Gigabyte F2A88XN-Wifi Motherboard Review

Who would think that a custom form factor made famous by VIA would actually become a driving force in the enthusiast world.  Sure there are some limitations but you can’t argue with what can be done with these motherboards.  The Gigabyte F2A88XN-Wifi is a Mini-ITX motherboard designed with the AMD A88X chipset for FM2/FM2+ based APU processors.  In the grand scheme of things the processor platform isn’t all that powerful but can serve as a solid daily driver and decent gaming rig when matched with a proper video card.

As expected the motherboard layout is very compact and with the exception of a stray 4-pin power connection the layout is very efficient.  Early in this review we mentioned that the motherboard comes with features that rival those of a full sized board including onboard 802.11ac and three video connections.  To our surprise there is no Displayport but you do get a single DVI-D and two HDMI ports that can work well in any HTPC.

 Overclocking the F2A88XN was rather straight forward and similar to overclocking a Bulldozer or Phenom CPU.  To help in this endeavor we choose the A10-6800K Richland "Black Edition" processor which is not only one of the fastest APUs but also features an unlocked multiplier.  Our overclocking tests were done using a single AIO watercooler and after a few voltage bumps we hit 5Ghz.  We don’t suspect that many owners of the F2A88XN will overclock their systems but, it is good to know the controls are available.

Compact Design
Onboard 802.11ac
Bluetooth 4.0
Thicker and Stronger PCB
Matte Black Finish
Overclocking Ready

Limited benefit from overclocking
Power cables cross motherboard