Board without a chipset
Board without a chipset
I talked about this idea a few years ago after i saw a vintage IMSAI 8080 microcomputer for the first time. It came with the bare basics to classify it as a computer, anything else the user wanted, like a video interface, could be added via S-100 expansion cards. I think this is a great idea, nowadays we could have a platform similar to this, say with an AM4 or LGA 1151 CPU socket, tons of PCI-E or a newer, similar standard, slots for expansion. One of the main problems i have with my motherboards is that i just don't use a lot of the features i end up paying for, like high quality audio (which i handle externally), wireless network capabilities, USB 2.0 ports, you name it, in a platform such as this, we would be able to choose exactly what we want to integrate in our systems. The one thing that could and would doom this idea out is the ATX and ITX standardization, a system like this would need a completely redesigned case, with different mounting points and IO plates at the back. Not only that, all CPUs for this standard would have to be re engineered to work with it, if PCI-E was the chosen standard we would need tons of lanes to make the system work.
And epyc offers a lot of lanes. It’s clear from what someone mentioned nearby that enterprise clients are constantly seeking additional PCIe connections. This could drive consumer CPUs to become much more costly. Most chipsets essentially handle a lot of slower tasks—like basic motherboard operations, USB, and SATA ports—and then send them through a few PCIe lanes. It seems like a huge waste of PCIe bandwidth. Picture running simple motherboard functions such as power/reset features across an entire PCIe lane.