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Next up on our little tour will be the section of the board reserved
for the Luddites out there in Computerland. There's an internal Parallel Port
header, a set of COM port headers and a vestigial FDD header. The floppy header
is the standard 34 pin connection, but it's been squeezed into a proprietary
width, due to space constraints on the board itself. AOpen has included a custom
size FDD cable along with all the other cables and goodies, but if this cable
ever got lost or broken, you'd be out of luck. Last, but not least in the Luddite
section is an internal PS/2 header. The rear I/O panel is devoid of both PS/2
keyboard and mouse connectors, but AOpen has kindly provided an internal PS/2
keyboard header, and a PCI bracket to cater to those consumers (like yours truly)
that are still using the centuries-old PS/2 keyboards.
PS/2 keyboard adapter plugs into internal header on board.
AOpen has provided both full and half size PCI covers to mount this.
The rear I/O header shows off many of the extra features of the
915GMm board. In place of the PS/2 connectors is a set of six analog
and S/PDIF in/out digital ports for the board. These ports are 7.1 channel HD
Audio connected through the integrated Realtek ALC880 CODEC. AOpen includes
two optical S/PDIF adapters with the motherboard, so the motherboard will be
able to connect directly to digital speakers. Inhabiting the previous location
of the Serial and Parallel ports are the video output connectors,
one being the standard analog VGA connector, and the other being a DVI-I digital-out
connector. Next in line are an S-Video TV out and a set of YPbPr (HDTV) connectors.
All of these connectors are fed from the integrated Intel GMA900 graphics core.
Intel's GMA900 is DirectX 9.0 compatible, and supports DVI connections up to
1600 x 1200.
Intel touts the GMA900 chip thus:
"Graphics designed with media in mind. Incredible
visual quality with native 16x9 formats for wide screen flat panels, motion
compensation for smooth DVD playback and support for popular HDTV display formats.
Outstanding overall media experience when combined with Intel® High Definition
Audio (Intel® HD Audio)."
Next on the rear I/O panel is a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports
which are connected by a Marvell Yukon chipset. Last, but not least are yet
another four USB 2.0 connectors. These are external connectors, and when combined
with the four internal connectors give this board an impressive eight USB 2.0
connectors. You'd really have to try to run out of USB connectivity on this
board.
Rear I/O with no Legacy ports at all.
L-R: HD Audio, VGA, DVI, HDTV, S-Video, 2 x GigE LAN, 4 x USB 2.0.
If the integrated Intel GMA900 graphics chipset isn't your cup
of tea, AOpen and the Intel ICH6M chipset have provided a PCI Express x16 graphics
card slot for more powerful video choices, as well as one PCI Express x1 slot
and two good 'ol 32-bit PCI slots.
Top to bottom: PCIe x 16, PCIe x 1, 32bit PCI x 2.
AOpen has included a complete set of accessories along with the 915GMm. There's
the usual manual and driver disc, along with a RAID driver floppy and rear I/O
plate. Also included is a set of 2 SATA cables, an ATA100 ribbon cable and the
proprietary FDD cable. A set of Molex-to-SATA power adapters, the PS/2 keyboard
adapter and a pair of S/PDIF adapters round out the accessory kit for this board.
Accessory kit included with the board.
So there's the kit, now let's assemble it and see how it works. As a bit of
a Luddite myself, I'm a bit concerned about having only one P-ATA channel, and
no PS/2 ports, but for this review I'll jump firmly into the 21st century and
see how I fare.
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