Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge processors are set to account for 20 percent of the company's desktop lineup by the first quarter of 2011, sources have told DigiTimes. Several motherboard makers are said to be preparing for an influx of compatible motherboards, which will be aimed at the performance market.
Following the introduction of several new motherboards designed for Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge processors, ASUS has also demonstrated its new UEFI system and a graphical management interface. Images posted on the Swedish site SweClockers show the new UI, which has been modernized well beyond the simple keyboard-input system of BIOS firmware.
Gigabyte has released a new beta BIOS for its GA-P55-UD4P motherboard, addressing problems with iPhone sync on certain Windows 7 systems. Issues are said to remain with ASUS and MSI motherboards, for which no patched software is available. People may nevertheless be able to solve errors by upgrading to the latest available BIOS and chipset drivers, or running Windows in Vista SP2 compatibility mode.
Taiwan's MSI has uncovered the Big Bang, an upcoming PC motherboard. The hardware is based on Intel's P55 platform for Core i5 and i7 processors, but is most notable for integrating the Lucid HYDRA 200 chipset. The technology copes with a recurring problem in video cards, which prevents ones from different manufacturers from being used simultaneously.
Component manufacturer ABIT is set to cease operations on December 31st, according to TweakTown. The company gained notoriety and success in the early 1990s for producing motherboards that were preferred by many overclocking enthusiasts. The components offered Softmenu jumperless technology that allowed CPU configurations to be adjusted from the BIOS. The development lead to the integration of a chip onto ABIT motherboards that allowed adjustments to be made while the operating system was running.
Nvidia has introduced a new nForce motherboard, the 780i. Like the 680i, the 780 is able to link an unusual three Nvidia cards together in SLI mode, resulting in performance up to 2.8 times faster than a single card; this is purportedly enough to play Crysis with maximum detail at 1900x1200, or Call of Duty 4 at 2500x1600. The 780i is specifically tailored to Intel's Yorkfield (QX9650) processor, which is rated at 3GHz and has a 1.33GHz front-side bus.
