Sources close to Intel Resellers Group unveiled some brief facts about Intel’s new mainboards due to come in 2004. 15 new desktop mainboards that are now being designed in Intel’s labs show off some general trends Intel plans to ignite next year: total transition to LGA775 (Socket T), dual-channel memory for all market segments as well as wide adoption of PCI Express bus.

Alderwood – New Premium Mainboards from Intel

Intel division responsible for mainboards is preparing two products based on the new high-end desktop chipset from the world’s largest chipmaker – the code-named Alderwood core-logic. The company is planning two new mainboards on its premium chipset – the code-named Culver City and the Black Canyon – both due to come in the second quarter 2004.

The new Culver City and the Black Canyon mainboards from Intel will be equipped with LGA775 socket, will boast with support for up to 4GB of DDR-II SDRAM memory at speeds of up to 533MHz (PC2-4300), will have PCI Express x16 connector for graphics cards, will be equipped with ICH6R with Serial ATA RAID support and will come with FireWire (IEEE1394) controller. The Culver City is projected to be available in ATX form-factor, the Black Canyon is designed for microATX cases.

As expected, the Alderwood will support a special Turbo Mode to work with DDR-II SDRAM memory. Similar technique called Performance Accelerating Technology (PAT) is available now on i875P MCH.

Grantsdale-P – New Mainstream Hero

The Intel Grantsdale-P family of mainboards includes 6 new mainboards and reflects Intel’s plans to seriously expand its presence in the mainboard market. Earlier this year we already told you about some of Intel's Grantsdale-P mainboards, looks like Intel added some products into the lineup.  The following brief details about the new products are known so far: 

• Glen Ridge: LGA775, dual-channel 184-pin DDR SDRAM PC3200, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, 4 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 2 PCI Express slot, ICH6, ATX form-factor.
• Sharkey: LGA775, dual-channel 184-pin DDR SDRAM PC3200, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, 2 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 1 PCI Express slot, ICH6, microATX form-factor.
• Battle Lake: LGA775, dual-channel 240-pin DDR-II SDRAM PC2-4300, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, PCI slots, PCI Express slots, FireWire, ICH6R, ATX form-factor.
• Powers Lake: LGA775, dual-channel 240-pin DDR-II SDRAM PC2-4300, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, PCI Express slots, FireWire, ICH6R, microATX form-factor.
• Cherry Creek: LGA775, dual-channel 240-pin DDR-II SDRAM PC2-4300, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, 4 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 2 PCI Express slot, ICH6, ATX form-factor.
• Comanche Creek: LGA775, dual-channel 240-pin DDR-II SDRAM PC2-4300, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, 2 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 1 PCI Express slot, ICH6, microATX form-factor.

All these mainboards are expected to be available immediately after the chipset launch in the second quarter of the year.

Grantsdale-G – Powerful Option with Integrated Graphics

The next-generation of powerful solutions with integrated graphics Intel will offer is the Grantsdale-G chipset products supporting Intel Pentium 4 processors with SSE3 technology (Prescott) with 800MHz Quad Pumped Bus, DDR-II SDRAM as well as Intel’s Extreme Graphics 3 with presumable support for certain DirectX 9.0 features. Take a look at Intel’s mainboard lineup powered by the Grantsdale-G:

• Avalon: LGA775, dual-channel 184-pin DDR SDRAM PC3200, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, Intel Extreme Graphics 3 integrated graphics core, 4 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 2 PCI Express slot, ICH6, ATX form-factor.
• Augsburg: LGA775, dual-channel 184-pin DDR SDRAM PC3200, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, Intel Extreme Graphics 3 integrated graphics core, 2 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 1 PCI Express slot, ICH6, microATX form-factor.
• Eatonville: LGA775, dual-channel 240-pin DDR-II SDRAM PC2-4300, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, Intel Extreme Graphics 3 integrated graphics core, 4 PCI slots, 2 PCI Express slots, ICH6, ATX form-factor.
• Luxemburg: LGA775, dual-channel 240-pin DDR-II SDRAM PC2-4300, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, Intel Extreme Graphics 3 integrated graphics core, 2 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 1 PCI Express slot, FireWire, ICH6, microATX form-factor.
• Marblehead: LGA775, dual-channel 184-pin DDR SDRAM PC3200, PCI Express x16 slot for graphics cards, Intel Extreme Graphics 3 integrated graphics core, 2 PCI 32-bit/33MHz slots, 1 PCI Express slot, ICH6, microBTX form-factor.

Code-named Intel Avalon, Augsburg, Eatonville and Luxemburg mainboards are planned for release in the second quarter, 2004; the Marblehead - Intel's first microBTX mainboard - is due sometime in the second half of the year.

Grantsdale-GV, Grantsdale-GL – Value Components for 2H 2004

Traditionally, Intel’s GV and GL chipsets are made for value-minded customers, offer less performance and less flexibility. The Grantsdale-GV will provide 533 and 800MHz QPB for Intel Pentium 4 and Celeron chips, dual-channel DDR (333, 400MHz) as well as DDR-II SDRAM (400, 533MHz) memory, Intel Extreme Graphics 3 integrated graphics core and no PCI Express x16 support for external graphics. The Grantsdale-GL is designed for even more cost-effective market – it will work with chips supporting 533MHz QPB, will incorporate dual-channel memory controller for only DDR SDRAM memory, will boast with Intel’s third-generation integrated graphics and will not offer opportunity to install powerful external graphics cards featuring PCI Express x16 connectors. The main disadvantage of the GL is that it does not support the HT technology.

There are two mainboards in development based on value chipsets – the West Branch featuring the Grantsdale-GV and Downey featuring the Grantsdale-GL. Both will offer dual-channel PC3200, LGA775 processors, Intel Extreme Graphics 3, ICH6. Both mainboards will be in microATX form-factor.