Foxconn AHD1S-K

Foxconn AHD1S-K review

Foxconn's AHD1S-K is another small-form-factor board looking to leverage the low-power and price advantages of AMD's Fusion chip. So what can it make of the underwhelming E-350? Well, at around £100, it's one of the more competitively priced boards to offer the AMD processor. Remember that the E-350 is a Fusion chip and therefore packs not only a pair of processor cores, but an integrated graphics core, a memory controller and more. That means you need only add memory and storage to create a functional PC, putting the total bill within striking distance of £150. Of course, you'll also need a case with a power supply, but shop carefully and an all-in price of £200 might just be doable. The flip side to this compelling value proposition is a frills-free feature-set. The CPU doesn't have a cooling fan, for instance, and you only get two SATA ports. We've already mentioned that the inability of AMD's E-350 to beat Intel's Atom with a big stick has been one of the biggest disappointments of 2011 so far. But we, and this Foxconn Mini-ITX motherboard, must soldier on with the performance available. For proper computing tasks, such as professional rendering, that's a real drag.