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Hardware

Motherboard Preview From Comdex 89

Posted by CmdrTaco from the if-everybody-had-a-motherboard dept.
adpowers writes "Anandtech has a large preview of upcoming motherboards shown at Comdex." P4s dominating Athlons, lots of DDR SDRAM boards. A quite lengthy article. The FIC pages have several interesting looking PCs, I dig the AquaPad, a WinCE Transmeta box.
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Motherboard Preview From Comdex More

Motherboard Preview From Comdex

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  • And every damn one of 'em isn't available anywhere around here. It never fails; whatever MB I pick out as the best isn't available.

    1Alpha7

    • Re:Availability (Score:5, Funny)

      by ostiguy ( 63618 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @04:22PM (#2586148)
      Dude, what would the point of a trade show be if you were going to see stuff that is available? Thats like going to a strip club where all the dancers are ex-girlfriends.

      ostiguy
    • Let me guess, you aren't from the Far East...

      I just bought a new board a few days ago - a Gigabyte GA-7VTXH (KT266A, SB128, ethernet) - plugged it in and booted the distro I had previously installed on the HDs and after reconfiguring the sound it's run purrrfectly.

      Then I finally thought to give the manual a glance.. only to realize that everything was in Traditional Chinese. That's not my forte so I found the anglicized version from their website in PDF format.

      I already knew that the components were supported under Linux (ain't life grand!) but decided to check Google anyhow for other users' takes on this board, only to find none. Now after reading this Anand review it dawned on me that even Shri (Sir) Anand is waiting for his review copy of this board.

      So while you guys may lack the availability of the latest hardware, some of us have the iron but have nothing to read about it. :^)
  • Sure the aquapad looks nice, but we can't put an AMD in the case... can we??? If so, put me on pre-order for 10!

  • nice guys finish last (Score:4, Insightful)

    by joel8x ( 324102 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @03:29PM (#2585962) Homepage
    "...most manufacturers are not willing to get on Intel's bad side by supporting a controversial (or as Intel would say, illegally produced) chipset that offers no real advantages over the aforementioned two"

    This just shows that in tough times, the rich get richer and strip the balls out of the companies that support them. I miss the late 90's.

  • motherboards/comdex (Score:3, Funny)

    by Transient0 ( 175617 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @03:30PM (#2585970) Homepage
    i've been boycotting Comdex ever since i realized they were never going to feature an upgraded mainboard for my dual processor 486....

    and it looks like this year is no exception.

  • Motherboards with Good Looks (Score:5, Funny)

    by PbHead ( 99044 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @03:41PM (#2586005) Homepage
    Im still waiting for the Windowed Case thing to catch on. Everybody seems to want a Cool Windowed Case like the Modified PC60 [thinkgeek.com]. But what about the motherboard thats showing through the window?

    Sure some of the new Mobos with the trouble or post/boot LEDs by the ATX block are cool and all, but I'd like to see some real wowers. Like Holographic logos or images, LEDs in the fans that make cool effects, something that reminds me of a sequential flashing dilithium containment chamber, or just some cool colors on the mobo showing off it's sections or pathways. Anything would be better than the normal old motherboard sitting there, looking all blah.

    In short, I want better use of a windowed case than just seeing if my fans are still spinning.

    • Re:Motherboards with Good Looks (Score:5, Funny)

      by archen ( 447353 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @03:47PM (#2586031)
      That seems more like a case for people who actually keep their computers clean. About the only advantage of that, that I could see would be the ability to watch your Athlon burst into flames in reasonable safety.

    • Re:Motherboards with Good Looks (Score:4, Informative)

      by fobbman ( 131816 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @04:04PM (#2586095) Homepage
      Awhile back AOpen came out with a motherboard that was black and the chipset heatsink was gold-plated. Very sharp.

      While many of the motherboards out there are sticking with classic green, there are some that are still using black. AOpen has a line of motherboards that are black with silver, and my favorite Soyotek has a cool black board with purple PCI controllers and yellow RAID connectors. The Dragon can be found here [soyousa.com].

    • Microstar [msicomputer.com] makes some motherboards using cool colors...

      Check out this board [msicomputer.com] for single Athlons or this board [msicomputer.com] for single P4's.

      The font page has some more examples as well.

    • One great looking motherboard (which I own), is the ECS K7S5A. It is a black with a gold chipset heatsink. It's a full ATX form factor and has onboard sound and lan (both of which are supported by the latest linux kernels). It has sockets for both DDR and SDR Ram. The best part about it, is that it's only 57 bucks. (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit= manufactory&catalog=22&manufactory=1414) It's really the best board for the buck I've seen yet. My only advice when getting this board is to make sure you have a good quality power supply, because the power regulation circuitry on it isn't as sophisticated as something from ABit or FIC.

  • Still holding my breath (Score:3, Interesting)

    by skroz ( 7870 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @04:29PM (#2586175) Homepage
    Still holding my breath for a dual P4 board, and I'm starting to turn a little blue. From what I have learned, the P4s that exist today are not SMP capable, and only Xeons will support multiprocessor configurations. Pity. I was starting to get used to cheap dual systems.

    Looks like I'll have to have the 440 line and room cooler installed in my den before I can have a dual AMD system...

  • AquaPad (Score:3, Informative)

    by MrResistor ( 120588 ) <peterahoff.gmail@com> on Monday November 19, 2001 @04:35PM (#2586200) Homepage
    Unfortunately the Windows CE v3.0 that's running on the AquaPad severely limits its functionality; the platform is in dire need of an upgrade to PocketPC 2002...

    Hehe

    I'd prefer Linux, and it's only a matter of time...

    I guess we'll just have to wait and see what they want for them. I'm definately interested in a tablet PC. Having never learned to type I can't say I'd miss the keyboard much.

  • What I checked in that article... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Papineau ( 527159 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @04:59PM (#2586312) Homepage
    There's 4 photos that I was very interested in, because I plan to replace my P2B-D w/ PII-400 with a dual Athlon solution RSN: Some questions (apart from the official release date, or more importantly the "in stock" date) sprung to my mind after checking some of those photos:
    • Why do the Abit doesn't seem to have USB ports? Or is it rather the PS/2 ports that are missing? (Check the upper right corner)
    • Again on the Abit, on the bottom left, there's a PLCC (or another Quad side package) that's empty. Do any of you know if they usually show working motherboards, or rather engineering samples that may do nothing?
    • The ASUS is the only one with a full-blown heat-sink (w/o fan) on the North bridge, the other ones only have a heat spreader. For the look only or more stable operation?
    • On the Gigabyte, what kind of ports are in the upper center part? Firewire ports? And again, there's only one set of ports at the top (either USB or PS/2). I find it quite strange.
    Fortunately, all of those motherboards are equipped with mounting holes for the CPU heatsinks. Now to find some quite quiet HSF to go with that pair of MP 1600+...
    • The ASUS is the only one with a full-blown heat-sink (w/o fan) on the North bridge, the other ones only have a heat spreader. For the look only or more stable operation?


      Depends entirely on the chipset. My ECS Athlon board sporting a nice SIS735 (combined North and Southbridge chip with DDR support, $57 for the board!) doesn't even require a heatsink according to spec, but I got one anyways. Just another place to put the corporate logo! ;)

      The VIA 266 series seem to want a fan. The AMD 760MP series and Intel i850 (Rambus) both need big honkin' HSF units on them.

      My understanding is that stability only comes into play if you're trying to overclock the FSB. Once you get a couple of MHz over spec, you may want to upgrade to a bigger heatsink and/or fan to compensate for the extra strain on the Northbridge.

      • My question was more on the comparison of the 4 motherboards I linked to. They all use the AMD 760MP chipset, or at least for the North Bridge (information in Anand's article is rather scarce on which SB are used (AMD or VIA)). So given that it's the same chip underneath, why ASUS put a HS on top of it while the three others only put a heat spreader?

        I don't really plan to overclock (well, maybe like 135-140MHz), so probably any one of them will react the same as far as the NB is concerned.

        My personal taste was with the ASUS, but my final decision will depend on the date I will be able to grab any of those, the price at that time, what kind of HSF can be fitted on top of the CPUs and what are the integrated components (RAID, sound, etc.).
        • So given that it's the same chip underneath, why ASUS put a HS on top of it while the three others only put a heat spreader?

          Oh! Well that's easy. These are tradeshow boards, meant to showcase the specs. The other manufacturers are showing the board without the heatsink to show off the chipset info.

          Any of these boards you would be in retail format would have a heatsink on it.

    • Why do the Abit doesn't seem to have USB ports?

      Because the PHBs at ABit still have the perverted and twisted notion that SMP is for servers, not "ethusiasts." Hopefully, someone (Asus?) with a bit more of a clue will capture the market and make a fortune and then the other manufacturers will decide they want a piece of the action.

      • Well. Perhaps some of their SMP boards are like that. I think that they might feel that way about this particular system. Are you discussing the one with four DIMM slots and mobo RAID? I can't find your parent.

        They sure knew what their market was for their dual celery boards. My BP6 sure has integrated USB.
    • Why do the Abit doesn't seem to have USB ports? Or is it rather the PS/2 ports that are missing?

      The USB ports are indeed missing.

      Again on the Abit, on the bottom left, there's a PLCC (or another Quad side package) that's empty. Do any of you know if they usually show working motherboards, or rather engineering samples that may do nothing?

      That's almost certainly the socket for the flash part containing the BIOS.

      You'll also notice the buzzer in that corner still has its sticker covering the opening to prevent solvent or solder from getting inside, which is always removed before the board is shipped.

      There's no battery in the socket, which again is added before shipping.

      There are solder pads for a PQFP part in that corner, which may or may not be populated in the release version.

      My guess is that photo is of an engineering sample, and not a terribly useful one at that. :)
      • Very gauche to reply to my own post, I know... but a few more tidbits:

        The Abit logo doesn't appear anywhere on the board.

        The documentation off to the left is on letter-size (or A4) paper. It ships in a bound half-letter-size manual.

        The distance between the DIMM sockets is huge. I'm not sure why this is so.

        Definately an very early engineering sample of some sort...

  • hopefully (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Raven42rac ( 448205 ) on Monday November 19, 2001 @05:09PM (#2586349)
    these new mobos will hasten the arrival of serial data and higher bus speeds, because we are on the verge of breaking moore's law. Also, one of the biggest problems is making smaller chips that run cool enough to be worthwhile.

    Insert Sig Here.

  • nForce...? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Sodakar ( 205398 )
    All these posts, and not a single one about the highly anticipated nForce?

    From: AnandTech's article [anandtech.com]:

    Unfortunately NVIDIA's nForce has not been met with such great enthusiasm by motherboard manufacturers. The five launch partners for the nForce are still dealing with various issues in their designs in spite of the fact that NVIDIA's reference boards have been running just fine.

    As a person who is eagerly awaiting the nForce to be released, I have a question... Can anyone think of why it's taking so long for the manufacturers to make a working nForce mobo when the reference mobo works just fine? Also, why are they so non-enthusiastic about this otherwise good-looking chipset?

    The only two things I can think of are:

    1. The nForce and its unique read/guess-ahead SSE cache, dual-channel memory pipes, high-speed Southbridge pipe, and DMA addressing make it difficult to build further optimized boards and drivers.
    2. Unlike the obviously non-performance-oriented Intel 810 all-in-one, the nForce all-in-one can be made to be a cheap all-in-one solution for $500 PC's, but an alternate design can be used for high-end PC's -- thus, the motherboard manufacturers are having to make more motherboards than normal off of one chipset.

    Um... like I said, these are just guesses... anyone else?
  • It kinda worries me that NVidia is trying to get into the chipset market in a big way, knowing their track record for refusing to publish data on their video cards so people can develop open source drivers. Does anyone have more info about this or is it all vaporware right now?
  • Isn't it a problem now if we wanna use Athlon/Duron with Linux ?

    I mean nForce won't have a great full opensource driver since nVidia doesn't release the specs, and it's the same with VIA's one, no ? (or did i miss something ?). And those two chipsets are considered as the best solutions for AMD-based mainboards. So, what are the news about that ?

    Anyone with a good knowledge of the topic, please ?

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