ASUS A88X-Plus FM2+ (AMD) Motherboard Review

2 weeks ago I reviewed the A88X-Pro and in the review article I mentioned the A88X-Plus. The A88X-Plus is with us today – it’s one notch below the A88X-Pro, a lot cheaper and with a host of features removed.

ASUS A88X-Plus FM2+ (AMD) Motherboard Review

Just like the A88X-Pro, it comes with gold and black finish.

The layout is clean but unlike the A88X-Pro, the A88X-Plus’s NB heatsink is very much smaller and the CPU12V socket is only 4pin instead of 8pin. This is very certainly not to the favor of overclockers where power is essential.

ASUS A88X-Plus FM2+ (AMD) Motherboard Review

As always, I’ve nothing to say about the DIMM placement.

ASUS A88X-Plus FM2+ (AMD) Motherboard Review

To my surprise, Asus went for top-ward facing SATA ports instead of forward facing ones of which they only have 2 of it on this board.

ASUS A88X-Plus FM2+ (AMD) Motherboard Review

The PCI-E slots are reduced but it works fine, you still have have 2 well placed PCI-E x16 slots.

It’s just too bad that the Plus variant doesn’t have LED indicator.

ASUS A88X-Plus FM2+ (AMD) Motherboard Review

Lastly the I/O slots, the difference now is that the Plus variant does not come with DisplayPort, it has only 2 USB 3.0 slots and does not come with eSATA ports.

ASUS A88X-Plus FM2+ (AMD) Motherboard Review

More details at the official product page.

GPU Boost

GPU Boost is part of the feature of the A88X-Plus, just like the one on A88X-Pro. In fact this portion of the review was taken from the A88X-Pro review.

Unigine Heaven 4.0

Heaven 4.0
*720 Low = no AA, no tessalation, low details.

Card 720p LOW(avg) 720p (avg)
A10-7850K 59.5 17.1
A10-7850K (2400mhz RAM) 56.1 21.1
A10-7850K + GPU Boost (2400mhz RAM) 56.1 22.1

And it worked!!! 😀 The GPU Boost is no marketing gimmick, I set the option to EXTREME as it was default to AUTO to get the boost.

The Verdict

The board retails at around RM 380, just as solid as the A88X-Pro in build BUT it losses out a lot on features.

If you’re just looking for a board to use then this one could be a better choice (less damaging to the pocket) than the A88X-Pro BUT the A88X-Pro would be the better choice if you’re into overclocking or just simply a user who utilizes the additional features that are found on the Pro variant.

goldfries recommended