Biostar Introduces Trio Of AMD A70M Motherboards

News
By Kevin Carbotte
published

Biostar revealed a set of new motherboards that it will soon be releasing. The company’s Pro series AMD motherboards have been designed to be affordable options for AMD APU-based PCs.

Biostar’s A70MD PRO, A70MG PRO and A68MD PRO motherboards all feature AMD’s A70M chipset, which supports AMD A4, A6, A8 and A10 APUs, as well as AMD E2 and Athlon X4 processors. Each board includes two DIMM slots that support DDR3-2600, four Sata III ports for storage, and a gigabit NIC.

All three of the new Pro series boards are built on the mATX form factor, and they all feature the same expansion options: one PCIe 3.0 x16, a single PCIe 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI slot. The boards also feature 10 USB ports each -- four USB 3.0 and six USB 2.0 ports -- but only two of each are mounted to the board. The rest can be accessed through headers on the board.

The three boards don’t appear to be very different. On paper, it appears they share most of the same features. They all include Nichicon audio capacitors, Iron Heart Protect reinforced metal backplates, and feature Tough Power Enhanced power design meant for high current resistance. The only real difference is with the A70MG PRO, which doesn’t include a DVI interface and lacks the 100% solid capacitors found on the other two models.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
ModelA70MD PROA70MG PROA68MD PRO
CPUAMD FM2/FM2+ ProcessorAMD FM2/FM2+ ProcessorAMD FM2/FM2+ Processor
Power5phase5phase5phase
ChipsetsA70MA70MA70M
Solid cap100%CPU in/output100%
Memory2 x DDR3-2600(OC)2 x DDR3-2600(OC)2 x DDR3-2600(OC)
Expansion Slot1 x PCI-E 3.0 x161 x PCI-E 3.0 x161 x PCI-E 3.0 x16
1 x PCI-E 2.0 x11 x PCI-E 2.0 x11 x PCI-E 2.0 x1
1 x PCI1 x PCI1 x PCI
LANGbE (RTL8111G)GbE (RTL8111G)GbE (RTL8111G)
Storage4SATA34SATA34SATA3
VideoVGA , DVIVGAVGA , DVI
USB 3.0 / 2.04USB 3.0(2+2) / 6USB 2.0 (4+2)4USB 3.0(2+2) / 6USB 2.0 (4+2)4USB 3.0(2+2) / 6USB 2.0 (4+2)
FeatureWatch Dog, BIO-Relife, BIO-Flasher, BIOSTAR Flash, e-HotLine, BIO-Watch, Smart Speed LAN, BIOS ScreenWatch Dog, BIO-Relife, BIO-Flasher, BIOSTAR Flash, e-HotLine, BIO-Watch, Smart Speed LAN, BIOS ScreenWatch Dog, BIO-Relife, BIO-Flasher, BIOSTAR Flash, e-HotLine, BIO-Watch, Smart Speed LAN, BIOS Screen

Biostar did not release the prices of the Pro series motherboards, but the company was adamant about these products being a great value proposition. We’ve asked Biostar for more details, but we expect these boards to be very competitively priced. The boards will go on sale at Biostar’s eBay store in the near future.

Update, January 27, 11:15am PT: The CPU support has been updated. Athlon II X4 is not supported, Athlon X4 is.

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Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

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17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Onus
    There seem to be very few Biostar boards left at Newegg now. On the one hand, that's kind of a shame, because at least one of their boards I reviewed recently was a notable step up from what one might expect. On the other hand, others among their current offerings are notably unpolished.
    Reply
  • plasmastorm
    The last time I even saw a biostar board it had a Pentium 2 in it.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    Nice, someone should tell Jacob :D
    Reply
  • epobirs
    Seems like a mistake here. Two of the boards appear exactly the same but one of them has a name guaranteed to cause it to be mistaken for a different chip set.
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    I'm not sure I'd bother releasing new AMD boards until AM4 arrives. It's my understanding that the AM4 platform is just around the corner, and will have current-gen chips available for it but you'll naturally be able to drop in Zen-based chips later.

    Of course in a budget system it may not matter. Only enthusiasts generally look for an upgrade path. I myself always like to have an upgrade path for at least one quick system overhaul on the cheap (CPU and GPU swap for example).
    Reply
  • Lutfij
    Budget builds actually take advantage of either lower costing current gen tech or mid-high end previous gen tech.Whichever way you look at it, its a good way to integrate someone on the fence about an upgrade for their HTPC or perhaps a very tight budget build to adopt such parts.

    I would like to keep one point in reserve, that the cost hasn't been mentioned and my comment can be tossed out the window :P
    Reply
  • bgunner
    {"Biostar’s A70MD PRO, A70MG PRO and A68MD PRO motherboards all feature AMD’s A70M chipset, which supports AMD A4, A6, A8 and A10 APUs, as well as AMD E2 and Athlon II X4 processors."}

    Please correct me if I'm wrong But last time I checked the Athlon II X4 CPU's are an AM3 socket CPU and not a FM2/FM2+ CPU?

    Are you sure that this is not a typo that snuck in there?
    Reply
  • blppt
    Parents' P43/Q6600 Biostar combo still going strong after nearly 7 years. They may not be as overclocking friendly as ASUS/Gigabyte/MSI but build quality is apparently fine.
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ
    {"Biostar’s A70MD PRO, A70MG PRO and A68MD PRO motherboards all feature AMD’s A70M chipset, which supports AMD A4, A6, A8 and A10 APUs, as well as AMD E2 and Athlon II X4 processors."}

    Please correct me if I'm wrong But last time I checked the Athlon II X4 CPU's are an AM3 socket CPU and not a FM2/FM2+ CPU?

    Are you sure that this is not a typo that snuck in there?

    Your correct. The correct term is "Athlon X4"
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    Budget builds actually take advantage of either lower costing current gen tech or mid-high end previous gen tech.Whichever way you look at it, its a good way to integrate someone on the fence about an upgrade for their HTPC or perhaps a very tight budget build to adopt such parts.

    I would like to keep one point in reserve, that the cost hasn't been mentioned and my comment can be tossed out the window :P

    But why release NEW boards? You already have tons of existing FM2+ boards spanning the entire range. Unless they figured out how to cut costs without cutting quality with a new design, or add features relevant to HTPC or similar.

    Personally I think the conventional-sized HTPC market is shrinking as various kinds of HDMI sticks and consoles gain more capabilities. I mean look at some of the newer Intel sticks, roughly $150 and Cherry Trail? That would handle the majority of use cases, outside of enthusiasts. Even HEVC is possible if you're using playback software that taps into the HEVC hardware decoding block.

    The last bastions for larger-chassis HTPCs are things like combo gaming/media systems (and streaming games is gaining traction) and audiophile/videophile domains. If you're like me and you want discrete audio and the most accurate video rendering, then it still makes sense. Otherwise what's onboard something like Cherry Trail is good enough for many users.
    Reply