Six Socket FM2 Motherboards For AMD's Trinity APUs

Overclocking

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BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking)
Row 0 - Cell 0 ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6Asus F2A85-V ProECS A85F2-A GOLDEN
Reference Clock100-136 MHz (1 MHz)90-300 MHz (1 MHz)90-200 MHz (1 MHz)
CPU Multiplier14-63x (1x)8-63x (1x)5-63x (1x)
DRAM Data Rates800-1866 (266.6 MHz)800-2400 (266.6 MHz)800-2400 (266.6 MHz)
CPU Vcore0.60-1.55V (6.25 mV)0.68-2.08V (6.25 mV)1.50-1.98V (20 mV)
CPU NB0.60-1.55V (6.25 mV)0.50-1.90V (6.25 mV)1.30-1.80V (20 mV)
A85X Voltage1.10-1.40V (100 mV)1.10-1.40V (10 mV)1.11-1.21V (~35 mV)
DRAM Voltage1.17-1.80V (5 mV)1.35-2.135V (5 mV)1.20-2.01V (10 mV)
CAS Latency5-14 Cycles5-16 Cycles5-14 Cycles
tRCD5-19 Cycles2-19 Cycles2-19 Cycles
tRP5-19 Cycles5-19 Cycles5-19 Cycles
tRAS15-40 Cycles8-42 Cycles8-42 Cycles
Swipe to scroll horizontally
BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking)
Row 0 - Cell 0 Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4MSI FM2-A85XA-G65Sapphire Pure Platinum A85XT
Reference Clock100-200 MHz (1 MHz)90-190 MHz (1 MHz)100-300 MHz (1 MHz)
CPU Multiplier8-79x (1x)8-63x (1x)16-58x (1x)
DRAM Data Rates800-2400 (266.6 MHz)800-2133 (266.6 MHz)800-2133 (266.6 MHz)
CPU Vcore0.80-2.10V (6.25 mV)1.20-1.90V (12.5 mV)1.20-1.70V (6.25 mV)
CPU NB0.80-2.10V (6.25 mV)1.00-1.50V (12.5 mV)1.20-1.54V (6.25 mV)
A85X Voltage1.00-1.40V (10 mV)0.91-1.51V (~11.5 mV)1.10-2.30V (10 mV)
DRAM Voltage1.10-2.62V (10 mV)1.29-2.01V (15 mV)1.30-2.30V (10 mV)
CAS Latency5-16 Cycles5-16 Cycles5-14 Cycles
tRCD2-19 Cycles2-19 Cycles2-19 Cycles
tRP5-19 Cycles5-19 Cycles2-19 Cycles
tRAS8-42 Cycles8-42 Cycles8-40 Cycles

Some motherboards have far broader frequency ranges than others, but a 300 MHz reference clock limit on Sapphire’s motherboard is about as realistic as a 300 MPH speedometer on a Honda Civic. PCIe and integrated GPU overclocking limits are far more restrictive.

Asus, ASRock, and Gigabyte support our 45 x 100 MHz setting, with the difference between each vendor's board attributable to reference clock rounding errors.

Gigabyte reaches the highest reference clock with its integrated GPU intact. The second-place Asus F2A85-V Pro achieves a 156 MHz base clock with full CPU stability, but reference clocks over 130 MHz destabilize the APU’s integrated Radeon HD engine. Similar problems on the PCIe bus would affect graphics cards in a similar manner.

The F2A85-V Pro take top honors in memory overclocking, allowing us to use its highest 24x memory multiplier with four DIMMs installed. ASRock doesn't support a high memory ratio, but the board is able to reach a high data rate through increases in reference clock.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
  • buzznut
    And I would penalize Asrock for the brown PCB. Its an otherwise nice looking board, but this is a trend I don't care for.
    Reply
  • Cryio
    Why, why do you keep posting Skyrim as being a DirectX11 title? It IS NOT. It's just DX9
    Reply
  • Crashman
    CryioWhy, why do you keep posting Skyrim as being a DirectX11 title? It IS NOT. It's just DX9Why don't you point to where you see that?
    Reply
  • Sakkura
    CrashmanWhy don't you point to where you see that?Sneaky, lol. Now he's going to be downvoted.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    SakkuraSneaky, lol. Now he's going to be downvoted.Not sneaky, I just see a lot of sniping in here. I checked the article and didn't find it, and I really need to find it before I can gripe at the person who made the final revisions to this article. His comment could be completely false for all I know...
    Reply
  • cangelini
    I fixed the typo earlier tonight guys, thanks.
    Reply
  • abbadon_34
    Sounds like someone is owed an apology
    Reply
  • Darkerson
    buzznutAnd I would penalize Asrock for the brown PCB. Its an otherwise nice looking board, but this is a trend I don't care for.Penalizing a company over a PCB's color is asinine and petty. Even if you have a case with an acrylic window, do you stare into your PC all day and night? If so, that is trend I don't care for.

    There are much more important things to worry about, like quality, price, and features, to name a few...
    Reply
  • cangeliniI fixed the typo earlier tonight guys, thanks."Adoby Creative Suite"

    just one?

    :lol:
    who cares, good job to crash and the rest of the crew . . .

    edit: i had to fix a typo . .oh karma!
    Reply
  • cangelini
    looniam"Adoby Creative Suite"just one? who cares, good job to crash and the rest of the crew . . .edit: i had to fix a typo . .oh karma!Heh, apparently, editing motherboard round-ups in a Thanksgiving food coma is not conducive to catching typos. Got that one as well--thanks looniam! :)
    Reply