Warp Speed with Rambus: Six Boards for PC1066

Asus P4T533-C: A Close Race With Gigabyte

The Asus P4T533-C package.

View of the Asus P4T533-C, which is only marginally different from its predecessor.

You've got to hand it to Asus: whenever a new technology is launched, such as 32 bit RDRAM, this market leader always gets involved. Compared to its predecessor, the P4T-E with the Intel 850 chipset, the layout of this board hasn't changed much. This is why the ICH2 Southbridge was left where it was - otherwise, a radical change of design would have been necessary. Even though Asus has the new data sheets for the new ICH4 Southbridge, the old model is still used. Here, you should note that the ICH4 supports the older and newer bus protocols (Hub-Link 1.0 and 1.5, respectively). The Asus P4T533-C is manufactured using the four-layer technique, thereby allowing for lower costs. Compared to the P4T533, Asus also does without the innovative new fan controller "Q-Fan." The integrated network controller and the four USB ports (1.1) on the front of the board are also noteworthy. In addition, the NEC chip provides USB 2.0 support.