NEW CONTENT (Motherboards) - BIOSTAR TPower N750 AM2+ Motherboard

QUOTE: “BIOSTAR has a range of Intel and AMD boards catering to budget to mainstream users and today we have been sent a mid-range AMD motherboard designed for the Phenom range of processors, this based on the NVIDIA nForce 750a chipset. Let’s see how the 750a compares to the AMD 780G.

Today’s tests involve the nForce 750a based BIOSTAR motherboard along with our resident AMD 780G motherboard from ASUS. We will be testing out the system using the IGP and discrete graphics in both stock and overclocked configurations to see just how well the systems compare.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1622/biostar_tpower_n750_am2_motherboard/index.html

Best Regards,

The TweakTown Team
http://www.tweaktown.com

NEW CONTENT (Motherboards) - J&W X48D2-EXTREME Motherboard

QUOTE: “Today we have our very first J&W motherboard based around the Intel X48 chipset. No big surprise here on the choice of chipset due to its maturity and presence as an enthusiast oriented piece of kit. But how well does it compare to the likes of the even newer P45 based offerings? Let’s find out.

Todays testing consists of the GIGABYTE EP45 Extreme and the ASUS P5Q motherboards which are based on the P45 chipset. Unfortunately we didn’t have any X48 DDR2 boards on hand to do tests with. However, looking at how well J&W have put this board together, we decided to see just how well the board can go against the new contender chipset, which is where J&W is aiming this board; a cheaper X48 with all the goodies.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1615/j_w_x48d2_extreme_motherboard/index.html

Best Regards,

The TweakTown Team
http://www.tweaktown.com

Title: Intel Desktop Board DG45ID @ Techgage

Link: http://techgage.com/article/intel_desktop_board_dg45id/

Quote: We’re taking a look at Intel’s first attempt at a full-featured media center motherboard, the DG45ID. It’s also our first look at their new G45 Express chipset, which promises to finally bring DX 10 support and hardware-accelerated HD video playback to their integrated graphics offerings. Can the DG45ID prove itself a worthy choice for your HTPC?

Digit-Life Review #1: NVIDIA Quadro FX vs. Intel Core 2 in SPECviewperf 10

Excerpt:
“Needless to say, a balanced approach to building a computer is even more rewarding in the professional area. Generalization is hardly appropriate here, as it all depends on your tasks. Still, if we speak of popular modeling and design applications, it becomes easier because there are industry-recognized tools for benchmarking such applications. SPECviewperf 10 is one of them.”

Article: http://www.digit-life.com/articles3/3d-profcard/quadro-vs-core-p1.html

Digit-Life Review #2: Biostar TPower I45 Motherboard

Excerpt:
“This Biostar product starts a new series of TPower motherboards for Intel processors — the next step in the evolution of the Mid-End T-Series. The manufacturer highlights the following features: stability, high performance (doubtful though), excellent overclocking capacity.”

Article: http://www.digit-life.com/articles3/mainboard/biostar-tpower-i45-i45p-p1.html

TechwareLabs has published a review on the Abit IX38 Quad GT Motherboard. Here’s a clip from the review:

Quote: Today we take a test drive on the IX38 Quad GT which sports a surprising number of features and expandability. We fire up the IX38 which gets the Quad inits name from its 4 video card slots. Find out why we feel this may be the best board for your hard earned cash.

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/motherboard/IX38-Quad-GT/

Title: Abit IX38 Quad GT Motherboard  @ TechwareLabs

NEW CONTENT (News) - Examining GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 3 mobo tech – exclusive look

QUOTE: “Tonight GIGABYTE is formerly taking the covers off its Ultra Durable 3 (UD3) motherboard technology here in Taipei at the famous Taipei 101 building, to a mass of international press and overclockers, who are in town for the 2008 GO OC overclocking event. Yesterday TweakTown was exclusively invited to the GIGABYTE HQ to get a closer hands-on look at what UD3 is all about and well ahead of the rest of the media crowd who are gathered here.

Ultra Durable 3 goes one step further again on improving GIGABYTE’s line of motherboards by introducing the use of even better Japanese capacitors that are said to last for 50,000 hours (almost 6 years of continuous use) and the big deal of the day, two ounce copper layers to the PCB. All motherboard PCBs have at least one copper layer, but on the vast majority out there, they are usually only one ounce thick. GIGABYTE claim to be the industry’s first consumer desktop motherboard designer to feature two ounces of copper for both power and ground layers.”

For more information, please visit: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/10209/examining_gigabyte_ultra_durable_3_mobo_tech/index.html

Best Regards,

The TweakTown Team
http://www.tweaktown.com

Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 Motherboard Review

Author: Benjamin Sun Date: 09-22-2008

The Gigabyte EP45-DQ6 has all of the features you would want from a motherboard based upon the Intel P45 and more. The board is so feature-laden in fact that I would have to say it’s a bit over the top compared with most of its competition. Having Ten SATA ports, 8 USBs on the rear IO and four Gigabit LANs would make this the most feature-rich P45 I’ve ever seen. The addition of features like DES and the multiple settings in the BIOS make this a serious contender in the marketplace. From a performance point of view the board is right up there with other P45 chipset making this board an Editor’s choice as the features bring it to the next level.

Review Link: http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1817_1.html

NEW CONTENT (News) - GIGABYTE shows us final design X58 Extreme mobo

QUOTE: “Today we got a close up look at the final design that will ship to customers, besides the heatsink cooling setup, which GIGABYTE is still keeping under wraps for the moment - and this one is an actual working live sample. Besides the physical changes to the board layout, on this board and others, GIGABYTE will be introducing “Ultra Durable 3”. GIGABYTE has already tweaked their boards to what we thought was the max and we really thought there wasn’t much more left to improve, but we were wrong.

UD3 adds two 2 ounce copper layers to the 12-layer PCB motherboard – one is a ground layer and the other is a power layer. We got a chance to see the actual copper layers that slot into the regular PCB compared to normal one ounce copper layers, but we are not allowed to show you until the actual launch tomorrow. These thicker copper layers create less resistance (impedance) by up to two times, creating better electrical current flow according to GIGABYTE. In their labs, engineers measured a 50 degree Celsius drop in temperature in the hottest parts of the motherboard (mosfets around the CPU).”

For more information, please visit: http://www.tweaktown.com/news/10195/gigabyte_shows_us_final_design_x58_extreme_mobo/index.html

Best Regards,

The TweakTown Team
http://www.tweaktown.com

InsideHW.com has posted review for Asus M3N78 Pro motherboard. You can read a clip from review:

“It’s been a while since nVIDIA introduced nForce 780a i.e. 750a chipset. These chipsets have GeForce 8200 IGP that offers good IGP performances but still a little bit below those that offer AMD 780G and 790GX chipsets. Also introduced is nForce 730a chipset, as derivative of those and with the same graphics core. nF750a and nF730a are single chip solutions with the difference of nonexistence support for SLi for nF730a, therefore it’s attended for cheaper solutions but with possibility of Hybrid SLi support…”

If you are interested to read some more, we present you link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Motherboards/Asus-M3N78-Pro.html

Title:

Asus M3N78 Pro @ InsideHW

We have just taken a look at ASRock A770 Crossfire motherboard.  While it has two PCIe 16x looking slots, it supports 16x/4x or 8x/8x configurations thanks to a old-school PCIe switch card.  This board comes with basic features such as 8-channel audio and lots of USB2.0 ports, but skimps on firewire and a few other things.  The end result though is a solid board that overclocks very well.  Take a look at our review for all the details.

Title: ASRock A770 Crossfire Motherboard
URL: http://www.bcchardware.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=6156&Itemid=40

Title: ASUS Rampage Extreme @ Techgage.com

Link: http://techgage.com/article/asus_rampage_extreme/

Quote: When the time came to design the Rampage Extreme, ASUS’ R&D went right to town. The X48-based board proves to be the most feature-packed one we’ve ever come across, and also one of the most overclockable. Aside from the robust design, water-cooled Northbridge and LCD Poster, the board even includes overclocking controls right on the PCB.

Gigabyte GC230D Atom Mini-ITX motherboard review

http://www.techspot.com/review/114-gigabyte-gc230d-atom-motherboard/

Out of curiosity, I recently ran some power consumption tests on my own PC, which admittedly uses the latest hardware available in the market. The results were somewhat disturbing, sucking down about 300 watts at idle, and nearly 500 watts when under load. Combined with a 30″ LCD and a number of additional devices attached to it, things start to add up, particularly the power bill.

But what is the best way of going about building a low-powered desktop computer that still has enough guts to get the job done? Enter the Gigabyte GC230D Atom motherboard, measuring just 17 x 17cm (6.7 inches), this tiny board incorporates an Intel Atom 1.6GHz processor and all other basics for less than $100.

You may have heard of the Atom 230 CPU already, built using a 45nm design process, boasting a core area of just 25mm2 and a thermal design process of a mere 4 watts!

TechwareLabs has published a review of the Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe Motherboard. Here’s a clip from the review:

Quote: Today Nitro takes a look at one of the best motherboards on the market for the money, the Asus M3N-HT. Capable of Hybrid SLI and even Triple or Quad SLI, we are curious, is this board the magical wonder that we think it will be? Come with us as we look at the Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe Motherboard.

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/motherboard/Asus_M3N-HT_motherboard/

Title: Asus M3N-HT Deluxe/Mempipe Motherboard @ TechwareLabs

CPU3D Review: DFI LanParty JR 790GX-M2RS Motherboard

NEW CONTENT (Motherboard) - Foxconn Concerto G45 Motherboard Preview

QUOTE: “Foxconn has been one of the biggest surprises of late for us here at TweakTown. A relatively unknown name to us two years go, Foxconn has not only grown to produce a wider range of motherboards, but also to include some rather impressive designs with overclocking feats that can easily take on the big guns.

Intels 4 series chipsets are the big thing right now and every manufacturer has their own niche products coming out with enthusiasts right down to budget users in mind. Foxconn is following suit and today we have been lucky enough to get out hands on a very early beta sample of the Concerto series based on the Intel G45 chipset.”

For more information, please visit - http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1595/foxconn_concerto_g45_motherboard_preview/index.html

Best Regards,

The TweakTown Team
http://www.tweaktown.com

InsideHW.com has posted review for Biostar TP43D2-A7 & TP45D2-A7 motherboards. You can read a clip from review:

“This time we received from Biostar two motherboards that are at first glance identical. Their model names differ in one number and they belong to Biostar T series: TP43D2-A7 and TP45D2-A7. PCB is, as expected for Biostar T series, colored in blue with aluminum heat spreaders on south and north bridge. Layout of both motherboards is, generally speaking, good especially since these are low-cost motherboards. Area around CPU socket is pretty clear, so it won’t be any problems with mounting larger cooling solutions on CPU. Nearby is located 4-pin P4 power connector under which is located 4-Phase power unit…”

If you are interested to read some more, we present you link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Motherboards/Biostar-TP43D2_A7-and-TP45D2_A7.html

Title:

Biostar TP43D2-A7 & TP45D2-A7 @ InsideHW

TechwareLabs has published a review of the Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H Motherboard. Here’s a clip from the review:

Quote: Building a new rig and trying to get the best bang for your buck? Today Jack swoops into the economy performance class and pulls out the Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H Motherboard. For those of you that are looking for something that really performs, but are on a budget, you may want to check this out. Come see what we thought!

LINK: http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/motherboard/Gigabyte_GA_MA78GPM_DS2H/index.shtml

Title: Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H Motherboard  @ TechwareLabs

Title: AMD 780G us nVidia GeForce 8200 Mainboard Review on Technic3D

Link: http://www.technic3d.com/article-676,1-ecs-a780vm-m2-a780gm-m-und-asus-m3n78-emh-hdmi-amd-780g-gegen-nvidia-geforce-8200.htm

Quote: “AMD 780G us nVidia GeForce 8200 chipset. We will check this on the Mainboards ECS A780VM-M2 / A780GM-M and ASUS M3N78-EMH HDMI on Windows and Linux.”

We have a new article online: about the new Foxconn A7DA-S with AMD 790GX chipset.:
http://www.planet3dnow.de/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=347490

If you need a translator for German to English you will find one here:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://www.planet3dnow.de/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=347490

CPU3D Review: ECS A790GXM-A Motherboard

ECS have just released their A790GXM-A Motherboard, which features AMD’s 790GX IGP Northbridge and SB750 Southbridge. It’s aimed at the mainstream market for gamers on a budget.

“…  If you’re after an affordable motherboard for the AM2/AM2+ platform that’s pretty feature-rich, then look no further. It offers decent performance for a mainstream motherboard, at price worth considering. ”

Read the rest of the review … http://www.cpu3d.com/review/5829-1/ecs-a790gxm-a-motherboard/introduction.html

Title: ECS A790GXM-A Black Series Motherboard Review
Link: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/614
Category: Reviews

Summary:
ECS A790GXM-A is a socket AM2+ motherboard with on-board video based on AMD 790GX chipset, featuring dedicated video memory, two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots, HDMI output and more. Check it out.

Here is a snippet:
“ECS A790GXM-A Black Series is a socket AM2+ motherboard based on the latest chipset from AMD, 790GX. Formerly known as RS780D, this chipset provides on-board video using a new graphics engine (Radeon HD 3300) with a dedicated 128 MB GDDR2 on-board memory (feature called “Side Port” by AMD) and also providing two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (running at x8 if both are used at the same time). In this review we will compare the performance of AMD 790GX to AMD 780G and GeForce 8200, and we will also analyze Hybrid CrossFire performance. Check it out.”

Digit-Life Review: Gigabyte MA78GPM-DS2H Motherboard

Excerpt:
“The AMD 780G chipset itself lets motherboard manufacturers stand out even without researching user requirements and competition, because having a remarkable integrated graphics core, this chipset allows to install dedicated video memory, which makes this motherboard an independent graphics device.”

Article: http://www.digit-life.com/articles3/mainboard/gigabyte-ma78gpm-ds2h-780g-p1.html

InsideHW.com has posted review for MSI P45 Platinum motherboard. You can read a clip from review:

“MSI is well known to most of us as motherboard manufacturer or more accurately, MSI is present in that area of IT industry for a long time. Still, company had certain problems in this segment. You must likely imagine that those were some sort of technical problems but truth is that competition started to use better quality BIOS on their motherboards (especially in era of P35 chipset models). We don’t say that MSI didn’t know what’s important to implement into BIOS chip of motherboard. Problem actually reflected in “disobedience” of those options. Frankly, problems were eliminated in later BIOS versions yet impression of incompleteness existed for a while…”

If you are interested to read some more, we present you link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Motherboards/MSI-P45-Platinum.html

TweakPC has posted a new article.

Titel:
abit to quit mainboard market - a retrospection

Teaser:
Today it will be official: abit is going to quit mainboard business. Since we are one of the first cooperating with abit, we’re
doing a short retrospection and present a nice little video of the so called “Softjumpy” - does anyone remember?

Link:
http://www.tweakpc.de/news/14585/kolumne-abits-endgueltiger-ausstieg-aus-dem-mainboard-geschaeft/

Please note the little flag on the site for an automatic translation.

InsideHW.com has posted review for MSI P45 Platinum motherboard. You can read a clip from review:

“MSI is well known to most of us as motherboard manufacturer or more accurately, MSI is present in that area of IT industry for a long time. Still, company had certain problems in this segment. You must likely imagine that those were some sort of technical problems but truth is that competition started to use better quality BIOS on their motherboards (especially in era of P35 chipset models). We don’t say that MSI didn’t know what’s important to implement into BIOS chip of motherboard. Problem actually reflected in “disobedience” of those options. Frankly, problems were eliminated in later BIOS versions yet impression of incompleteness existed for a while…”

If you are interested to read some more, we present you link:

http://www.insidehw.com/Reviews/Motherboards/MSI-P45-Platinum.html