My LLano A4-3300 Review [Old thread - necro]

[waltchan]

Thanks, cbn.

I really didn't want to use "used" CPUs / APUs in my rigs for customers, so I was thinking of the ten-pack OEM case of A8-3850 APUs for $520 shipped.

How does the Paypal protection stuff work with overseas transactions?

ECS boards like low-end processors, that's who ECS is. If you want to put in A8-3850, you may as well buy Asus instead.

 

[VirtualLarry]

ECS boards like low-end processors, that's who ECS is. If you want to put in A8-3850, you may as well buy Asus instead.

Do the ECS boards not support 100W APUs? Do they have insufficient VRMs, and will burn out?

Edit: Do you have a line on some "new" Asus FM1 boards?

Or is this more of a psychological thing, you don't think that the ECS boards "deserve" anything higher than a dual-core APU or 2GB of RAM?

 

[cbn]

Now that you guys brought light to this topic, I am so tempted to build a "NOS" rig for Linux Mint (using various NOS parts).

I already have the NOS PSU for it as well:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2328809

Alas, I already have too many computers.

 

[cbn]

ECS boards like low-end processors, that's who ECS is. If you want to put in A8-3850, you may as well buy Asus instead.

Another thing I am wondering about is the performance difference between other budget processors.

Comparing A8-3850 to A6-7400K ($52 shipped on Amazon):

A8-3850: 3518 CPU marks, 997 CPU marks single thread http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A8-3850+APU

A6-7400K: 2836 CPU marks, 1564 CPU marks single thread https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A6-7400K+APU&id=2392

Both use dual channel DDR3 1866.

iGPU:

400sp (DX11 VLIW5) @ 600 Mhz vs. 256sp (GCN) @ 756 Mhz

Motherboard cost: How much Higher on the FM2+ vs. FM1? (Does the FM1 include a I/O shield, I think some do right?)

 

[cbn]

Only V1.0 left in-stock, but it lacks Windows 10 secure-boot feature. Not a big deal at all if you install Windows 7 with UEFI installation. Price drops $1 to $26.95 now.

http://www.ascendtech.us/ecs-a55f-m4-fm1-v1-0-a55-ddr3-sata2-mb_i_mbfm1ecsa55fm41.aspx

Do these come with I/O shield?

 

[waltchan]

Do the ECS boards not support 100W APUs? Do they have insufficient VRMs, and will burn out?

Edit: Do you have a line on some "new" Asus FM1 boards?

Or is this more of a psychological thing, you don't think that the ECS boards "deserve" anything higher than a dual-core APU or 2GB of RAM?

Please refer to this ECS website and click on CPU support tab.

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Pr...ilID=1360&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=1&LanID=0

"ECS newly emerged Windows 8 support A55F-M4 in AMD FM1 Socket Of A Series APU Processor." The best part of this purchase.

No new Asus FM1 boards anymore. Asus always discontinue early. After ECS, Gigabyte was the second last brand with FM1 boards last time I checked on Newegg in mid-2014.

It's a psychological thing for me on what's appropriate. I don't like driving a Mercedes-Benz S600 AMG with Wal-Mart motor oil in it.

 

[waltchan]

Do these come with I/O shield?

Yes, it does have I/O shield, unless stated in website.

 

[cbn]

Only V1.0 left in-stock, but it lacks Windows 10 secure-boot feature. Not a big deal at all if you install Windows 7 with UEFI installation. Price drops $1 to $26.95 now.

http://www.ascendtech.us/ecs-a55f-m4-fm1-v1-0-a55-ddr3-sata2-mb_i_mbfm1ecsa55fm41.aspx

Do these come with I/O shield?

Yes, it does have I/O shield, unless stated in website.

Here is the FM2+ equivalent of that FM1 board. It also happens to be the lowest priced FM2+ (without rebate at this time):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135396

So $43 shipped makes it $16 more expensive than the FM1 version you linked.

 

[waltchan]

Here is the FM2+ equivalent of that FM1 board. It also happens to be the lowest priced FM2+ (without rebate at this time):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813135396

So $43 shipped makes it $16 more expensive than the FM1 version you linked.

I have this one, pared with a $15 A4-4000 I won when the board was only $24.99 AR during month of January. Last time I used it, it was unfriendly with a 2GB RAM stick because its single-core, two-thread design had to work harder and dragged down a lot of installation time.

Most of FM2+ boards are priced higher than FM1 since it's still a current socket.

 

[cbn]

I have this one, actually, pared with $15 A4-4000 I won when it was only $24.99 AR during month of January. Most of FM2+ boards are priced higher than FM1 since it's still a current socket.

Checked on the pricing of A4-4000 and currently it is $30 shipped in used condition. Passmark is only slightly better than the $13.75 shipped NOS A4-3420 (without HSF):

A4-4000: 1794 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A4-4000+APU
A4-3420: 1682 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A4-3420+APU&id=19

For comparison:

1037U: 1746 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+1037U+@+1.80GHz&id=1988

Interestingly, both the 1037U and the NOS ECS A55/NOS A4-3420 have four SATA ports.

 

[waltchan]

Checked on the pricing of A4-4000 and currently it is $30 shipped in used condition. Passmark is only slightly better than the $13.75 shipped NOS A4-3420 (without HSF)

All the A4-4000s I've seen in past never reached over $18 shipped on eBay if there's a listing you can bid on. These price-gouging sellers are from China that show no respect to affordable buyers, citing FM2 is still a current socket, so no deals yet. You always need to look back one socket older in order to take advantage some of the depreciated prices.

 

[cbn]

For more SATA ports than 1037U, this FM1 A75 for $30 shipped has six SATA 6 Gbps:

http://www.ascendtech.us/ecs-a75f-m2-v1-0a-fm1-amd-a75-dvi-mb_i_mbdviecsa75fm2n.aspx

It doesn't have the HDMI though (DVI-D replaces HDMI).

 

[Shivansps]

Again stop doing outdated crap, next time i going to see you looking for unlocked Sempron 140!!!

BTW, The best low price FM2+ board right now is this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138415

This has both USB3 rear/front header and SATA 3... THIS IS THE MINIMUM I/O HOWDAYS, stop with the A55 FM1 crap (and by extension, A58 FM2 crap).

Then go and put a A6-5400K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9113282&cm_re=A6-5400K-_-19-113-282-_-Product (and very similar to be a A4-7300 with unlocked multiplier) on it and overclock it like hell if you want, i dont want to hear anymore about A4-3300 or FM1 crap again.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Again stop doing outdated crap, next time i going to see you looking for unlocked Sempron 140!!!

I was looking at Sempron X2 190 chips at Newegg for like $22 refurb.

i dont want to hear anymore about A4-3300 or FM1 crap again.

Show us where this thread touched you!!!

I got a call from Ascendtech. Apparently, the A75 boards I ordered, only one had an I/O plate. Oh well.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Checked on the pricing of A4-4000 and currently it is $30 shipped in used condition. Passmark is only slightly better than the $13.75 shipped NOS A4-3420 (without HSF):

A4-4000: 1794 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A4-4000+APU
A4-3420: 1682 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=AMD+A4-3420+APU&id=19

For comparison:

1037U: 1746 CPU marks http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Celeron+1037U+@+1.80GHz&id=1988

Interestingly, both the 1037U and the NOS ECS A55/NOS A4-3420 have four SATA ports.

That certainly puts things in a sort of perspective. I could have purchased ECS 1037U mobo + CPU + HDMI + VGA for $39.99 no rebate, plus some shipping I think. That still would have been cheaper (and ITX form-factor!) than chasing after these FM1 combos. Not to mention, the 1037U chipset includes one SATA6G port for a modern SSD. Something the A55 combos lack.

 

[cbn]

That certainly puts things in a sort of perspective. I could have purchased ECS 1037U mobo + CPU + HDMI + VGA for $39.99 no rebate, plus some shipping I think. That still would have been cheaper (and ITX form-factor!) than chasing after these FM1 combos. Not to mention, the 1037U chipset includes one SATA6G port for a modern SSD. Something the A55 combos lack.

The iGPU is better on the A4-3420 and A4-3300.

Too bad you could only get one FM1 A75 board with I/O panel. Those have some good features (usb 3.0 header/back panel) and Six SATA 6 Gbps not found on the 1037U.

 

[cbn]

I just checked the Ascendtech listings on ebay.

These boards are actually listed as refurbished, not NOS.

I am guessing these are probably from ECS's warranty returns inventory.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I just checked the Ascendtech listings on ebay.

These boards are actually listed as refurbished, not NOS.

I am guessing these are probably from ECS's warranty returns inventory.

Interesting. I'm pretty sure the ones I bought said "new".

I just got the last batch of five of the A55F-M4 v2.0 boards. Some of them had slightly-crunched boxes, and one of the boxes, it was obvious it had been opened and re-sealed, and had a red plus or marking on the serial number label.

Maybe they are warranty returns. If so, that's pretty sleazy, to sell them as new.

Edit: Ascendtech has a $29.99 FS ECS A75 board listed, as "manufacturer refurbished", but their other A55 ECS boards are all listed as "New (other)".

 

[cbn]

Interesting. I'm pretty sure the ones I bought said "new".

I just got the last batch of five of the A55F-M4 v2.0 boards. Some of them had slightly-crunched boxes, and one of the boxes, it was obvious it had been opened and re-sealed, and had a red plus or marking on the serial number label.

Maybe they are warranty returns. If so, that's pretty sleazy, to sell them as new.

Edit: Ascendtech has a $29.99 FS ECS A75 board listed, as "manufacturer refurbished", but their other A55 ECS boards are all listed as "New (other)".

My mistake.

Glad to find out the FM1 A55 boards are New.

 

[waltchan]

I believe all of the ECS A55F-M4 V2.0s were brand new and unopened, except VirtualLarry got the last ones in-stock that were store-returned. I believe all the V1.0s are refurbished due to them being made in 2012 instead of 2013. You can tell easily whether you will receive a plain white box or retail box in shipping. V2.0 is the safest purchase, but it's now out-of-stock.

 

[waltchan]

Stop with the A55 FM1 crap (and by extension, A58 FM2 crap). I dont want to hear anymore about A4-3300 or FM1 crap again.

He has no right to shout at us like that. D: If he doesn't like what we do, he should have ignored us, and respond only to the official Intel Skylake thread, plenty of people there (although I haven't seen this thread yet).

 

[cbn]

I believe all of the ECS A55F-M4 V2.0s were brand new and unopened, except VirtualLarry got the last ones in-stock that were store-returned. I believe all the V1.0s are refurbished due to them being made in 2012 instead of 2013. You can tell easily whether you will receive a plain white box or retail box in shipping. V2.0 is the safest purchase, but it's now out-of-stock.

The ebay listings for the ECS A55F-M4 V1.0s do say "New/other" so I would hope these are unopened as well.

P.S. Right now Ascendtech has 155 of those left in stock.

 

[waltchan]

The ebay listings for the ECS A55F-M4 V1.0s do say "New/other" so I would hope these are unopened as well.

P.S. Right now Ascendtech has 155 of those left in stock.

That's a nice quantity number, enough to supply for another 1 year through mid-2017. Maybe they're brand new after all. The V2.0s only had 47 sold before listing was taken down. It may be possible to flash V2.0 BIOS into V1.0, since they're both totally identical, but I'm not sure.

Maybe I should write another SlickDeals post on V1.0 + A4-3300 again. We don't need a Skylake Celeron after all.

 

[Shivansps]

He has no right to shout at us like that. D: If he doesn't like what we do, he should have ignored us, and respond only to the official Intel Skylake thread, plenty of people there (although I haven't seen this thread yet).

All this fm1 stuff is all over the forum lately, its all about now you could be more cheap by using long dead socket and apus that makes no sense to use at all, outdated platform io, slow xpu with no upgrades and no motherboard replacement posible if it fails in a few months, hell go and buy am3 semprons, at least that is valid platform today, and then you tell me to use 7400k instead of 7300, but you know what? I wast serious. But now i see that you are just trolling.

 

[waltchan]

All this fm1 stuff is all over the forum lately, its all about now you could be more cheap by using long dead socket and apus that makes no sense to use at all, outdated platform io, slow xpu with no upgrades and no motherboard replacement posible if it fails in a few months, hell go and buy am3 semprons, at least that is valid platform today, and then you tell me to use 7400k instead of 7300, but you know what? I wast serious. But now i see that you are just trolling.

Only in this thread. Others mind their own business with their new Skylake. This thread is all about FM1 and A4-3300, remember, and we're reviewing them pretty well (read the title). We respect your opinions here but only about FM1, not your FM2 recommendations over FM1 because it's newer, and no one should block someone in trying FM1 if we like to. I deny trolling.