DFI Hybrid Mobo - Two Systems Running at Once

Soulzz

Founder
Retired Founder
Joined
Jan 2, 2008
Messages
19,100
Age
36
Source: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/dfi_hybrid_motherboard_runs_two_systems_once

Mainboard maker DFI has a rather interesting product on the way. The upcoming Hybrid P45-ION-T2A2 motherboard is capable of running two computers on a single board. It supports both a high performanceP45/LGA775 based systems, and a low power Atom/Ion based system.

They include a small external button assembly that can be used to switch on the fly between platforms. The two platforms can both be run at the same time, or you can shut down the one you aren’t using. The back panel is a bit confusing. There are some shared ports as well as dedicated ports. It has a block of four shared USB ports that are available to both systems. The audio and DVI ports are also shared. Each system has a dedicated set of USB ports and an Ethernet jack as well. The Ion chipset on the Atom side has its own dedicated HDMI port for some low-wattage HD video action.

Overall, this is a terribly impressive feat of engineering. Watch the video at the link to get the full effect. The possibilities for true multitasking are a bit staggering. Imagine encoding video on the LGA775 platform while outputting HD video with the Ion from the same box. There’s no firm release date or price as of yet. Would you consider getting one?

dfi.png
 
Fucking stupid...

I mean, if I wanted two computers, perhaps I would've bought two motherboards and put them in separate boxes?!

What would be REALLY interesting in the enthusiast / experimental market is a dual-processor system. There have been server motherboards with dual-processors for years...

I wonder if there's some limitation that prevents them from doing it (like something in the desktop line of processors or memory) or if they just don't think it'd sell well, or maybe never really had the idea?!

Octa-core (16 with hyperthreading) at 4.0Ghz FTW?
 
That's probably why they did it with such low grade processors, because of the amount of research and time that it took to get it working properly. I think it's pretty impressive personally.
 
Back
Top