ASUS had a fairly big showing here at
Computex, and while mobile computing was obviously the highlight of the show, the desktop gamers were thrown a bone with this gem. Dubbed Immensity, this concept X58 mainboard has plenty of room for an ultra-speedy
Core i7 processor, but what makes this one unique is the built-in GPU. Nah, it's not some lame-o integrated chip that chokes up when playing back 480p versions of last night's
Glee -- it's a full-fledged
ATI Radeon HD 5770. Thankfully for you, that's not where the fun ends. There's also an
integrated Lucid Hydra chip fused onto the PCB, which means that you're free to slap another pair of PCIe-based GPUs in and get a three-way CrossFireX setup going. Representatives at the booth were fairly confident that the concept would turn commercial by the end of this year (or early 2011 at worst), though they're still trying to hammer down what exactly the final GPU will be. We're sure there's a good bit of "dealing with thermals" going on in the labs, but here's hoping ASUS really can pull this off and change the way we think about IGPs. Have a look at the monster below, and try your best to not get those hopes
too high.
posted June 5th 2010 12:01PM
That is pretty darn awesome. The 5770 is a great GPU!
@Glitch
Yes and Mobility Radeon 5870 is roughly on par with the desktop Radeon HD 5770.
that's a super HOT motherboard!
@Glitch
zut zut zut
@Glitch
Better yet is how the Lucid chip will allow it to work alongside any extra GPU you put in there!
@Glitch
Let's not defeat the purpose. People buy motherboards so that they can build their own unique systems and have REPLACEABLE parts such as graphics cards, memory, and processors. Why buy a motherboard with a video card that is presumably non-replaceable. I know there are slots for other video cards.
@j3oomerang The only advantage I could think of would be in SFF builds where even one extra PCI-E slot is a blessing. Otherwise your just limiting your self as (I'm guessing) what ever cards you run along side this will have to down clock themselves for CF to work.
@j3oomerang Long as the cost isn't prohibitive I don't see it as a huge problem. In the future you can upgrade with the spare slots, and if resell value of the 5770 has tanked by then you don't really lose anything.
@Glitch
Yes! 5770 is probably one of the best bang for buck boards out there...
...Holy crap that board is full of so much win. Hopefully the price will be right.
@Glitch Holy crap, I just bought one of these for my desktop, now I feel inadequate. This is pretty interesting actually; if you can throw in two more and do three way crossfire I bet it would last many years.
what's the advantage over a normal GPU?
@oldpass56
It doesn't take up a PCI-e slot. Also, it might end up cheaper than a dedicated card (although that may be wishful thinking).
Might also make way for some interesting low profile PCs!
@oldpass56 Lots of motherboards have low-end integrated GPUs. The difference here is that the 5770 is a mid/high-end GPU. Prior to this, no high-end GPU could be integrated due to massive heat issues.
@oldpass56 Gaming,big time.
This is a very powerful GPU that will smash the IGP record from the Ati 3300 that scored 3000 on 3Dmark06 to maybe 17,000.
@oldpass56 more room for additional GPU
@Glitch I love learning on engadget..
tahh
@oldpass56
I guess an advantage for ATI is that the user is locked into buying more ATI 5770's if they want crossfire, rather than a consumer getting 480's (for example) instead.
Not 100% sure how it works, but would a user be unable to upgrade past 5770's in the future and need a whole new board?
@PCG
It has a Lucid Hydra chip, you can "crossfire/SLi" any model of GPU regardless of brand. :)
@PCG You've missed the only reason why this board is newsworthy.
Great job
Finally
Why would anyone want this? If you want to upgrade your GPU, you would have to replace both your mobo AND GPU, making a costlier upgrade. CPU's can last about 2-3 generations of GPUs (using oc'd q6600 and 4870x2). Unless there some significant advantage, which I cannot see there being anything, this is just pointless.
@slaydemon
Erm, it has PCI-e slots. You can upgrade by:
1. Putting a better card in the PCI-e slot
2. ???
3. Profit!
Also, it has a Lucid Hydra chip so you still get use from the onboard 5770. Win win.
@Glitch
its not win win because this mobo is going to cost significantly more than a mobo without an advanced GPU, and that GPU is stuck on the mobo...
@slaydemon
It's clearly for a specific market. Many people will find this suitable. Besides, we don't know how much it costs yet.
@Glitch
I'm with you here, this would be nice in a small form factor box, maybe a media center or something I could give my parents for a small PC.
@slaydemon It's not pointless. Look at situation like this: you buy this mobo, you can already play practically all games (maybe not, I'm not a gamer). If you want faster, buy another GPU, put together. Now you have more power. After year or two this setup will be low end. You can sell that one GPU. After that you can buy whatever is most powerful in the market. Or even two.
Nothing changes, except that you have powerful IGP.
@artissco
Why not just buy 2 GPU cards, then I can replace both in the future instead of just one?
I guess the main issue is the price point of the motherboard, but with lucid and mid/high end integrated GPU, I don't see it being anything less than $500.
@slaydemon this Mobo is gonna cost what a similar featured mobo (less the HD 5770) costs + a fraction of an actual HD5770 (which is $130-160).
So yes it's going to be a good deal for :
a) people who look for budget "gaming rig" with potential for upgrades
b) people who want to build a cheap 3way SLI of HD5770.
@Simnol
For low end computers you're better off buying a pre-built box. It's really only cheaper to build your own PC if you're going high end.
Looks nice but where will the heatsink go ?
@fourthletter Yeah, I'm afraid to ask how they intend to cool it.
There's a heatsink in some of the pictures, but it's not attached (no pushpins/screws) and it partially covers one of the RAM slots, so it's clearly just a fake for demo purposes.
The real heatsink is going to have to be a lot bigger.
Um how is the heatsink gonna fit in this?
seems like when the GPU will have a heatsink on it, it'll block the top PCIe port
@ThomasBags
oh wait I see now, took a look at some of the other pics
I guess it would still fit fine
Shame were all getting so excited about this, it should have been done years ago!
Ok this looks pretty sweet. If I understand correctly though, that means you would have to have a high amount of ram, considering it's just a GPU? Understandable as 8 GB ram shouldn't be too hard to acquire now a days.
Or is it "it's a full-fledged ATI Radeon HD 5770" ram and all?
Forget the integrated 5770, that is one sexy mobo.
I wonder how much use one can get out of that 5770 if you already have say a 5850 installed in the PCI-e slot? It might be worth it if it eeked out another 10-20% fps over a stock 5850 only.
yes, nice; a 5770 on the board.
but what this board lacks are integrated USB 3.0 headers.
again, it just has these two prissy USB 3.0 ports on the back panel and how am i going to connect my Cooler Master HAF X, which packs 2 USB 3.0 ports on the front I/O panel.
i get two cables to go around the back of the motherboard in the case, and have to plug them into the ports on the back panel.
can you believe that?
Asus, i would like integrated headers on the board please and i would like 4 of them.
It's a lot better than my old VooDoo 2 integrated mobo...
But way back when I was in charge, playing Doom like it was nothin'!
Wow, that's a hell of an Integrated chip. And I'm SOOOO glad other board manufacturers besides MSI are using the Lucid Hydra chip. I've never liked MSI motherboards. Asus MOBOs always served me well.
@Prevacator
Also, I wonder what those PCI-e slots are running at. There's only two of them, and despite the fact that it's Integrated into the Motherboard, the 5770 still clearly uses up PCI-e lanes. Are both oft those slots running at x16, or are they running at both x8? Perhaps one is at x16 and the other is at x8?
It's definitely not two PCI-e x16 lanes for those two slots. There's not enough PCI-e lanes for a single i7. They only have 32 PCI-e lanes.
Holy shit!
Ditch the i7, throw in the AMD and then we can talk...
That would be an awesome HTPC (with some gaming prowess, think Xbox 360 controller)
@coolicer
No AMD processor has enough PCI lanes without crippling the performance you fool.
@coolicer Seriously. Phenom II Black support? That would mean all I needed was this motherboard and not a new processor and everything as well.
I'm using a CrossfireX set-up right now with a very weak IG (4300HD) and the 5850HD. It works wonders on crysis (50+fps) the only thing it is lacking is socket AM3+ (I bought this with an old phenom in '08. DDR2 ram is fine and all but I would like the option for USB 3.0 and DDR3 ram in the future without having to get a new proc. Phenom II is a pretty ingenious chip, it's everything I could ask for.
@VLangs
Yeah Upgraded my CPU, Mobo, GPU, Memory, HD (2x WD Black Caviar sata 6 in raid 0, no SSD speeds, but not TOO far from it)
But I've been reading about CrossfireX and it turns out that it was intended to combine IGP with budget GPUs, check your benchmarks without crossfire on just the 5850 (I have an m4a89GTD and an 5770 gpu, the CrossfireX didn't do much good to my performance)
And @ Provac, My main point was that having a 5770 integrated along with a Am3 socket support would give you a pretty neat mobo for a gaming ready htpc along with a great price-performance :)
@Prevacator
Your totally wrong. All 790FX and 890FX chipset boards can support two pci-e sockets both running at x16 regardless of the processor.
What ever happened to ASUS netbooks? I guess they have moved on to greener pastures.
Seriously, No PCI slots ?
Question: Where does the HSF go?