Intel P35: Intel's Mainstream Chipset Grows Up
by Gary Key & Wesley Fink on May 21, 2007 3:45 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
G33 Express Chipset - June 4th
Since G33 will typically be embraced by OEMs rather than by AT readers, we did not test the one motherboard available at G33 launch. However, some of you will be interested in the block diagram of G33 for details of what is included in the chipset.
G33 will become the new OEM favorite, but the on-board Media Accelerator 3100 Graphics does not mean the chipset is stripped. The chipset can support either DDR2 or DDR3 memory, and an x16 PCIe slot is fully supported. Thanks to ICH9 G33 also supports twelve USB 2.0 ports, High Definition Audio, six serial ATA ports, an eSATA external SATA port, optional Gigabit LAN, and six PCIe x1 slots/lanes. Optional features include support for Intel Matrix Storage, Intel Turbo Memory (Robson), and Intel Quiet System technology.
G33 supports Intel Fast Memory Access coupled with the integrated Graphics, and Intel claims this will improve graphics and memory performance from 6% to 20% compared to the current 945G chipset. Keep in mind that 945G uses GMA 950 while G33 uses GMA X3100, so compared with G965 the differences may not be as great. Still, G33 is the entry-level IGP solution and it does represent an improvement over the previous entry-level 945G.
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Gary Key - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
X38 is basically ready, going through some fine tuning now... I understand it will be held until after the 1333CPUs are launched and DDR3 availability is a little more widespread/cost effective. I expect late August right now, but you never know with Intel. ;-)JarredWalton - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
Technically Q3 is any time between July 1 and September 30, but if they're saying Q3 right now it probably means some time in August at best.gigahertz20 - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
I applaud ASUS for only including 1 legacy connection on their P5K series, and not 4 like Gigabyte has chosen to do for their P35 board. Death to legacy connections!I mean really, why even include those damn legacy ports. The enthusiast that buys one of these boards will not be using them, they are a waste of space. Instead of having them, they should replace them with more USB ports or something useful.
JarredWalton - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
I still have a parallel based laser printer that works fine for what I need, and I'm quite happy using it until it dies. There are also people that use serial devices that cost a lot of money. I don't think every board needs legacy support, but it's good that there are still options for people that *need* certain legacy devices. I've got several KVM switches that won't be useful if PS/2 ports disappear. :(yacoub - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
Don't they offer USB or eSATA to serial/parallel convertors for those sort of situations? :)JarredWalton - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
Sure, but I haven't had the need to try one yet. :)Truth be told, my printer has a USB port, but it behaves very poorly using a USB connection. It's a Brother HL-1240, and if the printer isn't powered on when you boot, Windows won't see it unless you unplug it and plug it back into a different USB port. It just works better with LPT, and as I said for my needs it's sufficient. The way I figure it, having the ports there isn't hurting most people. I've never seen anything to indicate they hamper performance, and how many extra transistors are "wasted" on these ports? Maybe a few thousand? Heheh. 45M transistors on the P35 is a bit crazy....
For what it's worth, between mouse, keyboard, and my LCD (which actually has four USB ports and flash memory readers), I haven't had any need for more than four USB ports on a motherboard. But then, I've got too many PCs around anyway.
TA152H - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
I agree with you, but for another reason.I don't like USB at all, because a few years ago I ran some tests, on motherboards ranging from MVP3 based to a KT880, and USB seems to have a negative impact on performance, particularly on memory, in many cases.
It doesn't make my keyboard work any better, or my mouse, and I'm not sure why I need it for those functions at all. PS/2 ports don't do it well enough? I'm not crazy about this one size fits all approach, especially when it comes with overhead. The current ports work fine.
USB is a crappy, bloated technology. I'm not sure the "S" should stand for "serial" at all, I think there is a better word that begins with S for it.
strikeback03 - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
Wake me up when Bluetooth works over PS/2.Though one reason to still include PS/2 keyboard/mouse is that it is hard to screw up support for those in Linux kernels. Same can't be said about USB.
TA152H - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
Wake me up when I need Bluetooth.You could implement Bluetooth easily if USB didn't exist, but you're missing the point anyway. When you have to use USB for stuff that is handled more efficiently by PS/2 ports, it's a bad thing. Or other ports. It adds no function for these devices, and comes with overhead. It's a bad idea, but of course Intel was in the mode of making as many things as possible use CPU power so they could keep selling their latest and greatest.
It's just a rehash of some dorky Apple stuff that most people here don't remember. The original MacIntoy didn't have any slots, and you'd attach stuff to some serial bus for expansion. Naturally, it didn't work out, and they had to add slots. At least they didn't get rid of slots for USB, they just made it bloated.
DigitalFreak - Monday, May 21, 2007 - link
Man, if the P35 boards are going to be around the $250 mark, I'm not looking forward to see the price on the X38 boards.... :-(