Searching the web there isnt a whole lot of info on basic FM2 builds, so thought i would share my experience. May post pics at a later date when things are sorted.
Going from a Windows XP Pro socket 939 system, that is 6+ years old i decided that a main component upgrade to a FM2 build would save electricity, be faster and quieter. Read some articles, got help off here and purchased the following:
MSI FM2-A75MA-E35 mb
http://uk.msi.com/product/mb/FM2-A75MA-E35.html
AMD A6-5400k CPU
http://shop.amd.com/uk/All/Detail/Pr...#ComparePrices
8gb Crucial Ballistix elite 1600mhz (got a very good price off Amazon)
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/part...D1608DE1TX0CEU
A new build for less than £130, about the same price as i paid for my old processor.
The build itself wasnt entirely straight-forward. I didnt want to use the small stock AMD HSF (a 70mm fan??), but keep the AC Freezer 64 pro i had. On this mb the fan overlaps the 1st dimm slot (the Elite Ram has tall heatspreaders) in the standard front to back configuration. The only way possible to mount was with a back to front fan direction. Once this was established everything went in the case nice and easy.
Next is when things got tricky, i use a Dell CRT monitor with only a VGA connection. Upon POST and entering the BIOS i can only see a fraction of it on the screen and menus are overlapping. I managed to change the setting to use IDE instead of ACHI and went from there. The XP disc was found and recovery of my installation was going ok, until it rebooted and asked for my location/keyboard settings/language! XP was installing from scratch but keeping my programs and documents. Finally booted into windows and then many hours were then spent installing service packs and updates.
Changed bios settings for the RAM to run at XMP profile and disabled settings i dont need.
The whole system is noticeably faster, no real benchmarks run but SuperPi is a lot quicker (saved over 2 minutes at the 8M test), CoD2 runs brilliant with all settings maxed out including AA and AF, Youtube videos play at full screen without stutter or lag. Highest temperature i have seen on the CPU is 30 degrees, most of the time it is around 27 and the system is also a lot quieter
My next tasks involve installing Windows 8 (disk on its way from Germany), trying to sort out the bios issue ( i am changing settings using MSI Click bios in windows atm) and to get my case cooling sorted with the new airflow direction. Once this is done i will then get round to seeing what overclocks i can achieve without increasing the voltage. One thing that is a big change since my Socket A and 939 oc days is the vast number of options in the bios. Everything appears to be changable! The one snag i can see with this mb is the FSB will only go up to 105 though.
Any questions on the build i will try to answer!