Motherboard, Memory and Graphics Briefing WW45

Gigabyte

Gigabyte was very excited this week to show us their new 7800GT based on Gigabyte's own original design. Now that the initial batch of 7800GT cards have dried up, Tier 1 manufacturers are producing non-reference design cards on their own. Gigabyte's newest prominently features a Zalman double ball bearing HSF that should look very familiar to anyone who is into low RPM cooling.

Since the card is not an NVIDIA reference design, Gigabyte removed a lot of the unnecessary VIVO components to reduce cost and thermals. The card comes clocked at a modest 400MHz core, 1000MHz memory, but on average Gigabyte claims the new design lowers core thermals as much as 5 degrees C. This will definitely be one of the more competitive retail 7800GT cards to keep an eye out for. Gigabyte also plans to release a $35 rebate with the card at launch. Compounded with the $20 rebate already active for all NVIDIA 7800GTs, this is going to be a very competitively priced card.



ASUS

Quite possibly the best for last, ASUS gave us a quick preview of the A8R-MVP - the company's first Crossfire motherboard. True to the other Socket 939 motherboards from ASUS, the M8R-MVP has a very clean design, although the board does not lack features by any means. You'll notice a completely passive north-south-mosfet combo, side mounted PATA, and, of course, the two PEG slots of Crossfire. The board is a stark contrast to the high end Abit AT8, but the modest ASUS A8R-MVP will clearly appeal to the lower end of Crossfire users - with a very modest price tag.



Conclusion

We're keeping this short and sweet - think of this as a retail product roadmap rather than the usual chipset/CPU roadmaps. All of these products are nearing retail availability, so if you find them interesting, you shouldn't have to wait long. We'll be bringing additional coverage from other vendors as we acquire it.