CeBIT 2008: Expo stands of Foxconn, Elitegroup, Arctic Cooling

Foxconn's Expo Stand

Foxconn keeps on pleasing overclockers with new motherboards of the Quantum Force series. The top-end solution for the Intel platform is the Blackops model based on the X48 chipset in combination with the south bridge ICH9R.

The key feature of this motherboard is the rather efficient system for cooling the chipset, with a universal water-block on top of the north bridge. However, it is not quite correct to call this a water-block. The thing is that it is possible to install a special fan on it, and we get an air-driven cooling system. You can install a lid with two connection pipes (as is shown on the photo), and then it's possible to plug in a water-powered cooling system. If we don't fit the lid, the water block resembles a basin in its shape which can be filled with either liquid nitrogen or dry ice. That was just what the specially invited overclockers were doing

and by the end of the expo attained the frequencies as high as >5 GHz.

Another motherboard of the Quantum Force series is called Dreadnought and is based on the NVIDIA nForce 790i SLI chipset.

This motherboard also uses a universal cooling block which has acquired its own name - the 4in1 Quantum Cooler.

The third overclocker's board is aimed at fanciers of AMD processors. It is called Destroyer and is based on NVIDIA nForce 780a SLI.

The system for cooling the chipset of this board, first, has no 4in1 Quantum Cooler, and secondly is not fully complete. in particular, the final version will not have a lower radiator. At the same time, it is easy to see four PCI Express x16 slots. Similar functionality is also there on Foxconn A79A-S which is based on AMD 790FX.

Motherboards based on this chipset have already been to our lab, but the model A79A-S stands out among then for its new south bridge SB700.

The release of the new south bridge SB700 is a long anticipated move by AMD since the specifications of its south bridges (in particular, SB600) are weak according to today's standards. There is nothing to complain about the functionality of SB700: the chip offers support for six SerialATA II links (+ support for RAID and eSATA), at least one Gigabit LAN controller, and 14 (!) USB2.0 ports. Among the additional features, it is worth noting the technology for remote access and control - Intelligent Device Management (IDM), as well as support for the TPM (Trusted Platform Module).

By the way, this motherboard relates to the new Foxconn DigitalLife series which also includes the latest model Foxconn ELA:

The board is based on the P45+ICH10R combination and uses three PCI Express x16 slots. Additional PCI-E lanes are provided by one more IDT bridge which was left without a radiator, for demonstration purposes.

Development of power-saving technologies for Foxconn is a diametrically opposed direction. In particular, two "green" boards were presented: ELMG based on the G45+ICH10R combination, and G3IMG-S - on the G31+ICH7.

And this "greenery" is not virtual (i.e. to the benefit of the whole world) but quite tangible, which is seen in the saving of power. Depending on the operating mode, this motherboard is able paying back for approximately one year.

As regards regular motherboards, Foxconn presented the model P45A-S based on the P45+ICH10R combination aimed at systems not pretending for the exclusive status:

Demonstrated nearby was the model G45M-S made in the Micro-ATX form factor, based on the G45+ICH10R combination. By the way, in terms of functionality the north bridge G45 is fully similar to P45 and it also offers the integrated graphic core Intel X4500.

There are two more motherboards based on the cheaper G43 chipset, again with the cheaper south bridge ICH10. We are not dwelling on that, so we bring in only the photo:

Apart from motherboards based on Intel chipsets, Foxconn presented a number of models based on NVIDIA nForce 8300 (for the Intel platform) and nForce 8200 (AMD) chipsets. These are the models M7AM-S:

and M78A-S:

A couple of new products based on AMD chipsets. One of them is Foxconn A78AX-S based on the AMD770 + SB700 combination:

Finishing our talk about motherboards, we mention the concept model with four PCI-Express x16 slots. Looking at the board, you can see that the engineers were granted a full freedom, so they contrived to the best of their fantasies, without having to follow general standards.

Clearly that such a motherboards won't fit into any ATX housing, so engineers at Foxconn have developed their own huge housing, specially meant for this motherboard:

To amuse the audience, engineers at Foxconn have fitted a magnifying lens to the lateral wall. In the end, the system looks really funny. But more amusing is that the system is fully operative; there are four video cards inside which output image to eight monitors:

Among the other exhibits of the stand, we note quite a wide assortment of video cards:

housings:

and coolers:

There was a separate expo devoted to server solutions by Foxconn whose products are promoted under the iPOX trademark:

Elitegroup's expo stand

Judging by CeBIT 2008, ECS has abandoned the idea to join the premium sector of motherboards. At the expo stand, there were merely two high-end motherboards based on Intel X48 and X38 chipsets, as well as one on P45. The remaining produce is various MicroATX boards based on cheap chipsets. The attempt to join the sector of expensive motherboards made by the company a couple of years ago has failed: expensive motherboards of the Extreme series were almost precise replicas of regular motherboards with improved cooling system and rich package bundle. But the major consumers of high-end produce, i.e. computer enthusiasts, need either a popular name or excellent overclocking results (it's just this sector where Foxconn is acting through enticing all the skilled engineers in this field).

So, ECS has presented one motherboard based on Intel X48 named X48T-A,

and one one X38 made in the BTX form factor (X38T-GB model)

and P45T-A based on the P45+ICH10 combination.

All the three boards offer specifications which fully meet the chipsets' capabilities without any additional technologies. We note the cooling system for X48T-A which is made up of three copper radiators (many eminent manufacturers prefer fitting painted aluminum radiators) interlinked with heat pipes.

In the value sector, there are no more novelties. These are MicroATX boards based on G45 (the G45T-M with the integrated video core Intel GMA X4500),

and G43 (the model G43T-M with a somehow cut-down video core).

Despite the external similarity, the board based on G45 offers support for the hardware decoding of H.264/VC1/AVC and is quite a good solution for a home-based multimedia system.

Another motherboard is based on the Intel Q45 chipset (the motherboard Q45T-M), with the chip ICH10DO acting as the south bridge.

This motherboard is aimed at corporate users and at least offers support for Proactive Alerting - a notification of software and hardware issues in the remote system, Nonvolatile Storage - storage of special information on hardware resources and software installed in the motherboard's flash memory (which is accessible to the system administrator), Tamper-Resistant Agent - control over the software versions (some sort of user rights restrictions).

At the expo stand, there were also a few more motherboards based on the rather "aged" chipsets G31/G33 and G35, and we are not dwelling on them.

It is much more interesting to look at novelties for the AMD platform. In particular, A780GM-A1 is based on the AMD 780G chipset and is equipped with the south bridge SB700.

The board should not cost much, but if the user want to get even more saving, it is possible to take the MicroATX board A780GM-M (despite the similar names, these two boards use a different PCB design):

But if the struggle is going on for every penny saved, you can take a look at the motherboard A770M-A based on the combination of AMD770 and the outdated (but very cheap) south bridge SB600.

At the expo stand, there were also motherboards based on NVIDIA chipsets. And these are not based on top-end SLI versions but on the cheap integrated GeForce 8200 chipset (by the way, made up of a single chip). This is the ATX motherboard GF8200A:

and the MicroATX board GF8200M-M3:

Apart from the motherboard, we found quite a formidable assortment of ECS video cards. Part of them had a standard cooling system like, for example, this card based on the GeForce 9600GT chip.

Another part of the cards was equipped with a massive cooler which could not be looked through because of the glued strip of paper:

However, we quite quickly found out the manufacturer of these cooling devices: it was Arctic Cooling (see the review of the next stand).

In conclusion, we bring in a photo of the new design of boxes for Elitegroup video cards:

Arctic Cooling expo stand

First of all, let's look at the coolers for video cards of the Accelero series, which includes the models S1 and S2.

These models are installed on Elitegroup's video cards.

The trait of these coolers is the well made system of radiator fins, heat pipes, and the option to install active cooling (two additional fans). The fans themselves are quiet, and besides they are installed in rubber guides, which gives an additional reduction in noise and vibrations.

Besides, there was presented the Accelero X1 cooler, but it seems that we saw it at the last year's Computex expo.

A system like that for fastening fans is used in almost all the products of Arctic Cooling and, in particular, in the system for cooling power supply modules which is made up of Arctic RC radiators and the Arctic RC Turbo fan.

In the close distance, this technical solution looks like that:

Besides, at the expo stand there were coolers for the Intel platform, for both desktop systems (the model Freezer 7 Pro),

and the low-profile systems:

as well as the ultra low-profile:

In conclusion, we bring in a photo of the demo Arctic Cooling system, whose all the cooling devices are made by this manufacturer.