W1zzard
Mar 15, 2005, 07:35 PM
[pagE=Introduction & ASUS]
Welcome to Day 2 of our Cebit 2005 coverage with reports from ASUS, ASRock, DFI and MSI.
Day 1 can be found here (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day1/).
Sorry that the report is going up that late, but there were some good reasons why it got delayed.
Probably the most important to you is, that we attended a few parties.
For example ATI's 20 year party on Tuesday - yes we got some R520 and ATI SLI info.
To protect our source, the information will be posted in Day 4 report, where no ATI manufacturers are covered
ASUS
First trip of the day was to the ASUS booth where some really innovative things where displayed.
Remember last week, when we reported about the Socket 479 to 478 Adapter for the Pentium 4 M processor? Here is more information.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_3.jpg)
As you can see in the third picture, the CPU socket lever of the motherboard remains accessible with the adapter installed. This allows the adapter to safely attach to the motherboard. It will be available worldwide, starting next month, for a price of around $30.
Obviously the compatibility list will only list ASUS motherboards, but I was told that it should work on other motherboards as well. However, a competitor told me that the adapter is not working that smooth yet: "it only works really good on one ASUS motherboard which is being phased out". I would say let's give ASUS a bit of time to fine-tune it and we will see in one month.
Motherboards
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nsli_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nsli.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nslip_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nslip.jpg)
The A8N-SLI and A8N-SLI Premium are based on NVIDIA's nForce4 SLI chipset and bring the following features:
Support for AMD Socket 939
HT 2000 MHz
Memory support for Dual Channel DDR400
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA II RAID
Additional 4x SATA RAID (on A8N-SLI Premium only)
Pericom PCI-E switch which allows changing from single to dual card configuration via software (A8N-SLI Premium only)
Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE1394a
7.1 Channel Audio
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5nd2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5nd2.jpg)
The P5ND2-SLI Deluxe is ASUS' new board using NVIDIA's new nForce4 for Intel chipset.
Support for Pentium 4 LGA775
FSB 1066 MHz
Dual Channel DDR2 667 support
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA II RAID, 4x SATA RAID
Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE1394a
7.1 Channel Audio
When asked, ASUS says NVIDIA's chipset can well compete with Intel's solution in both stability and performance.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2premium_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2premium.jpg)
The P5WD2 Deluxe and P5WD2 Premium are both based on Intel's brand new i955X chipset.
Support for Pentium4 LGA Socket 775
FSB 1066 MHz
Dual Channel DDR2 667 support, up to 8 GB
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA II RAID
Gigabit Ethernet
High Definition Audio
IEEE1394 (on the P5WD2 Premium) - this is the only difference between both boards
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5rd1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5rd1.jpg)
The P5RD1-V Deluxe uses ATI's brand new Radeon XPRESS 200 chipset for Intel and the ULI M1573 southbridge, because ATI's southbridge is still not working that well yet. "It [ATI's SB] does only half of what it is supposed to do".
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA Socket 774
800 MHz FSB
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
Dual Channel DDR 400 support
Integrated ATI VGA
4x SATA RAID
Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE1394a, High-definition Audio
On-board TV Tuner
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5gpl_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5gpl.jpg)
Using Intel's i915PL and ICH6, the P5GPL offers:
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA775
FSB 800 MHz
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
Dual Channel DDR400 support
Gigabit Ethernet
High Definition Audio
What I like about this board is that the PCI-E x1 connectors are located in a way that you can still use them when a video card with a two slot cooler is installed.
Video Cards
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_2.jpg)
We already reported about this monster video card in the daily news.
This dual 6800U with 512 MB memory (256 MB per GPU) will only be sold in the US and Asia and is going to retail for $1500+ bundled with an ASUS motherboard only. Also total production will be around 4000 units. We asked about the board size and ASUS confirmed that this is the final PCB size, as well as the final cooling.
Quad-SLI using two of these boards is not possible at this time and depends on whether NVIDIA can/will add support for it to their drivers.
A 512 MB single GPU 6800U design is planned from ASUS but nor pictures or details were revealed.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6600_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6600.jpg)
This nice little dual 6600 will initially be sold only in Asia. If the demand is there, ASUS will consider selling it in Europe and the US, too. Compared to Gigabyte's solution it is "more stable and has better memory", but the price will be a bit higher as well.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asusx850_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asusx850.jpg)
For ATI's side of things there was not really much new to see at ASUS. The X850 series will get a new cooler, most probably a 1-slot design - the image is still of the standard ATI cooler.
[page=ASRock]
ASRock
ASRock is ASUS' low-cost brand. While the boards offer some overclocking features, they are not really geared towards overclockers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_775_880pro_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_775_880pro.jpg)
The 775Dual 880-Pro uses VIA's PT880 chipset:
Support for Pentium 4 LGA Socket 775
1066 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR400 and Dual Channel DDR2 667 Support - only one at the same time
1x AGP, 1x PCI-Express x16, 3x PCI, Both video cards can be used at the same time
2x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_880pro_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_880pro.jpg)
ASRock's P4Dual 880-Pro uses VIA's PT880 chipset as well:
Support for Pentium 4 Socket 478
800 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR400 Support
1x AGP, 1x PCI-Express x16, 3x PCI, Both video cards can be used at the same time
2x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_939vm890_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_939vm890.jpg)
Using the VIA K8M890 chipset, the 939VM890 offers following features:
Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64
Support for Dual Channel DDR400
S3 DeltaChrome Video Adapter integrated in VIA chipset
1x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 2x PCI
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
2x SATA RAID
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_k8upgrade_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_k8upgrade.jpg)
The K8Upgrade-VM800 has following features, using VIA's K8M800 chipset:
Socket 754 for AMD Athlon 64
800 MHz HTT
Support for DDR400 memory
UniChrome Pro 3D Video Adapter integrated in VIA chipset
1x AGP 8x, 2x PCI
5.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
2x SATA RAID
The most notable feature of this board is that a seperately sold CPU slot card allows you to use this board together with a S939 CPU. The adapter goes in the yellow slot.
[page=DFI]
DFI
DFI will show their ATI AMD64 board at Computex Taiwan. The nForce4 for Intel board is ready but was not displayed at Cebit.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_nfx_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_nfx.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/nf5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/nf5.jpg)
Using NVIDIA's first Intel Chipset, the LanParty NFX SLI-T2R has those features:
Support for Intel LGA Socket 775 CPU
Support for Dual Channel DDR2 667
FSB 1066 MHz
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 2x PCI
8x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
2x 1394, 10x USB 2.0
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_925xt2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_925xt2.jpg)
The DFI 925X-T2 is based on Intel's i925X chipset:
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA 775
Support for DDR400
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
2x 1394, 8x USB 2.0
I like the placement of the third PCI-Express x1 connector in the bottom left corner of the board.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_utnf4ud_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_utnf4ud.jpg)
The DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D uses the nForce4 Ultra Chipset:
AMD Socket 939 CPU
1000 MHz HTT
Support for Dual Channel DDR400
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
8x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
2x 1394, 10x USB 2.0
[page=MSI]
MSI
MSI does not have a 512MB 6800U design yet, but their "engineers are working on it. Maybe at Computex".
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_p4n_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_p4n.jpg)
The MSI P4N Diamond is MSI's first board using NVIDIA's nForce4 for Intel chipset:
Socket LGA 775 for Pentium 4
1066 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR2 667 Support
2x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 2x PCI
6x SATA RAID
Soundblaster Live! 24-bit Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_955x_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_955x.jpg)
The 955X Diamond is equipped with Intel's latest i955X chipset:
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA 775
1066 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR2 667 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E X1, 3x PCI
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
6x Serial ATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio Soundblaster Live! 24bit
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_915gmb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_915gmb.jpg)
The BTX-Form Factor 915 GMB is using Intel's i915G chipset:
CPU Support for Pentium 4 LGA 775
800 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR2 533 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
I talked to many people at Cebit about the current state of BTX and its future.
Basically nobody is selling any products in high numbers yet, but everybody has one or two products, mainly for PR.
All motherboard manufacturers say the case manufacturers are very slow in putting out cases which support BTX. The case manufacturers say they "live off volume production" and will not really bother with it until they see some serious demand from the end user side.
Also there are some uncertainties, because Intel might change a few things around and has not really been pushing it in the last year.
When asked, when we will see BTX sales grow, the answers ranged from "never", over "christmas" to "mid 2006".
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_k8nmb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_k8nmb.jpg)
MSI's MicroBTX K8NMB uses NVIDIA's nForce4 Ultra Chipset with following features:
Socket 939 for AMD64
2000 MHz HTT
Dual Channel DDR400 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
5.1 Channel ADI SoundMax
Gigabit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_rx480_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_rx480.jpg)
Last but certainly not least is the RX480 Neo which uses ATI's XPRESS 200P chipset (and also the ATI Southbridge - many manufacturers use ULI here).
Socket 754 for AMD Athlon 64
1600 MHz HTT
DDR 400 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
5.1 Channel Audio
Gigabit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_mosfet_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_mosfet.jpg)
MSI was also showing off their "own development" called PowerCube. These are some MOSFETs which are more stable, especially under high load and have better thermal properties.
Continue to Cebit Day 3 (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day3).
Welcome to Day 2 of our Cebit 2005 coverage with reports from ASUS, ASRock, DFI and MSI.
Day 1 can be found here (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day1/).
Sorry that the report is going up that late, but there were some good reasons why it got delayed.
Probably the most important to you is, that we attended a few parties.
For example ATI's 20 year party on Tuesday - yes we got some R520 and ATI SLI info.
To protect our source, the information will be posted in Day 4 report, where no ATI manufacturers are covered
ASUS
First trip of the day was to the ASUS booth where some really innovative things where displayed.
Remember last week, when we reported about the Socket 479 to 478 Adapter for the Pentium 4 M processor? Here is more information.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_3_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus478_3.jpg)
As you can see in the third picture, the CPU socket lever of the motherboard remains accessible with the adapter installed. This allows the adapter to safely attach to the motherboard. It will be available worldwide, starting next month, for a price of around $30.
Obviously the compatibility list will only list ASUS motherboards, but I was told that it should work on other motherboards as well. However, a competitor told me that the adapter is not working that smooth yet: "it only works really good on one ASUS motherboard which is being phased out". I would say let's give ASUS a bit of time to fine-tune it and we will see in one month.
Motherboards
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nsli_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nsli.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nslip_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_a8nslip.jpg)
The A8N-SLI and A8N-SLI Premium are based on NVIDIA's nForce4 SLI chipset and bring the following features:
Support for AMD Socket 939
HT 2000 MHz
Memory support for Dual Channel DDR400
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA II RAID
Additional 4x SATA RAID (on A8N-SLI Premium only)
Pericom PCI-E switch which allows changing from single to dual card configuration via software (A8N-SLI Premium only)
Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE1394a
7.1 Channel Audio
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5nd2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5nd2.jpg)
The P5ND2-SLI Deluxe is ASUS' new board using NVIDIA's new nForce4 for Intel chipset.
Support for Pentium 4 LGA775
FSB 1066 MHz
Dual Channel DDR2 667 support
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA II RAID, 4x SATA RAID
Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE1394a
7.1 Channel Audio
When asked, ASUS says NVIDIA's chipset can well compete with Intel's solution in both stability and performance.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2premium_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5wd2premium.jpg)
The P5WD2 Deluxe and P5WD2 Premium are both based on Intel's brand new i955X chipset.
Support for Pentium4 LGA Socket 775
FSB 1066 MHz
Dual Channel DDR2 667 support, up to 8 GB
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA II RAID
Gigabit Ethernet
High Definition Audio
IEEE1394 (on the P5WD2 Premium) - this is the only difference between both boards
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5rd1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5rd1.jpg)
The P5RD1-V Deluxe uses ATI's brand new Radeon XPRESS 200 chipset for Intel and the ULI M1573 southbridge, because ATI's southbridge is still not working that well yet. "It [ATI's SB] does only half of what it is supposed to do".
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA Socket 774
800 MHz FSB
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
Dual Channel DDR 400 support
Integrated ATI VGA
4x SATA RAID
Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE1394a, High-definition Audio
On-board TV Tuner
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5gpl_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus_p5gpl.jpg)
Using Intel's i915PL and ICH6, the P5GPL offers:
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA775
FSB 800 MHz
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
Dual Channel DDR400 support
Gigabit Ethernet
High Definition Audio
What I like about this board is that the PCI-E x1 connectors are located in a way that you can still use them when a video card with a two slot cooler is installed.
Video Cards
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_1_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_1.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6800_2.jpg)
We already reported about this monster video card in the daily news.
This dual 6800U with 512 MB memory (256 MB per GPU) will only be sold in the US and Asia and is going to retail for $1500+ bundled with an ASUS motherboard only. Also total production will be around 4000 units. We asked about the board size and ASUS confirmed that this is the final PCB size, as well as the final cooling.
Quad-SLI using two of these boards is not possible at this time and depends on whether NVIDIA can/will add support for it to their drivers.
A 512 MB single GPU 6800U design is planned from ASUS but nor pictures or details were revealed.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6600_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asus6600.jpg)
This nice little dual 6600 will initially be sold only in Asia. If the demand is there, ASUS will consider selling it in Europe and the US, too. Compared to Gigabyte's solution it is "more stable and has better memory", but the price will be a bit higher as well.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asusx850_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asusx850.jpg)
For ATI's side of things there was not really much new to see at ASUS. The X850 series will get a new cooler, most probably a 1-slot design - the image is still of the standard ATI cooler.
[page=ASRock]
ASRock
ASRock is ASUS' low-cost brand. While the boards offer some overclocking features, they are not really geared towards overclockers.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_775_880pro_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_775_880pro.jpg)
The 775Dual 880-Pro uses VIA's PT880 chipset:
Support for Pentium 4 LGA Socket 775
1066 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR400 and Dual Channel DDR2 667 Support - only one at the same time
1x AGP, 1x PCI-Express x16, 3x PCI, Both video cards can be used at the same time
2x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_880pro_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_880pro.jpg)
ASRock's P4Dual 880-Pro uses VIA's PT880 chipset as well:
Support for Pentium 4 Socket 478
800 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR400 Support
1x AGP, 1x PCI-Express x16, 3x PCI, Both video cards can be used at the same time
2x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_939vm890_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_939vm890.jpg)
Using the VIA K8M890 chipset, the 939VM890 offers following features:
Socket 939 for AMD Athlon 64
Support for Dual Channel DDR400
S3 DeltaChrome Video Adapter integrated in VIA chipset
1x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 2x PCI
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
2x SATA RAID
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_k8upgrade_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/asrock_k8upgrade.jpg)
The K8Upgrade-VM800 has following features, using VIA's K8M800 chipset:
Socket 754 for AMD Athlon 64
800 MHz HTT
Support for DDR400 memory
UniChrome Pro 3D Video Adapter integrated in VIA chipset
1x AGP 8x, 2x PCI
5.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
2x SATA RAID
The most notable feature of this board is that a seperately sold CPU slot card allows you to use this board together with a S939 CPU. The adapter goes in the yellow slot.
[page=DFI]
DFI
DFI will show their ATI AMD64 board at Computex Taiwan. The nForce4 for Intel board is ready but was not displayed at Cebit.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_nfx_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_nfx.jpg) http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/nf5_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/nf5.jpg)
Using NVIDIA's first Intel Chipset, the LanParty NFX SLI-T2R has those features:
Support for Intel LGA Socket 775 CPU
Support for Dual Channel DDR2 667
FSB 1066 MHz
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 2x PCI
8x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
2x 1394, 10x USB 2.0
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_925xt2_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_925xt2.jpg)
The DFI 925X-T2 is based on Intel's i925X chipset:
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA 775
Support for DDR400
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
2x 1394, 8x USB 2.0
I like the placement of the third PCI-Express x1 connector in the bottom left corner of the board.
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_utnf4ud_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/dfi_utnf4ud.jpg)
The DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D uses the nForce4 Ultra Chipset:
AMD Socket 939 CPU
1000 MHz HTT
Support for Dual Channel DDR400
2x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
8x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
2x 1394, 10x USB 2.0
[page=MSI]
MSI
MSI does not have a 512MB 6800U design yet, but their "engineers are working on it. Maybe at Computex".
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_p4n_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_p4n.jpg)
The MSI P4N Diamond is MSI's first board using NVIDIA's nForce4 for Intel chipset:
Socket LGA 775 for Pentium 4
1066 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR2 667 Support
2x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 2x PCI
6x SATA RAID
Soundblaster Live! 24-bit Audio
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_955x_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_955x.jpg)
The 955X Diamond is equipped with Intel's latest i955X chipset:
Support for Intel Pentium 4 LGA 775
1066 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR2 667 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 2x PCI-E X1, 3x PCI
Dual Gigabit Ethernet
6x Serial ATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio Soundblaster Live! 24bit
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_915gmb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_915gmb.jpg)
The BTX-Form Factor 915 GMB is using Intel's i915G chipset:
CPU Support for Pentium 4 LGA 775
800 MHz FSB
Dual Channel DDR2 533 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
7.1 Channel Audio
10/100 MBit Ethernet
I talked to many people at Cebit about the current state of BTX and its future.
Basically nobody is selling any products in high numbers yet, but everybody has one or two products, mainly for PR.
All motherboard manufacturers say the case manufacturers are very slow in putting out cases which support BTX. The case manufacturers say they "live off volume production" and will not really bother with it until they see some serious demand from the end user side.
Also there are some uncertainties, because Intel might change a few things around and has not really been pushing it in the last year.
When asked, when we will see BTX sales grow, the answers ranged from "never", over "christmas" to "mid 2006".
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_k8nmb_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_k8nmb.jpg)
MSI's MicroBTX K8NMB uses NVIDIA's nForce4 Ultra Chipset with following features:
Socket 939 for AMD64
2000 MHz HTT
Dual Channel DDR400 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
5.1 Channel ADI SoundMax
Gigabit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_rx480_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_rx480.jpg)
Last but certainly not least is the RX480 Neo which uses ATI's XPRESS 200P chipset (and also the ATI Southbridge - many manufacturers use ULI here).
Socket 754 for AMD Athlon 64
1600 MHz HTT
DDR 400 Support
1x PCI-E x16, 1x PCI-E x1, 3x PCI
4x SATA RAID
5.1 Channel Audio
Gigabit Ethernet
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_mosfet_small.jpg (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day2/images/msi_mosfet.jpg)
MSI was also showing off their "own development" called PowerCube. These are some MOSFETs which are more stable, especially under high load and have better thermal properties.
Continue to Cebit Day 3 (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Cebit2005/Day3).