Gigabyte F2A88XN-Wifi Motherboard Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Board Layout and Features Continued
Internal SATA connections number four and they all support the new SATA6 connection direct from the A88X chipset. You will find the connections near the 24-pin power connector and wedged next to the internal USB3.0 header.
The front panel connector and USB 2.0 internal header are located above the SATA connections. Everything is packed in there extremely well leaving very little room for attaching cables.
The I/O panel is very well rounded for a mainstream motherboard. You will find a single combined PS/2 keyboard and mouse plug, two USB 3.0 ports (blue), four USB 2.0 ports (black) a single gigabit Ethernet connection and 8 channel analog audio with digital connections over optical. Onboard video is handled by 1x DVI-D and 2x HDMI. One of the not so familiar connections is the WIFI antenna connections with gold plated threads.
When it comes to network connectivity this motherboard has everything covered from a wired Gigabit LAN connection to an onboard 802.11ac WIFI card. This card supports a/b/g/n/ac across both the 2.4 and 5Ghz band and Bluetooth 4.0. Considering the transfer speed of 802.11ac there is no wonder why a mini PCI Express card was being used for this feature.
An included antenna completes the package and folds up for easy storage if you happen to be LAN rats like us.
Not surprising you will only find a minimum of accessories included in the box including manuals, driver disk, cables, wifi antenna and I/O shield. There is very little need for anything else and with fewer the items means lower cost.
