The AM1 Kabini Motherboard Preview: Analyzing the Hardware
by Ian Cutress on April 19, 2014 2:00 PM ESTMSI AM1I
MSI has a single AM1 motherboard at Newegg at the time of writing, a mini-ITX model that takes a slightly different line. Being the cheapest AM1 mini-ITX motherboard (the Biostar AM1ML is more a half-way to micro-ATX), MSI has gone slightly creative and added a mini-PCIe slot. This opens up the platform for an integrated WiFi solution. It would be interesting to see what bundle price MSI could produce with a combined 802.11ac card.
MSI has learned from other mini-ITX projects and helpfully placed the 24-pin ATX connector outside the DRAM slots. The DRAM slots themselves use single-sided latches, to help with removing memory when a large PCIe device is installed. The PCIe slot, while an x4 designation from the chipset, seems to be fully populated with pins (which is a little odd).
Next to the mini-PCIe slot is a pair of SATA 6 Gbps ports, angled away from each other to allow easy removal of locking SATA cables. Perhaps confusingly the COM header and the front panel header are next to each other just inside the DRAM slots, and the front panel header is not labeled. Ideally this would be outside the DRAM slots on the right and labeled for ease of use.
The 4-pin CPU power connector is in a good position for cable management, and MSI have tried to save some cost by having the motherboard battery stuck to the rear panel.
The rear panel is similar to the previous motherboards, consisting of PS/2 ports, video outputs, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and ALC887 audio jacks.
| MSI AM1I | |
| Price | Link |
| Size | Mini-ITX |
| CPU Interface | FS1b |
| Chipset | Kabini |
| Memory Slots |
Two DDR3 DRAM slots, supporting 32GB Single Channel, 1333/1600 MHz |
| Video Outputs |
VGA (1920x1200) DVI-D (1920x1200) HDMI (4096x2160) |
| Onboard LAN | Realtek RTL8111G (10/100/1000) |
| Onboard Audio | Realtek ALC887 |
| Expansion Slots |
1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4) 1 x mini-PCIe |
| Onboard SATA/RAID | 2 x SATA 6 Gbps |
| USB 3.0 | 2 x USB 3.0 (Chipset) [back panel] |
| Onboard |
2 x SATA 6 Gbps 2 x USB 2.0 Headers 2 x Fan Headers 1 x TPM Header 1 x COM Header Front Audio Header Front Panel Header |
| Power Connectors |
1 x 24-pin ATX 1 x 4-pin CPU |
| Fan Headers |
1 x CPU (3-pin) 1 x SYS (4-pin) |
| IO Panel |
1 x PS/2 Mouse Port 1 x PS/2 Keyboard Port VGA DVI-D HDMI 2 x USB 2.0 2 x USB 3.0 1 x Gigabit Ethernet Audio Jacks (ALC887) |
| Product Page | Link |
So far we have moved from $33 to $36 in our analysis and the changes made between the Biostar and MSI are actually quite drastic. The MSI platform (including MSI’s standard software one would assume), while slightly more expensive, offers a lot better value. The only downside is perhaps the name. Putting an ‘I’ next to a ‘1’, in the wrong font, makes the AM1I look odd.
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JFish222 - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
I agree, its disappointing that there is no ECC. (At least not listed.)I was really looking forward to using one of these for a low cost FreeNAS box.
Ian, Anand and company. Please encourage ECC bios support/validation! If any of the manufacturers support it (not always obvious when they do) please point it out.
For those that don't understand the importance, ZFS has numerous benefits but its greatest weakness is the ability to corrupt the entire data pool due to a flipped bit or 2 in RAM.
For more info - http://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/ecc-vs...
Chicken76 - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
Indeed, Anandtech has the ear of motherboard manufacturers. They might respond positively if such suggestions are properly argumented. There's not only the enthusiast home user that these might be useful to, there's also the small businesses sector, where cost is a deciding factor. Add ECC support and a bit of validation for production use, and a lot of the cost-conscientious businesses will refresh their storage boxes and low workload machines using Kabini, instead of the Pentiums and Celerons they use now.rogueninja - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
Only bad friends recommend AMD.meacupla - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
Currently, AMD's most attractive CPU parts are the $60 A6-6400k and $120 FX-6300.Pentium and i3 have more single thread computing power, but looking at the entire package, AMD has some advantages at those price points.
Like a cheap 8 port SATA mobo, you can't have that with cheap LGA1150 boards.
or having 6 physical cores.
Antronman - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
Except that when you're on a low budget, AMD is the only thing you should be recommending.Ortanon - Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - link
Intel usually wins low-budget too, haha. If you're talking "best gaming performance at the absolute bottom," yes, AMD wins. But who wants to game down there? As soon as you try to add any performance to your build whatsoever, it turns into an Intel solution with a PCIe GPU. It's possible that this would be different if all software was highly-threaded, but it just doesn't work out that way.AlB80 - Sunday, April 20, 2014 - link
Gigabyte's mobo has heatsink. What behind it? SuperIO?DuckieHo - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
Biostar's mITX-Plus..... isn't that just AMD's DTX form factor?JBVertexx - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
Stumbled across this - PC build in the motherboard box:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xngzjrKg3zI
WeatherDave - Monday, April 21, 2014 - link
"COM port, LPT port and a TPM port on the same PCB"We have about 50 machines here. Mostly for embedded testing, such as stepper motors, and old equipment that ONLY connects via Serial Port. USB converters are both unreliable and prone to failure, so we like having the COM ports on board. Besides, Windows 98/2000 and XP much prefer them over a converter. Now, we don't have much use for the LPT, but TPM and a cheap SSD certainly keeps IT Security off our backs.