mATX Roundup

[rexian96]

Originally posted by: mrandtx

Howdy Gary,

I believe the phrase that you are looking for is that the socket is not stuffed. When you say that, you are implying that the traces and footprint are on the PCB, but the part is not installed. Simular to this part (which if I'm reading the silk screen correctly, is "optical-in"):

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5498/board234cx0.jpg

But I don't see any other connectors that might be for 1394... could you describe the location or point them out to us on this (or other pics on the internet)?

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9492/board23uc2.jpg

Great info on this forum - you very much!

Marc

I think I understood what Steve meant. Check the image below, I circled the area on your 2nd image.

http://img173.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=94420_board23uc2_122_391lo.jpg

So this is what I meant when I said "pins are missing" I am pretty sure 1394 chip is missing.

 

[Steeeeve]

Originally posted by: mrandtx
Howdy Gary,

I believe the phrase that you are looking for is that the socket is not stuffed. When you say that, you are implying that the traces and footprint are on the PCB, but the part is not installed. Simular to this part (which if I'm reading the silk screen correctly, is "optical-in"):

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5498/board234cx0.jpg

But I don't see any other connectors that might be for 1394... could you describe the location or point them out to us on this (or other pics on the internet)?

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9492/board23uc2.jpg

Great info on this forum - you very much!

Marc

Yeah, that is what I mean

If you look at the second picture you will see it clearly between the PCI and PCI-e 1x slot

 

[Steeeeve]

Originally posted by: rexian96

Originally posted by: mrandtx

Howdy Gary,

I believe the phrase that you are looking for is that the socket is not stuffed. When you say that, you are implying that the traces and footprint are on the PCB, but the part is not installed. Simular to this part (which if I'm reading the silk screen correctly, is "optical-in"):

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5498/board234cx0.jpg

But I don't see any other connectors that might be for 1394... could you describe the location or point them out to us on this (or other pics on the internet)?

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/9492/board23uc2.jpg

Great info on this forum - you very much!

Marc

I think I understood what Steve meant. Check the image below, I circled the area on your 2nd image.

http://img173.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=94420_board23uc2_122_391lo.jpg

So this is what I meant when I said "pins are missing" I am pretty sure 1394 chip is missing.

Yeha, you got it.

I am a little upset they didn't include those two features. Seems like we got ripped off No 1394 is a huge disadvantage for some

 

[Double Trouble]

Any word on when the article will get published?

<Crosses arms, taps foot>

Waiting......

 

[LouSly]

Pleaseeeeeeeee publish this article.
I purchased parts two weeks ago to build two separate budget machines w/4gb mem, 7300LE cards so I could run 3 monitors and intentions of doing a mild OC.
Jumped on (2) AM2 4600+ processors when the price dropped $50 overnight. Only thing I had left to buy was MB. Tried to buy Abit NF-M2 but there are none to be had.
About the same time I read the 690G review from the mainboard and it mentioned the mATX roundup article. For the past two weeks I've been researching all MB reviews and articles for both AMD or CD2 and I can't find anything decent in the budget range that meets my needs. Even if $ are not an issue it appears that most platforms I've read about are not without their share of problems drivers/overheating, Memory incompatibilities etc..... Maybe I'm expecting too much but I was hoping this
mATX article would give me the answers I need.

 

[chucky2]

As much as I want to see this review too, Gary's said that it should be out sometime in the next few days (3rd-5th).

I have a feeling this is going to serve as not only a great motherboard roundup, but also a CPU one as well.

Can't wait for the article Gary!

Chuck

 

[Treripica]

Willy Wonka: The suspense is terrible... I hope it'll last.

 

[yacoub]

Would want to know:
*How well the boards fit in various mATX chassis you have available
*How well popular GPUs then fit on the board in such chassis.
*What sort of aftermarket CPU coolers fit as well, if any.

 

[Steeeeve]

Gary could probably only do so much for this round-up. I'm sure if he spent months on it with a team of 4-5 he could have an insane round-up but in the end these motherboards are fairly simple. I do kinda wish he could explore the F-I90HD problems a bit more.

 

[JoeK7]

Hi,

today is 5th April, awaiting the ultimative round-up review ....

... pls. publish it !!!


Joe

 

[najames]

The mob awaits at Gary's front door, it is getting ugly, and the chant has started again.

ROUND-UP, round-up, ROUND-UP, round-up, ROUND-UP, round-up,ROUND-UP, round-up...

 

[rexian96]

With li'l over 2 weeks to go before (rumored) Intel price cut, a lot of people will be making buying decisions based on this review (me included) Gary, you could really make a lot of money from the vendors if you want to

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: najames
The mob awaits at Gary's front door, it is getting ugly, and the chant has started again.

ROUND-UP, round-up, ROUND-UP, round-up, ROUND-UP, round-up,ROUND-UP, round-up...

I am sorry... little things like this - Lost the HDMI Test Files - have created a bottleneck.

1. MSI and ASUS provided their full retail kits for their 690G boards, there were differences in the performance and options compared to our production samples. I am about six hours away from finishing the testing. Our MSI board can run decent memory timings now while the ASUS board offers an extremely clean HDMI signal off the riser card that was not present before.

2. abit F-I90HD is still undergoing torture testing. I have three boards, one failed last night at 268 hours, the other two are still going strong. I have several emails on this subject from concerned readers and we are trying to figure out what the issue is with abit at this time. On a side note, unless noted otherwise in the review, all of our boards have to make it to 300 hours before we publish and results are confirmed against retail kits if one was not provided.

3. The new ATI CAT 7.3 drivers made some significant improvements in video quality under Vista so all 690G boards were retested.

4. Intel also released new drivers, some good changes in quality, performance remains so-so. However, we have permission to post numbers with the soon to be released beta performance driver.

5. The CPU choices in our 690G preview article were controversial so we added the 3600+ and E4300 to the mix.

6. I am so very tired but writing has commenced finally and my wife might not file for divorce now. :laugh:

7. I will update everyone this weekend as to the schedule slot.

8. NVIDIA is releasing the 7050 board on 4/16, however, it appears now that we might not get our first review sample until 4/14. I had some lengthy conversations with NV/Biostar and from a performance viewpoint, no real differences, features will be enhanced.

 

[JoeK7]

Gary,

Thanks for the short update.

This article seems to make me feel like Xmas, what will be the content ???

Happy Easter

Joe

 

[Uppsala9496]

Thanks for the update Gary.
I'm loving my Asus M2A-VM and am curious to see how it stacks up to the other 690G boards.

 

[Skott]

I'm dissapointed that the review didnt materialize and has been delayed once again. I do understand Gary is doing his utmost best and I do appreciate it. I'm wondering though if these big roundups are really worth it? The problem with these big reviews is that by the time they get posted many of the products have been out a while and basiccally are not covered by the reviewers. Perhaps it'd be better for reviews of smaller proportions or review of single products. Maybe do single reviews and then at a later time do a larger overall comparison? I can understand not having a review up the same week as a product hits stores but weeks after it hits stores and a review is still not availble is of no value or benefit to the buyer who needs the info to make an informed decision. I'm just wondering if there isnt a better way to do this?

 

[BlingBlingArsch]

good things take time ;-)

 

[najames]

Gary, I knew you'd get a chuckle out of that one. No worries, take your time. I have a new Biostar TA690G AM2 sitting here right now just waiting for the 3600 Brisbane CPU to arrive tomorrow. Hope it works!!! When you mentioned that 690G boards worked with Linux it was enough for me. Uhhh, I feel guilty old buddy. My wife has been overseas visiting her family since January. I don't know what happened to my honey-do list, I seemed to have misplaced it somewhere.

I have posted a few observations about this board on the thread started in motherbaords. Version 5.2, I am still scratching my head.

 

[hans007]

you should try a 946gz based board as well. it is supposedly the lower power of the microatx intel chipset boards, since it doesnt use the gma 3000 , and is 90nm. I have one seems solid, but im curious to see what its power use is compared to a g965 which is reputed to use a lot of power on its igp.

 

[rexian96]

Thanks for the update Gary. I'd say take your time as most of the readers here will anyway wait for the price cut on 22nd. And, if you'd like to wait for the 7050 board on 14th, that should be fine too. Most prospective buyers will definitely wonder on 16th whether to go for new unreviewed 7050 or stay with the reviewed and proven ones. 300 hours of required burn time could be a problem though if you receive the board on 14th. As others said, it'd be better to update the review as and when you test a new board and 7050 update could be added just before 22nd when we are all ready to order

 

[nulio]

This roundup couldn't come in a better time, many thanks Gary
I just hope you also covered raid
I'm also waiting for the price cut so I'm one that won't be pressuring you hehe

Regards,
Júlio

 

[Wirrunna]

Gary,
Thank you for the update.
The delay of publication brings a risk of losing newsworthy information. Already http://techreport.com/ has done an article comparing an example of Intel G965, ATI 690, Nvidia 6150SE and 6150.
I suggest that you publish and then add a follow up article with the Nvidia 7050 board.

 

[PokerGuy]

Definitely don't wait for the nvidia board before publishing. That can always be added later and/or reviewed separately.

Alright, gather the pitchforks, the tar and the feathers boys, we're going to pay Gary a visit!!!

 

[MrNeutrino]

Hey Gary,

I hadn't wandered to this part of town in the past week or two so missed out on the feedback window it seems.

Anyway, you already know what my requests are (http://www.anandtech.com/talkarticle.aspx?frmResourceID=2942&frmWhere=2, http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=29&threadid=2008282) so I won't repeat them here.

This does however, answer my burning question as to when this MONSTER review will be published. I wasn't aware of the unexpected issues causing the delays, until I stumbled across this thread.

Thanks for asking for our inputs in prep. for the upcoming review. This paired with the April 22 price cuts are two of my key triggers for starting the click-happy shopping spree!

 

[Steeeeve]

My store, SFFStore.com, stopped selling these boards. I wonder if Gary is going to figure out whats wrong with them or take it into account