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BIOSTAR J3160MD Motherboard Review

Motherboards/IntegratedCPU by stefan @ 2016-07-13

The new Braswell stepping comes with a tad higher CPU Burst frequency, the same amount of cache and HD 400 graphics from Intel; in the performed results, we can see it trading punches with the Celeron N3150 and the performance gain is quite minimal. With the J3160MD board, the manufacturer proposes a fanless design, which seems to perform well thanks to the large heatsink and low TDP of the Intel SoC. Enhancements to the build can be always performed thanks to the PCI-E x16 and dual PCI-E x1 slots, for installing extra storage and use the product as an entry-level NAS, but also for installation of a low-end to mainstream video card and a standalone soundcard in order to transform the setup into a light gaming machine or media center.

Packaging, A Closer Look Part I

It is time to check out another BIOSTAR motherboard, but with an on-board Intel Celeron J3160; this CPU takes part of the new Braswell SKUs, with a stock frequency on each of its four cores of 1600MHz and a boost of 2240MHz, has 2MB of L2 cache, a HD 400 Intel Graphics component and sports a TDP of only 6W. The Micro ATX form factor the manufacturer is using permits the inclusion of more expansion slots, really handy if we would like to use it for a media-center setup or install more storage drives. The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, advertising the BIOSTAR 6+ Experience feature:

The main product features along with the motherboard components are explained in detail on the back:

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see the documentation, along with the product bundle:

Talking about the bundle, we do have two SATA cables, the I/O shield, one Quick Installation Guide but also the driver disk:

The guide is pretty straight-forward:

The motherboard also comes fully wrapped inside an anti-static bag:

As we have been accustomed with the previous ITX BIOSTAR motherboards, this one also comes with a black PCB, black connectors and a large heatsink with golden accents:

On the top area of the PCB, we’ve got the 24-pin ATX power connector and one DDR3 RAM slot:

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