Ahead of their October 1 launch, upcoming second-generation AMD A-Series APUs are beginning to surface on retailers. Russian online store Regard.ru listed most of these chips, albeit in their OEM (chip-only) packaging. According to the prices at hand, the quad-core A10-5800K and A10-5700 are listed for 4,130 RUB (US $132.6). The A8-5600K and A8-5500 quad-core APUs go for 3,540 RUB (US $114). The cheapest of the lot, dual-core A4-5300 is priced at 1,940 RUB (US $62.2).

ASUS has announced their F2A85 Series motherboards based on the new AMD A85X chipset and FM2 socket, designed for AMD's second generation Accelerated Processing Units (APU). The next generation APU offers superb performance to deliver users an upgraded gaming and multimedia experience. Embedded in the APU is an AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series GPU that drives superior performance-per-watt graphics, which is bolstered by support for AMD Eyefinity technology enabling an ultra-immersive visual environment on up to three independent display outputs. Users also have the option to add a discrete graphics card to enable the Dual Graphics feature, which provides users with even better graphics performance along with peace-of-mind future upgradability.

F2A85 Series motherboards come with a variety of ASUS-exclusive features to get users more out of their APU, including Dual Intelligent Processors 3 (DIP3) with new DIGI+ Power Controls to save up to 65% in system energy, GPU Boost to enhance integrated graphics up to 17%, a worry-free USB BIOS Flashback tool and Remote GO! to complement the multimedia experience. In addition to the ASUS exclusive features is a superior design built with high quality components. Examples include a more efficient and silent heat-pipe cooling design that provides better overclocking ability, along with Super Alloy Chokes that give the motherboard both a high current capability and low heat generation. Combined, they make the F2A85 Series motherboards the perfect platform for everything from HTPCs to mainstream PCs.

According to an OCWorkbench report, AMD will officially launch its second generation A-series desktop APUs on the very first day of Q4 2012, October 1. The launch will include a contingent of socket FM2 motherboards from various manufacturers, based on AMD A55, A75, and A85X chipsets. Among the A-series socket FM2 models launched on October 1, are A10-5800K, A10-5700, A8-5600K, A8-5500, Athlon X4 750K/740, A6-5400K and A4-5300. Built on the 32 nm HKMG process by Globalfoundries, AMD A-series "Trinity" APUs combine up to four x86-64 CPU cores based on the "Piledriver" micro-architecture, with a Radeon HD 7000 series GPU core, with up to 384 stream processors based on the VLIW4 architecture.

BIOSTAR, a manufacturer of motherboards, VGA cards, industrial computer systems and other peripherals, has officially launched their latest edition to their high-end motherboard lineup, the Hi-Fi A85X. This newest ATX form factor motherboard supports all AMD Socket FM2 CPUs and offers native support for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and dual-channel memory up to DDR3 - 2400 in over-clocking mode. Socket FM2 is a CPU socket used by AMD's upcoming Trinity Fusion APU's which will also utilize AMD's new A85X chipset. The Hi-Fi A85X has also received the official Windows 8 hardware certification from Microsoft.

One feature set that sets the BIOSTAR Hi-Fi A85X above and beyond typical motherboards is the integrated BIOSTAR Hi-Fi technology called "Puro Hi-Fi Technology". Marketing Manager Eric Tung gets excited when given a chance to explain the value proposition with these motherboards. "It's pretty cool how we have put a unique power delivery system just for the audio aficionados out there, like me" explained Eric. "With our professional quality sound and video capabilities on this board, a user can set up a full PC based home theater system with full THX support and true 7.1 surround sound…I mean the real thing, this isn't simulated. You have to hear it to believe it", he enthused.

Gigabyte unveiled its flagship socket FM2 motherboard, designed for upcoming AMD A-Series "Trinity" APUs, the F2A85X-UP4. Based on the new AMD A85X FCH chipset, the board implements Gigabyte Ultra Durable 5 motherboard construction, which includes 2 oz copper PCB layers, humidity-proof glass-fabric layers, solid-state capacitors, new high-current ferrite core chokes, and PowIRstage IR3550 driver-MOSFETs. The FM2 socket is powered by an 8-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-2400+ MHz memory; and three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots.

The three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots are electrically configured as x16/NC/NC, x8/x8/NC, or x8/x4/x4, depending on how they're populated. AMD CrossFireX is supported. Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. The AMD A85X FCH gives out a total of eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, seven of which are assigned as internal, and one eSATA, on the F2A85X-UP4. Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Other connectivity includes six USB 3.0 ports (four rear, two by header), 8+2 channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and keyboard/mouse combination PS/2 connector. The board is driven by dual-UEFI BIOS, with a graphical 3DBIOS setup program. We expect the F2A85X-UP4 to be priced anywhere in the US $150-$200 range.

It's traditional for AMD to camp outside an ongoing IDF event (at a nearby hotel suite), siphoning off a small portion of its visitors. In the backdrop of this year's IDF event in San Francisco, AMD showed off two of its upcoming flagship client processors, the socket FM2 A10-5800K "Trinity" APU, and socket AM3+ FX-8350 "Vishera" CPU. The two chips were shown running fully-loaded gaming PCs.

The FX-8350 was shown installed on a machine with ASUS Crosshair V Formula (-Z?) motherboard, liquid cooling, and Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. The chip was clocked at 5.00 GHz (4.80 GHz when the picture was taken), and running popular CPU-intensive benchmarks such as WPrime and Cinebench. The A10-5800K was shown running application demos, including a widget that displays real-time boost states of the processor and GPU cores.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) today reveals the newest production of Black Series with AMD FM2 chipset- Golden Limited Edition: A85F2-A GOLDEN. The ECS A85F2-A GOLDEN builds on their already strong performance of FM2 motherboards by adding a host of powerful new features in the Trinity technology platform and also adapting the exclusive gold plating technology for the strictest quality and a higher outstanding performance.

The individually-numbered, handcrafted motherboards are stunningly outfitted in cool black with gold plated key components, giving A85F2-A GOLDEN a sophisticated and classy appearance that is unprecedented in the PC motherboard industry. Key features include: World 1st AMP Technology support to take the full advantage of their unique operating design, newest graphical uEFI BIOS: EZ BIOS, with stunning user-friendly interface and easy-to-use function radically takes full advantage of the performance, high-end gaming, multi-tasking and Windows 8 support, ATI CrossFireX graphics support with next generation PCI Express 2.0 to achieve the ultimate in 3D gaming performance, separate 4 display output design allowing users to fully satisfy their visual quality and growing demand.

A leaked AMD document for retail partners spelled out specifications of the first three FX "Vishera" processors by AMD. The new CPUs incorporate AMD's "Piledriver" architecture, and much like the first-generation "Zambezi" chips, will launch as one each of eight-core, six-core, and four-core chips. The eight-core FX-8350 is confirmed to ship with 4.00 GHz nominal clock speed, with 4.20 GHz TurboCore speed. The six-core FX-6300 ships with 3.50 GHz nominal, and 4.10 GHz TurboCore speed. The quad-core FX-4320, on the other hand, ships with the same clock speeds as the FX-8350. In addition, the document confirmed clock speeds of several socket FM2 A-series APUs, such as the A10-5700 and the A8-5500.

Even as launch of the next-generation A-Series "Trinity" desktop APUs remains elusive, there is already talk of what AMD will do with the 32 nm Trinity silicon, apart from using them in the A-Series. Some theories point out that the best performing parts could be sold in certain "high margin" products, while the others, could be branded as Athlon II FM2. AMD is planning a trio of quad-core Athlon II X4 processors in the socket FM2 package. The company currently has a line of Athlon II series processors carved out of the "Llano" silicon, built in the socket FM1 package.

The trio of socket FM2 Athlon II X4 processors include:

• Athlon II X4-730: quad-core, 2.80 GHz, 4 MB total cache, 65W TDP
• Athlon II X4-740: quad-core, 3.20 GHz, 4 MB total cache, 65W TDP
• Athlon II X4-750K: quad-core, unlocked BClk multiplier, 3.40 GHz, 4 MB total cache, 100W TDP

AMD reportedly deferred the launch of its next-generation "Trinity" A-series accelerated processing units (APUs) for desktops, to October, 2012. The products were originally slated for August. The delay affects launches of most APUs in the socket FM2 package, including the A10-5800K, a top-performing part in the series.

Launches of the A-Series "Trinity" APUs appear to have been clubbed with those of the FX-Series "Volan" (Vishera silicon, Piledriver micro-architecture) processors, including the FX-8350 and FX-6300. Meanwhile, AMD is in the process of phasing out its low-cost socket AM3 processors (such as Athlon II AM3, and Phenom II AM3), replacing them with Athlon II FM2, Phenom II AM3+, and mid-range FX-Series AM3+.

Biostar is ready with a trio of socket FM2 motherboards, based on AMD's new A85 FCH chipset, the higher-end Hi-Fi A85X, mid-range Hi-Fi A85W, and value Hi-Fi A85S. Biostar implemented some of its latest innovations on the two. To begin with, the thee feature Hi-Fi amplifiers for the analog channels of the onboard audio. Another innovative feature with the two is a bank of capacitors that make the board electrostatic discharge proof up to 15,000V. Find the furriest carpet to assemble your rig on.

The audio solution combines a high SNR CODEC (probably ALC898) with an OPAMP circuitry that uses sound card grade electrolytic capacitors. The entire audio portion of the motherboard, including the rear panel jack cluster and front-panel headers, have a ground PCB layer of their own, that is isolated from the ground layer of the rest of the board. This ensures there's no ground layer interference from other high-current components on the board, a problem common with onboard audio solutions.

The Pure Platinum Z77i isn't the only new mini-ITX motherboard from Sapphire, the company also has one based on the AMD A75 chipset, supporting upcoming "Trinity APUs from AMD, in the socket FM2 package, called the Pure Platinum A75T. There are quite a few design differences between Sapphire's new mini-ITX motherboards besides the platforms they support. The most significant being, that the Pure Platinum A75T features two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, instead of standard 240-pin UDIMM ones.

The Pure Platinum A75T draws power from 24-pin ATX + 4-pin ATX connectors. The APU is powered by a 5-phase VRM, with a heatsink cooling the driver-MOSFETs. The APU is wired to two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot; and a mini-PCIe 2.0 x1 slot (for WLAN cards). The A75 FCH gives out four SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports. There are four USB 3.0 ports, two each on the rear-panel, and by headers. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. 6-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity. The Pure Platinum A75T could feature in the first wave of socket FM2 motherboards.

Akasa also unveiled the third entry into its Venom series of CPU coolers, the Venom Medusa. This launch comes exactly an year after that of the Venom Voodoo. In the picture below, the Venom Medusa is shown between the original Venom, and Venom Voodoo. The Venom Medusa is a large aluminum fin dual-tower heatsink, with two symmetrical aluminum fin stacks. It is designed keeping in mind the thermal loads of the new LGA2011 processors.

Its design consists of a large base from which eight nickel-plated copper heat pipes pass, making direct contact with the CPU, and passing through the two aluminum fin stacks at ends. The Venom Medusa ships with two fans, a Viper 120 mm fan pushes fresh air through the first aluminum fin stack, while a larger 140 mm fan conveys air from the first stack to the second. There is provision for a third 120 mm fan, which pulls air from the second stack, for exhaust. The Venom Medusa supports nearly every modern CPU socket type, including LGA2011, LGA1155/LGA1156, LGA1366, AM3+/AM3, and FM2/FM1.

Although ASRock was bold enough to give its upcoming entry-level FM2A75M-DGS socket FM2 motherboard the SATA 6 Gb/s equipped AMD A75 FCH, the company did not have any motherboards based on the new AMD A85 FCH chipset, on show. It's fair to assume that the company's mid-range ATX motherboard, the FM2A75 Pro4, will be topping up its socket FM2 lineup. Pictured below, the ASRock FM2A75 Pro4 utilizes everything the chipset provides, and adds a few third-party controllers.

The FM2 socket, which supports upcoming AMD "Trinity" APUs, is powered by a 6-phase VRM. There are four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting DDR3-2400+ MHz by overclocking. The socket is also wired to a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. The second x16 slot is electrical x4, and wired to the A75 FCH. ASRock somehow found it necessary to add three legacy PCI slots, and just two PCI-Express 2.0 x1.

With AMD's "Trinity" desktop APU platform just around the corner, ASRock is ready with motherboards that run it. At Computex, the company displayed a pair of micro-ATX socket FM2 motherboards, based on the AMD A75 FCH chipset. The two include the FM2A75 Pro4-M, and FM2A75M-DGS (pictured in that order).

The FM2A75 Pro4-M is the more premium offering between the two, designed for home desktops, while the FM2A75M-DGS is designed for entry-level PCs. The reason we feel FM2A75M-DGS will win in its segment, is because unlike competitors' offerings (such as MSI A55M-P33 (F2) and GIGABYTE F2A55M-DS2), the board is based on the A75 chipset, with SATA 6 Gb/s ports. It will be priced competitively.

GELID Solutions showed off its newest Gamer series Black Edition CPU Cooler (doesn't carry a GX## model number). The cooler's design consists of a dark aluminum fin dual-tower design à la NH-D14, Corator DS, etc., and uses no less than seven heat pipes (3x 8 mm-thick and 4x 6 mm-thick) to transport heat from the base to the aluminum fin stacks. In the space between the two fin-stacks, a standard-size 120 mm (25 mm-thick) fan pulls air through the first stack, and pushes it through the second one. Pushing in fresh-air through the first stack is care of a slim 120 mm (15 mm-thick) fan. The cooler will be designed to be compatible with all modern CPU socket types, including LGA2011, LGA1155/LGA1156, LGA1366, AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2, and FM2/FM1.

Apart from the premium A85XA-G65, and mini-ITX A85IA-E53, MSI has two other mainstream socket FM2 motherboards, the A85MA-E35, and A55M-P33 (F2).

The A85MA-E35, like its mini-ITX cousin, has a misleading name. It is actually based on the AMD A75 FCH chipset. The socket FM2 APU is powered by a simple 5-phase VRM, it is wired to just the two DDR3 DIMM slots, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Other slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and a legacy PCI. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the FCH are wired out as internal ones, the board features a total of four USB 3.0 ports.

MSI's second most interesting socket FM2 motherboard is the A85IA-E53, perhaps the first socket FM2 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor. Although its name says otherwise, it is based on the previous-generation A75 chipset, which is no big deal, there's no room for eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A85 FCH, anyway, and you still end up with four 6 Gb/s ports. In the limited board space, MSI was able to cram in a 5-phase VRM to power the APU, a power design consisting of 24-pin + 4-pin power inputs, two full-size DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory, a lone PCI-Express 2.0 x16 expansion card slot, display outs that include HDMI and D-Sub, 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth.

MSI showed off its top socket FM2 motherboard, the A85XA-G65. Based on the AMD A85 FCH chipset, the board supports upcoming AMD "Trinity" APUs in the FM2 package. MSI designed the A85XA-G65 with its Military Class III construction. The FM2 APU is powered by an 8-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8, when both are populated). Given that it supports both NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire, it's a little strange that MSI didn't name this model "A85XA-GD65." Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and two legacy PCI.

All eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A85 FCH are wired out as internal ports, with no eSATA. Display outputs include one each of DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Other connectivity options include four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and 8+2 channel HD audio. The A85XA-G65 features quite a few OC-friendly features, including voltage-measurement points with lead-holders, OC Genie, ClickBIOS II UEFI BIOS, etc. It will be among MSI's first socket FM2 motherboards to be launched, a little later this quarter.

Among GIGABYTE's new motherboard extravaganza, are some of its first socket FM2 motherboards, which based on the new AMD A85 FCH chipset (higher price-points) and previous-generation A55 FCH (lower price-points) and support next-generation "Trinity" APUs. Among these are the high-end F2A85X-UP4 with Ultra Durable 5 construction, mainstream F2A55-DS3, and entry-level F2A55M-DS2 Ultra Durable 1 motherboards.

The F2A85X-UP4 is loaded with top-tier VRM components, including high-current ferrite core chokes, IR3550 PowIRstage driver-MOSFETs, which make up an 8-phase CPU VRM. The FM2 socket is wired to four DDR3 memory slots, with support for dual-channel DDR3-2400 MHz by overclocking; and two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8, when both are populated). Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), and a legacy PCI, all of which are wired to the A85 FCH.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has announced the A85F2-A Deluxe, a new motherboard built around the AMD A85X chipset with support for the latest socket FM2 CPUs.

The A85F2-A Deluxe is one of the most powerful and reliable motherboards currently available. In the ATX format, this ECS motherboard features two 2nd generation PCIe x16 slots for graphics card upgrades and CrossFireX support, as well as three 2nd generation PCIe x1 and 2 PCI slots for other cards. Up to 64 GB of dual channel DDR3 memory can be installed in 4 sockets, with a maximum speed of 1866, or up to 2300 for overclockers. There are seven 6 Gb/s SATA sockets, with support for RAID 0, 1, 5, & 10.

AMD announced first shipments of its 2nd generation accelerated processing units (APUs), under its A-Series "Trinity", and E/C-series "Brazos 2.0" lines. The new 2012 APUs by AMD, according to Senior PR Manager Phil Hughes, "improve on virtually every aspect of [the] current A-Series APUs while doubling the performance-per-watt over our previous generation." The APUs are available in FM2 uPGA for desktops, and FS1r2 uPGA, FP2 BGA for notebooks; targeting nearly all PC form-factors. Pictured below, is the very first shipment heading out to ASUSTek.

AMD's upcoming A10 and A8 "Trinity" APUs will be built in the new FM2 package for desktop PCs, requiring new motherboards. These APUs will be launched towards the end of Q2, and into Q3 (June-July). A ComputerBase.de report suggests that sources in the motherboard industry it spoke to, at CeBIT, say that socket FM2 motherboards will arrive in June. Further, these motherboards will be based on the new AMD A85 FCH chipset. Not much is known about the A85, except that with the USB-IF certification, it could incorporate native USB 3.0 controllers.

At CES, AMD is grabbing some eyeballs with a fascinating real-world capability demo of the AMD "Trinity" accelerated processing unit. At the same booth, AMD displayed the Trinity silicon in three different packages, for three different form-factors. The first one (to the left), also pictured in the earlier article, is a compact FP2 BGA (ball-grid array) package, designed for ultra-compact notebooks, ultrabooks, etc.

The second one (center) is the FS1r2 uPGA package for mainstream notebooks with slightly relaxed space and board footprint constraints. Unlike the FP2 BGA package, the FS1r2 uPGA is socketed, with extremely tiny pins. The FS1r2 uPGA is significantly bigger than FP2 BGA. The third, more familiar-looking package is the FM2, for desktops. FM2 is an updated version of FM1, on which current Llano A-series desktop APUs are based. Unfortunately, FM1 and FM2 are not compatible in any way. Learn more about the FM2 package in our older article detailing it, here.

"Trinity" is the codename of AMD's next-generation performance accelerated processing unit (APU) family. Based on the new socket FM2 package, these chips will take advantage of AMD's next-generation Piledriver processor core architecture and VLIW4 GPU stream processor architecture. Together, Trinity promises increased general, visual, and parallel compute performance. Some of the slides detailing AMD's own performance estimates were put up by DonanimHaber in their recent video bulletin. We screen-grabbed the performance graphs from the low-resolution video, hence the grainy images.

To begin with, AMD is promising noticeable performance improvements over the current "Llano" APU. It spread its benchmarks across three categories: visual performance (using 3DMark Vantage), general performance (using PCMark Vantage), and parallel compute (GPGPU) performance (calculated CTP SP GFLOPs). With 3DMark Vantage, Trinity A8 (quad-core), A6 (triple-core), and A4 (dual-core) APUs are seeing a roughly 32% improvement over their respective Llano-based counterparts; with general performance, the improvement is a candid 13.8% on average; but with GPGPU performance, the improvement is a massive 56.3% on average. This could be attributed to the VLIW4 architecture. Lastly, there are notable CrossFire dual-graphics performance improvements.