Stefan Mileschin

Biostar unveiled its second socket FM2 motherboard in its audio-optimized Hi-Fi series, following the mid-September launch of Hi-Fi A85X. The new Hi-Fi A85W is designed to be a more affordable model, based on a new PCB design, while retaining the Puro Hi-Fi audio with integrated amplifier. It is built in the compact ATX form-factor. The FM2 APU socket, which supports the latest A-Series "Trinity" APUs, is powered by a 6-phase VRM, which draws power from a 4-pin ATX connector. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot.

Expansion slots include two long PCI-Express slots, however, only one is wired to the APU, and is electrical PCI-Express 2.0 x16, the other is electrical PCI-Express 2.0 x4, wired to the A85X FCH. Other expansion slots include two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI. All eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the chipset are assigned as internal ports. The four USB 3.0 ports from the chipset are distributed as two rear-panel ports, and two via header. Display outputs include DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub. Gigabit Ethernet and 10 USB 2.0 ports make for the rest of the connectivity. The board is driven by AMI UEFI BIOS. It is expected to be priced around US $90.

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