Tyan Tiger i7500: E7500 meets ATX

Final Words

As an E7500 motherboard, the Tiger i7500 does not disappoint. Just like most other Tyan motherboards, the solution is stable and clearly tailored for the chipset's applications (in this case, the enterprise market).

The big selling point of the Tiger i7500 is its ATX form factor and ability to run off of a standard ATX power supply, which would make the motherboard an excellent choice for the workstation market. Since Intel won't validate the Pentium 4 for use in multiprocessor systems, a dual Xeon setup using the Tiger i7500 would be the best price/performance ratio out of any Intel solution for the workstation market. Unfortunately, the lack of AGP support in the E7500 chipset will limit the success of the Tiger i7500 in this market. In essence, what we're seeing with this board is a preview of what Tyan will be able to deliver with the forthcoming Granite Bay chipset (basically E7500 + AGP 8X support) for the workstation guys. A sub-$300 Granite Bay based board, relatively similar to the Tiger i7500 would be the perfect affordable Xeon platform.

The layout and design of the Tiger i7500 make it perfect for the server market; it's clear, especially with the introduction of the 1U version, that Tyan had this segment in mind when developing the board. The small form factor (relative to most E7500 server boards) will result in an easier time cooling the system for 1U server manufacturers as well as pave the way for Racksaver sized servers that aren't as deep as conventional 1U solutions. Our only gripe on the server end is the lack of any on-board SCSI controller, which may be difficult to implement because of the scarce amount of space left on the cramped PCB.

All in all the Tiger i7500 is another solid production from Tyan, although its use will obviously be very niche oriented. If you find yourself in a niche that would best be filled by an ATX form factor E7500, not only is the Tiger i7500 a good choice but it's the only choice.