Targeting power-misers, AMD’s low-energy Kabini-based APUs could easily find their way into entertainment PCs, office machines, and PoS terminals. Of course, you need a motherboard to make it a “platform” and we found three companies willing to help.
Does anyone remember VIA’s C3 processor, introduced more than a decade ago? Designed mostly for x86-based Internet appliances and kiosks, the mini-ITX platform it popularized was admired by builders who just wanted something smaller. After several generations of improvement, VIA's boards achieved some degree of mediocrity. In reality, though, compact dimensions, modest heat, and conservative power consumption were the only reasons anyone voluntarily chose those slow, expensive configurations. Sounds pretty industrial, right? There were even inventive technologists who used the C3 to experiment with automotive entertainment.
Eventually, the mini-ITX form factor went in an entirely different direction as enthusiasts attempted to copy Shuttle’s portable gaming cubes. Meanwhile, low-power platforms like Intel's Atom continued to take over the roles formerly targeted by the original C3-based mini-ITX platform.
And then there's AMD. In case you missed our look at the company's most recent introduction on the processor side, check out AMD Athlon 5350 And AM1 Platform Review: Kabini In A Socket. And if you're not familiar with Kabini, the APU architecture that drops into AM1, give AMD's Kabini: Jaguar And GCN Come Together In A 15 W APU a read.

While everyone else was running around soldering CPUs onto motherboards, AMD took notice of the enthusiast backlash and retained its upgradeable ZIF socket. On paper, that means you may have an upgrade path, providing the next generation of entry-level APUs is still AM1-compatible.
Motherboard makers have to appreciate the socketed configuration because it frees them up to design a wider range of products without outfitting each with different soldered-down processors.

Supporting a single PCIe 2.0 x4 slot and four additional x1 devices, that kind of flexibility could be important to some buyers. Even more important to AMD and its partners on the motherboard side is that those interfaces are built into the Kabini APU, without the need for the extra FCH (Fusion Controller Hub, or AMD's name for the southbridge component) found on its higher-end Kaveri platform. AMD’s Kabini–based Socket FS1b processors really are the SoC (System on a Chip) design that companies like Cyrix could have only dreamed about.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| AM1 Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Asus AM1I-A | Gigabyte AM1M-S2H | MSI AM1I | |
| PCB Revision | 1.01 | 1.0 | 2.1 |
| Chipset | K16 IMC | K16 IMC | K16 IMC |
| Voltage Regulator | Two Phases | Two Phases | Three Phases |
| BIOS | 0505 (04/15/2014) | F1 (01/27/2014) | V10.0 (02/21/2014) |
| 100.0 MHz BCLK | 99.98 (-0.02%) | 99.80 (-0.20%) | 99.80 (-0.20%) |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| P/S2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| USB 3.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
| Network | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| CLR_CMOS Button | None | None | None |
| Digital Audio Out | HDMI-only | HDMI-only | HDMI-only |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Video Out | VGA, DVI-D, HDMI | VGA, HDMI | HDMI, VGA, DVI-D |
| Other Devices | 9-Pin Serial Com Port | None | None |
| Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe 3.0 x16 | None | None | None |
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | 1 x Open-Ended PCIe x4 | 1 (4-Lanes) | 1 (4-Lanes) |
| PCIe 2.0 x1 | None | 2 | 1 x Mini-PCIe |
| USB 3.0 | None | None | None |
| USB 2.0 | 2 (4-ports) | 3 (6-ports) | 2 (4-ports) |
| SATA 6.0 Gb/s | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 4-Pin Fan | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 3-Pin Fan | None | None | 1 |
| FP-Audio | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S/PDIF I/O | None | Output Only | None |
| Internal Buttons | None | None | None |
| Internal Switch | None | None | None |
| Diagnostics Panel | None | None | None |
| Other Devices | Serial Com, LPT Printer | Serial Com, LPT Printer | Serial Com |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 2 x SATA 6Gb/s | 2 x SATA 6Gb/s | 2 x SATA 6Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | None | None | None |
| Add-In SATA | None | None | None |
| USB 3.0 | Integrated-only | Integrated-only | Integrated-only |
| Networking | |||
| Primary LAN | RTL8111GR PCIe | RTL8111F PCIe | RTL8111G PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | None | None |
| WiFi | None | None | None |
| Bluetooth | None | None | None |
| Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC887 | ALC887 | ALC887 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | None | None | None |
| Warranty | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years |

Reminiscing about mini-ITX's history becomes even more relevant as we look at the legacy features enabled by all three boards. Asus even includes a nine-pin serial port on the AM1I-A's I/O panel, making it a more-suitable replacement for legacy manufacturing PLCs. And those printer port break-out headers certainly come in handy when your 20-year-old PoS software still uses a parallel port dongle for authentication.
- Kabini Appeals To Low-Cost, Low-Power
- Asus AM1I-A Features
- Asus AM1I-A Software and Firmware
- Gigabyte AM1M-S2H Features
- Gigabyte AM1M-S2H Software and Firmware
- MSI AM1I Features
- MSI AM1I Software and Firmware
- How We Test AM1 Kabini APU Motherboards
- Results: 3DMark and PCMark
- Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Results: Battlefield 4 and Arma 3
- Results: Grid 2 And Far Cry 3
- Results: Audio and Video Encoding
- Results: Adobe Creative Suite
- Results: Productivity
- Results: File Compression
- Results: Power and Efficiency
- Choosing The Right AM1 Motherboard
These sites often make the same mistake, I think intentionally in some cases (not in Tom's, I think it's just not understanding), of taking products out of their context market. They might put a line up here or there reminding people of the market, but then test it in ways it was never intended to be used. The overall effect is misleading and inappropriate, but under the guise of being accurate since somewhere on some page they mention it's a lower end unit.
Probably they don't know how to test appropriately. In any case, there aren't the right benchmarks for this type of unit, and so the confused author complains about the CPU on the last page with one last misplaced remark.
But, for the more informed people, this is a very effective and efficient architecture. It performs as much work per clock cycle as their larger cores, despite being less than 1/3 the size. It's the same size as Bay Trail, despite being on 28nm as compared to 22nm, but has roughly 20% higher IPC, as well as much greater GPU performance. It's a great design.
Tom's just doesn't know better. They should. They don't. In their blundering and dull-witted way, they think it should be used for gaming, because everyone wanting a gaming processor is going to want one. Kids will be kids.
Minimally, put a discrete GPU in each, something cheap, if you want to test with games, although it's very difficult to see people buying this platform for gaming in any context. PS4 has that covered with a derivation of this successful architecture.
To complete the lack of understanding of this baffled author, we have the uninformed remark about the processor costing twice as much as the motherboard. Sadly, this author's lack of understanding precludes him from realizing this is the point. More was put on the APU so it wouldn't have to be put on the motherboard.
Just a bad article, with no understanding of the segment or product.
Also, these motherboards and products are more geared for countries that have less disposable income. You can get a 5150 and MB for less than $90, or a 5350 and MB for around $100, and both offer good enough performance to make these attractive products for people needing a computer, but with a limited budget. And no, that market doesn't buy these things for games.
In any case, the most interesting motherboard for the U.S. market was left out ASRock AM1H-ITX. If you want DisplayPort, it's the only game in town, as well.
My Temash with 2 CUs at 3-400MHz is more than capable of playing RB6: Vegas2 and FEAR at great frame rates. A Kabini with higher clocks and greater memory through-put will play older DX games just dandy.
It's just a big fail when testers throw BF4 at a 15w APU and exclaim, "It can't play!"
It's quite dumb, too.
Can it play 1080p/4k videos? (30 or 60fps) youtube or downloaded
Can it play games that are meant to work on low end PCs?
What is the HTML5 performance?
What is the average total cost of the system?
How can you further improve the system value, depending on the components you choose to buy for it?
Why not throw a mid-ranged discreet GPU in there and see what happens? It's all we really want to know. Otherwise this platform is for strictly 2D flash games.
Just because the technology is the same, it doesn't mean that it well perform on par with the PS4.
Asus 33 Euro
Gigabyte 32 Euro
MSI 30 Euro
I am gonna get the Asus at that price...
Can it play 1080p/4k videos? (30 or 60fps) youtube or downloaded
Can it play games that are meant to work on low end PCs?
What is the HTML5 performance?
What is the average total cost of the system?
How can you further improve the system value, depending on the components you choose to buy for it?
My Temash with 2 CUs at 3-400MHz is more than capable of playing RB6: Vegas2 and FEAR at great frame rates. A Kabini with higher clocks and greater memory through-put will play older DX games just dandy.
It's just a big fail when testers throw BF4 at a 15w APU and exclaim, "It can't play!"
It's quite dumb, too.
These sites often make the same mistake, I think intentionally in some cases (not in Tom's, I think it's just not understanding), of taking products out of their context market. They might put a line up here or there reminding people of the market, but then test it in ways it was never intended to be used. The overall effect is misleading and inappropriate, but under the guise of being accurate since somewhere on some page they mention it's a lower end unit.
Probably they don't know how to test appropriately. In any case, there aren't the right benchmarks for this type of unit, and so the confused author complains about the CPU on the last page with one last misplaced remark.
But, for the more informed people, this is a very effective and efficient architecture. It performs as much work per clock cycle as their larger cores, despite being less than 1/3 the size. It's the same size as Bay Trail, despite being on 28nm as compared to 22nm, but has roughly 20% higher IPC, as well as much greater GPU performance. It's a great design.
Tom's just doesn't know better. They should. They don't. In their blundering and dull-witted way, they think it should be used for gaming, because everyone wanting a gaming processor is going to want one. Kids will be kids.
Minimally, put a discrete GPU in each, something cheap, if you want to test with games, although it's very difficult to see people buying this platform for gaming in any context. PS4 has that covered with a derivation of this successful architecture.
To complete the lack of understanding of this baffled author, we have the uninformed remark about the processor costing twice as much as the motherboard. Sadly, this author's lack of understanding precludes him from realizing this is the point. More was put on the APU so it wouldn't have to be put on the motherboard.
Just a bad article, with no understanding of the segment or product.
Also, these motherboards and products are more geared for countries that have less disposable income. You can get a 5150 and MB for less than $90, or a 5350 and MB for around $100, and both offer good enough performance to make these attractive products for people needing a computer, but with a limited budget. And no, that market doesn't buy these things for games.
In any case, the most interesting motherboard for the U.S. market was left out ASRock AM1H-ITX. If you want DisplayPort, it's the only game in town, as well.
As for POV, I come at this from the viewpoint of someone who's gamed on Haswell's integrated GPU. I'm just looking for entry-level performance. As in, barely useful 3D. I'm not finding it.
The same jaguar core that is in the mighty PS4, that must be why the PS4 is sub par, lol...
Asus AM1I-A Mini ITX ---> 25- to 30% OC's
THG announced the mobo on March 16th ...
THG announced the mobo on March 16th ...
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/am1-motherboard-socket-fs1b-athlon-5350,3850-3.html
No reference clock control in firmware or motherboard software. If you'd like to recommend a different application, feel free.
Where are the tests that reflect that? I don't see any HD playback testing. I also don't see but one graph that shows any testing on power consumption. Do you not think people would be interested in seeing results for tests that aren't maxing out the CPU or GPU? What about a comparison to Intel Atom configurations? Anyone who is honestly interested in learning more about this platform could care less how well BF4 benches.