Intel Reveals the End is Near for its Desktop Motherboards

[damien66]

I'm a little confused, could someone please enlighten me. Does this mean they are going to stop making chipsets or just complete boards?

 

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[citation][nom]damien66[/nom]I'm a little confused, could someone please enlighten me. Does this mean they are going to stop making chipsets or just complete boards?[/citation]
Intel announced that they won't be making desktop boards. They will still be working with reference designs for embedded/all-in-one platforms, ultrabooks, etc.

As for chipsets, there are rumors that Broadwell (Haswell's 14nm shrink) may have the chipset integrated into the CPU package.

Once the CPU has VRM and chipset on-package/die with the CPU, there really isn't much left to put on the motherboard... all you have is ATX power connectors, some capacitors, PCIe slots and misc. other IO connectors. Not surprising that Intel wants to further cut costs on Broadwell by going with BGA packaging (soldered on the board) for mainstream CPUs.

 

[ojas]

[citation][nom]damien66[/nom]I'm a little confused, could someone please enlighten me. Does this mean they are going to stop making chipsets or just complete boards?[/citation]
Just boards for retail and OEM.

Will still make chipsets, the NUC, reference designs, etc. Basically, they're not going to sell boards to customers like MSI/Gigabyte/ASUS/EVGA etc. do.

 

[Duckhunt]

I think that its a significant event because the CPU was tested on these Mobos and that the motherboard sales help negate the cost of the testing of new technology. It means that Intel has to work more closely with motherboard manufacturers. When we have new designs , so many things can go wrong. We only need one flaw for the whole thing to be delayed or trashed. Maybe AMD can fill the void?.

I have several laptops but I always go to my desktop. It is just faster and feels so snappy in comparison to my laptops . If you do any serious gaming like FPS like BF3. A laptop would cost so much more and the money saved on the desktop build can go to a bigger monitor .

BF3 😛

Politics comes into again. When most of the income gains in the USA have gone the 1%, who can afford the more expensive things?. Its just like the size of cars is shrinking. The future for big cars is limited because so many folk just can't afford them. I hate small cars. I can't stand them. ahhhhhh.

At this time It is just impossible to do mods on laptops. I have always modified my desktop m/bs. I usually add heat sinks I chop up with a metal saw to suit. I try to keep my temperatures as low as possible. In the end i think its really just a waste of time but makes me feel secure 😛

The only think that ever went on my motherboard was the battery that can eat through the board if you have it more decade and do not change it. 😛

 

[ladykiller8520]

I don't see many people using any Intel mobos, but what I am concerned of is if they stop making motherboards and continue making processors, will it slowly decline the progress of new desktop technologies? I mean, they develop new technologies for the desktop market because they develop Processors and Mobos but if they skip the Mobos how will they develop new desktop form factor tech? USB 3.0, Sata 6Gb/s, PCI.e 3.0 these are processor capabilities, but who will design how these technologies fit on to motherboards? I am afraid of the change this will cause. I wish Intel would still design Mobos and supply these to third party manufacturers as a sort of Reference board perhaps?

 

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[citation][nom]ladykiller8520[/nom]I mean, they develop new technologies for the desktop market because they develop Processors and Mobos but if they skip the Mobos how will they develop new desktop form factor tech? USB 3.0, Sata 6Gb/s, PCI.e 3.0 these are processor capabilities, but who will design how these technologies fit on to motherboards?[/citation]
Conventional form factors have their roots in the nearly 30 years old XT form-factor. There has not been much change in form factors aside from the IO-shield and ATX PSU. If you want breakthroughs in form factors, those will happen with non-standard/embedded form factors which is exactly what you have in smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, laptops, raspberry-like devices, dongle-type form factors, etc.

The main reason the PC industry needed standard form factors was due to the need for multiple IO boards. With Broadwell, almost everything you need to produce a working computer is integrated on the CPU package/die so the only reason left to stick with standard form factors is convenience: no need to re-design PCB and case layouts, just use the stuff already in stock.

Personally, my ideal future form factor would be a mini-ITX like one that has a x16 connector as motherboard edge connector along the top so the GPU card sits in-plane with the motherboard. This would enable 2-3" thick pizza-box style PCs while still allowing full-length full-height double/triple-slot GPUs.

 

[cats_Paw]

The END IS NEAR! Run for your lives.... oh, end of motherboards...
Well this all talk about PC dieing, end of motherboards and god knows what else.... ill belive it when i see it, and then maybe i start reading books or somethin.

 

[bham4ever]

There are so many better Motherboards out there that it's not a big deal. Intel's boards are way over priced for the boards so I can see why they don't sell many since most people prefer aftermarket boards like Asus and Gigabite,and MSI. I agree the title of teh article miss leading!