ULI Motherboard for A64

[FarFarAway]

OK - I've been lazy all weekend so I've been a bit slack with this

First the exciting bit as far as I'm concerned:

Just a month after the Computex launch, ULi has provided a Reference Board for their new chipset based on the M1695 coupled with a M1567 South Bridge. This combination is significant because it provides a full x16 PCIe video slot with an AGP 8X slot. ULi tells us that this is a full-performance AGP slot without compromise. We have seen others try to provide AGP support (ECS, Biostar) on a PCIe board by deriving the AGP from PCI, but these solutions were 50 to 60% the performance of a true 8X AGP, negating much of the reason for the AGP slot. This ULi solution, however, is a full-performance AGP 8X, combined with a full-performance x16 PCIe.

Well that is very very good news for those of you with an AGP card and Skt 939. Talk about upgradeability

Here is one of the many configurations:



Its great to see the flexibility. AnandTech have pointed out quite a few of the possibilities Here

CPU Interface Socket 939 Athlon 64

Chipset ULi M1695 Northbridge - ULi M1567 Southbridge

BUS Speeds 200MHz to 400MHz in 1MHz Increments

PCIe Speeds 75-125MHz in 1MHz Increments

PCI/AGP Fixed at 33/66

Core Voltage Startup, 0.825V to 1.55V in 0.025V increments

CPU Clock Multiplier Startup, 4x-25x in 1X increments

HyperTransport Frequency 1000MHz (1GHz)

HyperTransport Multiplier 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000

DRAM Voltage NO Adjustments

HyperTransport Voltage NO Adjustments

Memory Slots Four 184-pin DDR DIMM Slots

Dual-Channel Configuration

Regular Unbuffered Memory to 4GB Total

Expansion Slots 1 PCIe x16 (or 2 PCIe x8)

1 AGP 8X

2 PCIe x1

2 PCI Slots

Onboard SATA/RAID 2 SATA Drives by ULi M1567 (RAID 0, 1, JBOD)

Onboard IDE/IDE RAID Two Standard ATA133/100/66 (4 drives)

Onboard USB 2.0/IEEE-1394 8 USB 2.0 ports supported by ULi M1567

No Firewire (Optional)

Onboard LAN 10/100 Ethernet by Realtek PNY

(Gigabit LAN Optional)

Onboard Audio AC '97 2.3 6-Channel by Realtek ALC655

BIOS Revision Award OC50624A (6/24/2005)

Well Those don't look very good to me vCore to 1.55?? and no memory vdimm adjustments? This is somewhat of a dissapointement to someone who values the massive range of tweaking options on the DFI board :banghead:

On the reference board ULI provide - the 24pin power plug is in what can only be described as a "rubbish" place



But it is only the refence board, so hopefully some better derivations will be coming out. Hopefully DFI will implement this and give us some good OC'ing options too :yumyum:

Heres the AnandTech results:

Processor: Athlon 64 4000+

(2.4GHz, 1MB Cache)

CPU Voltage: 1.50V (default 1.50V)

Cooling: Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 Heatsink/Fan

Power Supply: OCZ Power Stream 520W

Memory: OCZ PC3200 EL Platinum Rev. 2

(Samsung TCCD Memory Chips)

Hard Drive: Seagate 120GB 7200RPM SATA 8MB Cache

Maximum OC:

(Standard Ratio) 235x12 (4x HT, 2.5-3-3-10) 2820MHz (+17.5%)

Maximum FSB:

(Lower Ratio) 300 x 9 (2700MHz) (3x HT)

2 DIMMs in DC mode

(+50% Bus Overclock)

WOW! That's some good OC considering the memory voltage cannot be regulated

While we could not reach a CPU base speed of 400, we were able to run 300, which is very comparable to results with the NVIDIA nForce4. We also reached an overclock of 235 with our default 12X multiplier. Both these results are competitive with NVIDIA, and they are both outstanding, considering that they were achieved with no memory voltage control. Perhaps the latest version of the M1695 Reference can indeed reach a speed setting of 400. We have asked ULi for a Reference Board with dual x8 riser and we will bring you the test as soon as the board becomes available.

Here is the best conclusion of the whole article IMO:

Second, there is the unique question of ULi AGP on this PCIe board. How does it perform? We are glad to say that ULi AGP is the first AGP on any PCIe board that doesn't require compromises. Those of you who want to take your high-end AGP card to a new PCIe board will be ecstatic over the performance of your AGP video card on the ULi board. It will work extremely well, as will a future PCIe card or a PCI card or any other combination of these three. This is absolutely unique, and it makes the compromise solutions, which derive AGP from PCI with degraded performance, totally obsolete. You do not need to compromise AGP performance just to get a PCIe board with this ULi M1695/M1567 chipset.

The phrase No Compromise strikes me as the good bit in that lot

So in conclusion:

ULi did a great job with their new PCIe/AGP chipset. If you are in the market for a new Socket 939 board, then boards based on the ULi M1695/M1567 should definitely be on your shopping list. If you by chance plan to use AGP on your new PCIe board, then ULi M1695/M1567 is the only board that you should have on your shopping list. This AGP on PCIe really works, there are no compromises, and you will not be disappointed.

So looks like this should be on some of you lots shopping lists very soon

Full article @ AnandTech

 

[FragTek]

We do need to keep in mind that we're talking about a ULi chipset, they've never been a world leader in badass chipset production and have always taken the cheap road and provided chipsets for companies like PC Chips, etc.

We'll see what production models have to offer!

 

[bloodthirst]

this looks good but yeah uli mmmmm

 

[FarFarAway]

ULi are highly respected in the Far East as great chipsets. This looks to be their big break to really get into the commercial world and in people homes.

I think these will be good boards

 

[ionicle_old]

wel it looks good, but no-doubt i wont be able to aford it lol

 

[FarFarAway]

wel it looks good, but no-doubt i wont be able to aford it lol

Get a job: slacker

 

[ionicle_old]

nah, i prefer not degrading myself with a job!! i know i wil have to get one eventually, but i will only get one when i NEED one

 

[NickS]

You need one Ionicle. Face reality. .

 

[FarFarAway]

nah, i prefer not degrading myself with a job!! i know i wil have to get one eventually, but i will only get one when i NEED one

Degrading your self with a job! :fluffy: You sir, are a lazy little shit!

 

[ionicle_old]

yep and proud of it