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Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H Review
[Abstract]
IntroductionEver since the trend moved towards modernization of the traditional PC into home entertainment consoles, there have been plenty of reasons for one to go for Small Form Factor (SFF) ...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Introduction
Ever since the trend moved towards modernization of the traditional PC into home entertainment consoles, there have been plenty of reasons for one to go for Small Form Factor (SFF) and HTPC designs. There are generally two ways one can go about this though. The easy way out is to buy into custom PCs like the AOpen Mini PC or barebone systems like those offered by Shuttle. The other way is to go the D.I.Y. route. With an increasing number of SFF chassis designs that can accommodate regular sized motherboards, building your own compact PC from the ground up isn't too difficult.
If you're in the second group, you'd most probably be hunting for a microATX motherboard for your rig and while they aren't hard to find, boards these size are historically under-powered or under-featured compared to their full seized ATX brethren. AOpen is one of the manufacturers that have always catered to this group, but once in a while we get hold of a gem from some of the more mainstream manufacturers. The latest board to catch our eye is the Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H. being one of the newer generation Core 2 ready motherboards, the G9657MA-8EKRS2H sports an up-to-date chipset, full CPU and memory speed support, plus rich features in a small footprint.
The Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H motherboard. |
The Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H comes with the following peripherals bundled in its box:-
1 x SATA data cables
1 x SATA power converter cables (dual plugs)
1 x 80-conductor Ultra ATA data cable
1 x floppy drive data cable
I/O shield
Driver CD and diskettes
User's manuals and guides
Every connection conceivable is represented including optical and coaxial S/PDIF, eSATA, FireWire, USB 2.0, RJ45, analog surround audio, VGA and legacy ports. |
Foxconn G9657MA-8EKRS2H Technical Specifications
| CPU Support | - Supports90nm/65nm LGA775processor package
- Supports Intel Core 2 Duo / Core2 Extreme
- Supports Intel PentiumD / PentiumProcessor Extreme Edition
- Supports IntelPentium4 / Pentium 4 Extreme Edition
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| Chipset | - Northbridge:Intel G965
- 533 / 800 /1066MHz front side bus
- PCI Express x16graphics
- GMA X3000 graphics accelerator
- Southbridge: IntelICH8R
- Intel High Definition Audio
- Supportssix PCI Express x1 lanes
- Supports up to ten USB 2.0ports
- Supports six SATA 3.0Gbps ports (with MatrixStorage Technology)
- Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps MAC
- IntelQuiet System Technology
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| Memory | - Supports fourunbuffered DIMM of 1.8 Volt DDR2 SDRAM
- Supports 800/677/533dual channelDDR2 memoryarchitecture
| | Storage | - Intel ICH8RSouthbridge
- 4 x SATA 3.0Gbpsinterface
- Intel Matrix Storage Technology
- SupportsRAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, RAID 5, RAID 10
- eSATAsupport
- JMicronJMB361 IDE Controller
- 2 x UltraATA33/66/100/133 (data transfer rate up to133MB/sec.)
| | Audio | - IntelHigh DefinitionAudio (Azalia)
- Realtek ALC883 8-channel HDAudio CODEC
- Optical and coaxial S/PDIFsupport
| | Networking | - Marvell 88E8056 PCI ExpressGigabit Ethernetcontroller
| | I/O Interface | - 1x Floppy connector
- 1 x Ultra ATAIDE connectors
- 4 x SATAconnectors
- 10 x USB 2.0ports (4 x rear, 6 x header)
- 2 x IEEE 1394a ports(1 x rear, 1 x header)
- 1 x VGA port
- 1 xRJ45 LANport
- 8-Channel Audio I/Oports
- 1 x Optical S/PDIF Output
- 1x Coaxial S/PDIF Output
- 1 x 9-pin serial port(header)
- 1 x parallel port
- 1x mini-DIN-6 PS/2mouse port
- 1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2keyboard port
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| Expansion Slots | - 1 xPCIe 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
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| PCB | - MicroATXForm Factor, 244 mm x 244 mm
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