Live Chat with ASUS, Anand and Intel!

KristopherKubicki

Golden Member
Jul 31, 2002
1,636
0
0
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TO LOG ON:
Please follow the URL here if you do not have an IRC client. If you do have a client, please join us on labs.anandtech.com, channel #asuschat. At the top of your screen you will see the text "#asuschat". Please click this to see the forum in real time!


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If you get an error message saying your nick is already taken, please type "/nick ", followed by a new nickname. If you cannot connect, wait 10-15 seconds, then hit refresh.

If you get an error otherwise, please send me an email kristopher@anandtech.com and I will attempt to fix it!




Throughout the month of November, we will hold four IRC discussion sessions with our very own Anand Shimpi, along with Intel and ASUS product engineers. Those of you who would like to see Anand, other AT Editors, Intel and ASUS talk about anything and everything, here?s your shot!

Here?s how it works. The highest nominated questions in this thread will be posted by yours truly on AnandTech?s IRC server for Anand and the gang. Everyone who would like to may join the chat room with their favorite IRC client or our own CGI client (no installation necessary) to watch.

This is your chance to get the skinny on what?s new, what?s hot and what?s not.

Check back here for more details on the exact times of the live discussions. Here is the tentative schedule so far:

November 14, 2005: 6-7PM EST - Anand Shimpi, ASUS, Intel. Moderated by Kristopher Kubicki (Scroll down to see the chat transcript)
November 17, 2005: 6-7PM EST - Gary Key, Wesley Fink, ASUS, Intel. Moderated by Kristopher Kubicki (Chat transcript will be posted on Tuesday, Nov 22)
November 21, 2005: 6-7PM EST - Kristopher Kubicki, ASUS, Intel
November 28, 2005: 6-7PM EST - Anand Shimpi, ASUS, Intel. Moderated by Kristopher Kubicki

Also check out the official ASUS page here:

http://event.asus.com/2005/mb/anandtech/index.htm




See you then!
 

imported_rod

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2005
1,788
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INTEL: Can GAMERS expect any new offerings from Intel - anything that will rival AMD's dominance in gaming?

EDIT: Another for INTEL: What can we expect in the future as far as dual-core laptops go?

RoD
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Intel: What are any possible plans for changes in the Celeron line to multiple cores, and what sort of timescale does this switch (if any) have?

Intel: How quickly do you see a transition to possible 4 core CPU's, and by when do you expect a full switch to at least dual core CPU's?

Asus: What new developments do you see in the future in terms of motherboards, in terms of audio (such as Audigy 2/discreet cards for on board audio, and HD audio for both Intel and, AMD) and power supplies (such as your own 8 phase power) specifically?
 

Mik3y

Banned
Mar 2, 2004
7,089
0
0
Originally posted by: rod
INTEL: Can GAMERS expect any new offerings from Intel - anything that will rival AMD's dominance in gaming?

EDIT: Another for INTEL: What can we expect in the future as far as dual-core laptops go?

RoD

dual-core laptops are already on the way, especially from intel. expect them within the next year.
 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,986
3,320
126
I seriously doubt that Intel is going to take on answering questions about a competitiors dominance.....

So why ask?

I also believe that the moderators and Anand himself will noy even go there.....
I know if I was Intel and thats all I heard about from any group including Anands group that that group asking about what Intel is going to do about AMD`s dominance probably would never again get such an interview.

Im sure there are ways to word questions without rubbing in the fact that AMD does diminate at least according to these forums which are AMD bias!!

 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
I seriously doubt that Intel is going to take on answering questions about a competitiors dominance.....

So why ask?

I also believe that the moderators and Anand himself will noy even go there.....
I know if I was Intel and thats all I heard about from any group including Anands group that that group asking about what Intel is going to do about AMD`s dominance probably would never again get such an interview.

Im sure there are ways to word questions without rubbing in the fact that AMD does diminate at least according to these forums which are AMD bias!!

Well there are lots of general questions which relate to the marketplace as a whole and have a wider implication than whether AMD of Intel win some benchmarks by a few %, and those are the questions which IMO should be asked. Ones possibly about the future (some of which we know vaguely already, such as focus on low power consumption, multiple cores etc), but maybe want more in depth info on (if they're willing to give that), or maybe have a specific question related to a possible specific issue within that kind of area (eg: I want to know what the lowest power consumption processors might be, and what sort of speeds might we be looking at)
 

JEDIYoda

Lifer
Jul 13, 2005
33,986
3,320
126
Originally posted by: Lonyo
Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
I seriously doubt that Intel is going to take on answering questions about a competitiors dominance.....

So why ask?

I also believe that the moderators and Anand himself will noy even go there.....
I know if I was Intel and thats all I heard about from any group including Anands group that that group asking about what Intel is going to do about AMD`s dominance probably would never again get such an interview.

Im sure there are ways to word questions without rubbing in the fact that AMD does diminate at least according to these forums which are AMD bias!!

Well there are lots of general questions which relate to the marketplace as a whole and have a wider implication than whether AMD of Intel win some benchmarks by a few %, and those are the questions which IMO should be asked. Ones possibly about the future (some of which we know vaguely already, such as focus on low power consumption, multiple cores etc), but maybe want more in depth info on (if they're willing to give that), or maybe have a specific question related to a possible specific issue within that kind of area (eg: I want to know what the lowest power consumption processors might be, and what sort of speeds might we be looking at)

I agreeBut at the same time I am very sure that Intel doesn`t need to AMD peeps from these forums asking why AMD is dominate...agreed?
I am sure Intel is alrerady aware......

So YES..there are wider implications that can be pointed out and asked without rubbing Intel`s nose in the fact that AMD is dominate...agreed?
 

Elcs

Diamond Member
Apr 27, 2002
6,278
6
81
I found it hard to come up with a question to Intel that didnt heavily involve AMD so I indulged my scientific side rather than PC builder/user/enthusiast side.

Intel: How far do you expect the 65nm process to take you and what further benefits can you derive purely from die shrinkage? What developments are Intel and associates working on to improve leakage issues at such sizes?

As for Asus, Lonyo covered my question. I LOVE Soundstorm as an audio solution (good quality and prefer the no nonsense approach of 1 cable for 5.1 systems). Id like to see what Asus has to say about the development of better and more usable onboard sound systems.... specifically about the ideas of a removable chip type design.

Asus: Is Asus considering an upgradable on-board audio solution in the future? Inquiring about reasons as to why/why not.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
0
0
Asus: As previously stated by others I'd like to see a big improvement in their audio implementations. Upgradeable on board audio sounds interesting, maybe start with good HD codec for clean outputs and make a optional DSP upgrade for off loading the CPU for gaming?
 

Some1ne

Senior member
Apr 21, 2005
862
0
0
For anyone who wants to speculate: Why is AMD sitting around and doing essentially nothing while Intel catches up to (and potentially surpasses, given that Intel's new architecture appears to be better than AMD's at identical clock speeds) its architecture? AMD has been in the lead for awhile now, but why are they doing nothing to maintain it?
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Originally posted by: Operandi
Asus: As previously stated by others I'd like to see a big improvement in their audio implementations. Upgradeable on board audio sounds interesting, maybe start with good HD codec for clean outputs and make a optional DSP upgrade for off loading the CPU for gaming?
Haven't you just described a sound card?

Some1ne: Why should they do anything? If Intel starts becoming a problem again, they can always pull out a new part.
 

Some1ne

Senior member
Apr 21, 2005
862
0
0
Some1ne: Why should they do anything? If Intel starts becoming a problem again, they can always pull out a new part.

Because it's good business practice...when your opponent is down you don't sit around and wait to see if they become a problem again, you break out the sledgehammer and smash their head in to be sure they don't ever get back up. The fact that AMD hasn't seems to imply that they don't have a new part to pull out, which is sad.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
0
0
Originally posted by: ViRGE
Originally posted by: Operandi
Asus: As previously stated by others I'd like to see a big improvement in their audio implementations. Upgradeable on board audio sounds interesting, maybe start with good HD codec for clean outputs and make a optional DSP upgrade for off loading the CPU for gaming?
Haven't you just described a sound card?

Not really, leave the outputs on the board. The Realtek HD ALC880 is known to offer very good sound quality, I'm sure there are better options as well. For those who don't use their machine 90% of the time for gaming this is more then enough.

If you want the max FPS or advanced encoding features in hardware make a DSP upgrade option. I think this would not only be good for the user but also Asus since it would appeal to customers who would otherwise to go Creative by default.
 

eXx08

Banned
May 28, 2005
2,363
0
0
Intel: Will there be any new huge launches next year?

Asus: When will we see the new socket M2 boards from Asus out. Will they have DDR2?
 

johnnqq

Golden Member
May 30, 2005
1,659
0
0
will the new a8r crossfire motherboard run 4 sticks of ram at 1T, and will it have usb issues like the current dfi crossfire motherboard? :)
 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Originally posted by: johnnqq
will the new a8r crossfire motherboard run 4 sticks of ram at 1T, and will it have usb issues like the current dfi crossfire motherboard? :)

Also:
What are the problems with getting the nForce chipsets to run 4 sticks at 1T, is it a workable issue?
How can ATi chipset boards manage it, and what are the future plans for this issue, both with socket 939, and any implications for M2?
 

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
0
0
ASUS:
Why didn't the A8N32-SLI have the same slot pattern as the P5N32-SLI Deluxe, or at least have less PCI slots and more 1x PCI-express slots?
 

Some1ne

Senior member
Apr 21, 2005
862
0
0
What are the problems with getting the nForce chipsets to run 4 sticks at 1T, is it a workable issue?
How can ATi chipset boards manage it, and what are the future plans for this issue, both with socket 939, and any implications for M2?

Do all the ATI boards do it, or just the one from DFI (and wasn't it the ULI chipset that let you do 4 DIMMS at 1T)? If it's just the DFI, then my guess as to how they did it was that they put a memory abstraction and address translation unit between the RAM and the CPU, and what it does is that when you insert 4 DIMMS, it abstracts them and presents them as 2 DIMMS to the CPU (so 4x512 would get presented as 2x1024 for example) and then properly translates addresses for memory requests.

Given that the AMD64 memory montroller is physically incapable of running 4 DIMMS at 1T, I really don't see any solution other than something similar to what I described above, you have to have some peice of hardware in between the CPU and RAM that "tricks" the CPU into thinking it is only dealing with 2 modules even when there's 4 inserted.
 

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
0
0
Intel:
What are the chances that we might see something like a 65nm Dual-core Pentium M?

Is Intel going adopt on-board DDR2 memory controllers in any impending sockets/architectures?

 

Gannon

Senior member
Jul 29, 2004
527
0
0
1. Boot times / and no good (high bandwidth) solid state drive interface. Will Intel / ASUS / other companies start looking around and supporting a NEW interface for solid state boot devices that have the bandwidth to make them worth purchasing? For instance - i.e. new ram drives, very fast flash, etc? It seems to me companies keep missing obvious market opportunities for their "old technology", think about a ram drive using shrunk solid state 'old' PC66 SDRAM (or even OLDER ram that still has much higher bandwidth then modern hard disks and flash memory). It could be getting smaller and faster then any hard disk or flash drive and for those who made cards for those who've already purchase ram, there's a whole boatload of these modules out there. I always wondered, what if you guys took your old technology, shrunk it and made solid state storage devices out of it? It seems to me, that especially in Operating system performance that you guys are missing obvious avenues of making the PC a better experience, even if it is only transitional until The Next Big Thing(tm), I'm sure the enthusiast market would eat it up and eventually it would filter down over time as people experienced the raw speed of instant boot times, and more responsive computing environments, etc.


2. Are we going to see broad standard support for booting of USB Flash and other USB Flash readers? Can Intel, ASUS and other companies start standardization on these? Since flash memory now-a-days SHOULD be like the new floppy disk 3.5's, since CD-ROM's, while nice to boot off of are read only and not as good as a flash replacement for that old slow read/write 3.5 Floppy diskdrive?

3. And a related question: Intel/Asus, we really need open source bios's or at least the portion of it that can add new boot devices as they become available (i.e. see USB flash drives, etc), since companies simply cannot keep up with open source tinker's and hackers, would you support something like this happening? I have many older systems that cannot support newer devices and I'd love to just stick in my USB flash drive and boot off of it but the BIOS's do not support it. We definitely need a new bios that is not proprietary when it comes to legacy support of older devices that can still make use of new ones like USB flash drives, etc.

4. Open source bios's, when is this going to happen? IMHO this is the thing I believe that enthusiasts and programmers around the world would love to be able to do. Will it ever happen?

5. "The PC MESS" - Intel/Motherboard/ PC case manufactuers -- PC hardware design's have been a messy nightmare of blunderous proportions, non standard cable lengths and positions for extra ports, or audio jacks, and on and on... It seems the least thought goes into the things that make PC's most frustrating to build and maintain when putting a PC together (cords, IDE cables, power cables, etc). I can think of 101 better ways to route power, connect power/reset switches without all the clutter of big wirey messes of lots of cables. Even with plastic tabs, plastic rings or twist ties to keep it somewhat managable there are much more efficient ways to do this. I know SATA has helped heapsbut even then, as cords and interfaces get smaller, that means there is MORE ROOM to connect even more. I now have 6 hard drives in mysystem, 4 in SATA raid, 2 legacy ATA drives. IMHO, standardized layouts for towers, etc, is needed, I hate opening up a motherboard box and pulling out cords/wires that will not connect to my case's front USB ports because they are too short, or CD/DVD audio cables for onboard audio that are also too short. It might cost a little more at first but my god, I would buy these systems to make my life that much easier. P.S. Would you hire me on as an idea/product manager to give my ideas and problems to solve to the engineering teams to make them happen? You guys while good at engineering, have forgotten what it's like being a grunt, these things should be getting simpler and easier, and more neat and tidy, even if it means more initial expense or investment, it would pay off long term.

The PC MESS continued.... Would it not be more prudent to start using a smaller daughter card that you could plug in off the right side of a seated motherboard in a standard tower case, for SATA, IDE, power, reset, and other NON pci/pci-e expansion items? It seems to me these should off the mainboard real estate to keep the cord clutter to
a minimum. I have a giant case fan that could easil fit in a PC daughter card which could be connected to the motherboard by "one big cord for all" (IDE, SATA, Power sw, Reset, sw, USB, Audio, whatever you want to throw on it) so it would be right at the front of my PC.
 

EightySix Four

Diamond Member
Jul 17, 2004
5,122
52
91
Asus: Why have case and moetherboard manufacturers not come up with a single interface to allow for led's/speaker/power switches all on one connector, possibly USB too. It seems this would reduce clutter and make installs just that much easier/faster.

(goes along with gannon's)
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
81
When will Intel's Integrated Graphics provide half decent 3d acceleration to the mainstream?

How long if ever do you think BTX will be adopted, or do you think BTX will ever be adopted now that Intel has switched over from Clock speed to Performance per watts?

TO Asus:
How did you get SLI performance of your new board so high compared to the boards of the competition?

Now that AGP has been "phased out" will you still support users with AGP graphics cards by perhaps comming up with a new board with the ULI chipset that supports AGP and PCI-E?

When, if ever do you see intergrated wireless becomming a standard feature in today's destop motherboards?

Also, will future Asus motherboards all provide the ability to boot of a USB drive in order to do things like update bios/boot an OS off a Flash drive so that the legacy Floppy drive is no longer required?

What do you think about people who overclock their motherboards/void their warrenties, but still RMA hopping to basically steal from Asus? Intel, how about people who do that with your processors?

In the last year, the mac mini was released by Apple, touted as an entry level mac. The main selling point about the Mini was that it was so small. I know there are SFF pcs today, but they simply do not have the tiny size the mini has. Do you forsee new motherboards made by Asus or other companies that would support extremely small form factor Pcs like the Mac mini? Currently a competetor of yours has one out, but do you see this as a fad, or a trend that will make a new "form factor" for motherboards?

 

Lonyo

Lifer
Aug 10, 2002
21,938
6
81
Originally posted by: crazySOB297
Asus: Why have case and moetherboard manufacturers not come up with a single interface to allow for led's/speaker/power switches all on one connector, possibly USB too. It seems this would reduce clutter and make installs just that much easier/faster.

(goes along with gannon's)

USB isn't a standard on all boards in terms of front ports, but the speaker/power/etc things is a VERY good point, and I would like to know this as well.

Both mobo/case and PSU mfrs adhere to the ATX standard in terms of layout and sizes, so why can't we have a *better* standard for the wires that every case has? It's stupid that users have to fiddle around when a single connector would be best.
 

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
31,516
167
106
Originally posted by: ribbon13
Intel:
What are the chances that we might see something like a 65nm Dual-core Pentium M?
That's Yonah.