FIRST LOOK: ULi M1695 PCIe/AGP Socket 939 for Athlon 64
by Wesley Fink on July 13, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
ULi M1695 Chipset
The ULi M1695 chipset supports Socket 754, 939, and 940. 1000 HT (5X) and higher are fully supported.
The M1695 provides a PCI Express Interface that can drive either 1 x16 slot of 2 x8 slots. The 2 x8 configuration is called SLI on NVIDIA motherboards, and the option of x16 or 2 x8 is even available in this Reference Board BIOS.
ULi has even been showing an x16 riser card that can be used to support 2 bridged x8 PCIe video cards from a single x16 PCIe slot. Apparently, this is just one of several options to provide "SLI-like" performance with two PCIe cards.
From this basic PCI Express Tunnel chip, ULi talks about flexibility.
Combined with a M1567 South Bridge, as is this Reference Board, you can achieve AGP 8X and PCIe x16/2 x8 combined with support for PCI graphics.
Combining M1695 with an unnamed ULi South Bridge can provide dual x16 slots and additional x1/x2/x4 slots.
Obviously, ULi designed M1695 and the accompanying South Bridges for the utmost in flexibility. With support for 754/939/940 and all the various combinations that can be used to provide custom graphics capabilities, you will likely see many different ULi configurations in the marketplace.
The flexibility even extends beyond the ULi brand, as the South Bridges can be combined with other North Bridges such as the ATI Crossfire. Similarly, the M1695 can be combined with other chips such as the AMD-8132 PCI-X Tunnel for customized Workstation/Server Applications.
More capabilities can be added with more ULi South Bridges on top of the M1695/AMD-8132.
ULi talks about the flexibility of their M1695 chipset, and we certainly agree. It is refreshing to see so many available choices that give manufacturers the options of building everything from the most basic Socket 754 boards to full-featured 939/940 workstation/server boards with dual x16 PCIe slots and more.
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Zebo - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
Thanks Wes but why no disk, USB, or network performance comparisons?This board(s) is DOA IMO..
Crap realtek audio and no video don't even let it enter the bargian market unlike ATI will do.
second Uli is a nobody in our market like SiS and won't get any serious attention from the likes of ASUS/ABIT/DFI/Gigabyte performance works.
kmmatney - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
Woohoo! Just what I needed so I can keep my video card (6600GT) while upgrading from my Athlon XP. Waht we NEED though, is a Palermo for Socket 939.JustAnAverageGuy - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
</didn't read the first paragraph on the last page>:blush;
Any guesses on which manufacturers will be using the chipsets then? Asus, Abit, MSI, etc?
JustAnAverageGuy - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
Any idea on when the chipset will be available in retail markets?That is VERY impressive. :thumbsup; ULi
Cookie Crusher - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
Three words: I want one.Ok, some more words: This board is what I think many people have been clamouring for since early this year. A true bridge board that allows all of us average people to make the switch with the maximum amount of flexibility is what we've wanted.
The fact that it performs well is gravy. For all of us who jumped in on socket 754 early on and have waited to switch to socket 939 (and necessarily pci-e) this now let's us make the move without gouging our wallets.
ocyl - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
Driver support? Linux?Zepper - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
ocworkbench has had several articles on this chipset. Check that out too..bh.
Furen - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
#4: Hell yeah, now we just need for someone to actually make these...ryanv12 - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
whoa! I didn't know we were getting these boards! And here I was, about to upgrade to a PCI-E board, reluctantly. I think I'll just do Dual-Core and pick up this motherboard and drop in a GTX later. I have a 6800GT that's still pretty competent :)Shinei - Wednesday, July 13, 2005 - link
The only thing I care about is PRICE. If these suckers roll out for $80-$100 cheaper than the nForce4 SLI boards, guess where my money's going... And I'm taking my 6800GT with me! :)