ASUS P5GD2-X

It's back to our usual installment of the SLS Walk About, and this week, we bring you some of the most radical CPUs and Motherboards that just appeared in SLS.

One of such new motherboard that sprung out very recently, is the ASUS P5GD2-X motherboard. Based on the slightly older Intel i915P chipset, this board, like any other "X" series of ASUS boards, is actually a cut down, lost cost version. Great for users on the budget, yet want that extra edge in stability and performance, this is the board to go for. Back by ASUS's well known 3 years warranty, this has what it takes to be the best. Found in Cybermind, this board goes for $ 229.

 

The packaging of the ASUS P5GD2-X. As usual, the trademark "X" series packaging, no different from the rest.

 

   

A top view down of this board. Meant for the budget, this board is bare of features.

 

The silk screen name of the model on the board, with the PCB revision. Revision 1.00 for this board we saw.

 

Like there higher end board, ASUS had added this Fanless MOSFET heatsink, that is shaped to capture moving air expelled from the CPU.

 

The rear I/O ports available on this board.

 

A Marvell 99E8053 chip was found on this board, providing Gigabit LAN via PCIe lanes.

 

Somehow, ASUS wants to fill up those empty spaces on the PCB with just something...

 

A label on the packaging, with a summary of the features available on this board.

 

Albatron PM800 Pro

For those who are interested in building very extremely small footprint systems, here's something made for you. The Albatron PM800 Pro motherboard, based on VIA PM800 chipset (for Intel P4), is actually a Micro ATX board. But the interesting thing about this board is that it's actually smaller then all other Micro ATX board we've ever seen. Priced at $ 119, and found at Cybermind, this interesting board is a steal!

 

The packaging of the Albatron PM800. From the size of this box, you might mistake it for a Graphics Card packaging.

 

A label found on the packaging, with a rough summary of what's included on this board.

 

The board itself. This board is just slightly larger then those high end graphics card. One of the noticeable difference with this board, is the missing floppy connector. It seems that Albatron had already ditched the idea of floppy disks...

 

The VIA VT8237 Southbridge present on the board. It gives control of the 2 SATA ports, and also RAID capabilities on those ports too.

 

The rear I/O connectors available on the board.

 

A very large passive heatsink cools the VIA PM800 Northbridge.

 

This VIA VT6103L takes charge of the 10/100Mbps LAN connection.

 

The Realtek ALC655 chipset would take control of the onboard 6 Channel Audio.

 

The motherboard's heatsink mounting clips are secured by a large bracket, to prevent warping of the board. Well done in this area!

 

 

 

Albatron K8NF4X

Also in Cybermind, we found this new Albatron K8NF4X motherboard. Based on the newer, and cheaper Nvidia Nforce 4-4X chipset, this board is a great board for the simple, no frills user who want something reasonably priced. Also a very small Micro ATX board, this board might be the answer for demanding users, yet want a small footprint. Priced at $ 169, this is really well priced.

 

The packaging of the Albatron K8NF4X.

 

The label of the K8NF4X, with a brief summary of the key features found on this board.

 

The board, from top down. An interesting note, is that the PCB appears to be the same one as the K8SLI that we reviewed a while ago.

 

One of the down points about this board, the Chipset is placed too near the CPU chipset. Due to this, many aftermarket cooling solutions won't fit on this board.

 

Since it's the same PCB as the K8SLI, the 2nd slot is actually printed on the PCB, but it only has a X1 slot. Anyone game to solder slots? :)

 

 

 

 

 

MSI 945P Neo

MSI had been a pretty late comer to the newer Intel chipset scene. We found the MSI 945P Neo motherboard, based on Intel i945P chipset. The interesting thing about this board, is the ability to have DTS sound. With this, times had changed, and we no longer hear bad sound from motherboard's onboard sound system. Found at DAT Computers, this board goes for $ 345.

 

The packaging of this MSI 945P Neo.

 

The label found on the packaging, with a summary of the key features found on the board.

 

A picture of this board, from top down.

 

The Intel PC82573V PCIe Gigabit LAN controller, found on this board.

 

MSI had also adopted such sturdy SATA port design, to prevent broken SATA ports.

 

A large passive MSI heatsink covers the Intel i945P chipset.

 

The I/O connectors found on the board.

 

The sound chip, Realtek ALC882. DTS sound from this?

 

The VIA VT6410 takes charge of that extra 2 PATA connectors on the board.

 

5 phase power for this board. Not too shabby at all!

 

 

The Grand AMD Athlon 64 X2 Arrival

AMD Athlon 64 X2 had just touched down in Singapore, and we took this chance to hunt down these gems all over Sim Lim Square...

 

First, we found the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ over at Fuwell. Priced at $ 999, it's the starting price to pay, for such high end CPUs. Enough said, here's the pictures:

 

The AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ found at Fuwell.

 

A close up of the chip.

 

The speed and cache information found on the edge of the box. With 2x 128KB L1 cache, and 2x 512KB L2 cache, based on 90nm process, this is core is codenamed "Manchester".

 

Next, we found the 4400+ varient at Bell Systems. Priced at $ 1045, it's not a far jump away from the 4200+

 

The 4400+ found at Bell Systems.

 

A close up picture on the CPU.

 

This CPU comes with 2x 128KB L1 cache, 2x 1MB L2 cache, and based on the 90nm process, this CPU is code named "Toledo". This is also the only Toledo core CPU found in Singapore at the moment.

 

Next, at Cybermind, we found the 4600+ varient. This is currently the fastest Athlon 64 X2 you can get with money at the moment. Unfortunately, they were not able to provide any pricing details at press time. However, here's the pictures to ogle at :)

 

The fastest AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor that could be found in Singapore at the moment. The A64 X2 4600+

 

A close up picture of the CPU.

 

The Speed and cache information on the edge of the PIB box. This, like the 4200+, is based on the "Manchester" core, but runs faster at 2.4GHz.

 

PC Chips M863 + Mobile Sempron 2600+ ?!

At ATF Multimedia, we chanced upon this budget Motherboard and CPU combo, but however, this combo is distinctively different. The PC Chips M863G is made for very budget users, this board goes for $ 199, with a AMD Sempron 2600+ included. However, the interesting thing about this combo is that the CPU is not the regular one you find in Processor In Box (PIB) packages.

 

The board from top down. The CPU is already pre-mounted together with the fan.

 

The CPU. Looks like a regular Socket 754 Sempron without the heatspreader?

 

Look again. It's based on a different socket, the mPGA563. This socket is actually meant for Mobile Processors.

 

The back of the chip when held up. It's actually a very small processor physically.

 

The I/O ports available on this motherboard. This simple board comes with onboard Video.

 

The board revision, 3.0A for the one we saw.

 

The packaging of this board.

 

The label found on the packaging of the box, with a brief summary of the key features found on this board.

 

 

Alright, that's all for this week of the Walk About. See you next week! :)