M-ITX board for an AMD A6-3500 APU

livEwirE

Can someone please recommend a mini-itx board to use with an AMD A6-3500 APU for around €100?

Needs...
Socket FM1
USB 3.0 ports + USB 3.0 headers onboard
HDMI


THIS is the only one I've found so far but it's a bit steep at €123 +shipping:eek:

Monotype

Are you aware that this socket will soon be obsolete?

livEwirE

Nope wasn't aware of that at all, tell me more please:eek:

What socket will the AMD APU's be using instead? Thought I would get one to use in a HTPC.

Monotype

FM2 coming at the end of next month...

New APUs...

Wikipedia says October 1st. Not sure if that's accurate because I didn't hear about any set date aside from probably the end of October.

livEwirE

Thanks for the info, great to know. How long will it be until mainboards with FM2 sockets will be available do you think? I might be in the market for a mainboard and a new APU, probably a Weatherford. What kind of price do you think I would be looking at for these?

Monotype

Some manufacturers have had previews of the boards so they're in production but we won't see them until we have the processors and we don't have a date.

Prices should be similar to FM1. AMD want to sell these and they will try for value vs Intel. ITX are usually a little later although I know manufacturers have those too, especially since that's the kind of build that many people will have in mind with these APUs.
The itx one you linked is most likely more than you'd pay for FM2 as it's just end of life shortage/inflation.

livEwirE

Cheer Monotype, thanks for all your info. Looks like I'm in for a bit of a wait but it should be worth it:D

livEwirE

Hi Monotype, apologies for resurrecting this old thread Have the the FM2 based mitx boards appeared yet? Do you think one of these boards along with an AMD APU would be good for a HTPC?

Monotype

Yep. I got one myself.

http://lb.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/70781/ASRock+FM2A75M-ITX%2C+FM2%2C+ITX.article
http://lb.hardwareversand.de/DDR3/70162/MSI+FM2-A75IA-E53%2C+FM2%2C+ITX.article

I got a 5400K as that's all I need, but you can go for more powerful ones like the 5800K if you wanted it to serve more purpose than just a HTPC - i.e., with a 5800K, it could serve as a games machine too, although 5400K would be fine for basic stuff.

livEwirE

Congrats mate!!! Which of the two boards did you go for? I think I might go for the 5400k too as I will not be gaming. How are you finding your setup so far? I assume HD video and audio playback is good? I want to use the Stream FC8 EVO Fanless case Any idea which board would fit best inside this case? Can I ask your opinion please? Apologies in advance for being cheeky If you look at page 8 in the case's user guide here you'll see this case uses heatpipes to cool the cpu so the positioning of the board is vital. Depending on which of the two I choose, the heatpipes will go over the ram slots on the ASROCK but over the sata connectors on the MSI? What do you think?

Monotype

Interesting looking case. I think the layout of the asrock was the reason I went for it in the end, although I'd prefer MSI. The reasoning is that in the Intel system I had previously, the RAM and PCI-E slots were at right angles and the heatsink was in the way. There's just about enough room now, although the closer RAM is being pushed slightly. If you had RAM without heatsinks, it probably wouldn't be in the way.

In your case, the MSI looks like a better choice. I don't think that there'll be enough room to clear the RAM on the Asrock board.
To be honest, noise isn't a major issue in systems like this if you have appropriate fan settings - it doesn't put a lot of stress on the CPU so it's going to be nearly idle and have a quiet fan most of the time. I haven't had much chance to thoroughly test the AMD system as it still needs fixing up but the Intel system previous to it was quieter than the PSU and I expect the same from this.

livEwirE

Thanks for the feedback Monotype, I'll take it onboard