GIGABYTE GA-F2A85X-UP4 (rev. 1.0) Pro Reviews

We can’t say that the GA-F2A85X-UP4 is an obvious slam dunk. At nearly the same price point, MSI’s FM2-A85XA-G65 gives it a fair run for its money. But of the three FM2 boards we’ve reviewed recently, we’d have to say this Gigabyte model provides the best mix of affordability, quality, expandability, and usability for discerning enthusiasts likely to tweak an APU for maximum performance—or least squeeze out a few extra horses. At $120 list, it’s a bit on the high side, but if you can score a discount or rebate back down into the $100 zone, this is a very good-value board.

While overall a good product to have, and we have praised the IR3550 power delivery before, there is nothing else to make this motherboard stand out from the competition. The added effect of the IR3550s pushes the price to $130, but the extra expense may give a user piece of mind that the power delivery is cooler and should ultimately last under high-stress scenarios. It is certainly an important board to consider in the Trinity motherboard space and if our testing is anything to go by, and it should be a reliable purchase if your usage scenario comes close to ours.

Originally, this review was intended as a stand-alone Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 mainboard review, but we had to dedicate a significant part of it to the AMD A10-5800K processor. What does it tell us? It indicates that the mainboard was a successful product. Had the board had any issues, or caused us any problems, we would have told you about them. However, Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 has excellent layout, sufficient functionality, it works great and doesn’t pose any challenges to anyone, so we have absolutely no reason to complain about anything. I would only like to point out two possible improvements – fan speed adjustment and graphics core frequency adjustment. The ability of Gigabyte mainboards to allow adjusting the rotation speed of three-pin processor fans is a unique a great advantage, because the majority of mainboards from other makers no longer allow it. However, only one of the system fan connectors can lower the speed of a three-pin fan, which is not enough in my opinion. As for the graphics core frequency, it would be much more convenient if the adjustment increment in the BIOS were not the minimal 1 MHz, but the actual workable increment. Other than that, Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 is a definite success. This is the top model in the Gigabyte’s Socket FM2 lineup on AMD A85X chipset, which comes at a very affordable price and therefore is worth your consideration.

I have to admit that I really like this board. It is a unique design with that (overly) beefy power deliver system for the CPU. It overclocks as well as any other board and has many of the same features of products in its price range. It is an enthusiast level product, but unfortunately the CPU that fits into it is not. While AMD has the best integrated graphics on a CPU, the two module A10-5800K does not perform in CPU intensive applications as well as its Intel counterparts at the same price. Enthusiasts will not want to utilize the onboard graphics unless some application can directly access it for GPGPU/OpenCL workloads. True HSA is not here yet, and that will have to wait for Kaveri in Q4 2013. Very few applications can utilize the graphics portion of Trinity for non-graphics work, and those that do will likely perform better on a standalone video card (even when the card is still rendering 3D graphics and doing OpenCL work at the same time).

The Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 supports AMD’s latest ‘Trinity’ chips, such as the Best Buy-winning A10-5800K. As its name implies, the GA-F2A85X-UP4 uses the A85X chipset, which means the old SATA2 connector, now replaced by seven SATA3 connectors. No more will you have to compromise or swap round SATA cables to get the best speed for whichever new device you want to use – you can just plug in your latest SSD and go. It also has a good complement of I/O ports on the top and back panels.

The GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4 is a good motherboard. And even though it does support some enthusiast level features it is hardly what we would call an enthusiast product, but in that respect it is only going to be as good as the processor you can put down on it. The AMD A10-5800K Trinity processor is not an enthusiast part. The two together can be the basis of a fairly inexpensive desktop system that would be perfect for a home PC that is the backbone of a gadget friendly family as it allows a lot of options for connection points and expanded storage needs. GIGABYTE did a very solid job with a motherboard in the $130 price range as it is feature rich in terms of connectivity.

The Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 is a good mainstream motherboard for the new socket FM2 processors, presenting one additional PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot, two additional USB 3.0 ports, a POST diagnostics display, and two BIOS chips in comparison with competing products that only carry the basic features provided by the A85X chipset. The only negative we see with this motherboard is the audio codec used (Realtek ALC892), as competing products may use a better codec (Realtek ALC898 or VIA VT1819S). However, they don’t have the additional features listed above. We think the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 is correctly priced and will please the user who is looking for the extra features it offers.

The GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4 may be on the higher side of the price range for FM2 motherboards, but the old adage you get what you pay for holds true today. The GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4 is packed with features and performance to spare!

When it comes to FM2, Gigabyte really has done an excellent job with the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4. This is it if you want a "high-end" APU board. Not only does it take full advantage of all the features offered by the A85X FCH and the FM2 APU platform, but it also brings in full overclocking support, so you can tweak to your heart's content. But who really wants to overclock an APU? When it comes to the enthusiast side of things, AMD's FM2 platform doesn't really fit the bill. It's cheap, has limited capability, and a limited number of compatible parts. However, there are, with the industry as advanced as it is, many enthusiasts that have been around for a decade or longer, myself included, that want HTPCs as well as high-performance computers. And we do want our HTPC to be snappy and responsive without gobbling up tons of money. AMD's FM2 APUs are a direct answer to that need.

Functionally, the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 offers everything you need in an A85X motherboard and a lot that you don't. It doesn't step up to the level of high-end motherboards, but the target market for an FM2 motherboard wouldn't be looking for that stuff anyway. With the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 you get plenty of USB 3.0 ports, an eSATA port, a power switch and clear CMOS button on the motherboard, and the ability to run dual discrete graphics if you want to. Additionally, the added Easy Tune 6 software allows for easy and automatic overclocking and the On/Off charger lets you charge USB devices even when your computer is off.