ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ Motherboard
On Board Peripherals
Contents
The AMD A88X chipset is a single-chip solution. This chip supports eight SATA-600 ports with RAID (0, 1, 10, and 5). The ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ offers six SATA-600 ports, plus one port available in the mini PCI Express slot.
The SATA-600 ports are installed on the motherboard edge, as seen in Figure 4.
Figure 4: SATA-600 ports
The AMD A88X chipset supports 10 USB 2.0 ports and four USB 3.0 ports. The ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ offers eight USB 2.0 ports, four soldered on the rear panel and four available through two headers located on the motherboard; and four USB 3.0 ports, two located on the motherboard rear panel and two available on a header located on the motherboard.
The ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ does not have FireWire ports.
This motherboard supports 7.1+2 audio format, i.e., eight channels plus two independent channels for audio streaming. On this motherboard, the audio is generated by the chipset using the Realtek ALC1150 codec, which is an excellent audio codec, providing 115 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog outputs, 104 dB signal-to-noise ratio for the analog inputs, and up to 192 kHz sampling rate for both inputs and outputs, with 24-bit resolution. These specifications are good even for the user who wants to professionally capture and edit analog audio (e.g., converting LPs to CDs or MP3, converting VHS to DVDs or any other digital format, etc.).
The audio interface is equipped with a TI NE5532 amplifier for the front headphones output. The analog audio outputs are independent only if you use a 5.1 analog speaker set. If you install a 7.1 analog speaker set, you will need to use the “line in” jack.
The portrayed motherboard has one Gigabit Ethernet port controlled by an Atheros AR8171.
In Figure 5, you can see the motherboard rear panel with a shared keyboard/mouse PS/2 connector, four USB 2.0 ports, VGA output, DVI-D output, HMDI output, HDMI input, one eSATA-600 port, two USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an optical SPDIF output, and the analog audio jacks.
Figure 5: motherboard rear panel