ASRock Wants the Best Mobo Ideas in the World

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Make the CPU block (including fan mounting holes) a modular unit that can be bolted into different back-planes that can have different form-factors, slot and peripheral options. For extra flexibility make the memory block, northbridge and southbridge chipset mountings modular as well. The purpose of this would be so that when the latest and greatest CPU comes out you don't have to throw away the entire motherboard, simply purchase the modules that needed with that CPU module-- for instance it needs some new fancy north-bridge, and DDR5.

Marketing wise MBs are already sold based on peripheral / chipset options. So, with this concept a user can buy a la carte, or as an already matched "kit". Then at a future time swap out pieces.

Something like this was attempted in the past, but that implementation sucked.

 
Modularity is a key for futuristic design. You can design a motherboard with a completely novel design and separate all the important blocks like GPU, CPU, memory, etc. into separate modules. The most important design aspect would be following: "Individual module would be upgradeable". So on can just take out one GPU module, change the GPU and put it back, or change the CPU and put it back. This design would be difficult to develope, but once developed it will be completely future-proof. All the power users and gamers would be completely satisfied.
 
Just an idea or two, why not make PCI-xpress 2.0 slots on all motherboards run at full x16 speed and not have the whole "x16, x8, x8" on three way SLI boards. So if its got 2-way the slots will both run at x16, or if its a 3-8 way setup all lanes run at x16, oh if you add dual lan on all of your motherboards it would make it easyer for lan partys also. Even if your running a sever on top of server in a server, the dual lan ports work great. Even better if you can add more adapters and gadgets with a motherboard because its been a very long time since ASRock has given anything more than a T Shirt, or case badges. Why I say that is because I love the little tools, and gadgets like my screen DUO from my ASUS Motherboard, EVGA's EVBOT.
Many times I have seen a motherboard with DVI Video but not 1 DVI-to-VGA, or DVI-to-HDMI video adapter. Making a run to the store to find one. I also have lots of great ideas in mind. I just dont have time to name them all but they are all great ideas.
 
Side mount the power connectors. Heatsinks/heatpipes for all chipset components (NB/integrated GPU, etc). Remove all legacy interfaces (PATA, floppy/PS2). Retain firewire and USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. Make all fan power connections 4-pin PWM. Use riser cards for sound to minimize RFI from motherboard itself.

Reorient memory configuration to allow greater airflow. Current designs effectively cool the sticks closest to the fans the best, with the others getting less efficient airflow. Go to a staggered or parallel to the airflow model, vice the current configuration.
 
Lets try clearly explaining each motherboard function. IE no 4 word descriptions for what GFX/GFX 2 Peer to peer enable/disable. A little more info could go a long way in customer satisfaction.
 
Small accessory fans to direct airflow underneath motherboards,
ideally along bottom edge to assist "stack effects".

Re-orient all cable connections to maximize cable management
and airflow over top side of motherboards.


MRFS

 
Space and location. It would be nice if things were positioned in a way that meshed well with common case designs, as well as common accessories.

These days, CPU coolers are huge and require a lot of space, so clearance around the CPU would help. The cooler's fans need to align with either a rear or top exhaust fan, so a little extra clearance would help there.

If there's going to be a multitude of PCI-E lanes, then slotting some of them with GPUs shouldn't obstruct the others. Spacing the cards out in a way that would allow an extra PCI-E fan between cards would really help as well.

Three and four-pin fan connections should be properly spaced as well. Four-pins should be near the CPU, with one closer to the front of the case than the other for controllers. Three-pin connectors should be positioned close to rear exhaust fans, and one towards the bottom for the increasingly popular side intake fans for GPUs. Perhaps a third for a front intake fan, as well.
 
Idea that i may like to see in future motherboard production. I know some may sound silly but these are thing i would surely hope to see in my day.

1. Inter graded power system into the motherboard to help eliminate wire clutter from the power supply exempla next to sata connection and power port for your hdd or disk drive.

2. the introduction of fiber optic or DNA base/organic measure to transport electrical signal to improve speed and eliminate frequency bandwidth limitation along with control on harmonics and noise pollution.

3.Location of the ram near the bottom of the motherboard and moving up sata and previously mentioned inter graded power system near top with cpu.

4. on board wireless with possible dhcp on board switch with dual 100/1000 Ethernet. allow freedom to connect wireless printer or network base printer and other product

5. web base motherboard setting tool with ability to change all setting on the fly with a secondary chip to revert back 2 on fault to give motherboard redundancy.

6. quick connect clip to mount the board into case.

7. the elimination of a south bridge and north bridge chip set merged into one supper chip

8. move into a non legacy compliant motherboard to spare room for newer technology

9. expansion port for future upgrade or even possibility of legacy support

on-board audio system with own processing unit for 7.1 surround sound and high def compliant.

 
I'm looking for a Atx board that has some umph
-Sata Raid 0/1/5/10 - especially 5
-dual 16x for people just wanting crossfire with 2 cards. (who has the money for 4 flipping cards really?)
-decent cooling for chipset and mosfets( no more small heat sinks.)
-A color scheme that makes sense. I'm sick of seeing yellow on a motherboard
- make sure the board supports all aftermarket cpu coolers.(that is a marketable feature)
-put a small 60mm fan at the bottom of the ram slots to help with ram cooling
-include in the packaging mobo standoffs. (I know the case makers sometimes do this but I would rather have standoffs then sata cables.)
-add a mini pci-e slot for laptop wifi parts. (This would save so much space in the case) charge to include the card or leave the slot empty for upgrade
 
- SATA connections and SATA power plug on rear.
- RJ45 port which will extend Audio/Video over CAT5e/6.
- IR jack for use with remote controls.
- SATA connections at top and bottom of board closer to CD/DVD and HDD locations.
- More fan connections, 2 is never enough.
- Spacing of PCIx16 when using SLI/Xfire with longer SLI/Xfire bridge. (better cooling)
- Removable MB header plug for PWR/RST/LEDs (easier to plug in)
- LCD display with MB status for drive bay.
- Rear bios reset switch.
- Windows 7 desktop gadget to display MB status.
- 6/8/9 DDR3 slots (high end option for triple or dual channel ram).
- Energy conservation options - option to turn off unused PCI cards, HDD's, USB ports etc by the user and a display showing actual power usage in watts. (Visually seeing power usages makes people more aware).
- Dual CPU sockets? Everyone wants more power than they can use!



 
How about designing the RAM memory sockets on an angle away from the CPU so the gigantic heatsinks dont have to be bent or cut to fit next to the RAM.
 
A dual socket motherboard, I remember back when AMD release thier 4x4 platform, it had two northbridge chips in it, and it was the only way at that time for them to have a quad core processor, I know with 6 cores on either AMD or Intel platforms, a lot of apps don't even use all of the threads, but I think it would be nice to be able to build a 12 core system if the desire ever hit. Also would be nice to have better raid controllers on the motherboards itself. and of course more PCI express lanes, I know that is a chipset limitation there, but having Seven full PCIx 16 slots will eventually happen. Other then than, just reliability.
 
install a small ssd onto the motherboard to turn any sata based hard drive into a hybrid drive like the seagate momentus xt. you could select which drive to use it in the bios. or even better have a notebook memory slot to use that as the ssd so its upgradeable and would but the extra cost to the consumer. maybe a few slots for more then one hard drive.
 
Performance:
1. 2 processor slots (dual i7 i really dream it)
2. 9 slots memory
3. quad SLI/CrossFire PCI-E 3.0
4. onboard fermi/ATI VGA in the motherboard
5. 20+ phase power design

Cooling:
1. quiet efficient cooling like Sapphire Vapor-X
2. I think fan design for Power Phase cooling on X58 Extreme3 is cool!

Overclock:
1. temperature, active phase, voltage, fan speed monitor live at LCD monitor on 5.25" bay
2. overclocking button control on 5.25" bay

Multimedia:
1. Something touch screen music gadget (like iTouch) on 5.25" bay that can be played w/o turn the computer on (with instant OS and basic internet access also)

Connectivity:
1. Dual CAT-6 Ethernet
2. WiMax, WiFi, Bluetooth integrated

I think that's enough.. =p
 
Fix the f'n case connectors already. My God man that's been THE worst hassle about putting computers together for 20 years now. The little adapter block is a start but isn't enough.

Fanless.

Put some clear labling on things (no more soldered lettering!). Stop making me have to half dissasemble and squint with a flashlight to make out model/serial number if I call for support. I have no clue which SATA connector I have each drive connected to unless I go into bios/software. It's all written in 1/8" high lettering snuck under a pile of connectors.

And here's a radical idea: Stop using circuit board as the only supporting structure to the thing. We've all heard that faint crinkle when we have to push a heavier connector (say Power) in place. We're paying $200-400 for these boards...slap an aluminum plate on the thing. Make it fancy with matching colors so all the kids will want to buy. Maybe put some heat fins on it in certain places. Heck, skip the aluminum plate and make the thing in a slim aluminum case on both sides...or not..just make it look like everything sold in the last decade. 😛

Motherboards have experienced evolution but NEVER revolution. Do it.
 
Board features/capabilities important to me:

- No legacy interfaces. Examples include IDE, PCI and PS2. Reason: Enthusiast use the latest and greatest components.
- Premium onboard sound. Example is Creative SB X-Fi. Reason: Provide superior sound without losing PCIe slot.
- Onboard power connectors for graphics cards. Examples include placing 6 and 8-pin power connectors near the PCIe slots. Reason: this eliminates cable clutter and makes it easier for the user to bus the power.
- Better color schemes. Example black PCB with one color of connectors. Reason: More appealing to Enthusiasts and better for marketing campaigns.
- Factory installed water blocks for chipsets, VRM's and Mosfetts. Example: one water block that spans all heat producing parts of the MB. Reason: reduces need to run multiple inlet and outlet connections to blocks. Marketing can add etched logos and LED options for cosmetic enhancements.

What's on my wish list?

- Sandy Bridge or 980x/X58 platform
- PCIe SSD or SATAIII SSD boot solution
- Water-cooling solution for SLI configuration
- Waiting for PCIe 3.0 GPU solutions

Thanks for your time!
 
If motherboard standoffs were longer, the entire underside of ATX motherboards could be populated with Nand Flash chips + matching sockets: the chips could be sold as options, allowing the user to decide how many to purchase and install, or the chips could be pre-soldered.

A similar approach could offer standard laptop SO-DIMM sockets on the underside of motherboards (with longer standoffs to make room), as a way of supporting much larger RAM subsystems e.g. for loading an OS directly into a ramdisk pre-formatted with a specialized BIOS option.

With RAM sockets on the underside, that will free up more "real estate" on the motherboard's topside.

The future will definitely see more miniaturizing and much higher densities e.g. SO-DIMMS @ 8GB, 16GB and 32GB are now foreseeable.
And, "large" does not need to imply "super fast" because a ramdisk running on DDR3-800 RAM is plenty fast for high-speed storage hosting NTFS partition(s):

http://www.supremelaw.org/systems/superspeed/RamDiskPlus.Review.htm


Thus, with 128-256 GB desktop RAM subsystems, it would be easy to carve out 20-30GB for a ramdisk dedicated to the OS, with a slick backup system that re-loads an OS drive image e.g. from SSDs, after a total system shutdown that turns OFF the RAM power supply e.g. for routine maintenance / upgrades / etc. Enthusiasts will have a field day with such tech (I predict!)


MRFS

 
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