14 DAY TRIAL // One would be tempted to think that a small motherboard wouldn't be able to include all the essential features of a PC platform, and a bunch besides. That is to say, they would be tempted to think so if they hadn't already lived through years of being proven wrong.
Micro-ATX motherboards do, in fact, have enough room for every essential thing and some non-essential features.
In fact, with some effort, even mini-ITX or nano-ITX motherboards can achieve that feat, although some allowances must be made.
But we digress. What we're here to talk about isn't the history of the mainboard industry, but the latest motherboard from Gigabyte.
Called F2A75M-DS2, it relies on the AMD A75 chipset, which possesses the FM2 socket and, thus, can welcome APUs (accelerated processing units) from the latest generation, Richland as it were.
Athlon processors in the FM2 package are supported as well, since they have the same “pin-out.”
The F2A75M-DS2 has a single PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (for add-in video boards), a PCI Express 2.0 x1 slot, two DDR3 DIMM slots (maximum capacity of 64 GB DDR3-2133 DIMM, assuming there are any 16 GB modules out there), and four SATA 6 Gbps ports (for HDD/SSD/HHD/SSHD storage devices).
Moving on, the new platform boasts a PS/2 mouse/keyboard combo connector on the rear panel, along with Gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel HD audio, and two USB 3.0 ports.
Those two USB 3.0 connectors aren't alone though. There are pin headers on the F2A75M-DS2 for two more, obviously meant to connect to whatever front/top I/O panel USB 3.0 ports exist on PC cases.
Other specs include a bunch of USB 2.0/1.1 ports, AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS (with Gigabyte's dual-UEFI technology) and a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. Finally, a 4+1-phase VRM powers the APU socket. Sales should start soon, for $60 / €45.69 – 60.