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1 2 3 4 5 6 NextAOpen i915GMm-HFS Pentium M Motherboard
June 19, 2005 by Ralf
Hutter
| Product |
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Manufacturer |
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| Street Price |
US$280~350 |
The first consumer-oriented Pentium M motherboards were released late last
year by AOpen and DFI. (Editor's Note: And both boards were reviewed thoroughly by RH.) Both were based on the Intel 855G/ICH4 chipset, which
is stable and mature but doesn't come with the latest features that enthusiasts
expect on a brand new board. The rather high price point of these boards
only served to exacerbate this issue.
AOpen was not content to sit
back and see how well its initial Pentium M offering did in the marketplace. They
quickly followed up with a new board, the i915GMm-HFS,
based on the new 915G/ICH6 chipset.
Included on this board are features like PCIe x16, DDR2, SATA300, HD Audio and
a 533MHz FSB among others. The integrated graphics includes not only the typical
analog VGA out, but DVI and HDTV outputs as well. I doubt that anyone will be
complaining about the lack of features on this iteration of a Pentium
M board!
Luckily for SPCR, AOpen was kind enough to send us one of these brand
new boards to play with and we've been testing it out for the past few weeks.
Today's review will give a bit of an overview of our impressions.
AOpen i915GMm-HSF. Unusual layout for an Intel board seems to emulate BTX.
First off, here's a chart comparing the features of the AOpen i855 and i915
boards:
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Comparison of AOpen i855GM and i915GM Motherboards
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Feature
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i855GMEm-FLS
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915GMm-HFS
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Processor
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Socket-479m Pentium-M
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Socket-479m Pentium-M
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Chipset
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Intel 855GME Northbridge
Intel ICH4 Southbridge
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Intel 915GM Northbridge
Intel ICH6M Southbridge
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FSB
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400 MHz
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400 MHz, 533 MHz
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Memory Interface
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2 x DDR333 Slots (2GB Max)
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Single Channel DDR-333 or
Dual Channel DDR2-533
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Memory Bandwidth
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2.7 GB/sec Peak Bandwidth
(Single Channel DDR333)
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2.7 GB/sec (DDR)
8.5 GB/sec (DDR2)
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Graphics Interface
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1 x AGP (4x)
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PCI Express x16
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IDE Ports
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2 x Ultra ATA/100 Ports
(4 Drives)
Floppy Port
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1 x Ultra ATA/100 Port
(2 Drives)
2 x SATA Ports
2 x SATAII Ports
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S-ATA RAID
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2 x SATA-II/150 Ports
Promise 20579 Controller
RAID-0, RAID-1, JBOD
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2 x SATA-II/150 Ports
Silicon Image SATA Controller
RAID-0, RAID-1, JBOD
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PCI Slots
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3 x 32-bit (33 MHz) PCI
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2 x PCIe (1 x1, 1 x16)
2 x 32-bit (33 MHz) PCI
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USB / Firewire
Ports
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6 x USB 2.0 (Intel)
2 x Firewire 400 (Agere)
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8 x USB 2.0 (Intel)
2 x Firewire 400 (Agere)
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Integrated
Graphics
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Onboard Intel
Extreme Graphics 2
HD-15 Analog Output
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Onboard Intel
Extreme Graphics 2
HD-15 Analog Output
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Onboard Ethernet
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2 x Marvell
Yukon GigE Ports
(32-bit PCI)
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2 x Marvell
Yukon GigE Ports
(32-bit PCI)
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Onboard Audio
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Realtek ALC655 AC'97 Audio
5+1 Channel Analog
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Intel HD Audio
7+1 Channel
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And here's the complete rundown on the board's features, as given by AOpen:
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AOpen
i915GMm-HFS Specifications
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Processor
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Intel Pentium
M CPU (Dothan)
Socket 479, 533Mhz
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Chipset
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Intel 915GM, ICH6-M |
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Super I/O
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Winbond |
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Clock Gen
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Realtek |
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Memory
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Dual Channel Mode (DDRII
400/533MHz only)
Support : DDR333 or DDRII 533
DDR or DDRII DIMM x 2
DIMM Type : DDR or DDRII 128/256/512MB & 1GB
Max Memory : 2GB
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Graphics
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Integrated Intel GMA900
graphics core
PCI Express x16 (PCIe x16) slot
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Audio
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Azalia Codec
on-Board embedded S/PDIF (ALC880)
7.1 Channel and above
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Network
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Dual Marvell Gigabit
PCI Express LAN
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IDE
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Integrated ATA100 and Serial ATA Controller
Silicon Image Serial ATA II Control Chipset [Support RAID 0,1]
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USB
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Integrated in chipset, 8 x USB2.0 ports
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IEEE 1394
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Agere 1394 Control Chip |
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Slots
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PCI Express (PCIe x1) x
1
PCI Express x16 Graphics (PCIe x16) x 1
PCI x 2 |
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Storage & Back Panel I/O
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Floppy Drive Connector x 1
IDE Channel : ATA100 x 1
Serial ATA Channel x 2
Serial ATA II Channel x 2
USB Port x 4
LAN Port x 2
VGA Port x 1
D-Connector (D1, D2, D3, D4) x 1 (for Japan only)
DVI-i Connector x 1
Standard Video x 1
YPbPr Connector x 1
Line_In/SPDIF_In x 1
Speaker_Out x 1
MIC_In x 1
Center/Subwoofer x 1
Rear Surround/SPDIF_Out x 1
Side Surround x 1 |
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On Board Connector
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Front Panel x 1
CPU FAN x 1
System FAN x 1
Chassis FAN x 1
Power Temperature Connector x 1
CD_IN x 1
COM Port x 2
IEEE 1394 x 2
USB Port x 4
Printer Connector x 1 |
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BIOS
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Award PnP 4Mb Flash ROM BIOS |
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Form Factor / Size
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micro-ATX / 244 mm x 244
mm |
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Software & Utility
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Acrobat Reader
AOconfig utility
EzInstall utility
EzSkin utility
EzWinFlash utility
i915GMm-HFS Utility
Online eBook Manual
WinDMI utility |
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Accessory
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CPU Cooler x 1 (Ha!)
Easy Installation Guide x 1
Enhanced Full Pictured Manual x 1
Bonus Pack CD disc x 1
Floppy Disk cable (special) x 1
80-wire IDE cable x 1
Serial ATA cable x 2
Serial ATA Power cable x 2
Back Panel I/O Shield x 1
PS/2 Keyboard Connector x 1
S/PDIF Converter x 2
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