"Grouper" first look

[LoKi2k]

W00000000T!!

if they sell the board together with the waterblocks, i´ll buy those! together with watercooled crossfire and a mach2 gt on the cpu there will be nice results.

and i also hope, there will be a nice soundchip

[ent]

What about the onboard VGA?

[babyelf]

i think it's on another ATI chipset board.. not this one

[Tony]

What about the onboard VGA?

This board features onboard VGA, both dsub and DVI are provided. I hear its as good as 9800 but i would have to check with ATI.

The onboard can be used with the external for a surround view if needed and as far as i know can be overclocked from bios.

Crossfire seemed to be missing the onboard VGA, but as you see from this bad zoom the board is VERY similar to the white grouper I have here apart from 2x16X slots all power regulation is the same.

[gundamit]

Exciting times. I wonder if the release of the DFI version of this board will be close to the release date of the R520 GPU? If yes, I'm inclined to sell my current rig and start from scratch, except for my Mach II. Maybe the decision will come down to which new GPU comes out first. If the Nvidia 7800 is out first, stay with SLI, if R520 is out first, sell everything for a pair of cards and the DFI/ATI mobo. Tough call. Hard to begin to even guess which chipset/GPU combo will be on top by the end of this year. Safest thing to do would be to buy everything.

Yes it does look like a cat threw up on that motherboard.

[Zebo]

Much better color black is.

Yea I watched Sith last night

[babyelf]

white looks nicer.. =/

[Squid_Spit]

I haven't read the entire thread but what SB does it use the ULI one or the ATI?

[Fairydust]

Wondering which Ram works better with this borad, VX or TCCD? Starting to build a new rig, got my WC parts ordered, case waiting, X2 preordered, but can't decide on the memory, as it seems to have no problems supplying decen VDimm I can't decide if I stick with my TCCD or should go and get some VX.

[AgentVX]

This board features onboard VGA, both dsub and DVI are provided. I hear its as good as 9800 but i would have to check with ATI.

WOW that would be great if it is. Then I can upgrade my CPU+mobo first and worry about a PCI-E graphics card later

[Mr. Tinker]

WOW that would be great if it is. Then I can upgrade my CPU+mobo first and worry about a PCI-E graphics card later

here here.

[harleybro]

Anyway to get spacing between slots on the AMR version? This way I can start working on coolers.

[babyelf]

lol DD custom red colour coolers :p

[xavicl]

this seems to be a nice mobo, i wait to see bench comparatives with dfi nf4

[Grayskull]

The board features the new SB450. It has Azalia sounds and does sound very nice.

ATI have licensed Intels Azalia HD audio chip Should sound sweet

[situman]

is watercooling in AMR feasible? The slots look awefully close to each other.

[babyelf]

there's a custom DD watercooling for it.. look at best of amd section for the pic..

[Playful_Buffalo]

still no word on ETA? or did i miss it

[turtle]

The board features the new SB450. It has Azalia sounds and does sound very nice.

Sweet...Finally the return of decent on-board for enthusiast amd systems...

Thanks for the answer. It's appreciated.

Have you happened to try it with a 20pin psu? This board looks sweet, and I love my fortron...I'm hoping she can make it another cycle and become the oldest piece of still-used hw in my rig.

As for the ETA, while I of course don't know anymore than anyone else...if both the crossfire and non-crossfire boards are fairly similar, you'd think they'd be released around the same time, that being late July or sometime August (as that seems to be when most companies are releasing their crossfire boards), with the non-xfire perhaps a little sooner.

On a side-note, any word on a on-board gpu board that's cross-fire compatible (using all three gpus), or is that the next-stage in (m)architecture with a different chipset?

[EMC2]

As for the bypass I have to check into that.

Any word? And I take it no comment on the SI sim Q?

As for eng samples, they are configured in the manner that they will most likely be sold.

But earlier you said....

There have been some questions regarding maximum currents that the board can deliver. The board as seen here is not configured to deliver full current capacity. It can and it does with different parts that fit on the same board. We saw no need to do so for engineering samples.

Contradictory??

[Zebo]

Whats the story with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) in these chipsets? Yea or nay?

I looked it up: HDCP: High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection. Created by Intel, HDCP is used with HDTV signals over DVI and HDMI connections and on D-Theater D-VHS recordings to prevent unauthorized duplication of copywritten material.

But what does it really mean to the end user?

Also according to Anandtech these boards will not be out in June:

"Unfortunately, like most things ATI, OEM partners have told us that none of these 110nm chips will make their expected June ship date, which is probably why there aren't many details floating around yet"

Yea or nay?

[Grayskull]

Any word? And I take it no comment on the SI sim Q?

Haven't had time to check on the HF bypass. Anything to do with SI or any other kind of sims is proprietary. But as I said before, it was designed with 4V VDIMM in mind.

But earlier you said....


Contradictory??

Confused? Why? The board supports multiple footprint output stages. The engineering samples depicted are what will be available when the board goes to market. And what goes to market will already be very much overkill even for the hardcore overclockers. The board has been tested with other components to find the ultimate capacity of the board but with these parts cost would be prohibitive, even for an enthusiast mobo.

[situman]

what about dual core support?

[EMC2]

Why?

Because this comment

We saw no need to do so for engineering samples.

in regards to the Q surrounding capabilities of the board appeared to possibly be implying that it was only the engineering samples that weren't going to have the full capability Fog is gone now, planned capabilities in shipping configuration understood in that regard.

SI Q was result of layout... and to a lesser extent Tony's comment regarding TCCD OC'ing... speaking of which, can you say what the options are going to be for Interleave modes?

Peace

[4rory]

How powerfull is the onbaord video, If it's as around as good as the 9800pro I got then this is perfect jumping point for me to go pci-e. I can sell my current mother board and vid card and just pick up this motherboard and I'm back were I started and possibily with money still left in my pocket.

So any specs on the onboard video?