Sapphire released the new Pure Platinum A55V motherboard to the market. The board offers a value socket FM1 platform based on AMD A55 FCH chipset, in the ATX form-factor. The motherboard supports AMD A4, A6, A8, and Athlon II "Llano" APU/CPUs in the FM1 package. This model is not exactly designed to be "no-frills", as it does pack an interesting mix of features that could help it grab a comfy price-point in the market.

The FM1 socket is powered by a 6-phase VRM, which uses a simple whine-free choke + DPAK MOSFET design, but throws in a heatsink to cool the MOSFETs. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, with speeds of over DDR3-1600 MHz with overclocking. The APU is also wired to a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot, and two PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots. Apart from these, you get three legacy PCI slots, wired to the FCH.

At the AMD & HardOCP Game Experience event held in Texas, gamers were asked to participate in a blind test. The test involved gaming on two sets of gaming PCs with two PCs each, in each set is an AMD-powered PC, and an Intel-powered one. Participants weren't disclosed which PC was driven by what, as they were assembled in identical-looking cases (no window), with identical monitors and other peripherals. The first set is of budget single-monitor HD gaming, while the second set is high-end three-monitor gaming.

After gaming on both rigs in each set, respondents were asked to tick on a sheet of paper, which rig gave them a better gaming experience, or if gaming both had no observable difference. AMD went into this exercise expecting that most respondents will select "no difference" as their option, and so that would bring good PR to AMD, but to their surprise, most respondents selected the rigs that was powered by AMD processors.

Sapphire is working on two new entry-level motherboards for AMD FM1 and Intel LGA1155 platforms. The FM1 board, called the Pure White A55, is a budget micro-ATX board based on the AMD A55 FCH; while the LGA1155 board is the Pure Platinum H61P, an ATX board based on the Intel H61 chipset. The Pure White A55 uses a simple 5+1 phase VRM to power the AMD A-Series APU or Athlon II FM1 CPU. The FM1 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory. The "Memory Free" feature stabilizes memory clock speeds, voltages, and timings if wrong settings make the system fail POST, at the push of a button.

Expansion slots of the Pure White A55 include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, two PCIe 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. All six SATA 3 Gb/s ports of the A55 FCH are assigned as internal ports. Display outputs include HDMI, DVI, and D-Sub. Other connectivity features include 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board uses redundant BIOS on separate ROM chips, that protect it against bad BIOS updates. The Pure Platinum H61P uses a 6 phase VRM to power the LGA1155 processor. The socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory.

Internationally renowned mainboard and graphic card manufacturer MSI has launched the brand new A55M-P35, equipped with the AMD A55 chipset for AMD Llano platforms. Extending the tradition to MSI Llano mainboards, the A55M-P35 is equipped with the MSI-exclusive OC Genie-II one touch overclocking technology - boosting system performance by 110% with the push of a button. Requiring neither complicated nor difficult OC tuning, the MSI A55M-P35 is the most convenient and value-oriented OC solution for the AMD Llano platform.

The A55M-P35 also supports Click BIOS Concept, based upon the UEFI architecture for users to configure their system with a mouse. Additionally, the use of high-quality all solid capacitors allows users to enjoy outstanding system performance as well as a longer product lifespan. Along with the exclusive Winki 3 and i-Charger features, the A55M-P35 from MSI will surely be the best choice of AMD users.

AMD's release of APU processor is a huge revolution. The new Llano architectures are a shot in the arm for integrated graphics, delivering the most powerful discrete-level graphics performance in mainstream market. Following the great launch of ASRock A75 mobo platform, ASRock is delighted to introduce its fantastic APU Motherboard Series based on the AMD A55 chipset. Supporting AMD Fusion A-Series APU, Socket FM1, DirectX 11 technology and a wide range of ASRock signature functions, ASRock brand new A55 APU Motherboard Series will surely bring the perfect components and combos to build up the ultimate rig.

Commenting on the new release, James Lee, V.P of ASRock Sales and Marketing, is with confidence. "ASRock A55 APU Motherboard Series has more to offer than just the combined powers of integrated graphics processor, as ASRock motherboards are best known for its perfect balance between price and performance. If users are looking for a value mobo supporting AMD's full-power 32nm Llano processor, then ASRock A55 platform is unambiguously the best choice!" He stated.