Ibase Technology announced an ATX motherboard that supports Intel's 2011 Core i3, i5, and i7 processors and accepts 16GB of RAM. The MB960 includes six SATA ports, two USB 3.0 ports, seven expansion slots, and three video outputs, according to the company.

Ibase's MB960 is clearly an update to the MB950 the company released in January 2010. Employing the venerable ATX format (12 x 9.6 inches), that board used Intel's then-new 2010 crop of Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, supporting them with Intel's QM57 chipset.

The MB960 has a very similar layout and features, but steps up to the QM67 chipset and the 2011 "Sandy Bridge" Core processors, which gained new microarchitecture, a 256-bit instruction set known as AVX (advanced vector extensions), enhanced GPUs (graphics processing units), and dedicated silicon for tasks such as transcoding video from one format to another. According to Ibase, the board supports LGA1155-socketed CPUs clocked at up to 3.4GHz (that would imply the likes of the Core i7-2600, which has four cores and a 95-Watt TDP).

Ibase's MB960
(Click to enlarge)

The MB950 had an IDE port and a CompactFlash slot. The MB960 drops those, but facilities are otherwise pretty much the same.

For example, the MB960 again accepts up to 16GB of DDR3 memory in four DIMM slots. It also once more has six SATA ports, though this time, two offer 6.0Gb/sec. and four run at 3.0Gb/sec. — RAID is supported, too, courtesy of the QM67.

According to Ibase, the MB960 has VGA, DVI (both -I and -D are supported), and HDMI video outputs. Other coastline connectors include four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, two gigabit Ethernet ports, plus audio (the number of jacks is not specified, but the board is said to support 7:1 surround sound).

Headers allow cabling up 10 additional USB 2.0 ports and digital I/O (four in, four out), says Ibase. The board has four PCI expansion slots, one PCI Express x16 slot, one PCI Express x4 slot, and even an ISA slot, the company adds.

Finally, Ibase cites three RS232 serial ports and one RS232/422/485 port. Which of these, if any, have DB9 connectors on the board's coastline was not made clear, however.

Specifications listed by Ibase for the MB960 include:

• Processor — LGA1155-socketed "Sandy Bridge" Core CPUs
• Chipset — Intel QM67
• Memory — up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM via four DIMM slots
• Storage — 2 x 6.0Gb/sec. SATA ports, 4 x 3.0Gb/sec. SATA ports
• Expansion:
  • 4 x PCI
  • 1 x PCI Express x16
  • 1 x PCI Express x4
  • 1 x ISA
• Networking — 2 x gigabit Ethernet
• Other I/O:
  • 14 x USB 2.0 (10 internal, 2 external)
  • 2 x USB 3.0
  • VGA
  • HDMI
  • DVI
  • 3 x RS232 and 1 x RS232/422/495
  • audio (number of jacks n/s)
  • digital I/O (4 in, 4 out)
• Power requirements — "tbd"
• Operating range — 32 to 140 deg. F
• Dimensions — 12 x 9.6 inches

Further information

Ibase did not cite pricing, operating system support, or availability for the MB960. More information may be found on the MB960 product page.

Jonathan Angel can be reached at [email protected] and followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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