Gigabyte Debuts with Socket AM1 Motherboards

Gigabyte is the first among AMD’s partners to introduce proprietary motherboards for an upcoming Socket AM1 platform. Initially the AM1 series will comprise only two models: the GA-AM1M-S2P and the GA-AM1M-S2H. Both feature micro-ATX form-factor and are supposed to house AMD Athlon/Sempron APUs. They employ two DIMM slots for the integration of up to 32 GB DDR3 memory with 1600 MHz frequency. The release is scheduled for March when the platform is officially introduced.

Gigabyte motherboards have got two SATA III 6 Gb/sec ports for the expansion of storage, one PCIe 2.0 x16, one PCIe x1 and one PCI connector for the connection of add-ons. Network functional consists of gigabit controller from Realtek, whereas audio functional is laid upon 7.1-channel HAD Realtek ALC 887 codec.

The differentiation between the two models lies in the set of internal/external interfaces. Hence, the GA-AM1M-S2P comes with two PS/2 ports, one D-Sub port, four USB ports (3.0 + 2.0), one RJ-45, one LPT, one COM port, and three audio sockets (external), as well as two additional internal USB ports, COM, S/PDIF Out, Clear CMOS button.

At the same time, the GA-AM1M-S2H boasts two PS/2 ports, one COM, four USB ports (3.0 + 2.0), one D-Sub and one HDMI, one RJ-45, one COM port, and three audio sockets (external), as well as three additional internal USB ports, COM, S/PDIF Out, LPT port, Clear CMOS button (internal).

Furthermore, both new-comers feature the following specifications:
— Ultra Durable 4 Plus PCB design;
— the availability of protective voltage fuse along each USB port;
— the support for an exclusive RTC chip for the retention of BIOS settings after the APU removal;
— the employment of SoC design that implies the integration of CMOS options directly into the APU.