- Feb 19, 2015
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tl;dr: Buyer Beware! If you are buying the new AMD Athlon X4 860k or one of the new Kaveri APUs, there is no guarantee that you will actually get a compatible FM2/FM2+ motherbaord, dispite specs claiming they are. Due to the fact that many of them where manufactured prior to relase of the new CPU/APU and retailers have mixed stock; therefore you won't know which bios version is on the one you actually purchased. The only 2 boards I am aware of that guarantee compatability are the MSI A88X G45 and MSI A88XM Gaming Motherbaords.
Now for the Rant!
So today I recieved all the components I needed to build my new gaming pc. It felt like christmas this morning. Sadly my day has ended with bitter dissapointment.
My build:
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k £58.32
GPU:Gigabyte Radeon R9 285 2GB, which I got at a steal of just £110 *
Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DS2 FM2+ "Kaveri Ready" £49.29 or MSI A88X G43 £63.01**
Heatsink/CPU cooler: TBA
RAM:Team Vulcan 8GB DDR3 2133 MHz RAM £52.99
HDD:1TB Seagate HDD £43.52
Optical drive:LiteOn DVD R/RW £10
Case:Silverstone GD09B Grandia Black HTPC ATX Case £51.93
Total: £502.96 (Gigabyte version) or £516.68 (MSI version) all inclusive of shipping.
*I was originally planning on just getting a R7 250/260 or second hand R9 270, but the R9 285 RRP is ~£185 so i couldn't resist the bargain.
**Why two motherboards? Read on.
Long story short, I spent ages trying to find decent parts, the right parts, while keeping my cost down since I blew my budget on the GPU. I decided to get the MSI A88X G43 at first and ordered it from Amazon. The reviews where good and the site says it's compatible with the new Kaveri cpus. After further stressing I decided i wanted to push the price even further down and tried to cancel the order but amazon had dispatched it super fast so couldn't. No problem it's easy enough to return so I ordered the gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DS2 which also has good reviews and claims to be Kaveri ready. So on the day of the build I happen to have to "compatible" boards. What could go wrong?
I booked today off to recieve all the remaining parts from another supplier and build my new toy.
I hooked up everything outside the case first for testing and ran through the tom's hardware troubleshooting checklist with both boards. No signal to the screen, either via DVI or HDMI cables and tested on 2 screens. I tried different RAM stick at varying frequencies. Taking things out putting them back in etc etc etc. ON BOTH BOARDS, again and again.
After chatting to a few people it would seem that my suspician is true, sadly, niether boards are compatible as they do not have the right bios version. FML! To make it worse, there is no way of telling when the board was manufactured or which bios version it has. It's literally russian roulette with motherboards, one board may be fine the other might not as most suppliers have mixed batches with no way of telling you whether it will be compatible with the Kaveri CPU/APUs or not.
What you get is a build that won't boot and the only way to fix it is to flash the bios, but you can't get into it to flash it! Not without buying an older CPU/APU!
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! ********ATOMIC HEAD DESK!*******
I understand that the technology has to be manufactured within a compatible time period, that's a given. I also understand that one should check the manufacturer's website for the compatability list. Even so, with regards to FM2/FM2+ boards, after all due dilligence is conducted there is no way of knowing when the board you purchase was manufactured or which bios it has. It's just pot luck whether it works or if you end up with a brick!
Why don't Motherboard manufactureres add the bios version to the packaging, maybe next to the serial number?
Apparently the only boards thus far that are truly Kaveri ready are the newly released MSI gaming boards, MSI A88X G45 and MSI A88XM Gaming Motherbaord, which come at a whopping cost of ~£80/£85 a good £30 over my budget.
So now I am left with a dilema, buy a £85 motherboard pushing my build price up to £538, baring in mind I still need to buy a decent CPU cooler; take a gamble and buy the Asus A88XM-Plus, which has had a compatible bios since 11th May 2013 , for £60 and hope I get one manufactured post that date or scrap the FM2 route and go down the AM3 route with a AMD FX CPU. Will mean I need to sell the AMD Athlon X4 on ebay, what a hassle!
Sorry for the rant, hope this helps someone else not make the same mistake.
Now for the Rant!
So today I recieved all the components I needed to build my new gaming pc. It felt like christmas this morning. Sadly my day has ended with bitter dissapointment.
My build:
CPU: AMD Athlon X4 860k £58.32
GPU:Gigabyte Radeon R9 285 2GB, which I got at a steal of just £110 *
Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DS2 FM2+ "Kaveri Ready" £49.29 or MSI A88X G43 £63.01**
Heatsink/CPU cooler: TBA
RAM:Team Vulcan 8GB DDR3 2133 MHz RAM £52.99
HDD:1TB Seagate HDD £43.52
Optical drive:LiteOn DVD R/RW £10
Case:Silverstone GD09B Grandia Black HTPC ATX Case £51.93
Total: £502.96 (Gigabyte version) or £516.68 (MSI version) all inclusive of shipping.
*I was originally planning on just getting a R7 250/260 or second hand R9 270, but the R9 285 RRP is ~£185 so i couldn't resist the bargain.
**Why two motherboards? Read on.
Long story short, I spent ages trying to find decent parts, the right parts, while keeping my cost down since I blew my budget on the GPU. I decided to get the MSI A88X G43 at first and ordered it from Amazon. The reviews where good and the site says it's compatible with the new Kaveri cpus. After further stressing I decided i wanted to push the price even further down and tried to cancel the order but amazon had dispatched it super fast so couldn't. No problem it's easy enough to return so I ordered the gigabyte GA-F2A88XM-DS2 which also has good reviews and claims to be Kaveri ready. So on the day of the build I happen to have to "compatible" boards. What could go wrong?
I booked today off to recieve all the remaining parts from another supplier and build my new toy.
I hooked up everything outside the case first for testing and ran through the tom's hardware troubleshooting checklist with both boards. No signal to the screen, either via DVI or HDMI cables and tested on 2 screens. I tried different RAM stick at varying frequencies. Taking things out putting them back in etc etc etc. ON BOTH BOARDS, again and again.
After chatting to a few people it would seem that my suspician is true, sadly, niether boards are compatible as they do not have the right bios version. FML! To make it worse, there is no way of telling when the board was manufactured or which bios version it has. It's literally russian roulette with motherboards, one board may be fine the other might not as most suppliers have mixed batches with no way of telling you whether it will be compatible with the Kaveri CPU/APUs or not.
What you get is a build that won't boot and the only way to fix it is to flash the bios, but you can't get into it to flash it! Not without buying an older CPU/APU!
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! ********ATOMIC HEAD DESK!*******
I understand that the technology has to be manufactured within a compatible time period, that's a given. I also understand that one should check the manufacturer's website for the compatability list. Even so, with regards to FM2/FM2+ boards, after all due dilligence is conducted there is no way of knowing when the board you purchase was manufactured or which bios it has. It's just pot luck whether it works or if you end up with a brick!
Why don't Motherboard manufactureres add the bios version to the packaging, maybe next to the serial number?
Apparently the only boards thus far that are truly Kaveri ready are the newly released MSI gaming boards, MSI A88X G45 and MSI A88XM Gaming Motherbaord, which come at a whopping cost of ~£80/£85 a good £30 over my budget.
So now I am left with a dilema, buy a £85 motherboard pushing my build price up to £538, baring in mind I still need to buy a decent CPU cooler; take a gamble and buy the Asus A88XM-Plus, which has had a compatible bios since 11th May 2013 , for £60 and hope I get one manufactured post that date or scrap the FM2 route and go down the AM3 route with a AMD FX CPU. Will mean I need to sell the AMD Athlon X4 on ebay, what a hassle!
Sorry for the rant, hope this helps someone else not make the same mistake.
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