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Computex 2002 - The Bloodbath Begins

Day 2 of Computex - Sassy, SiSy, Saucy

Computex 2001 Exclusive: New Graphics Chips from SiS and Trident

Computex 2001 Manufacturer Report

Tom's Computex News

Second Hand Smoke - Computex Reality Check

Computex: AMD Releases 760MP Chipset For Dual AthlonMP

Computex: NVIDIA nForces Success In New Market

Computex: Nvidia declares war on Intel

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Computex Part III -<BR>Mobo ennui affects mobo makers
Краткое содержание статьи: Mobo makers want to be more than mobo makers. We look at what ASUS, Gigabyte, Jetway and ECS are doing to make the switch. ALI has its own K8 solution and is taking HyperTransport to the P4 platform. The 648 continues to generate buzz, and we talk to Alex Wu, Director of Integrated Products at SiS. ClawHammer - is it going to be called the Athlon Ultra 3400+ to compete against P4 in the 3GHz range? A strategic push is on. We have a realistic release schedule (or do we?). Plus graphics news from Triplex and Leadtek.

Computex Part III -<BR>Mobo ennui affects mobo makers


Редакция THG,  5 июня 2002


It's Hot and Muggy

The day started off hot and muggy, and stayed that way. No air attacks. No earthquakes. Skyscraper still going up. Not a submarine in sight. All's well on the Computex front.

Ooh, now this is the coolest thing I've seen. A wraparound TV with its own Burger King. I want one of these for home
Ooh, now this is the coolest thing I've seen. A wraparound TV with its own Burger King. I want one of these for home.

Unless you count the first two signs of The Apocalypse that suddenly appeared during the course of the day.

Signs of The Apocalypse

First sign is the pernicious use of the Riverdance DVD as a demo title to show off everything from LCD TVs to Surround Sound speakers. Riverdance, for goodness sake! The booths are gripped with the kind of mass hysteria that only an Irishman in leather trousers could engender.

Riverdance!?
Riverdance!?

The second sign was the sudden, and shocking, demise of the Nvidia mascot. Mascot Dude seems to have melted away in the heat. Shocking labor practices, or a sign from the depths of Hades? You be the judge.

I haven't seen an Nvidia employee sweat this much since all those Diamond Edge3D boards came back from Fry's, but Mascot Dude just couldn't take the heat
I haven't seen an Nvidia employee sweat this much since all those Diamond Edge3D boards came back from Fry's, but Mascot Dude just couldn't take the heat.

This is the kind of thing that would never happen at Comdex.

ALI's K8 chipset and HyperTransport for the P4

While the K8 mobo brigade are either using VIA or AMD chipsets, ALI is planning to be in the K8 camp, too. The more the merrier.

It's still not there, but ALI is firmly commited to HyperTransport, having moved its SouthBridge technology to it. It now has a new NorthBridge chipset for the K8, rounding out its offering
It's still not there, but ALI is firmly commited to HyperTransport, having moved its SouthBridge technology to it. It now has a new NorthBridge chipset for the K8, rounding out its offering.

The fulcrum is the M1563 SouthBridge, which is used in conjunction with the M1687 NorthBridge for the K8, and the M1681 for the P4. That's right, the P4 gets a HyperTransport SouthBridge.

A block diagram of the ALI chipset solution for the K8
A block diagram of the ALI chipset solution for the K8.

About two years ago, when ALI was revamping its SouthBridge, a lucrative business for the company, they started to talk to their customers, companies like Sun and Transmeta. With a waning PCI standard, the company decided to implement a HyperTransport bus for their new SouthBridge architecture to take advantage of its flexibility and high bandwidth. The chipsets are sampling this month and should ship next month to board vendors.

The NorthBridge is pure P4, but the SouthBridge puts HyperTransport on an Intel mobo, and that's a nice little bit of irony
The NorthBridge is pure P4, but the SouthBridge puts HyperTransport on an Intel mobo, and that's a nice little bit of irony.

Cool stuff. It'll be interesting to see how the market reacts to the ALI chipset for the K8, but the SouthBridge is where ALI will probably do most of its business.

ASUS: The Complete Program

ASUS: The Complete Program

ASUS presents the nearly-forgotten SoundForge panel solution from NVIDIA, which extends nForce-based mainboards with extra features such as Creative's SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum eX. The connection is made directly through the A7N266-E nForce Riser Card. Prices are still unknown, although $200 has been mentioned - ASUS declined to tell us if this would be the price for the panel only or in combination with another product.

ASUS: The Complete Program
A7V8X with KT400 and Serial ATA Support.

Further highlights were the DDR 400 motherboards A7V8X with VIAґs KT400 and Serial ATA, and A7N8A with NVIDIA Crush 18G and MCP2. The "G" of the "18G" stands for Graphics. There's also a version without an integrated graphics chip, namely the Crush 18 D (Discrete). A K8 board with AMD 8111 and 8151 was also shown, of course.

ASUS: The Complete Program
Left: A7N8X; right: K8M

Compaq should get ready for some new competition. At least, that's what ASUS has in mind with its new PDA MyPAL A600, which runs on an Intel PXA259 with 400 MHz and Microsoft PocketPC 2002. Further spec's: 64 MB SDRAM, 32 MB Flash ROM, 240 x 320 Pixel (65K Colors), SD/MM Slot, 150g.

ASUS: The Complete Program
Augustine Chen with the A600.

It's taken a while, but now the GeForce 4 Ti cards V8460 and V8440 are available in a Deluxe version with an intricate copper cooler, TV-In and Out, plus new 3D shutter glasses.

ASUS: The Complete Program
V8460 and V8440 Deluxe with their own PCB layout

ASUS: The Complete Program
The 3D Stereo Shutter glasses

Triplex, A Veteran From Taiwan

Triplex, A Veteran From Taiwan

Triplex has been manufacturing and selling graphics cards since 1991, and they started with a VL-Bus card based on Tseng's ET4000. Now, Triplex wants to take on the global market with its exclusive silver boards. GeForce 4 Ti 4200, 4400 and 4600 cards are on the program, with the latter two packaged attractively in a sleek tote design. On the 4200 model, Triplex uses SDRAM modules with only 3.3 ns access time, thereby targeting overclocking fans. Just as a reminder: normal GF4 Ti 4400s are equipped with 3.6 ns, but in BGA format.

Triplex, A Veteran From Taiwan
GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and 4400

Others on the program are AGP 8x cards with the new SIS Xabre 200 and 400 3D chips, NVIDIA's GeForce 4 MX series, and 5.1 sound cards.

Triplex, A Veteran From Taiwan
Triplex shows artwork based on computer parts, created by the Taiwanese artist Vincent J. F. Huang.

Leadtek Wins Awards

Leadtek Wins Awards
Award #1: MyVIVO Video Solution

Leadtek triumphs at Computex, with two of its products winning "Best Choice" awards from the show. The first is MyVIVO, a video-in/ out solution that will be available with certain graphic cards based on NVIDIA's GeForce 4 Ti and MX chips; the second is Leadtek's GPS card in Compact Flash format, which lets you extend any PDA that accepts Compact Flash cards to have GPS reception. It has 12-channel All-In-View Tracking, and is compatible with NMEA-0183 standards.

Leadtek Wins Awards
Leadtekґs WinFast K7nCR18D with NVIDIAґs Crush 18D (without integrated graphics).

In the area of graphics cards, Leadtek presented the new A250 LE series, based on NVIDIA's GeForce 4 Ti 4200, as well as the Ti 4600 card A250 TDH, which has expanded hardware monitoring features. Leadtek will also be coming out with products based on NVIDIA's Crush 18 chipset.

Leadtek Wins Awards
Award #2: Leadtek GPS-9534 Compact Flash Card

Jetway's barebones systems

Richard Terng of Jetway stands next to Jetway's MiniQ barebones system on display at the show
Richard Terng of Jetway stands next to Jetway's MiniQ barebones system on display at the show.

Jetway is not one of the bigger mobo vendors, but it is making its way into the US market. I just dropped by to check out the company. The company's primary focus in the coming months is going to be on 845G, and 845E boards. Like most of the other mobo vendors, they're selling what is new, and the 845 chipsets are what's driving the market for most of these guys.

One differentiator for Jetway is that the company bundles a set of earpieces with motherboards that use a four channel AC97 audio codec. Not a bad quality combo. Not a lot of flash and panache for Jetway, just straightforward mobo vending, which is refreshing in its own way.

Another focus for the company is its MiniQ barebones system (case, mobo, and power supply). Resellers can buy barebones systems and add components, stir, and have a ready-made system. The systems retail for about $180 for a P3 box, and $220 for a P4 box. A lot of the mobo vendors are now providing barebones systems, a sort of value-add package compared to just having a single motherboard in a box.

The Jetway booth is located in the Mobo Paradise of Hall 2
The Jetway booth is located in the Mobo Paradise of Hall 2.

ECS broadens its range

On the other hand, companies like ECS want you to know that they are more than just boards. I particularly liked the company's i-Buddie desktop replacement units. They now have both P4m and Athlon 4-based offerings. In addition, the company is branching out into full systems. They introduced something called an AiO (all-in-one), an LCD PC.

Peter Wright of ECS takes a tour of the company's suite at New York New York in Taipei. The bigger vendors not only had booth space on the show floor, but very large hospitality rooms in hotels or other buildings. Space is at a premium, and the show floor is way too loud and hot for real biz conversations
Peter Wright of ECS takes a tour of the company's suite at New York New York in Taipei. The bigger vendors not only had booth space on the show floor, but very large hospitality rooms in hotels or other buildings. Space is at a premium, and the show floor is way too loud and hot for real biz conversations.

It's always tough for Taiwanese vendors to break into US and European markets with their mobile and system solutions because of the high cost of providing support and building sales channels, but ECS seems to be eager to tap into the US market, so they'll put their muscle behind it.

The iMac has a lot to answer for. However, it's fair to say that winning new PC customers is as much about form as it is about performance these days
The iMac has a lot to answer for. However, it's fair to say that winning new PC customers is as much about form as it is about performance these days.

What really caught my eye was a Tablet PC concept design, the U800. The following pictures kind of lay out the way the thing works. The spec is not that important because it isn't final, but it sure looks good (okay, it's a P3 1GHz based system with built-in modem, Ethernet, and an optical drive that loads like your car CD player, a slot-in drive).

The U800 in its cardle/ docking station
The U800 in its cardle/ docking station.

ECS broadens its range, Continued

Portrait or landscape?
Portrait or landscape?

Take the U800 off its cradle, and it turns into a laptop. The demonstrator is twisting the screen back on itself
Take the U800 off its cradle, and it turns into a laptop. The demonstrator is twisting the screen back on itself.

This is what the result looks like
This is what the result looks like.

Twist the screen and close again to get the familiar Tablet PC layout
Twist the screen and close again to get the familiar Tablet PC layout.

The very sleek optical drive slot
The very sleek optical drive slot.

While I am not so sure about the aesthetics of the LCD PC, ECS is serious about branching out. On the mobo front, the company seemed to be particularly excited about their upcoming SiS648-based board, the L4S8A (another buzz point for SiS).

Gigabyte - the power house

Gigabyte doesn't shy away from mobos, but the company definitely has a lot more cooking.

I talked about Gigabyte's ATI-happy booth here. I forgot to mention that they were the only ones with a Radeon 8500XT board (300 MHz core and memory clock with video-in).

Rockson Chiang of Gigabyte stands in front of the company's expanding array of server products
Rockson Chiang of Gigabyte stands in front of the company's expanding array of server products.

The company's SR-125 caught our attention at Interops the first time around. This time it dominated the server area of the Gigabyte booth. At Interop, we had also checked out the range of switches and routers the company has to offer. Of course, they are Gigabit switches.

Gigabyte also has strong ambitions in the networking segment of the market
Gigabyte also has strong ambitions in the networking segment of the market.

On the mobo front, Gigabyte is pinning its hopes on the 850E, where it is using the ICH4 chipset, and differentiating its product based on its engineering. Otherwise, they expect stable KT400 boards in July, and are recommending Samsung memory for the 400 crowd, but expect most people to run 333 memory for the most part. Gigabyte is also hot on the SiS648 in the third and fourth quarter, and will be adding its overclocking features to the 845G to get DDR333 out of its boards. Nice touch right there, and it'll be no mean feat to get it done right.

The company is obviously on board with the K8, although it foresees the present emphasis on the next generation from AMD hurting existing K7 sales, which no one wants to think about in this tight market.

SiS has momentum on its side

Alex Wu, director of integrated products for SiS, sat down to chat with us about SiS and the general state of the market
Alex Wu, director of integrated products for SiS, sat down to chat with us about SiS and the general state of the market.

Okay, so it is debatable how much of a real advantage AGP 8x has from the customers' point of view, but nevertheless, as Alex Wu, director of integrated products for SiS, told us when we asked him about the buzz surrounding the SiS648, "We pushed AGP 8x much quicker than our competitors in both the core logic and integrated chipsets."

The result is a hot chipset, eagerly anticipated by the mobo vendors, and as prevalent as anything else out there.

I asked Mr. Wu when he expects the 648 to be ready for prime time. He said, "The SiS648 is already sampling in mass production and the channel can expect it in August."

Even with SiS being so hot, Mr. Wu is not as sanguine on the market opportunities this year.

"This year will not be booming. It will be higher than last year." He laughed, "But we are not expecting corporate bugets to be released this year.

"In the current situation, 1394, AGP 8x, gaming features are still dominant; CPU frequencies stepping up is not surprising to customers."

I asked Mr. Wu what he thought of the situation between AMD and Intel.

He said, "Until the release of the K8, AMD will be under a lot of pressure." Mr. Wu expects it will be a year before the K8 starts to take that pressure off of AMD. He continued, "We tell AMD, if you can deliver, then do it aggressively. If not, then put more effort into K7."

And this seems to be the situation facing all of AMD's Taiwanese friends. While hoping that AMD pulls through and gets the K8 to market according to an aggressive schedule, they remain skeptical.

Mr. Wu also talked about why the company sees importance in supporting Rambus memory, "We see several reasons for Rambus. We signed a licensing contract with Rambus in 1994 and we continued to evaluate when would be a good time to enter the market with a product, and [that time] was when we got 128 MB modules for the P4. We saw that as the breakthrough point. So, between 1994 and 2000 we didn't do much, even though we signed a contract."

Mr. Wu went on to explain how, by supporting Rambus, SiS is not only hedging its bets that beyond 3GHz on the P4, RDRAM really takes off, but also, the experience is invaluable with increasing high frequency CPU designs.

"As long as the CPU keeps going up in frequency and you are dealing with 64-bit, and dual channel 128-bit buses, maybe RDRAM will be easier to handle."

The SiS650 for P4m FSB533 on show
The SiS650 for P4m FSB533 on show.

Presently, for Mr. Wu and his colleagues at SiS, the opportunities for success are pretty good. The company has seen a change in its fortunes, and the way it is perceived. Basking in positive feedback, and a certain amount of goodwill, it'll be really interesting to see how the SiS648 and, eventually, the Xabre400 perform in the real world.

The Athlon Ultra 3400+ FUD

Okay. Let's get the FUD out of the way on this whole K8 thing.

Now - samples with vendors with limited clocks. Enough to get boards built and tested.

Next month - second sample set.

August - samples that will give an indication of actual performance. Yup, probably getting close to, or reaching, production yields.

October/ December - shipment of first batch of product (could be the 10,000 units we talked about earlier). It all depends on who you talk to. Can it be that in the space of two days, AMD has changed shipping dates by moving it up from January, to December, to October, and now, to August (check out this news story)?

Possible name - Athlon Ultra (like it matters what it is called)

Possible PR rating - 3400+ or something to indicate that it can compete with Intel in the 3+ GHz range.

Actual frequency - 2+ GHz.

Oh, yeah. Apparently, Jerry Sanders has said as much before going Chairman.

Can someone tell me what all the fuss is about? And most of the fuss is from purported AMD fans. You wanna build it up to knock it down, or let someone else knock it down? You want to predict problems that are not there yet, because there is no product in hand? You want to line up outside of CompUSA to buy the first chips at midnight on the day of launch? I don't think that's going to happen.

So, is the objective to just create idle chatter and drive up page impressions on enthusiast sites?

I have to know. Maybe I am obsessing, but the tech press has its own ennui and psychosis to deal with right now. There's other stuff to talk about. Doesn't anyone care that the Nvidia Mascot Dude just melted away? Disappeared. Gone. Nothing but rayon.

There's other stuff to talk about.




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