Time for a reViival?
Very recently we looked at two mATX motherboards from ECS. One was a Socket 939 offering, while the other was AM2 flavoured. ECS adds to its squadron of mATX boards with a new model - the 945GTY-M - for Intel's Core Duo chips.
The board, supporting the already proven Core Duo processors, offers PEG and 1x PCIe connectivity, along with a pair of PCI slots. It's got SATA 3Gbps support and Intel's GMA 950 graphics. Onboard Intel HD audio (ALC833) finishes off the noteworthy features.
Seeing as Merom, Intel's Core 2 based Core Duo chips (core overload there) should be compatible with any existing Core Duo capable board, providing the BIOS supports it, that gives ECS a Viiv compatible system that'll run the latest a greatest mobile chips. Indeed, multimedia on on ECS's list of uses for the board:
The 945GTY-M’s lower power consumption, efficient thermal design, quiet operation and SATAII storage flexibility make it a great Viiv capable home entertainment PC, everyday business or home PC platform with strong processing power and multimedia performance.
It's Vista ready too, of course, should Vista ever be released. So, perhaps a board that'll make its way into a few living rooms, if the Viiv platform grows? We'll see.
