Review: gigabyte ga-350n

The Gigabyte GA-350N-USB motherboard incorporates the new AMD FUSION processor with its APU ( Accelerated Proccesing Unit ) technology. It is AMD's innovative platform for energy efficient computers with graphical acceleration.

Product ceded by:

GA-E350-USB3 FEATURES
Processor	AMD E-350 Dual Core 1600mhz and AMD Radeon HD 6310 GPU.
Chipset	AMD Hudson-M1 FCH
Memory	Two DDR3 1066/1333 mhz (OC) modules at 1.5V. Maximum supported capacity 8GB
Graphic outputs	1 x HDMI 1.3, supports full resolution at 1920 × 1200 1 x DVI-D, supports maximum resolution of 1920 × 1200 1 x D-Sub
Audio	Realtek ALC892 with Dolby Home Theatear and 7.1 channel support.
Network card	1 x Realtek 811E Gigabit
Expansion sockets	1 x PCI Express x16, can work up to x4.
Storage interface	4 x SATA 6GB / s (SATA3)
USB	10 USB 3.0
Controller I / O	iTE IT8720
Rear connections	1 x PS / 2 2 x USB 3.0 / 2.0 1 x DVI-D 1 x HDMI 1 x D-Sub (VGA) 6 x Audio Jacks 4 x USB 2.0 / 1.1 1 x RJ45 Gigabit.
BIOS	Award Bios, supports Dual Bios.
Format	Mini-ITX; 17 cm x 17 cm

Many users waited for the arrival of AMD Fusion which, as its name says, are fused processors: CPU + GPU + North Bridge. These CPUs are 40nm and its GPU supports DirectX 11 and OpenCL. This series -E "Zacate" is designed for basic desktop computers and Netbooks have a TDP of 18 W and two cores at 1.6GHZ.

As we see in its specifications we see the HDMI 1.3 output, the only downside we see is the lack of the Display Port, however it will offer us excellent performance. It supports up to 8GB of 1066mhz / 1333mhz DDR3 RAM on a single channel (NOTE: Dual Channel is not supported). The Hudson-M1 chipset natively supports USB 3.0 and Sata 3 ports at 6Gbps.

As usual Gigabyte only offers us quality by equipping Japanese Ultra Durable 3 capacitors and Dual Bios on their motherboards. With them we should not worry about stability in our team.

Its box format is small, perfect to house this small ITX wonder inside:

It keeps inside:

• Gigabyte E350 USB Motherboard3 Backplate4 sataDrivers cables on CD and Quick Guide Manuals

Close-up of the motherboard:

It includes four SATA 3 (6 Gbps) connectors and a PCI-E 16x port:

The APU heatsink is robust and has a small fan:

We can see the Control Panel of the motherboard, the two DDR3 memory sockets and the high-quality capacitors.

It has a very complete repertoire of connections:

TEST BENCH:
Box:	Bench Table Dimastech Easy 2.5
Source feed:	Psu-Pico
Base plate	Gigabyte GA-350N-USB3
Processor:	AMD E-350 Dual Core 1.6ghz
RAM:	Kingston KHX1600C9D3P1K2 / 4GB
HDD:	Kingston SSDNOW100V + 64GB SSD

To test the APU we have performed the following synthetic tests and play with the memories at 1333 mhz and the processor at 1.6ghz:

RESULTS
Winrar	473KB / s
Cinema Bench Release 11.5	6.03 fps (OpenGL) and (CPU)
Sandra 2011 x64	8GOPS and 3.5 GB / s
Street Fighter IV	74 FPS
Left 2 Dead 2	24 FPS

While performing the tests we have measured the energy consumption and its highest peak has been at ~ 37W. At rest it has been working at ~ 10w

We have seen that the new generation of low-power desktop and netbook CPUs (APUs) offers better performance than the Intel Atom. Your sound card offers 7.1 support and Home Theater. Its Hudson-M1 chipset brings native compatibility with DDR3 RAM, Sata 3 (6Gbps) ports and USB 3.0.

We have successfully tested the performance of your Radeon HD 6310 graphics card with synthetic tests. But we wanted to check its performance with a film in bluray and at no time has it produced stops.

However, we did not like that its fan in full load breaks the silence in the equipment. Gigabyte should improve its passive heatsinks in its next layout, to meet the needs of users who seek silence.

In short, its 18 W TDP and its two 1.6GHZ cores make it a safe bet when setting up a multimedia computer or home server. Thanks to its very low consumption, we will save on our electricity bill and it will offer us the necessary power to move around the internet, watch movies and use office applications. Furthermore, its competitive price makes it a revolution in the market.

ADVANTAGE		DISADVANTAGES
+ Low-power APU	- The fan is noisy.
+ Perfectly moves movies in Bluray
+ Ultra Durable 3 Capacitors
+ USB 3.0 and SATA 3 native
+ Double Core at 1.6ghz
+ Good accessories
+ Supports up to 8GB of RAM.
+ ITX format

Professional Review we give you the recommended product award:

TEST BENCH:
Box:	Bench Table Dimastech Easy 2.5
Source feed:	PSU-PICO
Base plate	Gigabyte GA-350N-USB3
Processor:	AMD E-350 Dual Core 1.6ghz
RAM:	Kingston KHX1600C9D3P1K2 / 4GB
HDD:	Kingston SSDNOW100V + 64GB SSD