kabini platform.
savagemike - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
I was contemplating similarly. I also wonder with the increased compute power if getting to idle quicker doesn't also attack any power savings.yannigr - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
You gone from $60 to $100. This isn't "too little gain". Also you forget that the Kabini platform does have better graphics. Much better graphics. And I am not talking (only) about performance, but compatibility also.So, if you need cpu power and you have $100 you can go for Intel. But if you want a better balanced solution in gpu-cpu performance and keep $30-$40 in your pocket, Kabinis are the best option.
mikato - Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - link
I agree.Carleh - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - link
Does the G3220 support hardware accelerated video decoding?It does support quicksync, but I'm not sure if quicksync can be used for hw accelerated video playback in all applications (flash includeed).
I know the G3220 is powerful enough to do all the decoding in software, but I see no point in using software video decoding in 2014.
Chicken76 - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
I remember from the slides that were presented by AMD at launch, that ECC RAM (unbuffered) was supported. Why isn't there a single motherboard that supports it? In it's current form, Kabini is not an option for building a cheap ZFS storage box.Death666Angel - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
Why does the motherboard need to support ECC RAM? I'm pretty sure they are physically identical to normal RAM and since the SoC handles all memory (as with most modern CPUs/APUs), the motherboard has no say in it.Chicken76 - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
I'm not sure, but if you're not using error correction on a DIMM, do you still need all the traces? They might not have them all in place, to keep costs to a minimum.Besides, you still need BIOS support for ECC.