MSI motherboard looks amazing, has
convenient layout and uses nothing but high-quality components. This
motherboard is efficiently energy-saving, fast and works well with default
settings. However, there’re some things in their BIOS that are able to create
some extra features and the motherboard can’t keep the power-saving tech
working during overclocking process. Everything we’ve just mentioned above os
the truth about the main hero in our today’s review.
This is the fourth time, maybe, our last
review about one Socket FM2 motherboard at present. Why don’t we have plans to
do more? Yes, 4 reviews are quite enough to summarize the products provided by
the big brands. Socket FM2 platform is quite interesting to us and we want to
test it in practice, but we’re not really impressed with the obtained result.
That’s the reason why we have plans to come back to the LGA1155 platform more
in our upcoming motherboard reviews.
MSI
FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard
We still can’t be able to understand the
purposes of the combined CPUs from AMD, the products which are under the
average level considering normal computing performance and have an advanced
built-in graphics core. We can think of the apps the Socket FM2 platform will
be compatible to, but we don’t find any at any place, where it will be
optimized or the most acceptable. HTPCs? Yes, a HTPC will work better with a
more power-saving CPU so that you can use a noise-free or even a passive
cooling system. Primary gaming system? We doubt that such kinds of thing still
exist. The ability to launch the game apps of the computer is determined by its
graphics card at the first place. You will have a flagship computer if you fit
a graphics card with many top-end graphics cores or some equivalent graphics
card. If you have a primary graphics card, your computer gaming functionality
will be limited by it. A primary graphics card or a graphics core integrated
from a Socket FM2 processor will bring you a primary computer, not a gaming
computer. You can only run games at low resolution and /or reduce the graphics
quality settings, which seems like an unusual kind of gaming to us.
It’s simple and extremely simpler when
compared with Intel LGA1155 platform. You don’t need to look for the favorable
apps as for LGA1155 CPU since they’re vast platform and really flexible. If you
use the integrated graphics card, you have a gaming-less computer, its
specialized features are defined by the CPU model. It may be a simple and
low-budget computer for Internet, a HTPC or a high-performance station computer.
Now, if you install a middle-class or a flagship graphics card for it, you will
have a moderate-level gaming computer. LGA1155 platform may be everything
you’ve ever desired: a silent/power-saving or fast or overclocked computer. In
only depends on your demand and budget. On one side, you’re not limited the cut-down x86 Piledriver core (only half is the
best high-end AMD FX processor, but without L3 cache memory) and the other hand
is by the cut-down Radeon graphics core of the Northern
Islands family (about one fourth is of Radeon HD 6970 and
with the lower clock rate). That’s the reason why I think we should move on to
LGA1155 motherboard, but today we will have a closer look about one Socket FM2
product .
We begin a series of review about Socket
FM2 motherboard with Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 and continue on with ASUS F2A85-V
PRO and ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6. All of them are the flagship models in their
collative product line, so we can’t add the topping FM2-A85XA-G65 of MSI into
this list. As we acknowledge from our previous reviews, the Gigabyte, Asus and
ASRock motherboard are completely different in design but the same in terms of
technical details. Each product has a USB 3.0 controller with 2 additional USB
3.0 ports for the four models provided by AMD A85X chipset. Each offers 7 out
of 8 of the 6 Gbit/s SATA ports of chipset
in addition to an eSATA port on the back. Each sample has 3 PCI Express 2.0x16 graphics
card slot using the same speed formula: 1x16, 2x8 or x8/x8/x4. MSI FM2-A85XA-G65
doesn’t follow that route. Some of its specific traits are undoubtedly positive
whereas other models seem to be weaknesses to us. We will let you know all
about them in a short while.
Packing and accessories
There was once when the motherboard makers
tried their way of product packing. They’re packed in many different ways for
motherboards of AMD and Intel processor and you could tell a product’s rank by
its container. Anyhow, all the big manufacturers have unified their packing at
present. They only keep the special design for the special motherboards aimed
toward core customers such as gamers or overclockers. Therefore, on the front
of any MSI motherboard, you can see the name and the symbol of the tech it
supports. The back of the box provides some basic info about the important
feature of each specific product.
Product
container
It’s the container and the printed images,
which help to distinguish the motherboard with the accessories, are made from
plain white cardboard, which looks not as nice as the glossy white cardboard of
the packing method of other makers, but still serves the purpose which is to
emphasize the environment-protecting efforts of MSI in manufacturing as well as
on its product packing.
As we wrote in our previous review, the Socket FM2 motherboard is not expected to come
with a lot of accessories, since this can lead to the increment of price.
Though, the accessories shipped with MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 include more items than
usual:
·
Four Serial ATA cables with L-shaped metal connecting
lock
·
I / O Shield for the rear
control panel
·
“M-Connector” includes modules for easy
connection to the buttons on the control panel on the front of the case, the
indicators and audio
·
“V-Check Cable” adaptor for the manual voltage
adjusting process with a voltmeter;
·
User manual
·
A small brochure on the exclusive software
·
A book with brief assembling instruction
·
Disk along with software and DVD driver
Accompany
accessories
There’s a set of the controllers
simplifying the connection to the buttons on the computer case, the indicators
and USB ports. We also see them packed with ASUS F2A85-V PRO, as the ASUS motherboard
has a unique pin layout. MSI also lets us know that it adds a set of V-Check cable, which helps you to monitor the
voltage through a voltmeter. It means that the motherboard is equipped with the
thing called V-Check Point, which is a unique additional feature for a Socket FM2 product.
