AMD's AM1 platform has just blown me away. Sure you could say that on paper the specifications do not look that impressive and given the wider desktop picture the results are mediocre. However, I think we've come to take benchmark numbers as gospel when that needn't be the case because we don't benchmark in our everyday use of computer components. AMD's Athlon 5350 CPU shows its worth in everyday computing tasks, I spent an entire day using it as my main PC for surfing the web, checking emails, watching YouTube videos and playing some light games. Throughout it all this APU performed admirably and I barely noticed any lag or stutter except in really demanding applications. Sometimes I forgot I was using a such an affordable system. Okay granted I was using an SSD but an SSD is the only way to go if you want a snappy PC - and you can get affordable SSDs today for as low as $40 which is much cheaper than most mechanical drives. The Kabini platform looks set to be interesting in terms of storage because it has support for other fast storage formats like SDXC and UHS-I. This means we could see a Raspberry Pi scenario where people boot from cheap-as-chips SD cards - this would go a long way to making the AM1 platform more affordable and accessible to emerging markets. AM1 also covers many other bases because it has USB 2.0, USB 3.0, SATA III and Gigabit Ethernet support. In terms of graphical performance the Kabini design is capable of great things, 4K, multiple displays and light-weight gaming at a price point where we'd normally be lucky if we could even play browser games.
The AM1 platform has a lot going for it in terms of features and value for money at its price points. However, I can see the platform struggling to excited motherboard vendors because they will have their margins squeezed even further. The AM1 platform is very value orientated and AMD wants its vendors to produce $25-35 motherboards - that is really cheap. The main reason prices can go so low is because the chipset is effectively on the APU, this means consumers buy the chipset in the cost of the APU not the cost of the motherboard so motherboard vendors can produce cheaper motherboards as there is no chipset purchase and licensing costs. However, at $35 will we even see vendors taking advantage of all the things the AM1 platform can do, like Gigabit Ethernet, mini PCIe connectivity, DisplayPort and SD(IO) card support. There's no way you can flesh out all the available connectivity onto a motherboard for less than $35 so trade-offs will need to be made. That said the motherboard we have used for testing this platform, the MSI AM1I, is pleasantly surprising. It has mPCIe, a full 16X PCIe slot, Gigabit ethernet, ALC 887 audio, HDMI, DVI and VGA out, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, SATA III and PS/2 connectors. You can buy it today for $34.99 and today is launch day so prices are always a bit higher, it could fall in price in the future. The only thing I can really criticise this motherboard for is a lack of fan headers. Another point worth noting is that AM1 uses a custom cooler mount that is different to past FM and AM sockets, in fact it only uses two mounting holes. AMD therefore also needs to get vendors producing CPU coolers on-board too. As it stands cooling will be important for AM1 especially passive cooling when people might want to use this platform to power silent HTPCs and XBMC systems.