Published in Transportation

Nehalem motherboards will use 8-layer PCB

by on11 May 2008

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6-layer might be possible later on

Intel is having some issues with the amount of PCB layers needed for its new Nehalem motherboards, as three channels of DDR3 memory are causing some design problems; which means that at least initially we'll see eight-layer PCBs on the motherboards.

The issue is the trace length, as these have to be done exactly right when it comes to memory, or the timing of the data will be out of sync. The more PCB layers you have, the more space there is to put the traces down, and normally motherboard layouts start out at six or eight layers and are then reduced to four or six layers.

However, in this case it doesn't seem to be as easy as it has been in the past and Intel is even asking its motherboard partners for help. It might still be possible to reduce the PCB layers needed, but it will take time, although with some six months to go until the launch, there might just be enough time to resolve this issue.

The problem is that unless it's resolved, the price of the motherboards with the X58 chipset are going to be even more expensive than the current crop of high-end motherboards, which is not something any of us want to see.
Last modified on 12 May 2008
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