Taipei, Taiwan, 24 July 2007 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the VIA EPIA NR Nano-ITX mainboard, powered by a fanless 1.0GHz VIA C7 processor and VIA CX700 system media processor for ultra compact, quiet and durable embedded systems.
Measuring just 12cm x 12cm , the VIA EPIA NR is the first Nano-ITX mainboard to natively support LVDS in two single or one dual-channel monitor configuration without the need for a daughterboard; this makes it ideal for a wide range of ultra compact embedded devices requiring two displays, such as healthcare, industrial control, retail and signage systems.
The VIA EPIA NR also provides considerable storage options, with Serial ATA and IDE hard drive connectors for mainstream systems and Compact Flash for local OS storage in industrial automation. Moreover, an extensive I/O set includes broadband Ethernet as well as a mini-PCI port, USB2.0, COM, LPC and Super I/O headers; while WLAN connectivity can be supported through an add-in card for greater flexibility in system design.
Showing posts with label laptop mainboard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laptop mainboard. Show all posts
Asus Maximus II Formula motherboard
As had been anticipated for quite some time, Intel released its 4 series chipsets last month. This new series which include the X48, G45, G43, P45 and P43 Express have been designed to couple Intel's own Core 2 processors, and as you will see in a moment, resemble a lot its '3' series predecessors.
Codenamed Eaglelake, the P45 is the mainstream offering in the 4 series. This partly new chipset will support upcoming Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Extreme processors using a bumped 1600MHz Front Side Bus - current Core 2s use either a 800MHz, 1066MHz or 1333MHz FSB. In terms of features, the P45 can easily impress primarily due to the inclusion of the ICH10R south bridge.
Just as before, the X48 remains as the flagship offering, boasting more PCI Express lanes and greater DDR3 memory support. However, the P45 does offer a number of improvements when compared to the P35 chipset. The P45 is built using a 65nm design process compared to the larger 90nm design of the P35.
As you may recall, the P35 and even older P965 chipsets were not ideal if you wanted Crossfire support. The limitation of running only one graphics card in PCI Express 16x mode, while the second was limited to PCIe 4x could hurt performance. Even when manufacturers eventually found its way around this, for the most part users were left with the choice of the more expensive X38/X48 chipsets.
Intel has now solved this issue by including digital switches that can share the PCIe 16x bus amongst both slots, balancing the bandwidth. This is similar to how the Nvidia nForce 750i chipset works, which should help Crossfire become an even more competitive solution against SLI.
The ICH10R south bridge still only supports six SATA ports, just as the ICH9R did, and the USB 2.0 support has not been improved either, though most will find that 12 ports are more than enough.
After holding the release off for a few months, it is possible to buy an Intel P45 motherboard today from a number of makers, though you will find that prices can vary substantially. From as little as $100 for budget-oriented boards, to upwards of $200 for the most fully featured versions coming from usual suspects like Asus, Gigabyte and MSI.
Just recently Asus announced the Maximus II Formula which is based on the P45 chipset, and is the latest member of the elite Republic of Gamers series targeting gamers and overclocking enthusiasts alike. After all, they will need to aim at a certain niche willing to spend the big bucks given this board's suggested price tag of nearly $300.
This is one of the most equipped motherboards out there, even including the SupremeFX X-Fi sound card that makes use of the ADI 2000B audio codec, adding support for Creative's EAX 4.0.
Overclocking with new mainboard
Intel has taken another significant step into satisfying the needs of the PC enthusiast crowd. For many years the company has discouraged overclocking, but now they are offering a mainboard set to do just the opposite. The new D975XBX2 a.k.a. Bad Axe 2, is a product especially designed for gamers. It comes with 3 PCI-Express slots, perfect for a SLI/Crossfire setup plus a physics card (if those are ever worth it), and a most impressive CPU overclocking feature that allows for aggressive FSB settings, multiplier and voltage tweaking.
Featuring improved memory circuitry, Intel’s new mainboard now officially supports dual-channel PC2-6400 (DDR2 800MHz) on Intel 975X core-logic, something, which is not available on the D975XBX mainboard and something supported on other Intel 975X-based motherboards formally via overclocking.
There are many mainstream PC companies that have realized sooner or later that the enthusiast and gaming market is up for grabs. Recently we even witnessed the announcement of factory overclocked systems with full guarantee from Gateway. Intel has realized that with AMD trailing not too far behind (if at all sometimes), it can’t just rest on its laurels again. Luckily for them, they have now got Core 2.
Featuring improved memory circuitry, Intel’s new mainboard now officially supports dual-channel PC2-6400 (DDR2 800MHz) on Intel 975X core-logic, something, which is not available on the D975XBX mainboard and something supported on other Intel 975X-based motherboards formally via overclocking.
There are many mainstream PC companies that have realized sooner or later that the enthusiast and gaming market is up for grabs. Recently we even witnessed the announcement of factory overclocked systems with full guarantee from Gateway. Intel has realized that with AMD trailing not too far behind (if at all sometimes), it can’t just rest on its laurels again. Luckily for them, they have now got Core 2.
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