AMD Llano Motherboards, CPUs and the new FM1 Socket
New sockets, new motherboard, new processors: it is pretty much a routine here at PC Perspective. The new FM1 socket doesn’t differ by much compared to previous AMD sockets like AM2/AM3 and the new AM3+ though we need to define right up front that Llano processors will not work in any previous motherboard or socket! If you end up deciding to invest in an AMD A-series of APU you will need to get a new motherboard along with it.
The new FM1 socket
That gap in the middle there is the telltale sign that you are looking at an FM1 motherboard rather than anything for the Phenom line of processors. The pin count on this new socket is 905 to be exact – just a bit less than the Phenom II processors on the market today which is kind of surprising considering how much more complex the technology on Llano actually is.
Our review kit from AMD actually shipped with the ASRock A75 Pro4 motherboard and it treated us very well during our testing and evaluation.
ASRock A75 Pro4
ASRock A75 Pro4
We also got in the new Gigabyte A75-UD4H motherboard with DisplayPort output support.
Gigabyte A75-UD4H
Gigabyte A75-UD4H
Of course, all of the standard board vendors that you know and love (or loath) are going to be offering Socket FM1 based options including ASUS, ECS, MSI and others.
For the AMD Llano processor itself, from even a slight distance it would be easy to mistake it for one of its older CPU-only cousins. Our AMD A8-3850 APU is a full production processor and NOT an engineering sample.
AMD A8-3850 APU
AMD A8-3850 APU
As described earlier, here are the processors specifications:
- AMD A8-3850 APU
- 32nm HKMG process
- Quad-cores @ 2.9 GHz clock speed
- 4MB L2 cache (1MB per core)
- DDR3-1866 memory support
- 100w TDP
- Radeon HD 6550D graphics
- 400 Radeon Cores @ 600 MHz
Physical installation and all of that remain just as simple as you remember from any previous platform configuration. And if you happen to have a heatsink that is approved for the AM2/AM3 processor sockets then it will also install on the new FM1-based Llano motherboards as well, saving you a bit of money and hassle.
Now, there is just one more thing to get to before we dive into the many pages of benchmarks and performance metrics…what exactly are we going to be looking for in our evaluation??
hey my bios doesnt have those
hey my bios doesnt have those options im running a laptop and i need to undervolt and overclock. can u shed some help? i may consider attempting e the fact flashing your bios over mine, despite the fact that ill most likely render my pc useless.
hey my bios doesnt have those
hey my bios doesnt have those options im running a laptop and i need to undervolt and overclock. can u shed some help? i may consider attempting e the fact flashing your bios over mine, despite the fact that ill most likely render my disfunctional. or do u have other suggestions etc etc?
just thought you would like
just thought you would like to know, did some cusstomizations based upon my ELITE settings within my dell vostro core 2 duo westwood 1500 dell intel laptop, and i got this toshiba satellite 8100xlr8x to achieve stable all 4 cores at a 2464 Mhtz, the temparute gain without fan speed control is 1 c per second, the modification are thus:
volt rail 1 at 1.0063
volt rail 2 at 1.0437
turbo core disable
multiplier at 19x
system score on full benchmark :: 6436