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ECS 945G-M3 Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionWith Intel's Viiv technology officially launched, the floodgates have opened for manufacturers to start pumping Viiv-compatible hardware. What is Viiv? We've covered this topic duri...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Introduction
With Intel's Viiv technology officially launched, the floodgates have opened for manufacturers to start pumping Viiv-compatible hardware. What is Viiv? We've covered this topic during our IDF Spring 2006 coverage a month ago, which you can see here. In a nutshell, a Viiv machine/PC can replace a wide variety of entertainment devices in the living room acting as a media server, recorder, player, secured network and can be controlled simply through a remote control. If Intel had its way, Viiv will be smarter, more secure, have better interoperability and more compliant than your average off-the-shelf or DIY HTPC system.
Like Intel's Centrino Mobile Technology, a Viiv platform is made up of a combination of a certified Intel processor, core logic chipset and networking components. The only bump in the road at the moment is that a certified Viiv environment must be running on Microsoft Windows XP MCE only, with Vista joining as and when it arrives. So even if you have all the right hardware you are not truly Viiv-ed unless you're running Windows XP MCE. But let's not lose focus contemplating on what Viiv is or is not, which is a discussion for another day.
We're here to take a look at the ECS 945G-M3, one of the first few motherboards that is Viiv technology ready. The 945G-M3 isn't exactly a new motherboard as it was initially launched as an entry-level board with onboard graphics based on the Intel 945G Express chipset. Just recently, ECS has replaced the existing 945G-M3 with a new revision (1.0B Viiv) featuring an updated ICH7DH (DH presumably standing for Digital Home) Southbridge that supports the Viiv stack. The revised 945G-M3 will allow users to run Intel's Viiv software, enabling advanced digital home features and enhancing those of Windows XP MCE.
The new and revised ECS 945G-M3 motherboard now supporting Intel Viiv Technology. |
Its full specifications and retail packaging are listed below:-
1 x SATA data cable
1 x SATA power converter cable
1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable
1 x floppy drive data cable
I/O shield
Driver CD
User's manual
ECS 945G-M3 Technical Specifications
| CPU Support | - Supports90nm LGA775processor package
- Supports Intel PentiumD
- Supports Intel Pentium4 / Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
- Intel Hyper-ThreadingTechnology ready
| | Chipset | - Northbridge: Intel945G Express
- Integrated Intel GMA950 graphics engine
- 533 / 800 /1066MHz front side bus
- PCI Express x16graphics
- Southbridge: IntelICH7DH
- Intel HighDefinition Audio
- Supports six PCIExpress x1 lanes
- Supports up toeight USB 2.0 ports
- Supports four SATA 3.0Gbps ports
- Single-channelUltra ATA-100 IDE port
- Viiv Technology Ready
| | Memory | - Supports twounbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM
- Supports?77/533/400dual channel DDR2 memoryarchitecture
| | Storage | - Intel ICH7DHSouthbridge
- 1 x UltraATA33/66/100 (data transfer rate up to100MB/sec.)
- 4 x Serial ATA?.0Gbps interface
- Intel MatrixStorage Technology
- Supports RAID 0,RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5
| | Audio | - Intel High DefinitionAudio (Azalia)
- Realtek ALC882 HDAudio CODEC
| | Networking | - Intel PC82573L PCIExpress Gigabit Ethernet controller
| | IEEE 1394 (FireWire) | - VIA FireIIM VT6307FireWire controller
- 2 x 1394aports @ 400Mbps speed
| | I/O Interface | - 1 x Floppy connector
- 1 x Ultra ATAIDE connectors
- 4 x SATAconnectors
- 8 x USB 2.0ports (4 x rear, 4 x header)
- 2 x IEEE1394a ports (1 x rear, 1 x header)
- 1 x RJ45 LANport
- 8-Channel Audio I/Oports
- 1 x 9-pin serial port
- 1 x parallel port
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2mouse port
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2keyboard port
| | Expansion Slots | - 1 x PCIe x16slots,PCI Express Bus specification v1.0acompliant
- 1 x PCIe x1slots, PCIExpress Bus specification v1.0acompliant
- 2 x 32-bitPCI slots,PCI 2.3 compliant
| | PCB | - Micro-ATX Form Factor, 24.4cm x 24.4cm
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Rear I/O panel of the ECS 945G-M3 motherboard. Basic essentials are all available from VGA port to surround audio and FireWire to LAN. |
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