3-way AMD A75/A55 Llano motherboard shootout by VR-Zone.com

3-way AMD A75/A55 Llano motherboard shootout

Reported by BSS2245 on Sunday, November 6 2011 10:01 pm

Today we take a look at three different Llano boards through the entire range of the AMD Fusion Lynx platform. The Asus F1A75-V Pro, Gigabyte A75M-UD2H and ECS A55F-A are put under the microscope and through the tests to determine not only which comes out on top, but also which fits your needs best.

REVIEW

AMD introduced their Lynx platform with the A75 chipset a few months ago, and since then they have also released the toned down A55 chipset aimed at builders on a budget. The most impressive aspect of the Lynx platform is its ability to house a DX11 capable GPU on-die with 4 real processor cores, and keep the TDP under 100W. Today we will take a look at three boards in three different prices ranges, two are A75 chipset motherboards and one is an A55 chipset board. We will focus on their build quality as well as their performance in various benchmarks.

Each board also falls into its own price category, ranging from 80 to 130 USD.

First let’s look at the Lynx platform, as well as the difference between the A75 and A55 FCH (Fusion Controller Hub).

Now in red is what the A55 chipset lacks. This includes the loss of 4 USB 3.0 ports and FIS based switching for RAID arrays. There is also one other major difference, the lack of SATA 6GB/s ports. All of the SATA 6GB/s ports have been toned down to slower SATA 3GB/s ports, which might have an impact on some of the new SATA 6GB/s SSDs which actually take advantage of the higher bus speed. Of course all these downgrades do save the budget minded consumer a good bit of cash. What is most notable about the A75 FCH is its ability to house so many different devices, as well as a consumer IR system which will be great for home theater systems.

A75 FCH:

A55 FCH:

So let's take a look at some of the specifications of our 3 motherboards on the test bed today:

	ASUS F1A75-V Pro	GIGABYTE A75M-UD2H	ECS A55F-A
CPU Support	AMD A series & E2 series processors	AMD A series & E2 series processors	AMD A series & E2 series processors
Chipset	A75	A75	A55
Memory	4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR3 2250(O.C.)/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory	4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory	4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory
On-Board Graphics	1 x D-Sub port 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 2560x1600	1 x D-Sub port 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 2560x1600	1 x D-Sub port 1 x DVI-D port, supporting a maximum resolution of 2560x1600 1 x HDMI port, supporting a maximum resolution of 1920x1200 1 x DisplayPort, supporting a maximum resolution of 2560x1600
Audio	Realtek® ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC 97dB SNR	Realtek® ALC889 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC 108dB SNR	Realtek® ALC892 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC 97dB SNr
LAN	Realtek RTL8111E chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)	Realtek RTL8111E chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)	Realtek RTL8111E chip (10/100/1000 Mbit)
Expansion Slots	2 x PCI Express x16 slot, one running at x16 (PCIEX16), two running at X8/X8 2 x PCI Express x1 slot (All PCI Express slots conform to the PCI Express 2.0 standard.) 3 x PCI slot	1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) 1 x PCI Express x1 slot (All PCI Express slots conform to the PCI Express 2.0 standard.) 1 x PCI slot	1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x16 (PCIEX16) 1 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x4 (PCIEX4) 2 x PCI Express x1 slot (All PCI Express slots conform to the PCI Express 2.0 standard.) 3 x PCI slot
Multi-Graphics Technology	Supports AMD CrossFireX™ Technology	Support for AMD Dual Graphics technology	Support for AMD Dual Graphics technology
Storage	6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors supporting up to 5 SATA 6Gb/s devices (ASMedia) 1 x eSATA 6Gb/s port on the back panel supporting up to 1 SATA 6Gb/s device (ASMedia)1 x SATA 6Gb/s (red) Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, and JBOD	5 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors supporting up to 5 SATA 6Gb/s devices 1 x eSATA 6Gb/s port on the back panel supporting up to 1 SATA 6Gb/s device (Note 7) Support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 10, and JBOD	5 x Serial ATA 3Gb/s connectors
USB	Up to 10 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers) Up to 6 USB 3.0/2.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)	Up to 8 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers) Up to 4 USB 3.0/2.0 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header)	Up to 12 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (6 ports on the back panel, 6 ports available through the internal USB headers)
IEEE 1394	None	Up to 2 IEEE 1394a ports (1 on the back panel, 1 port available through the internal IEEE 1394a header)	None
Internal I/O Connectors	1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.0 port(s) (19-pin) 4 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 8 USB 2.0 port(s) 1 x COM port(s) connector(s) 7 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s) 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (4 -pin) 2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (4 -pin) 1 x Power Fan connector(s) (3 -pin) 1 x S/PDIF out header(s) 1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s) 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s) 1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP) 1 x System panel(s) 1 x MemOK! button(s) 1 x TPU switch(es) 1 x EPU switch(es)	1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector 5 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 1 x APU fan header 1 x system fan header 1 x power fan header 1 x front panel header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 header 1 x IEEE 1394a header 1 x serial port header 1 x parallel port header 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header 1 x clearing CMOS jumper	º 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector º 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power Connector º 1 x 24-pin ATX Power Supply connector º 1 x 4-pin CPU_FAN connector º 1 x 3-pin SYS_FAN connector º 1 x 3-pin PWR_FAN connector º 3 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 6 USB ports º 5 x Serial ATA 3Gb/s connectors º 1 x COM header º 1 x LPT header º 1 x Front panel audio header º 1 x Front panel header º 1 x Speaker header º 1 x SPDIF out header
Back Panel Connectors	1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s) 1 x DVI-D 1 x D-Sub 1 x DisplayPort 1 x HDMI 1 x eSATA 6Gb/s 1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s) 4 x USB 3.0 2 x USB 2.0 1 x Optical S/PDIF out 6 x Audio jack(s)	1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port 1 x D-Sub port 1 x DVI-D port 1 x HDMI port 1 x DisplayPort 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 1 x eSATA 6Gb/s port 1 x RJ-45 port 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone)	º 6 x USB 2.0 ports º 1 x PS/2 keyboard & PS/2 mouse connectors º 1 x D-sub(VGA) º 1 x DVI Port º 1 x HDMI Port º 1 x RJ45 LAN connector º 1 x Audio port (1x Line in, 4x Line out, 1x Optical SPDIF Out) º 1 x Clear_CMOS button
BIOS	32 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI BIOS, PnP, DMI v2.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS V2.6, ACPI V2.0a	2 x 32 Mbit flash Use of licensed AWARD BIOS Support for DualBIOS™ PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI 1.0b	º AMI BIOS with 32Mb SPI ROM º Support Milti-language BIOS Utility º Support ECS M.I.B III Utility º Support eBLU º Support eDLU º Support eSF º Support eGS º Support EZ Charger º Support eOC
Form Factor	ATX Form Factor 12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )	Micro ATX Form Factor; 24.4cm x 24.4cm	º ATX Size, 305mm*220mm
Price (USD)	$120	$95	$80