14 DAY TRIAL // Motherboards tend to have a pretty standard connectivity and I/O setup at the back, and their pin headers for front I/O panel interconnects are pretty normal too, usually, but Biostar decided it was time for some exceptions.
That's why it gave the "Hi-Fi B85S2G," "Hi-Fi A88S2G," and "Hi-Fi B85N 3D" motherboards two Gigabit LAN ports instead of one.
Normally, consumer PCs don't need more than one LAN port, because that's enough to add it to any network, or provide direct Internet access.
However, if you, say, go to a LAN party, or just want to connect to a PC that a friend brings along on a visit, you can use the secondary LAN port to do it.
You can even have your PC be part of two different local area networks at once, thanks to the existence of two connectors. Full-duplex transmissions as it were.
Biostar didn't stop there though. It also wanted to make it possible to connect the LAN ports to the same network.
To achieve that, it implemented Load Balancing technology, which doubles available bandwidth under certain circumstances. You can support the aggregation "teaming" function that way.
The LAN ports even have lightning protection circuits, safeguarding them from lighting strikes or any other power surges.
That said, as far as the rest of the specifications go, there is variety from one platform to the next. The "Hi-Fi B85S2G" and "Hi-Fi B85N 3D" only support Intel CPUs, and the former, at least, is a full-ATX platform.
Meanwhile, the "Hi-Fi A88S2G" supports AMD FM2+ accelerated processing units and is a mini-ITX platform. All of them have two DDR3 memory slots though, and various numbers of SATA III ports (SATA 6.0 Gbps storage), USB 3.0, USB 2.0, etc.
Biostar even implemented its 6+ Experience technology set, composed of Protection+, Durability+, DIY+, Audio+, Video+, and Speed+.
Video+, for example, involves (on the Hi-Fi A88S2G anyway) AMD Radeon graphics and support for DirectX 11.1, HDMI 3D 1080p and Eyefinity.
Speed+ involves PCI Express 3.0 support and SmartSpeedLAN (free software for network behavior). Audio+ provides 3D Audio, True Blu-Ray Audio, 3D HiFi Amp and 3D Smart Ear.
Then, there's Durability+, with Low RdsOn P-Pak MOS (low resistance design that can significantly reduce the current in energy loss), moisture-proof PCB, etc.
Protection+ includes overcurrent, overvoltage, short-circuit, electrostatic discharge and overcurrent protections, among other things.
Finally, DIY+ means that the UEFI BIOS and BIO-Remote 2 make it easy to configure the PC and control it from afar like a TV, making the motherboards good for HTPCs.
Sadly, Biostar did not specify the arrival date or prices. The "Hi-Fi B85S2G," "Hi-Fi A88S2G," and "Hi-Fi B85N 3D" should be up for sale soon though, if they aren't already.
