CES 2008: Foxconn
posted:
1/8/2008 11:21:00 AM
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This is my second year meeting with Foxconn and they have some really cool new products showcasing at CES this year. One board caught my attention at the table as it held four ATI cards in Quad Crossfire configuration. It’s an Intel board supporting DDR3 memory and as you can see from the pictures it contains a watercooling solution. It runs from the side of the I/O port through the North Bridge and then ends at the South Bridge before it comes back around. On the final product, there will be a T-joint that will allow you to use an internal watercooling product or an external one which is what is featured currently. On the North Bridge, there’s a Peltier cooler and the rep told me when running it can cool the North Bridge down 10C below ambient temperature. The cooler also has a pad underneath that will help with condensation. To help keep the board rigid, there’s a plate underneath the MOSFETS. The site of four ATI cards on the motherboard was pretty cool and I this looks to be an interesting enthusiast board when it is released.
The GeForce 8800GT cards have been the rage recently and Foxconn is finally shipping their version of the card. If you’re looking for another brand to try out, Foxconn is a good choice as I’ve had great luck with all the cards they’ve provided. I asked about the recently leaked GeForce 9800 GX2 but they didn’t have any information on if or when they will produce that card.
Finally, the BlackOps board should be one that enthusiasts keep an eye out on. For starters the BIOS is organized very nicely so you’ll see nice groupings and headers for such things as tweaking CPU, FSB, or memory. As you can see from the pictures, you can really push the board to the limit on voltage. What’s nice is the descriptions of each setting is nicely described on the panel to the right so those getting started in overclocking can see what each setting does in plain English. Something that will appeal to gamers is that as you push your computer, you’ll get labels on different plateaus of speed. The descriptions mimic gaming terms like Impressive, Good One, and Godlike being the highest you can achieve. I can see people talking about what setting their computer reached in these terms with those that use this motherboard The GUI to adjust these in Windows wasn’t fully done but it looks promising. I snapped a few pictures of the BIOS to show you what you can expect on the BlackOps board when it’s released.
The BlackOps board also features four different types of cooling for the North Bridge. The basic setting is a passive heat sink which is, of course, silent. Like the 680i board, the setup comes with a fan that you can clip on the heat sink. Water coolers can put on a block that has and inlet and an outlet. Finally, the long tube you see in the picture can screw on top of the heat sink and you can drop in dry ice to really cool it down. I apologize for the blurriness of the picture of the coolers. If I have time I’ll stop back in to take a better picture. From the simple to the extreme, the cooling options on the BlackOps board should fit a wide range of users.
Foxconn’s really doing their part to get into the enthusiast area and I think they’ve got some great products coming out. I was impressed by what I saw and am really excited with their lineup coming up.
The GeForce 8800GT cards have been the rage recently and Foxconn is finally shipping their version of the card. If you’re looking for another brand to try out, Foxconn is a good choice as I’ve had great luck with all the cards they’ve provided. I asked about the recently leaked GeForce 9800 GX2 but they didn’t have any information on if or when they will produce that card.
Finally, the BlackOps board should be one that enthusiasts keep an eye out on. For starters the BIOS is organized very nicely so you’ll see nice groupings and headers for such things as tweaking CPU, FSB, or memory. As you can see from the pictures, you can really push the board to the limit on voltage. What’s nice is the descriptions of each setting is nicely described on the panel to the right so those getting started in overclocking can see what each setting does in plain English. Something that will appeal to gamers is that as you push your computer, you’ll get labels on different plateaus of speed. The descriptions mimic gaming terms like Impressive, Good One, and Godlike being the highest you can achieve. I can see people talking about what setting their computer reached in these terms with those that use this motherboard The GUI to adjust these in Windows wasn’t fully done but it looks promising. I snapped a few pictures of the BIOS to show you what you can expect on the BlackOps board when it’s released.
The BlackOps board also features four different types of cooling for the North Bridge. The basic setting is a passive heat sink which is, of course, silent. Like the 680i board, the setup comes with a fan that you can clip on the heat sink. Water coolers can put on a block that has and inlet and an outlet. Finally, the long tube you see in the picture can screw on top of the heat sink and you can drop in dry ice to really cool it down. I apologize for the blurriness of the picture of the coolers. If I have time I’ll stop back in to take a better picture. From the simple to the extreme, the cooling options on the BlackOps board should fit a wide range of users.
Foxconn’s really doing their part to get into the enthusiast area and I think they’ve got some great products coming out. I was impressed by what I saw and am really excited with their lineup coming up.
