New Gigabyte Entry-level Motherboard Designed to Sound Well

[btarunr]

Gigabyte launched the H81M-WW, its newest entry-level socket LGA1150 motherboard, in the compact micro-ATX form-factor, and based in Intel H81 Express chipset. Its unique selling point is an unusual onboard audio solution. The board features a Realtek ALC887 HD audio CODEC in the 6-channel configuration. Its 8-channel configuration is possible, if you plug in two channels through the jack wired to the front-panel audio header. The CODEC itself isn't impressive, with its under 90 dBA SNR, but is backed by Nichicon audio-grade electrolytic capacitors, and ground-layer isolation from the rest of the board.

The rest of its feature-set is pretty basic. The H81M-WW draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 4-pin CPU power connectors, and features a basic 3-phase CPU VRM. The CPU is wired to a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Other expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI. Storage connectivity includes two each of SATA 6 Gb/s and SATA 3 Gb/s ports. The only display output is a D-Sub (analog, max resolution 1920 x 1200). The board's other legacy connectivity includes one each of serial (COM) and parallel (LPT). Two USB 3.0 ports, and a gigabit Ethernet connection make for the rest of it.



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[Ferrum Master]

Is this a joke or what?

 

[natr0n]

DAT prrr a lel port


This reminds me...
I use to have a device to connect to parallel port for dreamcast massive memory card transfers.

 

[GhostRyder]

Whoa what a blast from the past with those port options. Though to its credit many companies including the one I work for still use some parallel port devices so I guess for a business this might not be a bad option.

 

[PLAfiller]

Parents Skype machine? Strange board- LGA 1150 + better than avg audio. Could be a budget 1150 PC I guess.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Whoa what a blast from the past with those port options. Though to its credit many companies including the one I work for still use some parallel port devices so I guess for a business this might not be a bad option.

I have one serious doubt tough... are these hardware ports or some via 3rd parity controllers... I won't dig up the LPC controller, I am to lazy, but the moral of the story many parallel devices likes bare metal, these solutions are often via hub or bridge realized, thus latency occurs... the hardware does not work... the same is with this fake PCI... it is realized via bridge... it has more latency thus rendering it useless for audio cards.

Those companies should use FTDI converters as they have proven to be the most stable alternative... but this? I won't comment even the audio out...

 

[ensabrenoir]

Is this a joke or what?

+1 .....cant identify the target consumer......any business using a parallel port wont be building a pc in house...... wait.... parallel port what device or something still uses a pparallel port? medical ...geographical? or latter world countries?

 

[Ferrum Master]

better than avg audio

it is actually still less than average.

I cannot understand the PR... same codec is used for even cheaper Asus H81M-K or MSI H81M-P33....

 

[GhostRyder]

I have one serious doubt tough... are these hardware ports or some via 3rd parity controllers... I won't dig up the LPC controller, I am to lazy, but the moral of the story many parallel devices likes bare metal, these solutions are often via hub or bridge realized, thus latency occurs... the hardware does not work... the same is with this fake PCI... it is realized via bridge... it has more latency thus rendering it useless for audio cards.

Those companies should use FTDI converters as they have proven to be the most stable alternative... but this? I won't comment even the audio out...

Data Center and the devices I speak of in most cases are old devices that just are not updated yet. We also have a few tools that are actually not that old still using parallel port connectors pretty much specifically for old machines that still have them or because they just do not want to swap out. Heck there is still a Zip drive hooked up out there that actually gets use which shocks me more than anything.

I can see a point on some old devices but recently its become more of a ghost even in the server world.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I can see a point on some old devices but recently its become more of a ghost even in the server world.

Well I also work in kind of specific area where they still linger... old machines like CNC, factory automatics and etc controls, also some marine equipment... but FTDI USB controllers works almost as native, these fake LPT ports usually had proven that they actually don't work with such legacy old devices... and FTDI does for example some Deskey encryption dongles... if you know the stuff...

 

[GhostRyder]

Well I also work in kind of specific area where they still linger... old machines like CNC, factory automatics and etc controls, also some marine equipment... but FTDI USB controllers works almost as native, these fake LPT ports usually had proven that they actually don't work with such legacy old devices... and FTDI does for example some Deskey encryption dongles... if you know the stuff...

Had not taken that into account but your right so it would have to be seen if it works with said devices. Bit of a problem especially since many people/firms go by the old idea of as long as the hookup is there it should obviously work...

 

[Ferrum Master]

Had not taken that into account

I can scare everyone more... yeah that's a LGA1155 and venerable ISA.... where's my darn Soundblaster AWE64 Gold... and lol it has the same ALC887

 

[haswrong]

I can scare everyone more... yeah that's a LGA1155 and venerable ISA.... where's my darn Soundblaster AWE64 Gold... and lol it has the same ALC887

is this home made?

 

[Ferrum Master]

is this home made?

As you see this is a MSI board...

 

[Melvis]

Please gigabyte make them back in Taiwan instead of China, the quality just isn't as good anymore.

 

[RCoon]

I can scare everyone more... yeah that's a LGA1155 and venerable ISA.... where's my darn Soundblaster AWE64 Gold... and lol it has the same ALC887

I could do the same, but I'd have to pull it out of one of our servers. Guys like SUPER still make Haswell MoBos with funky ports. People would be surprised what kind of old connectors proprietary hardware needs for the public sector stuff. One of our GPS transmitter units uses parallel for christ's sake

 

[Ferrum Master]

One of our GPS transmitter units uses parallel for christ's sake

Your boss is a stalker?

 

[RCoon]

Your boss is a stalker?

Transmitter, not receiver! It sends out time signals to 3 other transmitters on site.

 

[bIt_pIrate]

Separate section for onboard audio is a load of c**p. In my country we call these kind of thing "peasant blinding". It`s a stupid marketing heap. The decoder is still connected to the board, it`s still sharing power and other connections with the motherboard, it is still susceptible to noise generated by different components on the motherboard.

A cutout trace and a little shield does not correct these problems. Don`t be fooled people!

 

[Ferrum Master]

In my country

Well just out of curiosity what country it is?

 

[bIt_pIrate]

Well just out of curiosity what country it is?

It`s called "the old country"

 

[Ferrum Master]

It`s called "the old country"

At least European... , but still the more people the more sheep...

 

[Jetster]

Its a small niche of a market. I guess Gigabyte is aggressively marketing

 

[bIt_pIrate]

At least European... , but still the more people the more sheep...

I don`t know what you meant by that... And yes, european

 

[SaltyFish]

Was expecting something like the ALC1150. Now that would be interesting on an entry-level motherboard. Even without a cheesy "(ALC)1150 on (SKT)1150" slogan.