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SAPPHIRE first to the table with an AMD Fusion APU motherboard

SAPPHIRE first to the table with an AMD Fusion APU motherboard

SAPPHIRE’s been very busy working on new products the past few months, and it looks like that work has paid off for them. They’ve just announced the Pure White Fusion E350M1W—a bit of a mouthful, but definitely deserving. This is the first motherboard to hit the market which features AMD’s Fusion APU technology.

SAPPHIRE Fusion E350

Panel view

Surprisingly, this board will not only be offered globally, but comes in a mini-ITX form factor. It sports an integrated AMD E350 “Zacate” APU performing CPU and GPU duties, coupled to the Hudson-M1 I/O hub. SAPPHIRE has given the finished product  five SATA 6Gb ports, eight USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, a 16x (electrical 4x) PCI-Express slot for graphics, support for up to 4GB of memory, and an onboard Mini PCI-Express 2.0 slot suitable for many wireless cards. Upping the connectivity further, the Pure White Fusion also has onboard Gigabit Ethernet and integrated Bluetooth® 2.1 + EDR.

SAPPHIRE Fusion E350 top view

Top view of the SAPPHIRE Fusion E350

All of this fits into a mini-ITX platform measuring only 170 x 170mm (that’s less than 7 inches to a side!), with extremely low power consumption, and the capability to play HD video over DVI-D as well as HDMI. It will run Windows Vista or 7 today, making it a perfect HTPC platform.

The Pure White Fusion E350M1W is in production today. No word on pricing, but expect it to be available from distributors and resellers shortly.

Comments

  1. BuddyJ
    BuddyJ I'm interested. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to try any of the Fusion stuff at CES.
  2. Thrax
    Thrax Gigabyte was actually first to the table with the GA-E350N-USB3.
  3. QuadWhore
    QuadWhore Small motherboard is small. Small motherboard with debug led = win.
  4. Tim
    Tim That looks like an old Pentium 2 heat sink and fan. I like the use of laptop ram sticks too.
  5. Thrax
    Thrax I really love the look of the Asus E35MI-I Deluxe.

    1. Dual core 1.6GHz Zacate Fusion core
    2. Onboard WiFi
    3. Real memory slots
    4. SATA 6Gbps
    5. USB 3.0
    6. On-die Radeon 6310 core with UVD3 (DiVX, XviD, MPEG2, H.264, VC-1, Flash acceleration)
  6. Cliff_Forster
    Cliff_Forster I've been streaming allot from Netflix lately, and I was thinking about getting a Roku Box, but this really makes me want to build an HTPC.... Ohhh decisions, decisions.

    In one corner, its a wonderful streaming gadget for a stupid low price, in the other, there is the pride of having my own hardware and custom build, plus the flexibility to do far more than just stream a few content channels, but it will cost significantly more.

    We could debate the pros and cons of each all day.
  7. MAGIC
    MAGIC No we can't, HTPC > Roku box.
  8. Cliff_Forster
    Cliff_Forster
    MAGIC wrote:
    No we can't, HTPC > Roku box.

    Please, state your case. I'm being serious, I'm trying to justify this for myself.
  9. Thrax
    Thrax No pre-fab box on the market can:
    1) Accelerate all of the codecs that UVD2 or UVD3 can.

    AND...

    2) None of them approach anywhere near the same HQV score that a Radeon 5000 Series part produces.

    For someone who cares about video quality and codec support, an HTPC is the only option.
  10. MAGIC
    MAGIC You have the answer there yourself "flexibility to do far more than just stream a few content channels" not to mention video/audio quality. Your issue of cost is comparing apples to oranges.
  11. RootWyrm
    RootWyrm
    Thrax wrote:
    Gigabyte was actually first to the table with the GA-E350N-USB3.

    I think the argument's unsettled there, honestly. This is going to come down to who ships first. On that front, I suspect Sapphire will win. According to Sapphire, they're already in production and prepping to ship to master distributors.
  12. mertesn
    mertesn I'm still working on some of the video footage from CES, but I believe there are several clips of various Fusion systems in use for gaming and video playback. I'll double check this evening and upload them if they do exist.
  13. Cliff_Forster
    Cliff_Forster
    mertesn wrote:
    I'm still working on some of the video footage from CES, but I believe there are several clips of various Fusion systems in use for gaming and video playback. I'll double check this evening and upload them if they do exist.

    I'm curious of there are any pre built OEM boxes that look worthwhile. I'm seriously close to cutting my cable, this might help me take the leap.
  14. mertesn
    mertesn
    I'm curious of there are any pre built OEM boxes that look worthwhile. I'm seriously close to cutting my cable, this might help me take the leap.
    The systems on video were all netbooks. I haven't heard anything concrete about an HTPC system coming from any vendor yet, but I'd expect that to change soon.
  15. PirateNinja
    PirateNinja What is the advantage of this over a traditional onboard video chipset + cpu configuration, such as this:
    GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 + some Intel CPU

    Does it use less power? I'm confused about the purpose of this other than there is a demand for cheap and small mobo/cpu combos.
  16. Thrax
    Thrax The onboard GPU of the Fusion processor in these systems is about twice as fast as the GPU in the "some Intel CPU." In other words, it will accelerate all your content and produce an outstanding HQV score (check any review), whereas the Intel GPU will not.

    Enthusiasts will find them them the ideal solution for HTPCs, where video performance is required on a thin wattage/heat budget ("Zacate" dual cores are 18W TDP). Normal users will find that they are more than adequate for daily desktop work on the very cheap.

    (Disclaimer: I work for AMD, but sites like Engadget and TomsHardware support my claims. :)).
  17. PirateNinja
    PirateNinja I see! Thank you sir Thrax, you are always informed.
  18. mertesn
    mertesn
    Thrax wrote:
    (Disclaimer: I work for AMD, but sites like Engadget and TomsHardware support my claims. :)).
    As does pretty much anyone who has seen the systems running. I have. I want one.

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