At first we would like to thank BIOSTAR for offering their J3160MD Motherboard for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About BIOSTAR:

 

“In 1980, the IT industry was growing at a phenomenal rate. With wide experience in buying and selling electronic parts as well as researching on future demands for mainboards and add-on cards , the founder of BIOSTAR GROUP, established BIOSTAR MICROTECH INTERNATIONAL CORP in 1986.

 

In the early years, BIOSTAR concentrated on the manufacture of mainboards built for XT form factor. To maintain steady business growth, BIOSTAR managed to keep a large portion of its capital and manpower invested on the design and development of new products, which at the same time has enabled it to stay competitive in the rapid evolution of the computer industry.

 

BIOSTAR has enriched its competence in the design and manufacture of products such as add-on cards, multi-media and system products to develop the market and meet the demands of customers for more integrated solutions. In order to expand its capacity to meet customer demand globally, BIOSTAR was the first to establish a manufacturing facility in China in 1990. In 1998, its sales revenues exceeded US$130 million and it ranked 227th among the top 1000 enterprises in Taiwan. Furthermore, BIOSTAR obtained an ISO 9001 certification in 1999 and became a publicly listed company in the same year. BIOSTAR’s future has limitless possibilities.”

 

HD Audio

 

Provides high quality sound with minimal loss of audio fidelity.

 

Video+

 

DVI

 

DVI is better than VGA for LCD displays since it is digital while VGA is analog. For LCD displays, the picture is digitized pixel per pixel. Through DVI, the panel gets data for each pixel, so the picture generated in the Graphics device matches the pixels on the panel itself.

 

DX11.1

 

Direct3D 11.1 enables Direct3D 10 APIs and Direct3D 11 APIs to use one underlying rendering device. And it allows developers to achieve a high speed, fully conformant software rasterizer.

 

Speed+

 

SmartSpeedLAN

 

SmartSpeedLAN is a free software application which monitors and manages your PC's network behavior. With user-friendly GUI, it allows you to select and prioritize different types of network traffic, including gaming, media streaming, communications or web surfing.You can also set any specific applications, choosing to prioritize or block accordingly. SmartSpeedLAN can feature automatic management options that use adaptive networking intelligence to ensure that you are getting the best online experience possible.

 

Charger Booster

 

Charger booster is the best and efficient charger solution for apple devices such as iPad, iPhone. Basically, Charger booster Technology is able to boost the charging time to be more efficiency and faster once any apple goods connecting to our Motherboard. With charger booster technology, you are able to charge your apple devices up to 42 % faster.

 

USB 3.0

 

Experience Fastest data transfers at 5 Gbps with USB 3.0--the new latest connectivity standard. Built to connect easily with next-generation components and peripherals, USB 3.0 transfers data 10X faster and backward compatible with previous USB 2.0 components.

 

Durable+

 

Moistureproof PCB

 

The popularity of PC usage and working environment is getting deteriorating and moist(rural, coastal, etc.). The PCB will be oxidizing easily by damp or absorbed moisture, and ionic migration or CAF (Conductive Anodic Filament) will be generated. Moisture-proof PCB meets high density and high reliability requirements for moisture proof.

 

Low RdsOn P-Pak MOS

 

Low resistance design can significantly reduce the current out of energy loss.Low temperature, small size, excellent thermal conductivity.

 

Protection+

 

ESD Protection

 

ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) is the major factor to destroy PC by electrical overstress(EOS) condition, ESD occurred by PC users when touch any devices connect to PC, which may result in damage to motherboard or parts .ESD protection is designed to protect the motherboard and equipment from damage by EOS

 

USB Polyswitch

 

On board dedicated power fuse to help prevent USB port failure. It prevents USB Port overcurrent and safegurand your system and device lifespan.

 

OC / OV / OH Protection

 

All BIOSTAR special circuit design detects overvoltage conditions and prevents voltage surges from spreading in real time. It also actively cuts off the overvoltage supply to protect your system. Over current protection, avoid motherboard from damage when doing overclock or an unusual current import. Over heat protection, avoid motherboard & CPU from burning when exceeding the temperature limitation.

 

DIY+

 

Header Zone

 

Users can easily assemble their own computer, a simple-swap data discs and other accessories.

 

BIO-Remote 2

 

BIO-Remote2 Technology is featuring users a better Home Theater environment. Users who own either Android mobile or Apple goods are able to access and control your PC remotely; At this moment, you’re smart device became a intelligent and functional remote controller; more than that, BIO-Remote2 also includes both function of mouse pad and power point presentation mode.

 

CPU-Chipset Features

 

Intel Celeron J3160 Quad Core processor

 

The Intel® Celeron J3160(2M Cache, up to 2.24 GHz) is a quad-core processor. The maximum GPU frequency was also increased on the J3160 to 700 MHz, while the base GPU speed stayed at 320 MHz. It supports DDR3L-1600 memory and fit into 6 Watt thermal envelope.

 

It is time to check out another BIOSTAR motherboard, but with an on-board Intel Celeron J3160; this CPU takes part of the new Braswell SKUs, with a stock frequency on each of its four cores of 1600MHz and a boost of 2240MHz, has 2MB of L2 cache, a HD 400 Intel Graphics component and sports a TDP of only 6W. The Micro ATX form factor the manufacturer is using permits the inclusion of more expansion slots, really handy if we would like to use it for a media-center setup or install more storage drives. The product is shipped inside a medium-sized cardboard enclosure, advertising the BIOSTAR 6+ Experience feature:

 

 

 

The main product features along with the motherboard components are explained in detail on the back:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see the documentation, along with the product bundle:

 

 

 

Talking about the bundle, we do have two SATA cables, the I/O shield, one Quick Installation Guide but also the driver disk:

 

 

 

The guide is pretty straight-forward:

 

 

 

The motherboard also comes fully wrapped inside an anti-static bag:

 

 

 

As we have been accustomed with the previous ITX BIOSTAR motherboards, this one also comes with a black PCB, black connectors and a large heatsink with golden accents:

 

 

 

On the top area of the PCB, we’ve got the 24-pin ATX power connector and one DDR3 RAM slot:

 

 

 

One Realtek RTD2168 controller is available in the top left corner, which provides the D-SUB (VGA) output, since Intel has removed the native support for it inside the iGPU:

 

 

 

Behind the LAN port on the I/O, we will get to see a Surge Protector:

 

 

 

A Realtek 8111H Gigabit LAN controller is nearby:

 

 

 

Further down we will get to see one USB 3.0 header, along with an unpopulated SOC_FAN header:

 

 

 

For a better fidelity, the audio PCB area is separated and the audio CODEC is a Realtek ALC662:

 

 

 

 

ITE IT8625e is SuperIO chip is monitoring temperatures, board voltages but also key metrics in order to have a regular operation:

 

 

 

On the bottom area of the board we’ve got one F_AUDIO header, a Parallel port header, one Serial port header, a F_PANEL header, two USB 2.0 headers for the frontal panel but also one SYS_FAN header. The board is also equipped with one PCI-E x16 slot and two PCI-E x1 slots:

 

 

 

Near the soldered BIOS chip there is also a CMOS Reset jumper:

 

 

 

The board is also equipped with two SATA3 ports facing upwards:

 

 

 

The top right area of the PCB is populated with a secondary DDR3 RAM slot:

 

 

 

The low-power SoC makes the heatsink barely warm even during high-load usage environments:

 

 

 

On the I/O we’ve got PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports, a VGA port, one DVI-D port, two USB 3.0 ports which are accompanied with two USB 2.0 ports, one LAN port but also the audio jacks:

 

 

 

Here is also a look on the back area of the PCB:

 

 

 

Despite the fact that we are dealing with a low-cost board, BIOSTAR has equipped it with a catchy look UEFI interface, which is easy to navigate. The main menus are available on the bottom area, while the widgets on the left side are showing us the current time, CPU frequency and voltage, memory frequency and voltage, fan RPM (if installed), but also the SoC temperature. Inside the Main menu, we are able to spot current BIOS details, installed memory quantity, but we can also adjust the system language/date or time:

 

 

 

The Advanced menu comes with the following sub-sections:

 

-ACPI Settings

-SuperIO Configuration

-Hardware Monitor

-CPU Configuration

-SATA Configuration

-PCI Subsystem Settings

-Network Stack Configuration

-CSM Configuration

-USB Configuration

 

 

ACPI Settings menu comes with the usual power management options:

 

 

The SuperIO Configuration menu gives us the possibility to enable or disable the Serial/Parallel port interfaces:

 

 

Next we have the Hardware Monitor from where we can look upon the live temperatures, fan speeds (if applicable), but also the voltages:

 

 

CPU Configuration menu allows the user to check more details regarding the installed processor, but also adjust some of its features:

 

 

Options for the SATA controller follow inside the SATA Configuration menu:

 

 

PCI Subsystem Settings menu allows working with some miscellaneous options:

 

 

Network Stack comes with a single option we can adjust:

 

 

CSM Configuration menu allows us to work with some sections regarding compatibility:

 

 

USB Configuration menu is in charge of the controller and its compatibility options:

 

 

The Chipset menu has its own sub-sections:

 

-North Bridge

-South Bridge

 

 

From the North Bridge menu, we can adjust the functionality of the integrated graphics, set the primary graphics output, memory allocation and more:

 

 

The South Bridge menu allows working with PCIe options but also here we can enable/disable the LAN interface:

 

 

Security menu permits the user to set passwords for the Admin and User accounts, but also work with the Secure Boot Menu:

 

 

The Boot menu comes with the usual options, including boot drive priority:

 

 

From the Performance section, we can adjust the DRAM voltage, but also adjust the memory operating frequency and timings:

 

 

Finally, we do have the Save & Exit menu, from where we can save, discard or load default BIOS settings:

 

 

In order to start testing the J3160MD board from BIOSTAR, we equipped it with one Corsair 8GB DDR3 1333MHz memory module, but also a Hitachi Travelstar 5K250 250GB HDD. We installed the latest Windows 7 x64 from scratch and got the tests going. Here is some information that we could obtain on the internal hardware, thanks to the specialized programs:

 

CPU-Z CPU Information Tab

 

 

CPU-Z CPU Caches Tab

 

 

CPU-Z Mainboard Tab

 

 

CPU-Z Memory Tab

 

 

 

AIDA64 gives us even some more details regarding the computer components:

 

CPU Information

 

 

Motherboard Information

 

 

 

 

IMC

 

 

 

 

 

The new Braswell SKU comes with a HD 400 Intel Graphics iGPU and here are more details extracted with AIDA64:

 

 

 

Temperature tests

 

To test the computer thermals, we have first left the computer in IDLE for about 30 minutes and then we fired up AIDA64 Stress Testing module, for an additional 10 minutes. The minimum and maximum temperatures of all internal components were recorded by the latest HWINFO utility. During the time of testing, the ambient temperature was 28.9 degrees Celsius:

 

 

The performed test concludes that the fanless cooling system can successfully keep the SoC and very acceptable temperatures, even at the highest load levels.

 

Power consumption test results

System Full Load measurement was recorded while running the AIDA64 System Stability Test and checking on Stress CPU, Stress FPU, Stress Cache, Stress System Memory, Stress GPUs.

In IDLE, we have recorded a value of 27.69W, while in Full Load about 40.85W, a noticeably lower value versus the A68N-5200 board.

3DMark 2001

 

3DMark 2003

 

3DMark 2005

 

3DMark 2006

 

PCMark 2005

 

PCMark Vantage

 

PCMark 7

CrystalMark

 

SuperPI 1.5 XS 1M

 

wPrime 32M

 

CineBench R10

 

CineBench R11.5

 

 

x264 Encoding

 

Counterstrike Source

 

 

The new Braswell stepping comes with a tad higher CPU Burst frequency, the same amount of cache and HD 400 graphics from Intel; in the performed results, we can see it trading punches with the Celeron N3150 and the performance gain is quite minimal. With the J3160MD board, the manufacturer proposes a fanless design, which seems to perform well thanks to the large heatsink and low TDP of the Intel SoC. Enhancements to the build can be always performed thanks to the PCI-E x16 and dual PCI-E x1 slots, for installing extra storage and use the product as an entry-level NAS, but also for installation of a low-end to mainstream video card and a standalone soundcard in order to transform the setup into a light gaming machine or media center.

 

Right after finishing up the initial testing phase, we have installed the same HIS R7 360 video card into the system, in order to test and compare the performances in gaming versus the Intel integrated graphics but also versus the A68N-5200 setup. The iGPU of the 5200 APU seemed considerably more powerful than the one coming along with the J3160, but when the HIS R7 360 has been installed, running the same games resulted in a big performance boost. The J3160MD configuration is still a bit behind because of the lower CPU performance, but this compensates with less heat and less power consumption.

 

 

 

The BIOSTAR J3160MD motherboard can be picked up online for about 76 Euros.

 

BIOSTAR J3160MD Motherboard is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to BIOSTAR for making this review possible!