Intel Viiv Revealed: “Conroe” Not Compatible With Existing Motherboards

I think it is safe to say at this point that Intel is banking heavily on the Viiv platform. Then again, who can blame them? It does offer some pretty cool possibilities.

Intel’s roadmap reveals more about the Viiv platform, and Conroe’s VRM problem

Intel quietly released a list of Viiv specifications to its manufacturing partners last week. Intel’s Viiv platform is an attempt to unify PC components into a concise, easily supported platform for media center PCs. Unfortunately, the project is already starting to show some missteps — the Intel Conroe CPU, the workhorse of the Intel Viiv 1.5 and 1.6 platform, are not compatible with Viiv 1.0.

Documents from Intel mentioned that the next generation Intel desktop processor, Conroe, will require a platform refresh on existing chipsets. The upcoming Intel G965 and P965 chipsets will support Conroe, but any other Intel chipsets from 975X on down will require a modified VRM and BIOS updates. The VRM, or voltage regulator module, is the component on the motherboard that adjusts the voltages to the CPU. Even if today’s chipsets are physically compatible with Conroe, no motherboard today will support the CPU if manufacturers followed the VRM guidelines set forth by Intel when those chipsets were designed. [Read the rest]

[tags]intel,viiv platform,vrm guidelines,chipsets[/tags]