ECS PF88 Extreme 4 Dual Platform Motherboard Preview :: SIMA Card

The unique feature of the PF88 Extreme board is support for ECS's SIMA add-in card. SIMA is the trademark name for ECS's platform converter card, the A9S. There are several key components to the A9S. First is the Socket 939 interface, allowing use of Athlon 64 CPUs on the board. Second is the presence of two 184-pin DIMM slots, allowing for up to 2 GB of unbuffered DDR memory to be installed on the board. The third component of the A9S board is the presence of SIS's 756 chip.

SIMA

SIS 756

A9S

A9S

To install the A9S, simply insert the requisite DDR memory and insert the Athlon 64 CPU into the 939 Socket. Once you attach a heat sink and fan to cool the CPU simply plug the assembly into the SIMA slot and connect the CPU fan connector. One thing to note, you can't use both a LGA-775 CPU and a Athlon 64 CPU at the same time. The jumpers around the SIMA slot need to be set reversed to use the SIMA board. The concept is similar to the Slotket used to insert a Socket 370 CPU into a Slot 1 CPU slot.

Socket 939

A9S

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