14 DAY TRIAL // Even though the current hype concerning any and all technology is centered on the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show set for January 2010, hardware developers, manufacturers and suppliers have not let their mid and long-term plans slip out of their sight. AMD and MSI are two particular companies that already have pictures displaying the progress made in the development of technologies and products scheduled for Q2 2010.
Although not as explicit as the Powerpoint slides leaked from HP, which specifically described their exact release plans for early 2010, the pictures of MSI's upcoming motherboard, the 890FX-GD70, indicate some of the technologies that will be featured in next year's high-end PCs, as well as some of AMD's technologies/products planned for release in the times after next year's first quarter. The pictures posted by coolarer showed the MSI 890FX-GD70 from several angles, disclosing its integration of Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio and of a NEC controller chip, which handles eSATA and FireWire ports along with two USB 3.0 ports.
What is especially noticeable in the pictures is the motherboard's design, which includes an amazing set of six PCI Express x16 slots, more than perfect for ultimate CrossFireX setups. The motherboard also showed six SATA 6 Gbps ports and an extra SATA connector, colored blue, whose exact speed capabilities are not known.
The MSI 890FX-GD70 will be based on the Leo desktop platform, the successor to the Dragon platform launched at the Consumer Electronics Show 2009 back in January. The platform will be combined with the Thuban hexa-core processor and the RD890 series chipset. All three of these AMD products are set for launch during Q2 2010.
Based on the pictures and the noticeable performance capabilities that can be deduced, the motherboard will likely be aimed at the high-end market segment. Of course, the pictures are all the Internet has to show this time and no pricing and availability details have been given by either MSI or Advanced Micro Devices.
