Socket FM2+ Basics?

[cubby1223]

I haven't kept up with new components much lately. Was looking at the available Socket FM2+ boards, and what's the difference with Hudson versus Bolton? And is there a tangible difference between D2/D3/D4? Am not interested in overclocking.

Thanks!

 

[cubby1223]

Found the magic google key words tonight. Apparently Bolton supports a newer ACHI spec than Hudson. And D3/D4 support 6gbps sata, D2 only 3gbps sata. Hudson has an integrated LAN, & D3 & D4 have integrated usb3 (though I'm sure these features are included with 3rd party chips on all the other boards). And D4 can connect to more sata drives.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Overall, aside from SATA2/3 and RAID support, there is very little practical difference. Wikipedia has a comparison, don't know how updated it is though:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_chipsets

If you don't need anything special I recommend the A78 for FM2+. That gets you SATA3 support, without HW RAID. A55/58 should be avoided, as they only support SATA2.

 

[cubby1223]

Looking through the motherboard selection, no D2 boards had usb3, so that's a definite reason too not to go with them.

Was slightly disappointed, though, that every matx fm2+ board has the 16x pcie slot in the first position. As someone who likes to install ridiculously over-sized heatsinks combined with ridiculously slow cooling fans, the spacing is quite cramped

 

[richaron]

I thought the PCIe 3.x gfx lanes were a pretty major reason to go with an FM2+ board. And maybe 88x at that?

...which confuses me because I thought the gfx PCIe controller was integrated into Kaveri, so would kinda be platform independent (assuming the tracks were in place).

 

[cubby1223]

Most Kavari cpus have an integrated APU. They all support pcie if you wanted a dedicated graphics card. AMD recently released a full performance Kaveri cpu without integrated graphics (probably are in the die only disabled), that's what got me looking at FM2+ boards. The last I saw from AMD was they have no plans to release a 28nm AM3+ cpu.

 

[richaron]

PCIe 3.x

I have a Kaveri system.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I thought the PCIe 3.x gfx lanes were a pretty major reason to go with an FM2+ board. And maybe 88x at that?

...which confuses me because I thought the gfx PCIe controller was integrated into Kaveri, so would kinda be platform independent (assuming the tracks were in place).

Its almost the same setup as Intel uses. A 16x PCIe slot for graphics, a 4x for PCH/FCH and 4x1x for "general purpose" (mostly NICs etc.).

PCIe version is dependant on APU version. If you want PCIe 3.0 you need a Kaveri-based APU, the Trinity/Richlands can only do PCIe 2.0 and lanes from the FCH are 2.0 only. As are the "general purpose" lanes on both Kaveri and Trinity/Richland.

 

[richaron]

ok I'm suck at expressing thoughts..

"I consider a major advantage of some FM2+ motherboards is the availability of PCIe 3.x gfx slot(s). But, understanding the PCIe 3.x gfx controller is integrated into Kaveri, I am unsure why PCIe 3.x connectors are limited to a88x boards. Or am I wrong?"

 

[Insert_Nickname]

ok I'm suck at expressing thoughts..

"I consider a major advantage of some FM2+ motherboards is the availability of PCIe 3.x gfx slot(s). But, understanding the PCIe 3.x gfx controller is integrated into Kaveri, I am unsure why PCIe 3.x connectors are limited to a88x boards. Or am I wrong?"

Its quite simple really. To get PCIe 3.0 you need both a Kaveri-based APU and an FM2+ board. Every FM2+ board supports PCIe 3.0, but only with a Kaveri-based APU.

Hope that explains...

As mentioned earlier, unless you need RAID support the best FM2+ chipset is the A78. It gives you both native SATA3 and native USB3 support.

 

[richaron]

Thanks guys... kinda.. I guess I still didn't make it obvious enough but my confusion was that I thought A88x motherboards were the ONLY ones which had PCIe 3.x gfx slot(s) (as opposed to all FM2+ boards). Not sure why I thought that, but I sincerely wish I hadn't posted here I suppose all that extra information is good to be floating the interweb...

As mentioned earlier, unless you need RAID support the best FM2+ chipset is the A78. It gives you both native SATA3 and native USB3 support.

A78 is not the "best" chipset. I already have all 8 SATA ports populated on an a88x motherboard.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

A78 is not the "best" chipset. I already have all 8 SATA ports populated on an a88x motherboard.

From a price/performance/features standpoint it is...

Might I ask which mainboard you're using? I don't seem to recall any A88X boards with more then 7 internal SATA ports? Would make a decent cheap server platform.

 

[cubby1223]

Thanks guys... kinda.. I guess I still didn't make it obvious enough but my confusion was that I thought A88x motherboards were the ONLY ones which had PCIe 3.x gfx slot(s) (as opposed to all FM2+ boards). Not sure why I thought that, but I sincerely wish I hadn't posted here I suppose all that extra information is good to be floating the interweb...

Nothing wrong with posting. That's how we all learn.

 

[KBL]

Well, so did these guys, http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1442-amd-apu-chipset-comparison-a88-a85-a78 and a few other sites I found.

"A78 supports only PCI-e Gen2 (regardless of APU) with 16 lanes available for PCI-e device allocation"

Perhaps it was only the early A88x boards that had PCIe 3 or early misinformation, but they all do seem to have them now.

So I suspect you are not the only one that believes that.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Well, so did these guys, http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1442-amd-apu-chipset-comparison-a88-a85-a78 and a few other sites I found.

"A78 supports only PCI-e Gen2 (regardless of APU) with 16 lanes available for PCI-e device allocation"

Perhaps it was only the early A88x boards that had PCIe 3 or early misinformation, but they all do seem to have them now.

So I suspect you are not the only one that believes that.

Straight from ASUS:

F.x. the A78M-A

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/A78MA/specifications/

Expansion slots:

1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 *3
1 x PCIe 2.0 x1
1 x PCI

*1: *Only FM2+ APU can support up to 4096 x 2160 resolution display via HDMI port.
*2: Refer to http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/dual-graphics/Pages/dual-graphics.aspx#3 for the discrete GPUs which support Dual Graphics technology.
*3: Only FM2+ Processors can support PCIe3.0.
*4: Use a chassis with HD audio module in the front panel to support an 8-channel audio output.

 

[KBL]

Correct, all the FM2+ boards support it. I have the Asus A78M-E and it has it. Just saying I could see why richaron could be confused.

 

[Seba]

I can't see why A78 would be better than A88X. A88X is the one with 8 SATA III ports vs. only 6 SATA III ports on A78.

A88X also has 1x16 / 2x8 PCI-E vs. only 1x16 on A78.

And RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 (A88X) vs RAID 0, 1, 10 (A78).

It's the other way around: A88X is the better choice for FM2+.