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mobo posts

ASUS changes course, unveils 'first' USB 3.0 / SATA 6Gbps motherboards

by Darren Murph posted Oct 28th 2009 at 12:46PM

Can it be? Has the same company that dashed dreams by axing its USB 3.0-laden P6X58 motherboard back in July really just revived our hope in humanity? Out of nowhere, ASUS has just unveiled the first range of motherboards to support USB 3.0 and the newest SATA specifications, the latter of which brings along 6Gbps data throughput. The one-two punch belongs to the Xtreme Design P7P55D-E series of mainboards, which support the latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Sadly, just two USB 3.0 ports are onboard, while a total of ten dedicated USB 2.0 sockets are scattered about. Feel free to pore over the detailed specs in the release past the break, and get ready to find the P7P55D-E Premium mobo ($299) and U3S6 expansion card ($29) at retailers next month.

Continue reading ASUS changes course, unveils 'first' USB 3.0 / SATA 6Gbps motherboards

Video: DFI hybrid motherboard runs two whole systems... simultaneously!

by Darren Murph posted Sep 18th 2009 at 4:07PM

These days, the word "hybrid" gets tossed around like a rag doll. We've got hybrid cars, hybrid SLI and hybrid image stabilization -- and that's just for starters. But friends, this hybrid is one worth paying attention to. DFI has been working overtime in order to concoct the next great mainboard, and if this thing can really deliver as advertised, we'd say the gurus responsible for it will succeed greatly. The Hybrid P45-ION-T2A2 motherboard can actually house a complete Atom / Ion-based system on one side, while handling a traditional Socket 775 CPU system on the other. In other words, this single motherboard can power -- let's say -- a low-power server system and your next gaming setup. At the same time! We're still waiting on a firm release date and price, but 'til then, hop on past the break for a swell demonstration vid.

Continue reading Video: DFI hybrid motherboard runs two whole systems... simultaneously!

AMD's integrated 785G graphics platform review roundup

by Darren Murph posted Aug 4th 2009 at 5:29AM

It's mildly hard to believe that AMD's DirectX 10-compatible 780 Series motherboard GPU was introduced well over a year ago now, but the long awaited successor has finally landed. This fine morning, a gaggle of hardware sites around the web have taken a look at a number of AMD 785G-equipped mainboards, all of which boast integrated Radeon HD 4200 GPUs, support for AMD's AM3 processors and a price point that's downright delectable (most boards are sub-$100). Without getting into too much detail here in this space, the general consensus seems to be that the new platform is definitely appreciated, but hardly revolutionary. It fails to destroy marks set by the 780G, and it couldn't easily put NVIDIA's GeForce 9300 to shame. What it can do, however, is provide better-than-average HD playback, making it a prime candidate for basic desktop users and even HTPC builders. For the full gamut of opinions, grab your favorite cup of joe and get to clickin' below.

Read - HotHardware review
Read - The Tech Report review
Read - Tom's Hardware review
Read - PC Perpective review
Read - Hardware Zone review
Read - Hexus review

Continue reading AMD's integrated 785G graphics platform review roundup

ASUS kills USB 3.0-laden P6X58 motherboard for reasons unknown

by Darren Murph posted Jul 30th 2009 at 6:26AM

Such a shame, no? As has become all too common in the uncertain world known as ASUS' R&D lab, it looks as if yet another promising product has been canned before it ever had a chance to truly live. After the aforementioned company's P6X58 Premium motherboard set the world ablaze just over a week ago, primarily due to the USB 3.0 sockets shown there on the left, the mainboard has reportedly been canceled for reasons unknown. According to a report over at The Inquirer, an ASUS spokesperson claimed that the mobo had been shelved "not for any particularly interesting reasons," leaving us to wonder when we'll ever see a motherboard equipped with that so-called SuperSpeed magic. Our true emotions are captured nicely in the video just past the break.

[Via HotHardware]

Continue reading ASUS kills USB 3.0-laden P6X58 motherboard for reasons unknown

ASUS P6X58 Premium motherboard arrives complete with USB 3.0 ports

by Donald Melanson posted Jul 20th 2009 at 6:03PM

We've seen cables, controllers, drivers and years of promises, and it looks like we now finally have some pictures of the first official USB 3.0 motherboard out in the wild. That milestone comes courtesy of ASUS, which looks to have gone all out (or as far out as motherboards can go) with its new P6X58 Premium model. As you can see above, it packs a pair of easily identifiable USB 3.0 ports and three standard USB 2.0 ports, along with accommodations for a Core i7 processor, six DDR3 memory slots, three PCI-Express 2.0 slots, and plenty of other standard fare. Still no word on a price or release date, unfortunately, and the folks at Xfastest unsurprisingly weren't able to provide any benchmarks or the like, considering that there isn't much in the way of actual USB 3.0 gear to test it with just yet.

[Via Everything USB]

Zotac Ion-based IONITX-A SFF motherboard review roundup

by Darren Murph posted May 13th 2009 at 8:57AM

Jonesing for a new small form factor PC, are you? Not so keen on selecting a pre-fabricated unit? If you definitely fit the bill here, it's worth taking a gander at Zotac's recently released IONITX-A motherboard. As the first of its breed to actually ship, a whole lot is riding on its solder points, and according to reviews found 'round the web, it's done a satisfactory job of living up to expectations. The test bench-abusin' kids over at Hot Hardware found that Zotac's board (and the included dual-core Atom 330 CPU) performed "as expected," notching results that were "significantly better than any of the single core Atom 230-based systems." The unique DC power input was also lauded, and the silent nature made this a perfect candidate for a low-power, highly-capable carputer building block. All in all, this here mobo won't transform your life, but it's certainly a welcome extra in the all-too-stale DIY SFF market. Check the links below for all the bar charts you can handle.

Read - Hot Hardware ("most appealing of the Ion-based products")
Read - PC Perspective ("an impressive motherboard for its size")
Read - The Tech Report ("as good as the Ion platform gets")
Read - Tom's Hardware ("it's most promising destination is in the HTPC space")

Zotac jumping in Ion-filled waters with new Mini-ITX motherboards

by Darren Murph posted Apr 21st 2009 at 9:53AM

We'd heard a few whispers rolling through the gentle breeze that Zotac would be hopping on the Ion bandwagon early on, and sure enough, it looks like said firm is indeed latched on. Reportedly, the outfit will be producing a few Mini-ITX motherboards in the near future that support Intel's Atom 230 / 330 processors and come loaded with NVIDIA's GeForce 9400M G chipsets. The mobos would also include all of the basic amenities: Ethernet, two RAM slots, HDMI / DVI / VGA outputs, a trio of SATA ports and a WiFi module. There's still no word on what system maker is looking to slap these into their next-generation nettops, but who knows, maybe this will end up being the first standalone Ion-based board for the DIYers in attendance.

[Via Expreview, thanks Shawn]

Video: Via announces Surfboard netbook with 1080p graphics

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Mar 19th 2009 at 1:29PM

Via Technologies has announced its new Surfboard C855 mainboard reference design directed at the netbook market. This guy is built around the company's new VX855 chipset and promises 1080p Full HD video playback, 8-channel HD audio, hardware decoding for H.264, MPEG-2/4, VC-1 and WMV9, and support for Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS and 3G connectivity. According to the company, the thing will play HD video with under 40 percent CPU use, supporting up to 1366 x 768 internal display resolution (1920 x 1440 external). What do you think? Are you a would-be netbook developer looking for "a complete, ready-to-build solution," that offers "a superior multimedia entertainment experience?" Be sure to check out that video after the break.

Continue reading Video: Via announces Surfboard netbook with 1080p graphics

GIGABYTE BIOS hack subverts NVIDIA SLI certification, sticks it to the man

by Tim Stevens posted Mar 19th 2009 at 8:38AM

When NVIDIA announced support for SLI on motherboards sporting Intel's X58 chipset, there was something of a hidden catch -- manufacturers needed to pay to become "certified." Yes, you might have thought all you needed was a pair of parallel PCI-E slots and couple of matching video cards to get your SLI on, but non-certified boards find themselves shunned by NVIDIA graphics hardware. However, where there's a will there's usually a way, and for at least one of those woefully illegitimate mobos there's a workaround. GIGABYTE didn't bother to get certification for its EX58-UD4 motherboard, but it did for the EX58-UD4P, and it turns out the same BIOS works on both. Naturally it takes a little extra work to get the wrong version up in the right EEPROM, but the read link has all the details you need to re-flash with finesse.

MSI Winki eyes-on: it's an instant-on OS, but for desktops

by Darren Murph posted Mar 4th 2009 at 1:39PM

MSI did a laudatory job this morning baffling us with its Winki release, but we managed to find an exceptionally kind, English-speaking representative at its CeBIT booth today who broke it down for us. In short, Winki is MSI's new instant-on operating system. It's Linux-based, and looks a heck of a lot more elaborate than the HyperSpace instant-on OS that we toyed with in January. The kicker is that at least for now, this thing is only for desktops, as it's actually built into a small module (shown above) that plugs directly into an MSI motherboard. At first, only select mainboards will come bundled with Winki, but it just might roll out across MSI's entire mobo line. The dame we spoke with wouldn't divulge any details on whether this OS would ever come to its wide-ranging laptop line, but we suspect it will in due time. Winki provides easy access to IM services, Skype and the internet, which is a shortcut to Doom away from being all the true gamer needs in life, anyway.

Gallery: MSI Winki hands-on: it's an instant-on OS, but for desktops

ASUS Marine Cool concept motherboard hands-off

by Darren Murph posted Mar 3rd 2009 at 4:47AM

We saw the first motherboard we'd actually consider buying a clear case for earlier this week when ASUS announced its new Marine Cool concept mobo, so we couldn't resist the urge to swing by and grab a few snaps of it here at CeBIT. Unfortunately, the board was sitting behind 3-inches of bulletproof glass, but that didn't stop our lens from getting as close as possible. We'll be frank -- this thing looks even better in person, and it just might be the catalyst the mobo world needed to start caring about design.

Gallery: Hands-off with ASUS Marine Cool concept motherboard

ASUS to showcase Marine Cool concept motherboard at CeBIT

by Darren Murph posted Mar 2nd 2009 at 2:11AM

Check it, OC'ing freaks -- ASUS is apparently planning to debut a new concept motherboard at CeBIT, the aptly titled Marine Cool. The high-end mobo is said to be "unlike any other motherboard on the market," with the all new backplate being the showstopping feature. It's said that the backplate features a "micro-porous ceramic" technology, which delivers quicker heat dissipation than existing alternatives. If you're still scratching your head in a seemingly futile attempt to figure out why this matters, the new cooling tech should allow for components to handle even more extreme overclocking without having to hook up some sort of liquid nitrogen rig. One curious aspect was the decision to include dual SO-DIMM slots in place of traditional desktop-grade DIMM slots, though we don't suspect that'll be a deal breaker for those willing to accept sacrifices for maximum cooling. As is always the case with ASUS, there's no indication of a price or eventual commercialization date, but hopefully we'll get more from the show floor in Hannover.

[Via HotHardware, thanks JC]

Gallery: ASUS to showcase Marine Cool concept motherboard at CeBIT

Intel's Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 overclocked to 5.5GHz

by Darren Murph posted Dec 3rd 2008 at 8:59AM

Right, so Intel's 3.73GHz Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 is fast enough for the vast majority of PC users across the globe, but not for Japanese overclocking enthusiast duck. Oh no -- duck decided to pair the chip up with ASUS' ROG Rampage II Extreme motherboard, which facilitates hardware-based OC'ing, in order to reach a top speed of 5510.09MHz. The point of the exercise? Just to say he could, not to mention set the bar for OC Team Italy to try and demolish.

Gigabyte shows off robust Core i7 prototype motherboard

by Darren Murph posted Aug 27th 2008 at 8:48AM

Surely you've been wondering what types of motherboards would be surfacing to support Intel's Core i7, no? Regardless of your answer, we're pretty sure the gamers and performance mavens in the house will appreciate Gigabyte's latest effort. The prototype mobo, coined Extreme Edition, was recently displayed at NVIDIA's NVISION 08 expo, and if the final version is anything like this, we'd say some records are in real danger of being obliterated. The unit was said to be based on the X58 chipset and provide support for up to six graphics cards, 24GB of DDR3-1333 RAM (or 6GB of DDR3-1900/2000 using overclocked 2GB DIMMs) and a separated 12-phase power supply for the CPU. Interested yet?

Popcorn Hour's A-110 HD media streamer / B-110 motherboard reviewed

by Darren Murph posted Aug 18th 2008 at 12:17PM

If you've been putting off that purchase of Popcorn Hour's evolutionary A-110 HD media streamer or all new B-110 motherboard, here's a decent compilation of facts and opinions to help you make up your mind once and for all. The cats over at DigitalReviews took the time to not only detail, test out and report back on the newest duo from the company, but it also revisited the original (and heralded) A-100 in order to give a better comparison. Overall, critics did tend to prefer the A-110 over its predecessor, but the minor list of changes made it a hard sell for folks teetering on upgrading. The B-110 was seen as an even tougher sell, with only the hardcore DIY crowd likely to even find it worth investigating. Nevertheless, we won't spoil the rest for you -- head on down to have a look for yourself.

[Thanks, Anton]