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
Basic Features: ULi AP9507A (M1695/M1567)
ULi AP9507A (M1695/M1567) | |
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) |
The ULi Award BIOS provides a wide range of BIOS control options, particularly considering that this is a Reference Board used to qualify a chipset. The wide 200 to 400 range for CPU clock was a pleasant surprise, but it is somewhat academic with no memory voltage controls present in the BIOS.
The included vCore adjustments and PCIe speed adjustments were also a nice addition, although the range to just 1.55V is very limited for Clawhammer processors, which are 1.50V at default.
Since the ULi implementation of AGP is real AGP and not derived, the AGP adjustments will look familiar to AGP owners.
Reference Boards are designed for qualification and not for production. It would therefore be a mistake to dwell on the Reference Board layout, except to say that Reference Boards often influence layout of production boards. IDE, SATA, video slots and bottom edge headers all work fine where they are located. However, we hope that production boards will take a different approach to the location of the 24-pin ATX power connector. Located in about the center of the board between the CPU and rear IO ports, there is really no good way to route the heavy cable. In the center of the board, you have to be careful not to interfere with air flow or operation of the CPU and memory.
The location of the floppy connector at the bottom of the board will be a long reach for floppy users. Many buyers don't care about floppies any more, but if you still use them, the bottom of the board is an inconvenient and hard-to-reach location.
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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! :)