ASUSTek Computer Inc. is a Taiwanese company known primarily for their high-quality motherboards and video cards. During our recent Taiwan visit, we sat down with several members of ASUS' team and found out quite a bit about their future plans for those markets. We also learned some interesting facts about 1GHz Pentium support and motherboard power issues. Today, we are going to relay to you what we found.
ASUS clued us in on their plans for a Socket 370, i820 chipset motherboard, the CUC2000. Why a Socket 370 FCPGA-capable i820 motherboard? Socket 370 has historically been a low-end solution for Intel, but as always, things change.
SECC and SECC 2 packaging, a.k.a. Slot 1, were created to allow Intel to package external high-speed discrete L2 cache near the Pentium II and Pentium III CPUs. Now, with the Coppermine processor, the L2 cache is integrated into the CPU's die so Intel can move their high-end CPUs to the less expensive Socket 370 FCPGA packaging.
Intel is already shipping slower FCPGA Pentium IIIs. As more i820 Socket 370 boards ship, the motherboards Intel needs to sell more and faster FCPGA Pentium IIIs will become available. So if you're looking for long term motherboard compatibility, a Socket 370 i820 board fits the bill.
