Test Setup and Errata

This is only the second FM2+ board that I have reviewed, so the results will be compared using only the A10-7850K and the Gigabyte G1.Sniper.A88X.  I am still using Win7 64 bit for these tests, but in the near future I will be transitioning my testing environment to Win 8.1.  Differences in performance between the two operating systems should not impact the overall performance of these boards as compared to each other.

Navigating the UEFI is easy with a keyboard and mouse.  Every major setting can be found under… settings.  Overclocking is done through, you guessed it, the OC Tab!

I previously covered running the A10-7850K fully enabled with a standalone NVIDIA based video card, but those results were not included here.  If you are curious how that combination works, then look it up here.  In my testing the 7850K has no problem running with a standalone video card, though users should be careful with the order of installation and firmware settings.

Programmable fan control is a must for power users.  MSI offers such support in the UEFI.

I only tested the MSI A88X-G45 with the A10-7850K.  As a rule of thumb, the A10-6800K was slightly faster in CPU applications, but the integrated GPU performance is far lower than what the 7850K offers.  The G1.Sniper.A88X was tested with both the 7850K and 6800K.

 

Testing Components

AMD A10-7850K

AMD A10-6800K

2 x 4 GB AMD Radeon DDR-3 2133 Memory

WD Caviar 1 TB Black HD OS Drive

Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB SSD (SATA 6G and USB 3.0 Tests)

Sharkoon USB 3.0 SATA 6G Dock

Lite-On BD-ROM

Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced Case

Corsair TX-750W Power Supply

Win7 Pro

Catalyst 14.6 RC Drivers

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