The best mobo of CeBIT pictured

In case you can't tell from the ratio of the socket to the entire board, this is either the largest AM2 socket you have ever seen or a really tiny board. This is a tiny board, but it lacks nearly nothing. OK, it only has one PCI slot and no PCIe, but everything else is there.

Four S-ATA, 2 SO-DIMM slots (note: not DIMMs) and even a PATA connector. That may seem like a lot, but wait until you see the AV options. It starts with VGA out, adds DVI, and then an HDMI port. Not enough? How about component outs on board, and toss in SPDIF just for fun. Like I said, it said, it has it all.

If you are guessing this will make an incredible media center platform, you are right. Couple it with a 35W X2 and you have all the power you need to push about any media you are wanting to watch. There is no price yet, expect to pay a premium over a standard 690 system, but this one is really worth it.

The last bit is Albatron moving into DIMMs. These are not insane overclocking parts or anything way out of the normal user expectations. The cool part is the heatsinks they have on the DIMMs. They are not the usual covers, they are cute little gold coloured parts, one for each chip. I think it looked really good. µ