Tom's Hardware > All Reviews > Components > Motherboards > The Brazos Round-Up: Eight AMD E-350-Based Motherboards

The Brazos Round-Up: Eight AMD E-350-Based Motherboards

05:10 - Monday 4 July 2011 by Thomas Soderstrom

10. Test Settings
11. Benchmark Results: Aliens Vs. Predator
12. Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
13. Benchmark Results: Crysis
14. Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
15. Benchmark Results: Photos And File Compression
16. Power, Heat, And Noise
17. Overclocking
18. Overall Performance And Efficiency
19. Value Conclusion

AMD’s Brazos platform, driven by the Zacate APU, offers a lot of performance per watt. It comes up short on features, though. Eight manufacturers try to change that perception by adding slots, controllers, and even overclocking in a couple of cases.

Buying a low-cost, high-efficiency platform is kind of like choosing a cable package. For a few dollars more you can always get a killer feature that you really want. But then it seems like the features that are still missing really aren’t that much more expensive. It's a clever scheme to keep you constantly thinking about the next-best thing just a few dollars up the ladder.

You might face the same sticky decision when it comes time to shop for that inexpensive PC: go for the budget gold, or spend a few extra dollars on a faster processor (and then a few more dollars on a better graphics card, and a bit more on more memory, and...it really never ends). But AMD is hoping that its Brazos platform gives you enough compute horsepower, enough graphics performance, and enough value to squelch that never-ending desire to push just a little bit further. If you want a solid idea of what the platform includes, check out ASRock's E350M1: AMD's Brazos Platform Hits The Desktop First.

Today we have eight different Brazos-based platforms, priced from $115 to $175. If you're dead set on saving money, one of these setups should be able to satisfy you. Now it's time to figure out which tier in this little sub-market serves up the best value.

E350 Fusion Motherboard Features
	ASRock E350M1/USB3	Asus E35M1-I Deluxe	ECS HDC-I	Foxconn AHD1S-K
PCB Revision	1.00	1.01	1.0	1.0
CPU	AMD E-350 APU	AMD E-350 APU	AMD E-350 APU	AMD E-350 APU
Chipset	AMD A50M FCH	AMD A50M FCH	AMD A50M FCH	AMD A50M FCH
BIOS	P1.20 (02/24/2011)	0902 (04/15/2011)	4.6.4 (03/24/2011)	A931022 (04/19/2011)
100.0 MHz Clock	101.3 (+1.30%)	100.0 (+0.0%)	101.9 (+1.9%)	100.0 (+0.0%)
Internal Interfaces
PCIe x16	1 (x4-mode)	1 (x4-mode)	1 (x4-mode)	1 (x4-mode)
PCIe x1/x4	None	1x mini PCIe (Filled)	1x mini PCIe (Filled)	None
Legacy PCI	None	None	None	None
USB 2.0	2 (4-ports)	2 (4-ports)	2 (4-ports)	2 (4-ports)
USB 3.0	None	1 (2-ports)	None	None
IEEE-1394	None	None	None	None
Serial Port	1	None	None	1
Parallel Port	None	None	None	None
Floppy	None	None	None	None
Ultra-ATA 133	None	None	None	None
SATA 6.0 Gb/s	4	5	4	2
SATA 3.0 Gb/s	None	None	None	None
4-Pin Fan	1	None	1	2
3-Pin Fan	1	2	1	None
FP-Audio	1	1	1	1
CD-Audio	None	None	None	None
S/PDIF I/O	None	Output Only	Output Only	Output Only
I/O Panel Connectors
P/S 2	1	1	None	1
USB 2.0	4	2	6	6
USB 3.0	2	4	2	None
IEEE-1394	None	None	None	None
Network	1	1	1	1
eSATA	1	1	1	None
Digital Audio Out	Optical Only	Optical Only	Optical Only	None
Digital Audio In	None	None	None	None
Analog Audio	5	3	5	3
Video Out	DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	DVI-I, HDMI	DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	DVI-D, VGA, HDMI
Other Devices	None	Bluetooth Transceiver 802.11n Antennas	Bluetooth Transceiver	None
Mass Storage Controllers
Chipset SATA	4x SATA 6Gb/s 1x eSATA 6Gb/s	4x SATA 6Gb/s 1x eSATA 6Gb/s	4x SATA 6Gb/s 1x eSATA 6Gb/s	2x SATA 6Gb/s
Chipset RAID Modes	None	None	None	None
Add-In SATA	None	None	None	None
USB 3.0	EJ168A PCIe	2x D720200F1 PCIe	ASM1042 PCIe	None
IEEE-1394	None	None	None	None
Networking
Gigabit LAN	RTL8111E PCIe	RTL8111E PCIe	AR8151 PCIe	RTL8111E PCIe
Wireless LAN	None	AR9285 PCIe	RTL8188CE PCIe	None
Wireless PAN	None	AR3011 USB 2.0	AR3011 USB 2.0	None
Audio
HD Audio Codec	ALC892	ALC892	VT1708B	ALC662
DDL/DTS Connect	Unspecified	Unspecified	DTS Connect	Unspecified

E350 Fusion Motherboard Features
	Gigabyte E350N-USB3	Jetway NC85-E350-LF	Sapphire Pure Fusion Mini E350	Zotac FUSION350-A-E
PCB Revision	1.0	2.0	1.0	Unspecified
CPU	AMD E-350 APU	AMD E-350 APU	AMD E-350 APU	AMD E-350 APU
Chipset	AMD A50M FCH	AMD A50M FCH	AMD A50M FCH	AMD A50M FCH
BIOS	F2c (03/15/2011)	F2c (03/15/2011)	0.31 (05/13/2011)	1.01 (04/18/2011)
100.0 MHz Clock	100.0 (+0.0%)	101.4(+1.4%)	101.4(+1.4%)	101.4(+1.4%)
Internal Interfaces
PCIe x16	1 (x4-mode)	None	1 (x4-mode)	1 (x4-mode)
PCIe x1/x4	None	1x mini PCIe (Empty)	1x mini PCIe (Empty)	1x mini PCIe (Filled) 1x x4 (Open for x16)
Legacy PCI	None	1	None	None
USB 2.0	2 (4-ports)	2 (4-ports)	2 (4-ports)	1 (2-ports)
USB 3.0	None	None	None	1 (2-ports)
IEEE-1394	None	None	None	None
Serial Port	None	1	1	1
Parallel Port	None	None	None	None
Floppy	None	None	None	None
Ultra-ATA 133	None	None	None	None
SATA 6.0 Gb/s	4	4	5	4
SATA 3.0 Gb/s	None	None	None	None
4-Pin Fan	None	1	None	2
3-Pin Fan	2	2	1	None
FP-Audio	1	1	1	1
CD-Audio	None	None	None	None
S/PDIF I/O	Output Only	None	Both	Output Only
I/O Panel Connectors
P/S 2	1	1	None	1
USB 2.0	4	6	4	4
USB 3.0	2	None	2	2
IEEE-1394	None	None	None	None
Network	1	1	1	1
eSATA	None	None	1	1
Digital Audio Out	Optical Only	None	Optical Only	Optical Only
Digital Audio In	None	None	None	None
Analog Audio	6	3	5	5
Video Out	DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	DVI-D, VGA, HDMI	DVI-I, HDMI DisplayPort
Other Devices	None	None	Bluetooth Transceiver	802.11n Antennas
Mass Storage Controllers
Chipset SATA	4x SATA 6Gb/s 1x eSATA 6Gb/s	4x SATA 6Gb/s	5x SATA 6Gb/s 1x eSATA 3Gb/s	4x SATA 6Gb/s 1x eSATA 6Gb/s
Chipset RAID Modes	None	None	None	None
Add-In SATA	None	None	None	None
USB 3.0	D720200F1 PCIe	None	D720200F1 PCIe	VL800-08 PCIe
IEEE-1394	None	None	None	None
Networking
Gigabit LAN	RTL8111E PCIe	RTL8111E PCIe	88E8057 PCIe	RTL8111E PCIe
Wireless LAN	None	None	None	AR9285 PCIe
Wireless PAN	None	None	AR3011 USB 2.0	None
Audio
HD Audio Codec	ALC892	VT1705 PCIe	ALC892	ALC892
DDL/DTS Connect	Unspecified	Unspecified	Unspecified	Unspecified