Transitioning to 915 Platforms – Summary

      Recommending Intel boards based on their newly released 915 chipset creates an opportunity for system integrators to differentiate their product offerings by emphasizing the advantages of incorporating the latest technologies which support current as well as future product improvements.  The technical features in these system boards offer more then just performance gains. They offer unique advantages that improve the price performance value to the end customer.  This document outlines several selling advantages of 915 based boards compared to there current 865 counterparts.  The information is reviewed in both a summary as well as a detailed format for better definition and clarification. 

     The information below outlines the selling features of the 915GAVL and 915GAGL as well as the higher end 915PBLL and 925XE boards. 

Future Expansion Capability and PCI Express Technology 

Standardizing on a platform that will allow customers to upgrade and improve therr system as new products are developed is a key selling advantage and revenue source for the white box builder. Systems based on the 915 chipset will support more upgrades and future technologies then what will or is available on 865 based boards.

1.   PCI Express – The real advantage of the 915 series boards is there support of PCI Express I/O architecture that is available in different band widths that include PCI Express x1, x2, x4, x8 or x16.  Simply put, the higher the number the more available lanes to transmit data which dramatically increases the throughput across the bus resulting in computers that can execute tasks faster, and more efficiently giving the user a much more robust experience.  This technology is primarily viewed as an advantage for VGA, which is true, but it also has potential for other devices as well which create distinct advantages for systems based on the 915 chipset.

2.   Future Expansion and support for NEW Upgrade options through
PCI Express and other technologies – For many resellers there most profitable line of business is selling upgrades which not only involve hardware but also involve profitable labor fees.  The customer’s ability and desire to purchase future technologies for there computer systems should be a significant factor in a dealers decision on which platform to use as a standard for there PCs. The additional through put available with PCI Express will provide benefits to other technologies aside from VGA such as TV Tuners and LAN Cards as examples which will create upgrade options for a dealers existing 915 client base. In addition, new markets may be created as many customers upgrade there processors in order to utilize features only available on the new LGA775 socket CPU’s such as Execute Disable a hardware security feature to prevent worm virus attacks

3.   Faster Video Performance Capability – The immediate benefits of PCI Express  are felt with VGA which utilize a PCI Express by 16 slot that is up to 69% faster then current AGP 8X slots. This new bandwidth capability which can support up to 8GB/sec transfer rates will allow video card makers to produce even faster and better performing products well in to the future. This again will drive upgrades as customers continue to want the benefits of better video performance.


 

        4.  Better Integrated Graphics for Better Performance – Not every customer will    want or need to add a high end video card when they first purchase their PC, but we should not assume that means they don’t want performance in there graphics engine.  For those customers, Intel has integrated there GMA900 graphics solution into the 915G chipsets. In addition to solid video performance, which is nearly 2x that of the previous generation Intel Extreme Graphics 2 and 30% faster then the ATI Radeon 9200 or Nvidia 5200, the GMA900 graphics controller supports Direct X 9 and Pixel Shader. This means that even mainstream users will benefit from improved video performance without adding to the overall cost of the system.

In the next section, we review the 915PBLL which incorporates many advanced features not available on the 915GAVL and 915GAGL boards recommended above.  This board offers many unique technologies  that resellers can utilize to provide the best price/performance product to their clients.  In addition to the advantages listed with the 915G series boards excluding GMA900 video, the 915PBLL incorporates Intel Matrix RAID, Intel High Definition Audio, and support for DDR2 memory. 

           5. Intel Matrix RAID – Probably one of the most under utilized technologies for the desktop is that of RAID which among other things provides a real solution for customers concerned about data loss due to a drive problem which is the most likely point of failure in a system due to the many moving parts.  Valuable as well as important data such as a customer’s bank account information, tax files, work documents and family photos can be lost forever without proper back up which most users avoid.   Incorporating RAID provides a solution that solves the customer’s back up concerns while adding value to the sale for the dealer. The ability to add or utilize RAID on the desktop is not a new concept, but Intel’s Matrix RAID technology allows dealers to offer several very unique storage options to there clients that will not only help improve drive performance but will also help protect against the loss of data while still only incorporating two drives in the system.  Intel’s Matrix RAID allows system builders to offer customers the advantages of both RAID level 1 (mirroring to protect against data loss) and RAID level 0 (striping to improve performance) on two drives instead of four by allowing each RAID level to reside on partitions with in the drives.

          
       6. Intel High Definition Sound – Audio is becoming more and more important on PCs as users not only play games, but also play MP3 music files or play video.  Intel has improved there audio by incorporating technology that delivers robust 7.1 Sound.