..:: 925XE7AA-8EKRS2 Layout: Northbridge ::..

     

     The 925XE7AA-8EKRS2 comes outfitted with an active cooling system for the Northbridge. This heatsink is manufactured out of aluminum, the typical material used for Northbridge coolers, and is slightly longer in length than width. This cooler is a little larger than your typical Northbridge heatsink, and should offer better cooling given the increased surface area for thermal dissipation. Both the heatsink and the fan follow the color scheme of the 925XE7AA-8EKRS2, being solid black with only the “Foxconn” namesake on the exterior casing of the fan. Once again, excellent color coordination for the overall scheme of the board.

     The area to the left of the i925XE Northbridge chip is somewhat cluttered with a few larger capacitors and other electrical systems related devices. This area houses one of the three-pin fan power connectors, utilized for the Northbridge cooling. I was hoping to find another three-pin power connection in this vicinity to provide support for an exhaust fan, but it looks like you’ll need to run power directly from the PSU for this. The main item of interest here is the usual four-pin 12V core voltage power connection. This is the most common layout and positioning for this connector, so no real issues arise.

                 

     The expansion slot portion of the 925XE7AA-8EKRS2 features a single x16 PCI-Express slot, along with three x1 PCI-Express slots. At the bottom of the board, we also find three regular PCI slots. This is a typical setup found on most of these i925X/XE and i915P/G motherboards. The one fairly unique aspect is how Foxconn went about orienting the top slots. Foxconn chose to place one x1 PCI-E slot above the x16 slot. This was an excellent choice as this allows enough headroom over the x16 slot so that even if the end user has a longer graphics card, they still have the ability to work with the RAM without having to remove the graphics card. It also allows for full support of three PCI-E and three PCI slots as well.

     The majority of the core components for this portion of the board are, as always, located along the rear portion of the PCB, as well as within the area of the board near the x1 PCI-Express slots. This area has been put to further use due to the miniscule size of the PCI-E x1 slots in comparison to the typical PCI slots. Along the rear portion of the PCB, we find both of the Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet controllers. Foxconn has opted to supply one controller which runs off of the regular PCI bus, and another which operates off of the PCI-E bus. Obviously, utilizing the PCI-E bus is the better decision here, though it is nice to have two Gigabit capable ports available at your disposal.

     Below, we find the High Definition Audio CODEC that Foxconn has chosen to power the 925XE7AA-8EKRS2, the Realtek ALC880. The ALC880 offers full 7.1 channel audio support, features two 24-bit DACs and three 20-bit stereo ADCs for high quality, high resolution audio, and also features 32-bit, 96kHz support for both input and output S/PDIF connections. Just above the right hand side of the ALC880 CODEC, we find the other typical audio-related header, the black CD audio header. The remaining audio related headers can be found along the bottom edge of the board. Here, we find the front panel audio header, in an excellent location that will allow for ease of cable routing as well as cable reach. We also find the speaker connection, which is quite a ways away from the other LED and switch headers.

     The final items located within the expansion slot portion of the 925XE7AA-8EKRS2 are both of the Texas Instruments IEEE1394a and iEEE1394b controllers. These two controllers allow for the motherboard to support both of the IEEE1394 standards, as well as provide support for the expansion bracket that has been included with the package. One IEEE1394 port is located on the rear I/O panel of the motherboard as well. I love to see it when a manufacturer goes the extra distance and chooses to provide support for both of these standards, especially when it’s on a high-end product that should have all the bells and whistles the end user would need.