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  • amxn - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    I don't know if the tables are wrong or if Asus are actually expecting people to pay more for a product that loses quite a few features than its lower priced variant?
  • just4U - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    Well it's mini-itx so that's likely the reason why the deluxe version is more expensive.
  • StevoLincolnite - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    That's Micro-ATX.

    Mini-ITX only has the one PCI/PCI-E slot.
  • Death666Angel - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    What? The Deluxe version is mini-ITX and costs more (and pretty much all mITX boards I know come with PCIe x4-x16 depending on CPU/chipset). The tested version in this article is micro-ATX and has 1 PCIe x16, 1 PCIe x1, 1 PCIe x4 and 1 PCI slot. So I'm not sure what your comment is referring to. :-)
  • chui101 - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    I didn't realize CPU temperatures could be measured in FPS too! ;)

    Great review, thanks! I'm really tempted to build a mini ITX Llano system... this might be the board I go with!
  • BLaber - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    Please mention power supply used on Power consumption test page to help make sense of power consumption test numbers.
  • bobbozzo - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    Also, I would like to see power consumption without any added video cards.

    thanks
  • Dobs - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    Totally agree !!! Prolly a 1000W monster PSU like last time.
    "These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system" ummmmmmm whose real world?
    Why does it seem sooo hard for Anandtech to give decent psu and power consumption info on anything related to Llano? Seriously
  • fic2 - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    Have to agree. This would probably make a good HTPC, but who would put dual 5850s in an HTPC. Seems like bizarro test setup to measure the power consumption of a motherboard. Like measuring the mpg of a car when it is pulling a horse trailer and calling it "typical".
  • Kevin G - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    I'm curious how far this board can take the unlocked A8-3870K when overclocked.
  • ASUSTechMKT - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    Have not tested 3870K but tried the 3670K and was easily able to hit to 3.8GHz no APU bus adjustment just multipler. I tested this on -M, -V Pro, -V EVO and -I Deluxe. Make sure though you updated to the latest UEFI to correctly and fully support the K series APUs.
  • ET - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    That "Level Up!!" text on the TurboV EVO screen made me think that it would be cool if playing with the BIOS could be made into a game. Give achievements for exploring the BIOS, up the user's hardware hacker level when he changes stuff successfully without making the PC unbootable.
  • Basilisk - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    (Here's my chance to look dim.)

    Looking at the comparison table on the first page, I thought "Oh crud... they dropped eSata on the uATX board." eSata's my fetish, I suppose. Then I read the "Board Features" on "Inside the Box" and did a double-take when it listed "1 x eSATA 6 Gbps", so my hopes rose... until I looked a the pix of the back-panel and the box contents [for brackets].

    Alas, I suspect you've a (minor) error and the eSata's missing. Even sadder that it's missing on the ITX board, as external resources and backups become even more valuable (to me) there.
  • Death666Angel - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    The ITX board has eSata on the I/O shield, just look at the review pics at the bottom of this page:
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/4833/asus-f1a75i-del... (It's between the clear CMOS and DVI and below the 2 red USB ports.)
    This mATX board doesn't have eSata on the I/O shield and doesn't provide a PCI bracket, but you can always purchase one of those for $2. :-)
  • Soulkeeper - Sunday, January 22, 2012 - link

    The mini-itx is expensive in part because of the wireless keyboard and wifi.
    It's worthless for overclocking mostly due to the lack of a higher bclk divider.

    To be honest if I wanted a matx fm1 motherboard I'd go with gigabyte's solution.
  • ASUSTechMKT - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    our - I Deluxe has been tested to reach the same performance numbers ( APU bus scaling and multipler scaling for K series as the rest of our F1A boards ( -V Pro or -M Pro ). latest UEFI is recommended if you want to have highest potential under both AHCI and IDE ranges.
  • bobbyto34 - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    thanks a lot for the dpc latency test ! It's very useful for musicians when you want to buy a rig for audio recording !
  • DaneelSE - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    One promising use for a u-ATX board is using it as a base for a HTPC build. Somehow there seem to be a lack of interest in this arena from reviewers.

    It would be very interesting to see a real life use scenario benchmarked with power usage. How low can we push a platform in power usage wjhile still performing a few mundane tasks simultaneously.

    Just brainstorming here to give an example of possible tasks that would be run at the same time.

    1. Watching a DVB-T HD-channel
    2. Recording a second channel on a different MUX
    3. Transcoding a third recording on low priority
    4. Have a internet browser in the background with some predefined work load.

    It would be very interesting to see this as a usage case where the reviewer tries to push the power usage down while conserving the end user experience.

    I think it would be interesting to see how AMD probably beats Intel until Ivybridge get released and then possibly see a throne shift back and forth a few times.
  • cjs150 - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    Sadly just about the only sensible use for Llano is in an HTPC build. (or as low powered laptop which it is very good at).

    Problem for me is that our cable operator (Virgin) has a TiVo box which lets me watch one channel and record 2 at same time so any HTPC build I do only really needs a mini-itx board (and complete silence!). Hoping that the reviews of Zotac's announcements at CES will take away need for building my own.

    Anyway back to a proper HTPC build. The main issues are:

    1. Noise. Fans not allowed (except at very low RPM). I want to hear the TV not the HTPC - this is a big problem for me with my Blu-ray player.

    2. Sound. There is a big debate as to whether sound is better going through HDMI port or not. Personally I prefer fewer cables to more and my ears are not good enough to tell the difference so sound has tobe routed through HDMI

    3. Picture quality: Obviously vital for an HTPC and a big plus for AMD, happy to use integrated graphics here provided (Intel note) frame rate is perfect. Using Integrated graphics frees up a PCI/PCI-E slot for something else.

    4. TV card or cards: Dual channel is minimum acceptable.

    So for me I can probably built a nice HTPC using mini-itx but if you want to use the full potential of a Micro-Atx you could build one say with 2xdual channel TV cards, separate sound card and GPU - cooling and noise would be an issue though
  • DaneelSE - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    I fully understand the limitations and possibilities, and probably am able to work this out by myself.

    My comment was aimed at how a u-atx review is done. There are a few different target readers.

    1. Gamers that want their box as small as possible (Did I hear Zotac Z68-ITX WiFi)
    2. HTPC builders that want a all in one solution
    3. Small desktop builds where the extra PCIe slots are vital
    4. Small server/storage builds

    I understand that every review can't cover all bases, but surely a HTPC oriented series of reviews would get a lot of clicks and readers.

    Regarding your itemized list
    1. good comment and I somehow think consumed power relates to cooling needed. Fan and noise belongs in Case-reviews.
    2. Separate review, however the onboard quality should be measured, if nothing else using RMAA
    3. I know that Anandtech has reviewers specialized in this area and it should of course be included if IGP is present, if nothing else to indicate when discrete is needed to reach acceptable levels.
    4. Agree, wouldn't make sense otherwise, and still debatable if you really need to go as high as u-ATX.
  • cjs150 - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    I have found Anandtechs reviews of the IGP to be very helpful, and I agree for boards which could be for an HTPC it would be a good idea to at least link back to the original IGP review.

    I cannot remember seeing a detailed review of on-board sound from Anand - other than whether it could be channeled through the HDMI port. Great suggestion - ANAND time to pick up on this one.

    Whilst there is no need for U-ATX board for an HTPC build I keep looking at a Wesena case and thinking it could look very good

    Also ANAND any chance of a review of the Pico-ITX announced by both Zotac and VIA, bit worried about the fans in them, but they could be a really stunning mini-HTPC (although would need to use USB for TV card which is not ideal) also maybe the Zotac AD04 announced at CES
  • geniekid - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    FWIW, I use one of these in my HTPC and I haven't had any problems so far.
  • ASUSTechMKT - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    Kudos and glad to read everything has been smooth!
  • edward2 - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    PLEASE everyone who wants to buy this MB read this carefully!

    I bought an Asus F1A75-V Pro MB, before that I've read a lot of review about it and even the asus website specification etc. None of these were mentioning the following:

    ****These ASUS MBs are not supporting HDMI and DVI-D simultaneous use****

    So the whole FM1 platform is completely useless for an HTPC and for a normal setup like HDTV + DVI monitor.
  • Death666Angel - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    Then you didn't read very carefully:
    http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_Socket_FM1/F1...
    "Note *1: HDMI and DVI-D cannot work simultaneously."
    I don't really see how this affects the standard HTPC environment though, as I only know people with one TV in their living room. But if you do need that, you have to look elsewhere. :-)
  • ASUSTechMKT - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    you can run HDMI/DVI out as the same time as VGA but dual digital output is not supported.

    Should you want this functionality you can enabled the multi display option within the UEFI and add an additional GPU like a 6500 or 6600 series GPU and then have dual digital output support.

    As the user additionally notes this is listed on our support page.
  • ASUSTechMKT - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    That is great thanks for the support and glad to read you have had a smooth and solid experience. Do not forgot to check out USB3 Boost which should be posted to your support site shortly or download it from our USB3 Boost landing page directly.
  • rodrigo.dk - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    I bought one of these in december, and WakeOnLan didn't worked at all. With recent updates it is working ;)
  • D3xx - Monday, January 23, 2012 - link

    How would this board and chip compare with an i5 2500 in Z68? Assume both are using 5850 graphics.
  • fluxtatic - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link

    Are you trolling?

    On topic, I've got to agree with some of the above - if the graph was labeled correctly, how are you going to publish power consumption numbers on a Llano board with 2 5850s (and then call it typical)? Especially given that half the appeal of Llano is that you don't need discrete graphics at all in most cases?

    I can see 1 discrete card for the HTPC market, but likely a low-noise model - lower-end mainstream with either a massive, slow fan, or a colossal heat sink and no fan at all.
  • loimlo - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link

    Some items tend to be ignored by most reviews .... yet these items can contribute a great deal to end-user's feeling during everyday use.

    1. Speedstep/CnQ, C1E: They may be disabled by default in BIOS. To make matters worse, some vendors tend to completely ignore them during OC which is unforgivable in my opinion.

    2. S3/S4: Fast wake-up without the hassle of a full boot is a huge bonus. That said, I found S3/S4 became unstable during OC on some boards.

    3. Fan control: 3pin/4pin controllable?? Control mechanism like high/low temp target, how aggressive a fan can rotate??

    Especially a comparison between NORMAL and OC would be very nice~
    Just my 2 cents for your reference.
  • venk90 - Friday, March 23, 2012 - link

    Does this motherboard support simple GPU overclocking through a multiplier or something on the new AMD 3870k APU ?

    PS: I am a new to this field.

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