Revisiting an old friend always bring surprises and reminds of nuances that trigger a good memory or two, or even three. Emaxx had a place in these pages a few months back, and now the INF7050-AVL takes up the Emaxx name in a blog review. Yup, still the same near-incomprehensible naming scheme.

                                             A marked diference from the previous review, the Emaxx INF7050-AVL.

Thankfully, that’s almost the only thing I can fault in this iteration of an Emaxx motherboard. The “full-page” Nvidia ad on the back of the box is gone, and general packaging has improved leaps and bounds from the MPC61S-AVL – the board previously reviewed here In The Zone. That aside, the same things are still the most important when it comes to motherboards: namely the motherboard itself and its features. So here we go!

                                       Again, a nice change: the features are right out there on the box.

The INF7050 is an Nvidia chipset-based board for the Intel platform, and its release coincides with Nvidia’s new chipset releases for Intel. This is causing waves among enthusiasts since Nvidia has long concentrated on the AMD platform for its chipsets, with the exception of the popular 680 SLI chipset. The specific chipset used in this board is named the GeForce 7050 coupled with the nForce610i southbridge, obviously the source of this board’s name. Reminds me of Foxconn naming convention in the early days. This chipset is compatible with most LGA 775 CPUs, including the Core2 Duo, the older Pentium Dual Cores, Pentium D and Celerons, and will also run the newest 45nm processors.

                                             Rear panel connectivity is somewhat sparse, but to be expected in a sub 3k board.

With this chipset comes a host of connectivity options present in any new motherboard, like USB 2.0 (six rear + two front header), IDE (one), Floppy (one), RJ45 LAN, SATA 3GB/s connectors (four), PS2 for mouse and keyboard, and the usual audio connectors for 8 channel sound. Two legacy PCI connectors and a single x1 PCI-X checks in for expansion duties, and let’s not forget the single x16 PCI-X connector for future graphics upgradeability.

                                             Top of the line years ago now built-in.

Most important to note though is the built-in GPU, also named the 7050, which is equivalent in general performance to the 7 series Nvidia 7300 discrete graphics. Nvidia envisions this chipset to be one of the first integrated solutions to be able to do any graphical processes that once required discrete graphics to display properly (except high resolution gaming that is). In other words, Microsoft’s Vista Aero interface, fast scrolling in Google Maps, quick rendering in graphics programming, and stutter free playback of high definition content is now within reach of the average consumer – without having to resort to separately-brought graphics. From this fact alone the Philippines will surely have a ready market for products based on this chipset.

                                             Clean layout probably due either to limited feature set, or good design. Possibly both.

Emaxx is one of the first out of the gate utilizing this chipset, and has made the board to a level most appropriate for the needs of the budget PC user. With adequate memory and a mid-level CPU, all the above activities are more than possible, due to the 7050’s support for relatively new technologies like Shader Model 3.0, Direct X 9.0, (essential for heavy desktop-based rendering) HD h.264 video decoding (for non-CPU dependent playback), and on-chip HDCP support that enables playback of (non-pirated) copyrighted content.

                                             It's a PCB-indicator! Doesn't match an LED indicator in performance though.

Gaming is definitely a hit-and-miss thing, although it supports the previous generation technology standards, processing power is no better than the old 7300’s which means it can probably run most newer games, but definitely not on high resolution. Quick testing reveals numbers in the mid 20s for Company of Heroes @ 800 x 600 low without AA / AF, while FEAR @ 640 x 480, again without AA / AF could reach the low 40s. If you play somewhat older games and use an older monitor, this chipset’s graphics solution may be a good bet. Other than that, most people will still be better off with a cheap, discrete 8000 series videocard.

                                             Four SATA connectors located at the lower edge.

The INF7050 features support for 1066MHz FSB, overclockable to 1333MHz, up to 2GB of DDR2 667 in single channel, four SATA drives with RAID, and boasts of solid capacitors around the CPU area, although the rest of the board is populated by normal cap-less capacitors.  Some "want-to-haves"  are absent, such as e-SATA and FireWire, dual channel support, as well as an LED indicator -  there is an obvious space beside the SATA connectors for exactly this feature. Still, understandable  substractions given the P2,590 SRP.

                                             Looks like three-phase power management. Half-height caps ensure easy cooler compatibility.

Layout has always been a strong point for Emaxx, with logical placements of cabled connections and adequate clearances for commonly accessed connectors. The 24 pin Power connector, IDE, floppy and SATA connectors are on the outer edges to the right and bottom of the board, and the area around the CPU is clear, with only some half-height capacitors sitting close enough to touch while installing a CPU. Most large aftermarket coolers should fit. Memory slots are far enough away from the PCI-X slot, a finger can even fit between the memory slots and a full-length videocard when the latches are closed. The only niggle I could mention would probably be the four pin fan connector, which is almost behind the memory slots.

Priorities are still in the same order as before, as this board still only has a little sticker identifying it as an Emaxx. Documentation is still sparse,and the naming is still engineer-talk. The same attention to layout and Nvidia connection. From these factors I recognized this old friend Emaxx. But the box looks a lot better now, and the package is a bit more complete. Emaxx has adopted “Power2thePC” as their logo – which fits them and is a lot cooler too. This is exactly like meeting an old friend – but one that’s improved almost beyond recognition.

Watch out for a full review in HWM in the following issues. More pictures follow.

                                             The whole INF7050-AVL package.

                                             Around half of the capacitors are the normal "capless" ones.

                                             Memory slots are isolated, just the way I like 'em.