Foxconn A88GM MicroATX Motherboard Review
 

In this review we will be looking at a new MicroATX motherboard from Foxconn called the A88GMX. This board is built on the AMD 880G chipset and shares many of the same features found in the 890FX along with a small section for an integrated HD 4250 GPU. Gamers and power enthusiasts tend to shy away from motherboards with internal GPUs; however in some situations an onboard graphics processor can be extremely helpful.


Foxconn has positioned the A880GMX to be a perfect motherboard for the HTPC. The board is compact, has onboard video, 7.1 channel sound, and supports the latest AM3 processors. Given those qualifications we would tend to agree. The board would also be a perfect base for an inexpensive family computer or office PC where you don't need that many moving parts and want to keep overall costs to a minimum.

As was mentioned before the Foxconn A88GMX is built on the 880G Chipset and comes with a Radeon HD4250 graphics processor. This GPU does not have the power to be a gaming powerhouse but can support some light 3D tasks, video decoding, and general office applications. If you happen to need a more graphics power there is a 16x PCIe 2.0 graphics slot available that will accept any modern video card on the market.

From a performance standpoint we were a little disappointed, but not surprised, in the results. Despite using the fastest AMD processor available the default system tuning was designed for compatibility which in turn lowered the overall performance. This performance is still there, you just need to extract it using the system BIOS and making sure the settings there match those of your installed components. Just be sure to buy quality components and you will be home free.

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