Six A75-Based Motherboards For AMD’s A8 And A6 APUs

Test Settings

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Test System Configuration
APUAMD A6-3650: 2.60 GHz, four cores, 4 MB Combined L2 Cache, Socket FM1
APU CoolerRosewill FORT120
RAMG.Skill F3-17600CL9Q-16GBXLD: 4 x 4 GB (16 GB Total), DDR3-2200 Benchmarked at 2 x 4 GB (8 GB total), DDR3-1600 CAS 9
GraphicsIntegrated Radeon HD 6530D: 320 Shaders, default settings, shared system RAM
Hard DriveSamsung 470 Series MZ5PA256HMDR, 256 GB SSD
SoundIntegrated HD Audio
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit Networking
PowerSeasonic X760 SS-760KM: ATX12V v2.3, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Graphics and ChipsetAMD Catalyst 11.6

Rosewill’s FORT120 might not be available on the market any longer, but it has proven itself the perfect cooler for our socketed AMD processors. Anyone envious of this older model can find similar performance from the similar designs of other manufacturers.

G.Skill’s 16 GB DDR3-2200 kit provided the four super-fast DIMMs needed to assess memory overclocking capabilities. We set these to DDR3-1600 CAS 9 for remaining benchmarks.

After determining that our 80 PLUS Gold-rated 760 W Seasonic power supply was 84% efficient at a mere 2.5% load, this editor decided to use it in every possible review.

We included a few games in today’s tests to gauge the benefit of improved memory with AMD’s integrated GPU.

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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Aliens vs PredatorAlien vs Predator Benchmark Tool Test Set 1: Low Textures, No Shadows/SSAO/Tesselation/AA, 1x AF Test Set 2: Low Quality, No Shadows/SSAO/Tesselation, 4x AA, 1x AF
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 seconds FRAPS) Test Set 1: Lowest Quality/Details, No AA Test Set 2: Lowest Quality/Details, 4x AA
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: Low Overall Quality, High Shaders, DX 10, No AA Test Set 2: Low Overall Quality, High Shaders, DX 10, 4x AA
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion 9.0.3.15 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 kb/s)
MediaEspresso 6.5Version 6.5.1210_33281: 1080i HDTV (449MB) to iPad H.264, 1024x768
MediaConverter 7Version7.1.0.68: 1080i HDTV (449MB) to iPad, SmartFit profile
Handbrake CLIVersion 0.94: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
MainConcept ReferenceVersion: 2.0.0.1555: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS5Version 12.0 x64: Filter 15.7MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
WinZipVersion 14.0 Pro: THG-Workload (464MB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
WinRARVersion 4.0 Beta 4: THG-Workload (464MB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
7-ZipVersion 9.2: THG-Workload (464MB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.