Computex 2004 Early Bird Coverage: NV45 in the Flesh, New Chipsets, BTX Boards and more...
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 31, 2004 12:31 PM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
We've seen numerous 915 and 925X designs during our pre show coverage already, so let's just start flipping through them.
PCI Express slots are quite common on these motherboards as can be seen on this Gigabyte board with three x1 and one x16 slot:
Gigabyte also had a number of boards that offered both DDR and DDR2 support on the same board:
As you can see from the picture above, the yellow slots are DDR2 slots and the orange/blue slots are DDR slots.
Gigabyte continued their push for manufacturing flexibility with this Intel based board that has both an AGP slot and a PCI Express x16 slot:
What's interesting about this solution is that it is an Intel chipset but with both PCI Express x16 and AGP 8X slots on board, something that was supposedly not possible with Intel chipsets. It may be that Intel rethought their PCI Express transition strategy and decided to include AGP support on their chipsets, we will find out more asap. Update 6/4/04: We've discovered the real story behind this motherboard - read our new article on the topic - AGP on Intel 9xx Chipsets? We explain how.
Foxconn, a manufacturer who produces boards for Gigabyte and now for themselves, also had a number of 9xx based motherboards on display:
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SKiller - Tuesday, June 1, 2004 - link
#13Except that BTX boards wouldn't fit in an ATX case even if they were on the "right" side. The connector layout and a number of other things are different. I think this may in fact help avoid confusion as you'll instantly be able to tell the difference.
Bozo Galora - Tuesday, June 1, 2004 - link
Good article, scooped everyone else, you rascal you.
jliechty - Tuesday, June 1, 2004 - link
#17 - that's a feature of some Gigabyte motherboards. The second ("dual") BIOS chip is a backup in case the first one is damaged by a failed flashing attempt or a virus.#15, #19 - Those things have me interested also. Can't wait to find out what they're there for. :-)
Khronus - Monday, May 31, 2004 - link
As for the NV45 only requiring 1 power connector, that's simply because PCI-X allows for more power to be drawn over the bus than AGP does.jcastro - Monday, May 31, 2004 - link
What are those golden fingers on the SiS motherboard solutions for? My initial thoughts were that you could plug these mobos into some expansion slot, but that would be unrealistic now wouldn't it? But how awesome would that be? If you haven't noticed them before they are on the top left of the first picture and at the bottom left on the second picture, just right beside the PCI 32-bit slots. Someone tell me what's up with this? Thanks. - Johnshabby - Monday, May 31, 2004 - link
So the nv40 refresh gets a 50mhz faster clock? Pffft.jsco - Monday, May 31, 2004 - link
on the "intel's 9xx chipsets in the flesh" page in the first picture:there are two bios chips, and one of them is labeled dual bios. what is a dual bios?
what is connected to the green slot and has a heat pipe connected to it?
Monkeyboy0076 - Monday, May 31, 2004 - link
I was kinda disappointed to see the moldy old parallel connector still on these new motherboards. I haven't used one of those for over 2 years, and I'm glad for it. I really wouldn't mind getting that large pink connector off of my motherboardnitromullet - Monday, May 31, 2004 - link
In the top picture of the NV45, what is the connector directly above the heat sink fan?Pumpkinierre - Monday, May 31, 2004 - link
Just favours left handers with case windows. I pity those mobo makers. With all the different sockets, DRAM types, PCI-E/AGPs and peripherals, its a wonder they are not all getting treated for schizophrenia!