FM2A88X-ITX+ X4 845 (Excavator) Compatibility?

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   I have (2) FM2A88X-ITX+ boards in mini/slim HTPC systems in my house. I'm looking to upgrade one of them from an A8-7600 to the X4 845 to couple it with a GTX 750 Ti, but am unsure if this board will support the X4 845. ASRock being slow with BIOS updates here is costing AMD a sale for now.

In my investigation into this issue I found the following thread useful:http://www.overclock.net/t/1593341/athlon-x4-845-carrizo

On page 3, user "looncraz" reports that he upgraded his ASRock FM2A88M-Extreme4+ to BIOS 2.90 (2/19/16) which apparently includes (unofficial?) Carrizo support.

The "CPU Support List" page for the FM2A88M-Extreme4+ (http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A88M%20Extreme4+/?cat=CPU) does *not* specifically show the Carrizo / X4 845 listed anywhere under family, model, or core. In other words, it looks like ASRock "slipped" X4 845 support into the 2.90 BIOS without specifically showing it in the compatibility list for some reason. The 7860K is listed, but not the X4 845.

What this makes me think is it's *possible* that unofficial X4 845 support might be included on other ASRock mobos as long as there's a recent BIOS update.

So, what's the deal ASRock? I posted about this issue almost a month ago on your Facebook page & in all that time have received no reply. Could you please clarify this situation? I get the sense that a lot of people like me would like to upgrade to the new Excavator CPU for fun and/or to do some benchmark testing.

Side Note to others considering a purchase: Newegg has the X4 845 in stock right now for a nice price ($64.99). In lieu of a response from ASRock, I'm waiting for Amazon to get them in stock so I can return the CPU for free if it doesn't work with my mobo.

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mjsw00sh Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 12 Mar 2016 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote mjsw00sh Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: FM2A88X-ITX+ X4 845 (Excavator) Compatibility? Posted: 12 Mar 2016 at 1:50am
	I have (2) FM2A88X-ITX+ boards in mini/slim HTPC systems in my house. I'm looking to upgrade one of them from an A8-7600 to the X4 845 to couple it with a GTX 750 Ti, but am unsure if this board will support the X4 845. ASRock being slow with BIOS updates here is costing AMD a sale for now. In my investigation into this issue I found the following thread useful: http://www.overclock.net/t/1593341/athlon-x4-845-carrizo On page 3, user "looncraz" reports that he upgraded his ASRock FM2A88M-Extreme4+ to BIOS 2.90 (2/19/16) which apparently includes (unofficial?) Carrizo support. The "CPU Support List" page for the FM2A88M-Extreme4+ (http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A88M%20Extreme4+/?cat=CPU) does not specifically show the Carrizo / X4 845 listed anywhere under family, model, or core. In other words, it looks like ASRock "slipped" X4 845 support into the 2.90 BIOS without specifically showing it in the compatibility list for some reason. The 7860K is listed, but not the X4 845. What this makes me think is it's possible that unofficial X4 845 support might be included on other ASRock mobos as long as there's a recent BIOS update. So, what's the deal ASRock? I posted about this issue almost a month ago on your Facebook page & in all that time have received no reply. Could you please clarify this situation? I get the sense that a lot of people like me would like to upgrade to the new Excavator CPU for fun and/or to do some benchmark testing. Side Note to others considering a purchase: Newegg has the X4 845 in stock right now for a nice price ($64.99). In lieu of a response from ASRock, I'm waiting for Amazon to get them in stock so I can return the CPU for free if it doesn't work with my mobo.

hailstorm Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Location: Bristol, UK Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote hailstorm Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Mar 2016 at 4:58am
	I have the same board with an 845. It came with BIOS version 3.00. The board won't boot with the 845. I've got a A6-6400K coming tomorrow so will update to 3.40 and give it another try. The response I got back from asrock support was: "It uses a different microarchitecture, so a new BIOS version is probably required. I will check it with a colleague in Taiwan."

hailstorm Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 11 Mar 2016 Location: Bristol, UK Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote hailstorm Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Mar 2016 at 6:56pm
	It works! :) Updated the board to 3.40 using the A6 CPU and swapped in the 845. All working fine.

Xaltar Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2015 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 25028	Post Options Post Reply Quote Xaltar Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 Mar 2016 at 7:16pm
	Thanks for the update So the FM2A88X-ITX+ with BIOS version 3.40 supports the Athlon x4 845


mjsw00sh Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 12 Mar 2016 Location: USA Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote mjsw00sh Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 Mar 2016 at 10:07am
	Perfect! Thanks for the heads up. I wish ASRock was as quick to answer tech questions as other users are. It seems like the only way to get a fast response sometimes is to complain about a purchase on Newegg or Amazon. Anywho, this is good news. I'll be putting an order in on Monday for a X4 845 to test out. If all goes well I'll probably be using these in HTPC builds combined with low profile 750 Ti GPUs until Zen / Polaris / Pascal ships.