Alas! We've all been through this before, through the everlasting pain and beset by the agony of waiting forever and ever. Beneath years of tears and doubt, it takes patience to wait for that special silver lining, and so is the long anticipated AMD FM2+ series. Although the new FM2+ "Kaveri" APUs will not be available until next year, AMD fans can still get the latest ASRock FM2+ motherboards that also support FM2 APUs first right now, and then wait for the upcoming FM2+ APUs, but don't hold your breath.
The First Wave: FM2A88X Extreme6+
ASRock's first FM2+ motherboard, FM2A88X Extreme6+ is based on AMD's most high end A88X chipset, and as aforementioned, the socket will support both FM2+ and FM2 APUs. Major improvements for this next generation AMD motherboard includes support for PCIe Gen 3.0 with FM2+ APUs, Quad Monitor from the onboard DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, DisplayPort connectors, Dual channel DDR3 DIMMs that can reach up to 2600+MHz. And then there's also AMD Radeon HD 8000/7000 Series graphics with DX11.1, Japan made premium gold capacitors, Digi Power and 8 + 2 power phase design.
On top of everything, FM2A88X Extreme6+ holds tons of useful features and will definitely not be left out from the A-Style family. The audiophile must have Purity Sound™ 115dB which is made possible by a Reatek ALC1150 audio chip, two TI® NE5532 amplifiers (one for headset amplifier, the other for differential amplifier), EMI Shielding Cover, PCB Isolate Shielding plus DTS Connect? Check. HDMI-In for connecting a secondary device to your computer, and conveniently toggling between the computer's screen and the secondary device's screen with a hotkey? Check. The exclusive remote wake and remote desktop solution for computers, Home Cloud? Check. Moreover, the easy single click overclocking technology X-Boost will also be implemented on this motherboard, so that users may receive an extra 15.77% performance boost!
Legion of FM2+ Motherboards
Besides ASRock's FM2A88X Extreme6+, a legion of FM2+ A88X motherboards that come in different sizes and serve different purposes will continue to be released, such as FM2A88X Extreme4+, FM2A88M Extreme4+, FM2A88 Pro+, FM2A88M-HD+ and even a mini sized FM2A88X-ITX+! However, never underestimate the computing power of a mini-ITX motherboard. FM2A88X-ITX+ is heavily packed with Home Cloud, HDMI-In technology, an additional mini-PCIe slot reserved for a WiFi module, plus support for triple monitor with the onboard D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI connectors. The audio solution isn't mediocre either, it supports 7.1 channel audio, an added TI® NE5532 amplifier for pushing 600 ohm headphones and DTS Connect. It's the ultimate motherboard for building your own AMD home theater system!
For more product information, please check: http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A88X%20Extreme6+/index.asp