Asustek, MSI unveil single- channel DDR Intel boards

Based on the new i848P chipset

Reg Kit Watch

Motherboards

MSI and Asustek have followed up Intel's quiet launch of its mainstream i848P chipset with announcements that they will ship boards based on the part.

MSI's board is the 848P Neo is aimed at overclockers, and has been designed to run the new chipset's 200MHz frontside bus - yield an 800MHz effective bit rate - at up to 350MHz, for a 1.4GHz effective bit rate. You need to add a ratio-unlocked Socket 478 Pentium 4, however, MSI says.

The i848P provides a single-channel memory bus, supporting 400MHz DDR SDRAM. MSI is offering a BIOS update that allows users to add 533MHz memory when it becomes more widely available

The board also supports MSI's Memory Acceleration Technology, which appears be its name for Intel's Performance Acceleration Technology. That confirms the view that the i848P is based on the i865 design rather than an upgrades i845.

The 848P Neo provides two DIMM slots; five PCI and one AGP 8x connector; four USB 2.0 ports and 10/100Mbps Ethernet.

Asustek's i848P boards are the P4P800S and the P4P800S-E. The company claims the boards are compatible with Prescott and supports processors at 3.2GHz and above.

The P4P800S-E adds and extra memory slot to the P4P800S' pair, and both offer five PCI and one AGP 8x connectors. An Asus Wi-Fi adaptor slot is included too. Eight USB 2.0 ports are included, and two 1394 ports.

Both boards offer 10/100Mbps Ethernet support, but the P4P800S-E also supports Gigabit Ethernet.

Asustek hasn't yet said how it will price its two boards, or when they will become available. MSI didn't offer such information either. ®