FIRST LOOK: ULi M1697 for Athlon 64/x2

Basic Features: ULi M1697 Single Chip

ULi M1697
CPU Interface	Socket 939 Athlon 64
Chipset	ULi M1697 Single-Chip
Bus Speeds	200 to 400MHz in 1MHz Increments
PCIe Speeds	100-125MHz in 1MHz Increments
PCI/AGP	Fixed at 33/66
AMD K8 Cool'n'Quiet	Auto, Disable
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, Auto
DRAM Voltage	Provision for 2.62V, 2.72V (Not implemented)
HyperTransport Voltage	1.20, 1.25, 1.30, 1.35, 1.40V by DIP Switch
Chipset Voltage	1.80 to 2.2V in .05V increments by DIP Switch
PCIe Voltage	1.80 to 2.0V in .05V increments by DIP Switch
M1697 Resume Power	1.70, 1.80, 1.85, 1.90, 2.02V by DIP Switch
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 x1 PCIe 1 x2 PCIe 1 x4 PCIe 3 PCI Slots 1 CNR Slot 1 LPC slot
Onboard SATA/RAID	4 SATA2 3Gb/s Drives by ULi M1597 (RAID 0,1,0+1,5,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 M1597 No Firewire (Optional)
Onboard LAN	10/100 Ethernet by Realtek PNY
Onboard Audio	HD Azalia 7.1 by Realtek ALC883
BIOS Revision	Award OCAP1130 Evaluation ROM

The ULi Award BIOS provides a typical range of BIOS control options for 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 memory tweaking adjustments were extensive, but of limited use without some means of controlling memory voltage. Reference Boards demonstrate chipset features and capabilities to manufacturers, and ULi clearly shows that the M1697 is capable of supporting whatever range of BIOS control or Voltage control features that the manufacturer might wish to implement.

Click to enlarge.

The M1697 is not a board that will be mistaken for a production motherboard. You can see CNR and other risers in odd locations, 4 USB 2.0 ports on the bottom, and a range of PCIe slots that can be turned on or off to test various configurations. Reference Boards are distributed by chipset makers 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.