14 DAY TRIAL // This may not be the first all-in-one motherboard ever made, but that does not actually make Biostar's A68I-350 DELUXE any less of an all-purpose mini platform.
Granted, “all-purpose” may be pushing it, since high-end games and any other strenuous activities are beyond its power.
Nevertheless, the ultra-compact motherboard, even while featuring the mini ITX form factor (170 x 170 mm / 6.70 x 6.70 inches), has all that a computer needs, save for storage and RAM.
The AMD Fusion 350D (Socket BGA FT1) accelerated processing unit (APU) is directly built into the mainboard.
It has two bobcat cores working at 1.6 GHz each, plus the AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics with up to 512 MB distributed memory.
Full HD video will run smoothly, and games, even DirectX 11 titles, should open, although performance is another matter entirely. Either way, VGA and HDMI outputs are present, for both monitor and HDTV support.
We said memory wasn't included. Support for it is, though. There are two DDR3 slots available, of the full-size DIMM sort. That means that a maximum of 16 GB of RAM can be installed at any given time (800/1066 MHz DDR3).
Moving on, Biostar was able to fit a PCI Express x16 2.0 slot (x4 electrical) on the board as well. This means that an add-in graphics card can be used. Between that and the memory, it should enable some tougher games to operate, though the CPU might hold them back.
That said, the AMD A68 chipset is wired to three SATA 3.0 6.0 Gbps connectors. Not the fastest storage interface but decent enough for HDDs/SSDs.
Other specs include Gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel audio, a digital S/PDIF audio output (enabled by a Realtek ALC662 chip), solid capacitors (X.D.C / eXtreme Durable Capacitors) and Biostar-exclusive technologies (BIOS Flasher and BIOS Online Update).
Finally, buyers will get to enjoy the BIO-Remote2 Technology (use an Android phone/tablet as a remote control) and the Charger Booster function (charges Android and iOS devices up to 42% faster than normal).
We are guessing that Biostar is telling us that the A68I-350 DELUXE is now up for order. Considering that this is the second time the company “launches” it (first time was in September 2012), it would be about time. €66 / $66-84 should be the price.
