ASUS' Conroe Motherboards

Of course Conroe was on ASUS' mind during our meeting as we got a chance to look at some of the top tier maker's P965 and 975X line:

Click to enlarge

AUS P5B Deluxe is a starts off as a run of the mill P965 motherboard, but of course with the usual ASUS flair. ASUS' trademark heatpipe cooling solution is very present on this motherboard, as is a new addition - a wireless riser card:

The wireless riser card can be removed, and in theory upgraded later if ASUS offers such a card in the future. It connects via two on-board USB connectors (it's simply an 8-pin header on the board) and can be removed by taking out a single screw and unplugging the daughter card.

Like many new motherboards we encountered, the P5B Deluxe features an eSATA port for use with external hard drives. The benefit of eSATA of course is that you get the same performance as an internal SATA hard drive, but with the convenience of a removable drive.

Taking advantage of the motherboard's support for noise cancellation technology, ASUS bundles an array microphone with the P5B Deluxe. An array microphone with noise cancellation technology can significantly reduce the background noise and focus more specifically on the person speaking, especially useful for speaking in a noisy environment.

The last neat feature in ASUS' P5B Deluxe bundle is the inclusion of these riser blocks for the front panel and USB/FireWire headers. Their purpose is to allow you to connect your front panel and USB/FireWire connectors to the risers and then easily seat the riser on the header pins on the motherboard.

We would still prefer it if case manufacturers and motherboard manufacturers got together and enforced a standard pin header, but after years of hoping we'll take anything we can get.

Click to enlarge

ASUS 975X motherboard with Conroe support, the P5W DH Deluxe, is pictured above.

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  • Missing Ghost - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    wow, all I can say is wow. I am quite impressed with Gigabyte desktop motherboards. From the pictures it looks like a better design than even what DFI would do. Also the ASUS socket F board looks excellent. Quite impressive since I am used to think that ASUS' server boards are inferior to like supermicro/iwill/tyan.
  • krwilsonn - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    Page 18 of the article seems to be mixed up since the Albatron boards are showing up instead of the Asrock.
  • Regs - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    Actually consider what AMD is doing at all. Boy times have changed! ;)

    I'm a life long AMD fan too. Short life, but life long.
  • bob661 - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    quote:

    Actually consider what AMD is doing at all. Boy times have changed! ;)
    Where have you been? It's been like that for quite a few years now. Remember when DDR2 was actually on the market? Who wasn't using DDR2 then?
  • bob661 - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    quote:

    Unfortunately due to changes in the VRM requirements for Conroe, no current LGA-775 motherboards will work with the new processor.
    Figures.
  • bob661 - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    quote:

    There is a lot of concern about the availability of Conroe, as Intel has only committed to around 25% of its mainstream and high end desktop processor shipments being Conroe by the end of this year. After Dell and HP buy up all the Conroes they will want for their systems, there simply may not be any left for the end user to buy in the channel market. Alternatively, there may end up being some supply in the channel market but at significant markups due to a shortage.
    Interesting. Looks like Conroe's may come at a premium until Intel can increase production.
  • shabby - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    quote:

    Remember that the HDMI connector can carry both audio and video data, and by outfitting cards with a header for internal audio passthrough (from your soundcard/motherboard to the graphics card) you take advantage of that feature of the HDMI specification


    I dont get it, what is the point of sending audio to the monitor?
  • Furen - Monday, June 5, 2006 - link

    It's meant to be sent to an HD TV. Monitors can just use DVI for digital signaling.
  • shabby - Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - link

    And whats the point of that too? Its supposed to go to the reciever not the tv.
  • OrSin - Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - link

    Do you even know why hdmi exist. Most HDTV that have HDMI connects also has audio out.
    YOu connect everything to your tv and send out only singles you need. My guess is you don't have a HDTV.

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