Love at first sight. New awesome Am2 motherboards!

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Fri May 12, 2006 5:53 am

Asus M2NPV-VM, the successor to A8N-VM.

Many chip heatsinks on nVidia AM2 boards are tiny and passively cooled (no heatpipe), why? Even the high end nForce 500 series, which is the nForce 4 successor (looks like an old VIA KT266 HS). Are they running cooler or what? Are they made of a different manufacturing process (90 nm) compared to the 939 counterparts? I know that nVidia have changed manufacturing process for their GPU's this year, maybe they've done it with the chipsets too. I'd like to know...

=assassin= · Post by **=assassin=** » Fri May 12, 2006 7:23 am

Mats wrote:Asus M2NPV-VM, the successor to A8N-VM.

Many chip heatsinks on nVidia AM2 boards are tiny and passively cooled (no heatpipe), why? Even the high end nForce 500 series, which is the nForce 4 successor (looks like an old VIA KT266 HS). Are they running cooler or what? Are they made of a different manufacturing process (90 nm) compared to the 939 counterparts? I know that nVidia have changed manufacturing process for their GPU's this year, maybe they've done it with the chipsets too. I'd like to know...

Most of the new boards I've seen have heatpipes (like the one on the previous page). It's quite likely that the newer chipsets are 90nm like you said, and that's bound to lower temperatures over the S939 chipsets (110nm?)... haven't found anything concrete yet - I think the later S939 onboard 6100 chipsets were 90nm after doing a google... and they have small heatsinks too.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Fri May 12, 2006 7:41 am

Mats wrote:Asus M2NPV-VM, the successor to A8N-VM.

Many chip heatsinks on nVidia AM2 boards are tiny and passively cooled (no heatpipe), why? Even the high end nForce 500 series, which is the nForce 4 successor (looks like an old VIA KT266 HS). Are they running cooler or what? Are they made of a different manufacturing process (90 nm) compared to the 939 counterparts? I know that nVidia have changed manufacturing process for their GPU's this year, maybe they've done it with the chipsets too. I'd like to know...

Yes, nVidia has had 90nm chipsets since last fall. Any new chips will at least be 90nm designs just like the current cool running nVidia 90nm GeForce6100/6150 + nForce 430/410 chips.

BTW: It is ironic how my cheap Biostar Tforce 6100 can run much higher CPU HT speeds than any non-integrated chipset motherboard. It is funny to hear about these $200 enthusiast motherboards that can barely exceed 300MHz.

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Fri May 12, 2006 1:38 pm

=assassin= wrote: Most of the new boards I've seen have heatpipes (like the one on the previous page).

That Gigabyte AM2 nForce 500 SLi x16 is of the few AM2 boards I've seen with a heatpipe (or fan), no AM2 mobo from Asus have it so far even though they used it on 939 models. Check the second link in the first post.

elec999 · Post by **elec999** » Fri May 12, 2006 9:27 pm

I am totally confused about the DRM,TPM, and HDMI. From what I understand my self, which I may be wrong. If my lcd monitor is not connected to the computer via HDMI, I will not be allowed to watch HDTV video. Also Cisco says no TPM no internet. Does this mean I can no longer use my older laptop and desktop pcs to access the internet. This bascially is telling me Im forced to upgrade to VISTA, and next generation hardware in order just to access the internet.
Thanks

smilingcrow · Post by **smilingcrow** » Sat May 13, 2006 1:39 am

elec999 wrote:I am totally confused about the DRM,TPM, and HDMI. From what I understand my self, which I may be wrong. If my lcd monitor is not connected to the computer via HDMI, I will not be allowed to watch HDTV video.

To watch HD video from protected Blu-ray or HD-DVD discs on a TFT â€˜at full resolutionâ€™, you need the following:

A HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compatible VGA card (or on-board VGA) with either a DVI or HDMI connector. HDMI is basically DVI + Digital Audio and uses a different connector.
A HDCP compatible monitor with either a DVI or HDMI connector.
A HD optical drive and HD compatible media playback software.

It may well also be possible to play HD content at full resolution via HD component TV outputs of a HDCP compatible VGA card. In this case there is a potential problem in that there is a flag on protected HD discs called the ICT (Image Constraint Token) and if its set, the video resolution sent over the component outputs will be reduced to standard TV resolution. This is because component outputs are analogue signals and not HDCP compliant.
Currently, all or at least the vast majority of film studios have stated that the ICT flag will not be set on their initial releases. Of course, they can change their mind on this at any time in the future.

Even though the film studios have been gracious enough to allow people with expensive HD TVs that are not HDCP compatible to watch HD video, at least for now, I donâ€™t think the same largesse has been extended to DVI TFT owners. My understanding is that if you have a non HDCP compliant TFT, that you will get a standard resolution video from a HD source over DVI, regardless of whether the ICT flag is set or not. Can someone confirm this and will it make any difference if you connect your HDCP compliant VGA card to your TFT via D-Sub? I suspect not.

Live · Post by **Live** » Sat May 13, 2006 1:43 am

Mats wrote:
=assassin= wrote: Most of the new boards I've seen have heatpipes (like the one on the previous page).
That Gigabyte AM2 nForce 500 SLi x16 is of the few AM2 boards I've seen with a heatpipe (or fan), no AM2 mobo from Asus have it so far even though they used it on 939 models. Check the second link in the first post.

The The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe sure has heatpipes and big looking heatsinks as well:
ASUS AM2 Motherboard Lineup@dailytech

This Mb doesn't look anything like the ones linked in the first post. I have no idea who is right but I guess we will see in a few weeks.

Schlotkins · Post by **Schlotkins** » Sat May 13, 2006 4:57 am

Now, if only AMD would release a dual core for less than $290....

Chris

Mats · Post by **Mats** » Sat May 13, 2006 6:47 am

Live wrote:The The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe sure has heatpipes and big looking heatsinks as well:
ASUS AM2 Motherboard Lineup@dailytech

I think we're both right. It seems like the one you linked to is the only one with a heatpipe, and that's because it uses two chips for PCIEx16 SLI.
All the other ones uses only one chip (including the PCIEx8 SLI), it's actually just like it was with the nF4

Gordoco · Post by **Gordoco** » Sat May 13, 2006 8:46 am

More pictures and specs of the Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe here: http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=3636

=assassin= · Post by **=assassin=** » Mon May 15, 2006 5:18 am

Live wrote:
Mats wrote:
=assassin= wrote: Most of the new boards I've seen have heatpipes (like the one on the previous page).
That Gigabyte AM2 nForce 500 SLi x16 is of the few AM2 boards I've seen with a heatpipe (or fan), no AM2 mobo from Asus have it so far even though they used it on 939 models. Check the second link in the first post.
The The ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe sure has heatpipes and big looking heatsinks as well:
ASUS AM2 Motherboard Lineup@dailytech

This Mb doesn't look anything like the ones linked in the first post. I have no idea who is right but I guess we will see in a few weeks.

I've seen three ABIT boards as well with the same type of heatpipe cooling, but now I've seen a few more varations, it looks like the heatpipe versions are mainly for high-end motherboards... still, I've seen a passive Gigabyte board with the same type of passive heatsink they used on their 939 products, so I've got my eye on that for a budget choice