Computex 2007: Preview Look at Motherboards and More
by Gary Key on June 5, 2007 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Trade Shows
Flash Storage
Transcend
Transcend is a large manufacturer of memory and storage products that was founded in 1988. Their current product portfolio has grown to include over 2,000 memory modules of every type: flash memory cards, USB pen drives, portable HDDs, multimedia products, graphics cards, and other accessories.
Transcend has provided us with a sample of their latest 2.5" Solid State Disk (SSD) that features a 16GB capacity and 44-pin IDE interface and is designed for the industrial or rugged laptop market. This drive features MLC technology but with an improved controller interface that should result in write speeds above 30MB/s and read speeds around 20+MB/s.
Another interesting product we noticed was their new ExpressCard SSD unit that features a USB 2.0 interface, Vista ReadyBoost capability, and capacities up to 32GB. Expect to see a review of both products shortly - after all, what else is there to do in rainy Taipei at night?
Various
We have already met with most of the major players in the USB flash drive market and although there are not any significant new product introductions coming in the next few weeks, you can expect improved capacities and speed increases later this year. We received over a dozen samples of the latest USB flash drives from a wide variety of suppliers that will be part of our USB flash drive roundup coming later this month.
Motherboards
We will have significant coverage of motherboards products during the course of our Computex reporting as we visit each motherboard manufacturer and discuss product plans for the coming months. The products we are presenting today are a few that caught our eye during our first visits.
ASRock
ASRock is one of our favorite value/budget motherboard manufacturers and they are releasing several boards at Computex this year.
One of their primary Intel board releases will be the ConRoe1333-DVI/H R2.0 and Conroe1333-D667. Both boards feature the new 945GC A2 chipset that brings full 1066FSB and DDR2-667 capability to the venerable 945G chipset. The DVI/H board is the premium board offering a separate DVI-HDCP card for DVI-D graphics output. Both boards are Vista Premium 2007 ready and ASRock guarantees the boards' ability to run up to or slightly exceed the 1333FSB level with most Core 2 Duo processors. However, the boards do not support the quad core processors. Availability should be immediate with pricing staring around the $75 level, although it will vary depending upon the market.
ASRock's latest AM2 offering is based on the new NVIDIA 7050 / nForce 630 combination that offers native DVI with HDCP support. The board supports up to 720p playback through Blu-ray or HD-DVD devices and with the latest PureVideo drivers we have to say the playback capabilities looked impressive when compared directly against the AMD 690G products. This board also features Gigabit LAN through the Realtek RTL8211B and HD Audio utilizing the Realtek ALC888. The board should be available in the next two weeks with pricing to be set shortly.
Transcend
Transcend is a large manufacturer of memory and storage products that was founded in 1988. Their current product portfolio has grown to include over 2,000 memory modules of every type: flash memory cards, USB pen drives, portable HDDs, multimedia products, graphics cards, and other accessories.
Transcend has provided us with a sample of their latest 2.5" Solid State Disk (SSD) that features a 16GB capacity and 44-pin IDE interface and is designed for the industrial or rugged laptop market. This drive features MLC technology but with an improved controller interface that should result in write speeds above 30MB/s and read speeds around 20+MB/s.
Another interesting product we noticed was their new ExpressCard SSD unit that features a USB 2.0 interface, Vista ReadyBoost capability, and capacities up to 32GB. Expect to see a review of both products shortly - after all, what else is there to do in rainy Taipei at night?
Various
We have already met with most of the major players in the USB flash drive market and although there are not any significant new product introductions coming in the next few weeks, you can expect improved capacities and speed increases later this year. We received over a dozen samples of the latest USB flash drives from a wide variety of suppliers that will be part of our USB flash drive roundup coming later this month.
Motherboards
We will have significant coverage of motherboards products during the course of our Computex reporting as we visit each motherboard manufacturer and discuss product plans for the coming months. The products we are presenting today are a few that caught our eye during our first visits.
ASRock
ASRock is one of our favorite value/budget motherboard manufacturers and they are releasing several boards at Computex this year.
One of their primary Intel board releases will be the ConRoe1333-DVI/H R2.0 and Conroe1333-D667. Both boards feature the new 945GC A2 chipset that brings full 1066FSB and DDR2-667 capability to the venerable 945G chipset. The DVI/H board is the premium board offering a separate DVI-HDCP card for DVI-D graphics output. Both boards are Vista Premium 2007 ready and ASRock guarantees the boards' ability to run up to or slightly exceed the 1333FSB level with most Core 2 Duo processors. However, the boards do not support the quad core processors. Availability should be immediate with pricing staring around the $75 level, although it will vary depending upon the market.
ASRock's latest AM2 offering is based on the new NVIDIA 7050 / nForce 630 combination that offers native DVI with HDCP support. The board supports up to 720p playback through Blu-ray or HD-DVD devices and with the latest PureVideo drivers we have to say the playback capabilities looked impressive when compared directly against the AMD 690G products. This board also features Gigabit LAN through the Realtek RTL8211B and HD Audio utilizing the Realtek ALC888. The board should be available in the next two weeks with pricing to be set shortly.
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Gary Key - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
There are early chips avaiable for the limited benchmark sessions. These chips were running at 1.6GHz and 2.0GHz. My sources are still holding true to a very limited release schedule in Q3 with production not ramping up until early Q4. I will tell you right now, until AMD gets the speeds up to at least 2.3GHz, the numbers I have seen in private are not that exciting. This chip really comes alive around 2.6GHz. The last stepping would not even post in several boards, we had a look at new steppings that just arrived in our private meetings. We understand there is still another spin to come this month. I am not being anti-AMD here, just reporting what we have been told by sources inside and outside of AMD. We want them to do well with the K10 series, the market needs them to do well.lopri - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
3 articles at a time? OK, maybe in 2~3 hours. What hours? 3~5 AM. Don't you guys want to raise the pageviews? Then what's the hurry? While everyone's sleeping?I am not finished yet. ;)
Chunga29 - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
Don't know where you've been, but I read the AMD piece over 24 hours ago, and right as I finished it the cooler article went up. Why don't you look at the actual comment times before making yourself look like an ignorant dweeb? Let me help out:AMD: 1st comment at Jun 4, 2007 1:09 AM
HSF: 1st comment at Jun 4, 2007 5:19 AM
Computex: 1st comment at Jun 5, 2007 3:29 AM
So there's at least a one day gap. Given the first and third are relatively short, and the other is a cooler review (i.e. 80% repeat text - just look at the graphs, read the intro and conclusion if you want), I'd like more content. But I do see that you've commented on all three now and basically said the content sucks, Anandtech sold out, etc. Why bother to come and comment if all you have is negativity?
Ahhh... back to work. Another boring day in the datacenter.
nicolasb - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
Is that definitely confirmed? This is a matter of some importance to me, because I'm on the verge of putting together a new system. I think I can wait till late July, but not till late September. Cheaper quad-core processors in July by themselves have me agonising about whether to buy now or wait 8 weeks, but if cheaper Core 2 Quad processors and X38 motherboards will be available in July, that's reason enough to hold off.
defter - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
Yes, prices will decrease at 22th of July: http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=789466">http://www.hkepc.com/bbs/itnews.php?tid=789466If you want a cheap quad core, then cheapest Xeon 3xxx quad core will cost even less, about $224. However it will run at a lower clockspeed (2.16GHz instead of 2.4GHz for Q6600).
nicolasb - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
I know that, any idiot knows that. :) What's much more interesting is the claim that X38 motherboards will be launched at the same time. Has that definitely been confirmed?Gary Key - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
The boards will be ready from several suppliers in late July, but it appears after some conversations today that Intel wants to hold the release date to August, why, who the hell knows...
lopri - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
Promptly after the Derek's incredibly hostile AMD article was replaced by Westley's HSF review, which also reads highly subjective and provocative. Now to clean up the mess, Gary had to come all the way from Taiwan to the States. (didn't read Gary's piece yet, though)I don't know what's going on with AT as of late??
Gary Key - Thursday, June 7, 2007 - link
Man, you must have had a bad day. :) I need to send you a magnet from Taiwan.DigitalFreak - Tuesday, June 5, 2007 - link
STFU