New MotherBoards for Core 2 Duo

New Motherboards for Intel's Core2Duo CPU's (and AMD 65nm)

14/12/06

With Microsoft finally, after many long years of R&D, releasing Windows Vista, Microsoft has stolen the tech headlines for the past week. Now that Windows Vista is out more and more people are looking for to update their hardware so they can actually run Vista.
The good news is that new motherboards are out which will allow us to get a lot more out of  Intel's Core 2 Duo processor family. Better over clocking abilities, and better chipsets. Abit has returned with its AB9 Pro and Asus is releasing RD600, AMD chipset for Intel.

The AB9 Pro supports Intel's legacy Pentium 4, Pentium D, and the newest Core 2 Duo CPUs. The board has a single PCIe x16 slot and is as such not Crossfire or SLi compatible. Memory speeds up to DDR 2 800 are officially supported. Following industry trends the AB9 Pro requires only a few components to operate as a full system. Components needed include a socket LGA775 processor, ATX 2.0 power supply, hard drive, DDR 2 memory and a PCI-Express x16 video card. abit integrated the following components into the AB9 Pro's design: 1 EIDE ATA-133 port; 1 floppy port; 6 SATA 3G ports on the ICH8R south bridge; 2 SATA 3G ports on the JMicron 363 controller; 1 more SATA 3G and 1 eSATA port on the Silicon Image 3132 controller for a total of 10 SATA 3G ports, only one of which is external leaving you 9 on the motherboard for use inside the PC. Additional integrated components are: 10x USB 2.0 capable ports (4 in rear panel, and 3 onboard headers supporting 2 ports each.); 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports on the rear panel; On board 7.1 CH HD Audio CODEC
Supports auto jack sensing and optical S/PDIF Out ports on the back I/O panel and of course, standard PS/2 mouse and keyboard ports.
Main Specifications Overview

You can read the complete review of AB9 Pro here.

As fro ASUS RD600.

... It is a superior chipset for Intel, and a much better overclocker than any of Intel's chipsets.
DFI is committed to make a board and Asus will make one as well as this might be the best overclocking chipset for Core 2 Duo and Quad. Intel won't like it but this AMD-ATI chipset will help the ultimate goal to push Core 2 Duo and Quad as fast as it can.
I am sure ATI's former chipset guys will like what emerges from this chipset and some possible world records they will be able to push.
ATI has a licence to continue making Intel chipsets but the "customers will decide" whether they want to continue to drive on this dangerous road. It would be ironic if an AMD chipset sets the world overclocking record for Intel latest greatest CPUs and this is likely to happen very soon.

Speaking of AMD, AMD is continuing to chase after Intel and have finally switched to 65 nm fabrication process. AMD is claiming that their CPU's are now more efficient then Intel's Core 2 Duo CPU's.

AMD announced its entry into the 65-nm manufacturing generation Tuesday with a new line of 65-watt "energy-efficient" processors that the company claimed already consumes just under 50 percent less power than the Intel Core 2 Duo.
AMD's novel argument provided a backdrop for four new chips - the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+, 4400+, 4800+, and 5000+ - will be sold for the same price as their older counterparts, which were fabricated on the 90-nm process. The Athlon 64 X2 line will receive the 65-nm conversion treatment first, which will be completed by the first quarter of 2007 in its Fab 36 in Dresden.
Shifting to a finer manufacturing process means less power and waste heat is needed to run at a given speed. In desktops, that means that the chip can be clocked faster while still maintaining the given power; in notebooks, the overall power consumption can be reduced while still maintaining a given speed. AMD's energy-efficient chips split that difference, offering power savings and a quieter desktop PC environment.

Sources: http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36235 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0, 1895,2068304,00.asp http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36320