Tried it: MSI A75MA-G55 - Let's fuse in the New Year too!
Christmas is over, we hope everyone is at peace, in happiness, but there is still the last big event of the year left, which is the New Year itself. However, we don’t rest between the holidays either, and we come up with a fresh article again.
The year 2011 will end with a brief presentation and lightning test of an MSI motherboard. One of the highlights of the year was when AMD brought to life and launched the Socket FM1 platform, meaning that the real Fusion wave was launched after Brazos thanks to the Llano APUs.
Motherboard manufacturers are always biting on a new platform, a new socket, and in addition to inflating the right marketing package, they are trying to cover the needs of the market with several models. So far on our site you have come across both GIGABYTE and ASUS FM1 models, what has been left out so far was the MSI. Now we are filling this gap and we will introduce you to a model with an MSI FM1 socket in the person of the MSI A75MA-G55!
MSI A75MA-G55
The name of the motherboard itself is quite communicative, as the A75 refers to the FCH (Fuson Controller Hub) itself, i.e. the better controller has been added to the PCB. MA refers to the micro-ATX nature of the PCB, more precisely to its standard. The size of the printed circuit board is thus also friendly at the HTPC level, 24,4 cm wide and 24,4 cm long. For those who like math, it has already flashed that the motherboard is square. The color of the PCB is the standard black, which is also the dominant color scheme of the product spiced with MSI blue.
The central part of the board is the white FM1 socket and the cooling mounting frame. Next to the socket on the left (towards the outputs) we find the power supply, which already seems small to our eyes, which operates with 6 phases. This model also works with the usual DrMOS control and consists of Military Class II components, the details of which are as follows:
DrMOS. Anyone who has been a bit in the picture with MSI motherboards lately has definitely met DrMOS, as the company has been using this solution on their motherboards for a long time, all the way back to P45. DrMOS stands for Driver-MOSFET, a power supply component.
The essence of the technology is that the driver IC required for control and the upper and lower MOSFETs are housed in a single chip, a case. One of its important virtues is the increase in switching frequency, which, according to the manufacturer's data, means four times the speed compared to a conventional MOSFET, which results in a significant improvement in the stability in voltage regulation. It retains its stability and efficiency not only under general conditions, but also in the case of hard tuning. The fourth thing is Military Class II, which deserves a little more words and applies not only to the PWM area, but to the entire motherboard. You’ve also recently read about a motherboard that was built on components that also met military standards. In the case of MSI, it is practically the same. Military Class II, as its name suggests, is already the second revision, but the point is in the details, that is, in the parts.
Hi-c CAP
The soul of Hi-c capacitors is tantalum, which is the 73rd element of the periodic table, and is a rather rare, off-white, shiny metal. Its melting point is very high, 3017 ° C. Due to its high chemical resistance, chemical devices and electrodes are made of tantalum. It is used to make dental drills, analytical balance weights, X-ray tube cathodes, fountain pen tips. Because it fits well with tissues, it is used to make aids that remain inside the body, such as supporting bones. It is also widely used mainly for capacitors in mobile phones and other electronic equipment, as shown in the attached figure. As a result, the Hi-c capacitor is estimated to have eight times longer life than conventional solid electrolyte capacitors.
SFC
SFC (Super Ferrit Choke) covers a specially designed iron core coil. The coil contains an iron core whose permeability has been significantly increased. Compared to conventional coils, the SFC works at a temperature 35 ° C lower. Of course, this also has a small positive effect on heat production and stability.
Solid CAP
Solid CAP, the solid electrolytic capacitor, is the starting point for the Military Class series. These models no longer include conventional electrolytic capacitors, all conduits are at least Solid CAP, but where needed, go to the Hi-c capacitors are installed. This way we no longer have to worry about exploding capacitors, these types of capacitors fail in a negligible number, with a nominal lifespan of 10 years. From these components, Military Class II is formed, and in the package we also find a certificate that guarantees the authenticity of these parameters.
On the other side of the socket are the memory rails, which of course receive DDR3 modules. Despite the M-ATX standard, there is no need to compromise on the number of modules as we get all four slots. The maximum capacity is 32 GB, the supported clock is 1866 MHz. The board is powered by a 24-pin and a 4-pin power connector. For fans we get three connectors, two of which are PWM controlled (CPU, SYSFAN), the third is a simple three pin (SYSFAN2). Resting on the PCB next to the DIMM slots, the A75 FCH does not heat up aggressively, as evidenced by the simple, tiny (and low) rib on it that almost just obscures the chip.
There are also SATA ports, all of which come from the A75 FCH, and all six support the 6 Gb / s standard. One more important thing is thanks to the A75, and that is the knowledge of the USB 3.0 standard. Two native ports have been added to the back panel, and a pin terminal is watching at the bottom of the PCB, which we can quickly take possession of with the USB 3.0 terminal on the front panel packaged in the box. We haven't mentioned the sound generator and LAN controller yet. Both are children of Realtek, the former with an ALC887 eight-channel chip jack detection and Azalia 1.0 support, and the latter with an RTL8111E gigabit Ethernet controller via PCI Express bus.
As this is a micro-ATX model, it would obviously be physically impossible for the expansion rails to feature a range of standard-sized planks, but the A75MA-G55 is fully equipped to meet everyday needs. These two pieces are a dowry of a full-width PCI Express × 16 bus (× 16, × 4), a PCI Express × 1 slot, and a traditional PCI slot. Finally, there is one description of the rear panel outputs: With a combi PS / 2 connector and two USB 2.0, the circuit starts, followed by the section where we can apply the signal of the integrated Radeon of the APU to our displays. This can be done on either native HDMI 1.4, d-sub (VGA) or one of the dual-link DVI ports. This is followed by the RJ45 LAN port as well as two more USB 2.0. This is followed by the USB 3.0 ports already mentioned, and finally the analog audio jacks.
MSI A75MA-G55 gallery:
MSI A75MA-G55 APU support list
MSI A75MA-G55 APU “Test Report”
MSI A75MA-G55 full specifications:
Test configuration
Test settings:
During testing, we left everything by default, as set by the motherboard itself. Of course, we checked to see if the CPU power management features were turned on. We fixed one thing manually, and that was the memory clock, which was shot at 1866 MHz, to which the sheet associated 9-13-13-34 CR2 timings.
Consumption:
Consumption was, of course, also measured with this config. As shown in the table, we looked at the consumption of the entire system in four modes. All power management capabilities of the processor were turned on.
Test results:
Among the measurements, we present the results related to the processor first. During the test, we tried to create a comprehensive mix, so the table contains both synthetic, "rendering" and "encoding" measurements.
The second table shows the results of the 3D measurements. For the sake of order, we took out the usual programs and also two more popular titles from the games.
AIDA64 memory operations:
AIDA64 storage speed measurement:
Opinion
It’s hard to write about the MSI A75MA-G55 in the sense that because it can be considered a lower-middle-class model, it doesn’t change the world with anything rocking, but what it knows, it knows reliably and stably. The FM1 platform is good because we need a motherboard - like an MSI A75MA-G55 -, we need an APU and some RAM with a mass storage, and we’re practically ready to config, we just need to put it in a housing. With the APU, you can also tick the video card, the integrated Radeon can be a partner in less resource-intensive games, and the HDMI output can also meet home cinema requirements.
If the 3D power still proves to be low, we can still use a separate VGA, possibly design a Dual Graphics system. It’s worth paying attention and thinking on this platform just because new APU models will be knocking on store shelves soon, so the offer will continue to expand and you can boldly raisin. The MSI A75MA-G55 provides a solid foundation for this, which can accommodate any APU that arrives in the FM1 slot (a maximum of one BIOS update is required - simply, using M-Flash), and technologically we get everything we can have right now, thinking here. For SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0. In connection with the latter, we should mention the iCharger function, which we will be happy to receive if we like to charge our mobile devices from a PC.
Military Class II is the guarantee for the protection of our components and the life of our motherboard. The MSI A75MA-G55 can be found in the price lists on average around HUF 25 (in some cases it can be grabbed a few thousand cheaper), which in our opinion is a fair amount for this equipment and construction, so we do not see any obstacle to the MSI A000MA-G75. -five recommend we know for those thinking on the FM1 platform.
The MSI A75MA-G55 motherboard is MSI domestic representation courtesy of us, which we thank you along the way!
Gábor Pintér (gabi123)
Thanks to the following sponsors for our permanent test components in this article:
