Welcome to 2011 and the re-birth of DecryptedTech.com. It has been a few months since I have written anything for this site; but then again there has been a lot going on. Instead or rehashing the dram and details let’s just dive right back in and kick things off with a review. For our return to the “living” we thought we would take a look at something fairly new. For years now Intel has ruled the low power CPU market (at least in the x86 space). Sure Via has had the Nano and AMD has had their version (the name of which escapes me), but for the most part if you wanted low power and you wanted x86 you were getting an Atom. Well things might be turning around as we find a new system offering from AMD. This is the Fusion CPU that we have all heard some much about (and some of us have been waiting for). The Fusion is an idea that puts a CPU in combination with a GPU much like the new Sandy Bridge CPUs but at the entry level. AMD refers to the whole package as an APU (accelerated processing unit). As we said these combine the power of a CPU and a GPU to get the best of both worlds. One of the first boards to hit the market from this family is the Gigabyte GA-E350N-USB3. This features the AMD E-350 APU. The E-250 is a Dual Core CPU running at 1.8GHz. It also features 80 Radeon Cores that run at 492MHz. This APU consumes only 18 Watts of power and still has room to support DX11. In all not a bad place to start for a new HTPC motherboard; so let’s dive in and see what else you get in our first preview of 2011.
Features - In the current market motherboard (and indeed almost all component) performance is very close. The days of a large performance advantage between boards using the same chipset are long gone. That is unless someone makes a HUGE mistake (like runs traces completely wrong). Now, the thing that differentiates different products is the features. These are things like power management, extra slots, better audio CODECs etc. It is these items that R&D teams work so hard to drop into what are really identical pieces of hardware at their most basic level. Excellent DX11 Integrated CPU and GPU USB 3.0 Four SATA 3.0 Ports On/Off Charge These items in an entry level product are simply amazing. The fact that you are getting DX11 support from a piece of silicon that is that small is impressive. The SATA 3.0 ports give you an option to turn this board into a speedy media center or even make it a home brew NAS. The On/Off charge is great as this can be built into a very small case and dropped close to where you would normally put your portable devices. It makes for a great charging station in addition to being an HTPC or NAS. In the middle (sort of good) DDR3 Support RealTek Audio CODEC VGA support (for legacy systems) These three items while good are not great, however when comparing products at this level they could be the difference between a purchase and a return to the shelf. Floor Mats Four USB 2.0 ports Dolby Audio 2 Ounce Copper All Solid Caps Dual BIOS These items are all things we have come to expect from Gigabyte. Their absence would raise flags, but their inclusion does not help. Conclusion It is hard if not impossible to draw a firm conclusion from what we have seen here. We can tell you quite a bit about the layout, the tracing and even the specs of the components. Gigabyte has done an excellent job of designing the E350N-USB3. Next we really do need to see if it can perform. We are seeing the first of the new Fusion APUs here so this will be an important step for AMD. They need strong performance out of the gate to establish a foothold in the entry level and HTPC market. Perhaps the E350N-USB3 will be the product to get them there. Only time and a proper review will tell. Stick around as we tinker more with this sample to see what makes it tick.
