When considering a new HTPC build a lot should be taken into account, and a big part of that should be the motherboard,  If size is to be kept to a minimum then the obvious choice for a motherboard is a Mini-ITX form factor board.  If it should be power efficient then the AMD APU lineup is a good starting place since it has decent GPU and CPU power.  Choosing something that fits both of those criteria will mean that a A88X Mini-ITX board is likely on the list.  This Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI will fit the bill nicely since it has a lot of features that a user will want when building a HTPC and not a lot of unnecessary fluff filling up the already cramped board.

The HTPC is a great option for those who have a lot of media that they have accumulated over the years and want to watch on a tv or home cinema.  There are plenty of large HTPC builds that users can do with a simple ATX sized board and a big case.  But for those looking for something a bit smaller that will look great next to the tv or in the home cinema the Mini-ITX solutions are often the best.  They will be compact builds and many of the HTPC cases for them look great and will blend right in with current components that users may have or will be getting.

Overview

Gigabyte is a well known and trusted brand and its boards are many peoples first choice when it comes to picking a new motherboard.  They have a couple different choices of A88X Mini-ITX boards.  The only current AMD chipset  Mini-ITX boards that you can find on sites like Newegg are the A88X boards.  So they made sure that people have a few choices in that small segment, which is great for selecting a board that will suit your needs. This board sits at the top of the lineup and it comes packaged with a dual band 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 add-in card.  This means that the board is up to date with the speediest Wi-Fi standard available, and will be able to operate at speeds of up to 867Mbps.

The board offers a few features to enhance this board.  The board has Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable 4 Plus, meaning that the board is built with good quality components that should stand up to stress that may come from certain setups.  The board also uses all solid capacitors and Low RDS(on) MOSFETs which will work at higher temperatures and have longer lifespans.  This board also features DualBIOS which means that users will have a second BIOS to fall back on if the first one has issues, such as a failed BIOS flash.  Humidity Protection, Power Failure Protection, and Electrostatic Protection are all in the board as well.  Also on the board is ESD protection for USB and LAN, as well as one fuse per USB 3.0 porst.

AMD Eyefinity technology is available for those who choose to use this as a small desktop build with multiple monitors.  This board also has two HDMI ports instead of having multiple different options.  With using a qualified AMD APU and GPU that have Dual Graphics technology the board will use both the discrete GPU and the APU to deliver better graphics performance.  4K Ultra HD support is there right out of the box as well  via HDMI ports.

Specifications:

Model: GIGABYTE GA-F2A88XN-WIFI
CPUs: FM2+ / FM2 Athlon/A- Series
Chipset: AMD A88X (Bolton D4)
Memory: 2×240pin Dual Channel DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333
Maximum Memory Supported: 64GB
Expansion Slot: PCI Express 3.0 x16
Mini Card Slots: 1 x mini-PCI Express slot for the wireless module
SATA: 4 x SATA 6Gb/s
SATA RAID: 0/1/5/10/JBOD
Audio: Realtek ALC892 / 7.1 Channels
LAN: Realtek 10/100/1000Mbps
Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with Bluetooth 4.0, 3.0+HS, 2.1+EDR

Rear Panel Ports

1x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
1 x DVI-D
2 x HDMI
2 x USB 3.0
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Optical
5x Audio Ports

Internal I/O Connectors

2 x USB 3.0 + 2 x USB 2.0
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x APU fan header
1 x system fan header
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
1 x S/PDIF Out header
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
1 x chassis intrusion header

Physical Spec

Mini ITX
6.7″ x 6.7″
Power Pin: 24 Pin

Features

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 4 Plus Technology
IR Digital 4+2 phase APU power design
GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS
Support for @BIOS
Support for Q-Flash
Support for Xpress Install
Support for EasyTune
Support for Smart Recovery 2
Support for ON/OFF Charge
Support for Wi-Fi Share
Support for Cloud Station

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