New Intel "Bearlake" chipset revolutionary?

[WhiteEagle]

I'll say it's just a good micro-evolution taking part (macro-evolution would be chips that use light instead of electrons to communicate).

[pc_guy]

I'm sure the LPT and ps/2 expansion card business will be booming after this, most industry devices (security access control panels, CNC, robotics) run on parallel port, or even serial ports that are gone today on most boards.

I still don't trust USB as a stable interface for keyboards in emergency situations, it never seems to work properly when booting up from a recovery disk for example. I do own a USB keyboard but are using it through a PS/2 adapter, using it to turn on the PC through the Asus board never worked well when it was attached to the USB port.

No PATA ports! I wouldn't mind only if not for the fact that 99% of all optical drives are PATA, even the new Blu-ray or HD drives.

Die PATA! Die!

[Lead Head]

Originally Posted by polobunny

Revolutionize is a big word. Nvidia have been ditching the second IDE in their chipsets, it only seems like the logical route to me.
As for hardware firewall, Nvidia ActiveArmor comes to mind.
On the PS/2 case, once again it only seems like the logical route. It's about time if you ask me, those things have been superseded by USB on laptops a good while ago. And between you and me, those things weren't even hot swappable. Hello shorts!
DDR3 is just the successor to DDR2 I guess, so yeah not revolutionary just truly evolutionary.

Actually from what I've seen, most laptops internal keyboard and touchpad are actually connected to the motherboard with PS/2, kinda weird. I would have thought USB would be cheaper to connect things with?

[gvblake22]

Originally Posted by polobunny

Revolutionize is a big word. Nvidia have been ditching the second IDE in their chipsets, it only seems like the logical route to me.
As for hardware firewall, Nvidia ActiveArmor comes to mind.
On the PS/2 case, once again it only seems like the logical route. It's about time if you ask me, those things have been superseded by USB on laptops a good while ago. And between you and me, those things weren't even hot swappable. Hello shorts!
DDR3 is just the successor to DDR2 I guess, so yeah not revolutionary just truly evolutionary.

All good points. I wasn't trying to say that this is some big "revolution" in chipsets, but more tossing the idea out there to stimulate some interesting discussion (in which case it appears I have succeeded).

But as far as the PS/2 port goes, I suppose it could be ditched. But don't you more often than not need a PS/2 keyboard to get into the BIOS? I have yet to use a USB keyboard, so I don't have any first hand experience.

As for the PATA ports go, I can see just having one PATA port, but slashing them all together is a pretty bold move; probably more so than ditching native PS/2 support. Like pc_guy mentioned, nearly every optical drive out there is still PATA and that just isn't gonna change overnight.

And DDR3 just seems a ways off, but there is no doubt it will eventually replace DDR2 just as DDR was replaced. I just don't think it is coming as soon as predicted/hoped.