14 DAY TRIAL // Even though Intel's Core i5 and i7 central processing units rule the high-end market, it's still very much possible to create gaming systems with AMD hardware. In fact, it is a lot more convenient to do so for many people, given how cheap the hardware is in comparison.
Mid-range gaming systems may as well be high-end conventional PCs, but if you only look at the gaming front they are well behind the big names indeed.
Nevertheless, even “mid-range” gaming PCs have what it takes to run even the latest games, even if they can't quite go beyond Full HD, or even that far in some cases, not without some advanced setting compromises.
Micro-Star International has just unveiled a pair of motherboards that will let you create such a system: the A68HM-P33 and A68HM-E33.
MSI's A68HM-P33 and A68HM-E33 FM2(+) motherboards
It's not really clear what the difference between the two products is. The press release doesn't really say. It may be that one of the models will be sold in the Americas and the other in the rest of the world, or some other global plan.
It may also be that one of them will be sold through retail, to DIY PC makers, while the other will be reserved for OEMs to make full pre-configured PCs with.
Whatever the case may be, the specs are mostly the same across the board. There is a PCI Express 3.0 slot, for example, where you can install one video card.
Since AMD's latest Kaveri APUs have Radeon GPUs with Dual Graphics support, you'll be able to get good performance even if you buy a mediocre board, since the resources will combined with those of the on-board graphics chip. It's a variation of AMD EyeFinity CrossFire technology.
The 7000-series APUs aren't the only ones supported. The Richland and Trinity, 6000, and 5000 series work on FM2/FM2+ sockets just fine too.
Onboard LAN is available as well, as are SATA 6.0 Gbps ports (for HDD or SSD storage), with a Dothill RAID controller there to help combine multiple drives into one) and USB 3.0 connectors.
Furthermore, MSI included the OC Genie 4 (one-touch overclocking) and Click BIOS 4, plus the Command Center software to let you monitor, tune, and control the hardware parameters.
Availability and pricing
Unfortunately, the information isn't available. With MSI Military Class 4 components and protection mechanisms (humidity, high temperature, electromagnetic fields), the tag probably won't be as low as it could be, but it will surely not be too high either.