CeBit 2005: Intel 955x/945 motherboards at large
As you might remember, at the last IDF they announced the details about Intel 955x (Lakeport) and Intel 945 (Glenwood) chipsets. CeBit 2005, in its turn, offered you such motherboards in all their glory from every vendor possible (see this large gallery). Let me remind you the features of both chipsets.
The Intel 955x will be a part of Intel´s yet to be announced (in Q2 2005) Anchor Creek platform that will also include dual-core CPUs like Pentium Extreme Edition and Pentium D series. This novelty will feature 1,066/800MHz FSB, 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, DDR2-677/533 memory (up to 8GB paired with a EM64T processor that enables to break the 4GB limit). In addition, this chipset will offer improved memory performance and ECC support.
As of the ICH7 Southbridge series, comparing to ICH6, the number of PCI Express x1 lanes is increased to 6 (though real motherboards still feature 1 to 3 such slots) and SATA is replaced by 3Gbps SATA II. The ICH7R modification will support RAID 5.
In its turn, the Intel 945 chipset series will be positioned as mainstream. There will be discrete Intel 945P and integrated Intel 945G with built-in graphics. These novelties will also be paired with ICH7/7R Southbridges.
The "negative" difference of Intel 945 comparing to Intel 955x is that it has only 4GB maximum memory capacity and lacks the memory performance optimization and ECC support. But the "positive" difference is that it supports 533MHz FSB in addition to 1,066/800MHz FSB, which makes it available for the mainstream Celeron D processors. Still, it doesn´t support DDR2-400 and DDR400 and slower memory, just DDR2-677/533 like the senior i955x.
The graphic core built into the Intel 945G is upgraded to Intel GMA950. Besides higher clock rates, the newer graphics core will support HD playback.
Source: PC Watch
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