Tons of new Soyo boards soon!

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Aron Schatz
Posted
May 28, 2002
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1980

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Press Release sent from Vivian of Soyo:

Fremont, California - May 28, 2002 - SOYO, Inc. will expand its line of motherboards with 10 new designs at Computex 2002 in Taipei, Taiwan. Utilizing the new chipset technology from Intel, VIA and SiS, these 10 new motherboards will maximize Intel and AMD CPU performance with more exciting features.

SOYO, with worldwide headquarter in Taiwan, will introduce several new additions to its popular DRAGON motherboard series for Intel and AMD, and preview other new designs utilizing Rambus memory and serial ATA hard drive support.

The company will introduce it's SY-P4I RAPTOR, which will support Intel Socket-478 Pentium 4 CPUs and will be based on the Intel i850E / ICH2 chipset with support for 400 MHz FSB. The RAPTOR is SOYO's featured Rambus memory mainboard for 2002 with its four 184-pin Direct Rambus RIMM modules, which will support up to 2GBs of memory. Based on the superior memory speed of Rambus modules, SOYO's P4I RAPTOR will be targeting power users and hardcore gamers who look for a DDR-alternative and desire ultra system performance.

SY-P4I-845E Serial is SOYO's new solution for the Intel Pentium 4 platform, supporting the fastest 533 MHz FSB. Based on the new Intel 845E chipset, this motherboard is the first in the market to feature on board serial ATA-133 storage interface support. Serial ATA is a plug-in solution in that it is compatible with today's software, and will run on the new architecture without modification. Unlike parallel ATA, serial ATA will enable simpler system design, thinner cables which are easier to route and install, smaller cable connectors, and lower voltages which alleviate current design requirements in Parallel ATA. End users will benefit by being able to easily upgrade their storage devices. Configuration of Serial ATA devices will be much simpler, with many of today's requirements on jumper and settings no longer needed.

Featured motherboards in the popular DRAGON series for Intel Socket-478 Pentium 4 processors include the SY-645DX DRAGON Ultra with SiS 645DX / 961B chipset, SY-P4S-648 DRAGON Ultra with SiS 648 / 963 chipset and 8x AGP support, the SY-P4X333 DRAGON Ultra with VIA's P4X333 / 8235 chipset. Two new DRAGON series boards will be based on new SiS chipset technology for Intel Pentium 4 CPUs while one new DRAGON design will be based on new VIA chipset technology. All SOYO DRAGON boards for the Intel platform offer DDR memory support, support for 400/533 MHz FSB, and high-speed USB 2.0 ports.

For AMD Socket-A processors, SOYO will focus on its new SY-KT333 DRAGON Ultra with VIA KT333 / 8233A chipset, SY-KT333 DRAGON Lite with KT333 / 8233A chipset, and forthcoming SY-KT400 DRAGON Ultra with VIA KT400 / 8235 chipset. The two KT333 DRAGON Ultra boards distinguish themselves from like-boards with the choice of signature black PCB finish or the unique Platinum Edition. The KT333 DRAGON Ultra - Platinum Edition is the first to feature both look and functionality on a mainboard. Its attention grabbing silver finish is ideal for system builders and enthusiasts who adopt the new see-through cases. The addition of SOYO's "sigma box" series, which provides either 4 front USB 2.0 ports or combination compact flash/smart media reader/writer and 2 front USB 2.0 ports, sets SOYO apart from the rest of the competition. For the system integrators or small business who are looking for value and solid stability, SOYO's SY-KT333 DRAGON Lite board will feature the VIA KT333 / 8233A chipset and on board features such as DDR333 memory support, 4-channel audio, AGP Pro, and overclocking. SY-KT400 DRAGON Ultra with new DDR400 memory support will include all the exciting features of a DRAGON board with the addition of Serial ATA support for more scalable storage and efficient system building.

Other new SOYO motherboards for Intel CPUs will include the SY-P4VS2 for Socket-478 Pentium 4 processors. It will feature VIA's P4X266A / 8233A chipset, support 400 MHz FSB, and is expandable with three 168-pin SDRAM 3.3V DIMM sockets with support up to 3GB. The SY-7VEF has also been designed for price-performance systems with support for the Intel FC-PGA 2 Tualatin Processor, and Intel FC-PGA Pentium III and Celeron Processors. The SY-7VEF uses standard 168-pin SDRAM DIMM sockets with support up to 1.0GB.

Depending on the model SOYO will integrate many advanced features to add performance and value to its designs. Standard features on many boards in the Q3-Q4 2002 lineup will include: Embedded Hipoint IDE-RAID chip, which will provide ATA133 IDE- RAID 0,1,0+1; on board 10/100 Mbps Ethernet function by PHY or single NIC controller; embedded CMI 8738 audio chips to provide 6 channels audio solution; AGP Pro Slots; and flexible overclocking interface. Many high-end DRAGON designs will also feature on board or add on Serial ATA storage interface.

SOYO will also include its "sigma box" line of peripherals with all DRAGON Ultra models. These bundled peripherals occupy a standard 3.5-inch or 5.25-inch drive bay for easily connecting additional devices such as USB 2.0, FireWire devices or combination compact flash/smart media reader/writer to the front of the system being built. Another signature SOYO bundle feature is the SPDIF audio connector for true digital sound.

The SOYO 2002 motherboard lineup continues SOYO's tradition of making it easy to fine-tune its motherboards for business & consumer performance applications such as 3D modeling, animation or gaming. SOYO has integrated many enhanced overclocking, system management, and security features into the majority of its motherboards. Users can customize their boards to specific applications by adjusting the CPU FSB, core voltage & multiplier, AGP/AGP Pro voltage, and DDR SDRAM/RAMBUS voltage via the BIOS setup. The FSB on most models can also be set in 1Mhz increments through the BIOS setup for high performance.

Support is also included for on-board hardware monitoring, and includes SOYO's Hardware Health Utility to streamline PC system management. Among the many hardware monitoring functions on all SOYO boards are CPU fan speed and temperature monitoring; WOL (Wake On LAN) function to simplify network management; software power-off controls and remote and/or alarm power-on control.

Pricing on many boards and ships dates are to be determined. SOYO will offer both single board and volume pricing.

ABOUT SOYO Computer, Inc.

SOYO Computer, Inc was founded in 1985, with worldwide headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, and branch offices in USA, Germany, and Hong Kong. The company sells its products through a select group of distributors, resellers, system integrators, VARs and retailers worldwide.

SOYO's Taiwan headquarter is located at No.21 Wu-Gong 5 Rd., Hsing Chuang, Taipei Hsien, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C., Tel: 886-2-2290-3300, Fax: 886-2-2298-3322, Web Site: http://www.soyo.com.tw, Email: info@mail.soyo.com.tw.

SOYO USA is located at 41484 Christy St. Fremont, CA 94538, Tel: 510.226.7696, Fax: 510.226.9218, Web Site: http://www.soyo.com, Email: info@soyousa.com.

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