EPoX 5PDAJ amp; 5PLAI LGA775 Boards

EPoX, the worldwide leader in motherboards, today announced the availabilityof their EP-5PDAJ and EP-5PLAI motherboards, offering a complete range offeatures dedicated to satisfying all computing needs. These two motherboards areoptimized to support the Intel LGA775 Pentium 4 platform with higher FSB’s,64-bit Technology, greater bandwidth and better cooling solutions.

EP-5PDAJ
The EP-5PDAJ is powered by the popular 865PE and ICH5 chipset. It is designed toprovide the highest performance and the most scalable chipset solution for IntelPentium 4 LGA 775 and future Prescott processors. With new 90nm technology, theworld’s most advanced chip-making process, it delivers significant gains inperformance through the combinations of low-power transistors, strained silicon,high-speed copper interconnects and a new low-k dielectric material.

The EP-5PDAJ comes fully loaded with several features. Gigabit LAN isintegrated to provide faster networking access and optimized network throughput& platform performance. Two Serial ATA interfaces are leveraged to offersuperior I/O performance and to keep pace with increasing data intensiveapplications such as audio/video and consumer electronics product to computerintegration. An on-board 6-channel AC’97 CODEC brings incredible sound qualityespecially with its Quick SPDIF Connector that enables users to enjoy highquality audio digitally. The dual-channel DDR 400 memory architecture alsodoubles the available memory bandwidth over conventional memory controllers.
This platform definitely delivers exceptional performance and solid stabilitywhilst incorporating innovative features and value.

EP-5PLAI
The new EP-5PLAI is designed for value minded users to experience the power of800 MHz FSB Intel LGA 775 Pentium 4 processors with Hyper-Treading Technology.Based on the Intel 848P, the sister chipset of 865PE, EP-5PLAI deliversexcellent performance and functionality to suffice the desire of all mainstreamusers.

The brand-new motherboard is furnished with high-speed LAN, USB2.0technology, and 6-channel audio for convenient network, device and multimediaconnectivity respectively. Moreover, the new revolutionary Serial ATA interfaceis integrated to provide optimized date I/O performance. The EP-5PLAI is thedefinitive choice for those who want to experience the latest Intel Pentium 4LGA775 processor with a cost-effective solution.

SPEC Comparison Chart

SPECMODEL

5EPA+

5EPAJ

5PDAJ

5PLAI

CPU Socket

Pentium 4®LGA775

Pentium 4®LGA775

Pentium 4®LGA775

Pentium 4®LGA775

Chipset

915P+ICH6R

915P+ICH6

865PE+ICH5

848P+ICH5

SystemMemory

4x DIMMsw/DDR400

DualChannel

4x DIMMsw/ DDR400

DualChannel

4x DIMMsw/ DDR400

DualChannel

2x DIMMsw/ DDR400

Expansion Slots

4x PCI

2x PCI-E x1

1x PCI-Ex16

4x PCI

2x PCI-E x1

1x PCI-Ex16

5x PCI

1x AGP 8X

5x PCI

1 AGP 8X

1x CNR

IDE

1x ATA-100

1x ATA-100

2x ATA-100

2x ATA-100

USB

8x USB2.0

8x USB2.0

8x USB2.0

8x USB2.0

S-ATA

4x S-ATA

4x S-ATA

2x S-ATA

2x S-ATA

IDE RAID

2x ATA-133

N/A

N/A

N/A

LAN

1Gb LAN

1Gb LAN

1Gb LAN

100Mb LAN

Audio

8-CH audio

8-CH audio

6-CH audio

6-CH audio

Form Factor

ATX

ATX

ATX

ATX

Developers of gadget interfaces must consider interactive skills, reactions of older users

Enlarge

Queensland University of Technology researchers have found the reasons why parents and grandparents often complain their children can pick up a gadget and use it straight away or that they need them to set up the new TV or "work" a new device.

Dr Thea Blackler, project director, said the results of a series of studies from QUT's PAS (People and Systems) lab suggested designers of everyday gadgets such as

"Past research has found that prior experience with a product is the leading contributor to intuitive use but the new research found that older people were less familiar and used fewer functions on the products they already had in their own homes than younger people.

"When participants were given tasks on products they didn't own - two alarm clocks and two cameras - both the middle aged and the older

"However, our results suggest past experience or

"The research team found cognitive declines were also affecting older people's intuitive use of technology," she said.

"Although older people vary tremendously, many suffer some level of cognitive decline at some stage and we found that lower scores on working memory tests correlated strongly with slower, less accurate and less intuitive use of interfaces."

The team looked for factors that could mitigate the difficulties older people had with using the interfaces on everyday technologies.

They tested 50 participants in three age groups ranging from 18 to 75-plus on different types of interfaces: words-only; symbols-only and words and symbols.

"We found that a words-only interface worked better for people aged 65 and over; people in the younger and middle-aged groups performed faster and more accurately on words and symbols interfaces."

The team then studied the relationships between age, interface complexity and intuitive use by asking participants to complete two tasks with a virtual pet on an iPad.
One task used a simple 'flat' interface while the other used a 'nested' or multi-layered/menu-based interface.

"Age had a significant effect on time to complete the tasks, with the 73+ age group taking significantly more time when compared with the four younger age groups on either interface," Dr Blackler said.

"All age groups took more time to complete the tasks on the nested interface, (possibly because there were more steps). However, all three age groups over 50 had significantly less intuitive uses, supporting previous research that older people find nested interfaces more difficult to use.

"However, these two groups did not make significantly more errors compared to younger groups on both interface types, which suggested that older people tend to trade speed for accuracy."

The research team has proposed a model, based on the findings, for an adaptable interface design as a strategy for developing intuitively learnable product interfaces.

This model has potential to minimise the necessity for developing products exclusively for older people, and could help designers develop product interfaces that are more inclusive in nature.