14 DAY TRIAL // FM2+ is the socket that will support AMD Kaveri accelerated processing units, the chips that, according to most recent reports, will only be released next year, in February 2014.
Thus, we did not really expect motherboards with support for that next-generation socket to appear so soon, yet here we are.
ASUS has officially launched the A88XM-A and A55BM-A/USB3, which boast the company’s latest motherboard design and extended APU compatibility.
Perhaps the arrival of these products is a way to suggest that, contrary to those rumors we have mentioned, Kaveri APUs will come out this year after all.
We won't be holding our breath waiting for them, but at least we can hang onto a small hope.
Until then, foresighted customers may as well buy one of the two and equip them with a current-generation Richland or Trinity chip, since FM2 chips are supported as well.
Verily, the only advantage of FM2+ over FM2 is that the APUs designed for it support DirectX 11.1 and PCI Express 3.0 natively.
There isn't too much of a difference between the ASUS A88XM-A and A55BM-A/USB3 motherboards really.
It's just that the former has only two DDR3 memory slots and three SATA ports, while the latter gets four memory slots and six SATA ports.
Both of them have a PCI Express 3.0 slot (x16), for high-end graphics cards. Presumably, the best setup will consist of a strong APU and an add-in board that can enter CrossFire with it.
The platforms also possess a second PCI Express slot and a mini slot, plus UEFI BIOS, Fan Xpert fan control, USB 3.0 Boost technology (optimized turbo mode for data transfers) and ASUS 5X Protection technology.
Finally, the ASUS 5X Protection technology safeguards the hardware via DIGI+ VRM voltage regulation (precise digital control over power delivery to the processor) and resettable fuses (protect I/O ports and DIMM slots from short circuits and voltage spikes).
Pricing and availability details haven't been disclosed, unfortunately.
