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LOSTCIRCUITS	SHORTCUTS: PR-elude to the afternoon of a processor Mommy! Look, No Pins DDR2 Briefs Power Plays Sandra vs. Aida Cachemem 2.65 A Neat Analyser Intermission... Give Us Some Feedback to Help Us Improve our Reviews
Intel LGA775 SocketT New and (Un) improved?
(Review by MS, July 28, 2004)

Power Connectors on the Side

You might have guessed it, in terms of power consumption, the latest generation of SocketT CPUs is no slouch. Three-digit power consumption is what needs to be battled on the level of the VRM as well as on the mundane tasks of feeding the necessary power to the mainboard to begin with. Adaptations to the new requirements include a new power connector laid out according to the EPS specifications with 24 pins as opposed to the normal 20 pins used in the ATX specifications. The auxiliary power, on the other hand follows the original ATX 2.03 specifications and only features four pins to provide 120 W of power for those hungry processors we are currently dealing with.

Extra Connectors - The Mainboard as Power Station

One issue easily forgotten about the new platform is the fact that the CPU and memory are not the only power hogs out there, on the contrary, more powerful graphics and even hard disk drives require extra power as well and, just in case there are not enough power leads off the main supply, Intel has added additional plugs on the mainboard itself.

             

A 24-pin power connector replaces the standard ATX 20 pin main connector, in addition, there are the 12V auxiliary connector as well as the "smart-power" header that were a trademark feature of ASUS and Shuttle boards for some time. In case there are not enough leads to power all peripherals, there is also the possibility of using a standard Y-splitter and tap into the mainboard. Note the color-coded front panel connectors, a novelty for Intel brand boards but very welcome nonetheless.

Test Platforms*

• * In this article we are mostly comparing Intel platforms against each other on the basis of memory performance.
• ** we received a PCIe version of the 6800 GT graphics card but nVidia was unable to procure an AGP counterpart. We borrowed a 6800 Ultra from Sudhian Media (a big thanks to Joel) and underclocked it to match the speed of the 6800GT, that is 1000 MHz memory data rate and 350 MHz core speed.
• ***The 61.45 drivers originally used gave some inconsistent results, therefore we moved on to the latest WHQL certified 61.76 drivers that were used on both the AGP and the PCIe version.

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