The "I'm a PC" crowd won't like playing second fiddle to their Mac-totin' counterparts, but the NVIDIA IGP that launched inside a MacBook Pro a few weeks ago is now starting to appear in PC-specific motherboards.
One of the first on offer comes from Taiwan's GIGABYTE in the form of the GA-E7AUM-DS2H - a motherboard sporting NVIDIA's GeForce 9400 IGP and support for Intel's 45nm Core 2 processors.
The GeForce 9400 GPU is NVIDIA's most potent integrated graphics solution - its 16 parallel processing cores and a 128-bit memory interface combine to deliver a useful 67 Gigaflops of processing power.
According to GIGABYTE, the GA-E7AUM-DS2H can top out with a score of 2400+ on 3DMark06, with the help of a little overclocking, mind you. If the on-board GPU just isn't enough, there's a PCIe x16 slot that supports Hybrid SLI, too.
Armed with a 1,333MHz FSB, support for DDR2 800 as well as DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0, it's a board that makes for a more-than-tasty HTPC solution. There's DVI and HDMI connectivity, and NVIDIA's PureVideo HD technology will provide high-definition video decode acceleration.
Sound comes courtesy of a Realtek ALC889A chip, providing 7.1 HD output and a 106dB signal-to-noise ratio. As you'd expect from a GIGABYTE board, it's packed with manufacturer-specific features such as Dynamic Energy Saver (DES), Ultra Durable 2, DualBios and Easy Tune 6.
No official word on pricing or availability yet, but it's looking like a very promising mid-range board.
Official press release: GIGABYTE Debuts Richly Featured, High Performance GA-E7AUM-DS2H Motherboard
