New Motherboards Could Cut PC Costs

Members of the competing chip camps this week announced new standards meant to make it easier and cheaper to build networking and audio features onto PC motherboards. Hardware manufacturers are most affected, but the result could be cheaper home PCs with more features, configurations, and expansion slots.

New specs are available now for both Intel and Advanced Micro Devices systems. The announcements involve risers, which plug into a motherboard. They hold chips for functions like modems and audio devices.

Two years ago, Intel began pushing an Audio/Modem Riser specification that was widely adopted by the industry, though products didn't ship until mid-1999. The two newest specs support network technologies now in demand, such as Ethernet and phone-line networks for home PCs.

Intel Monday announced its Communication and Networking Riser, or CNR, Specification. So far, IC makers Cirrus Logic and Motorola have signed on, and Intel will likely unveil more details and supporters during its developer forum next week, according to a representative.

Tuesday, the Advanced Communications Riser Special Interest Group, or ACR SIG, introduced its specification along with a founders' list that includes AMD, Lucent, Motorola, 3Com, Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Via, and others.

"We did invite Intel to become a member when the SIG was formed a couple of months ago, and that invitation was declined," says Cyrus Namazi, ACR SIG chair and AMD's director of business development. Would ACR SIG consider a merger of the specifications? "We're very open to that," Namazi says. "We'd love to work with Intel."