Computer component manufacturerBeijing Jite Intelligent Technologyreckons it has made the first motherboard manufactured entirely in China using Chinese technology (viaITHome). The GM7-2602-02 motherboard uses the standard Mini-ITX form factor and comes with a Chinese-developed Arm CPU. If this motherboard is the real deal, then it’s another step China has successfully taken to advance its native manufacturing capabilities.
The Mini-ITX motherboard appears to be mostly mainstream. It has an M.2 slot, a 16x PCIe slot, and rear I/O including VGA, HDMI,audiojacks, two Ethernet ports, and two USB 3.0 ports. What isn’t quite so normal is its two SODIMM DDR4 memory slots and an included CPU that seems to be soldered, not socketed. This makes the GM7-2602-02 motherboard more akin to one you might find in a NUC or Mini PC, except for the inclusion of the 16x PCIe slot.
The CPU is aFeiteng D2000 with eight cores, which is developed and made in China, but uses the Arm architecture. Thefour-core version of this CPUis apparently capable of gaming, which implies the GM7-2602-02 should be just as capable, especially as it can also take a discrete graphics card. At this point, it seems it may be possible to make a full, Chinese-domestic gaming PC using this motherboard and agraphics card from Moore Threads.
Of course, that’s all assuming this motherboard is actually completely made in China. Although there’s nothing in particular to suggest that Beijing Jite Intelligent Technology is stretching the truth, many Chinese companies have made similar claims in the past while relying on foreign technology. The company’s website even has a list of products predating the GM7-2602-02 it describes as domestic, but claims the GM7-2602-02 is the first domestically produced motherboard. It’s just not entirely clear what “domestic” actually means.
That being said, motherboards aren’t exactly the most complicated computer components to make. China already can make its own CPUs, GPUs, and SSDs, so it wouldn’t be too far-fetched if motherboards were added to the list. Yet it’s also a crucial component for the country’s emerging semiconductor industry, as every computer needs a motherboard, and although the GM7-2602-02 is far from cutting-edge, it nevertheless is ostensibly natively made.
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Matthew Connatser is a freelancing writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He writes articles about CPUs, GPUs, SSDs, and computers in general.
