MSI Intros First Mainboard with AMD's APU

Monday MSI revealed the very first motherboard with AMD's new Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) already mounted out-of-the-box, perfect for a compact, low-key home theater PC.

Labeled as the MSI E3501A-E45, the Mini-ITX board features a dual-core E350 APU clocked at 1.6 GHz, AMD's Hudson M1 FCH chipset, built-in DirectX 11-compatible Radeon HD 6310 graphics (HDMI + D-Sub out), and two DIMM sockets supporting up to 8 GB of DDR3-1333/1066/800 MHz memory. Other highlights include an 8-channel (7.1) HD audio subsystem with S/PDIF out and 10/100/1000 Mbits/sec Ethernet.

"With HDMI support you can directly connect to your TV or Display and enjoy accelerated and enhanced HD video and 7.1 Channel audio," the company said. "For the true audiophiles the E350IA-E45 features Optical and Coaxial SPDIF connectors for connection to a great audio system."

As for peripheral interfaces, the board provides a PCI Express x16 slot @ x4 speed, four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two USB 3.0 ports, six external USB 2.0 ports and four internal USB 2.0 ports. It also uses MSI's proprietary i-Charger technology for fast USB charging of tablets and other power-hungry mobile devices.

"To provide the best product quality, the E350IA-E45 is equipped with Japanese made All Solid CAP," the company said. "Solid CAPs have a lifetime of over 10 years under extreme high load. Solid CAPs have a low Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) meaning they are more efficient and generate less heat, especially the characteristics you want from a small and powerful mainboard."

Currently the motherboard's cost and availability is unknown, so stay tuned.

  • bisayan
    Why haven't we heard anything from TH regarding the ASUS Brazos board E35M1-M Pro??? Other sites have already had posts regarding it but nothing from TH
    Reply
  • Be nice if this pushes consoles to start beefing up there future units. I have a feeling that maybe Xbox will use there technology as well mmmmmmm.
    Reply
  • sseyler
    I've been looking for a platform to use for a media PC, without having to use spare parts from my old, powerful, but power-hungry Phenom II X4. A small form factor platform and decent processor like AMD's APU seems to fit the bill - far better than any Atom solution.
    Reply
  • tsnorquist
    Right on @SSeyler

    I think this could finally be the small form factor unit I've been waiting on for an HTPC.
    Reply
  • rhino13
    D-Sub? Is that like the pre LCD days connector?
    Reply
  • saaiello
    Nice board I am gonna consider this for my HTPC build I am gonna be looking at in a month or two.
    Reply
  • someguynamedmatt
    Haha! The Atom can suck it right now!
    Reply
  • srgess
    How much watt this consume ? Ive see benchmark of the Sandy 2500 using 33Watt idle and 100Watt full prime load. To be honest i rather get a a 2500 and have million time the power processing then this piece of shit.
    Reply
  • BulkZerker
    Gotta love the ammount of derp srgess spouts. Makes his /b/ roots very obvious.

    This mobo looks kinda cheap tbh. The cmps battery glued to the back of output
    Reply
  • srgess
    Unless this api mainboard sell for under 100$ , not worth it.
    Reply