The official release date of Conroe and Allendale CPUs - respective codenames for the 4 MB and 2 MB L2 Cache versions of Intel Core 2 Duo processors is nearing fast and has created a lot of excitement among PC enthusiasts worldwide. The new CPUs will require motheboards with new chipsets. The 975X chipset has been around on motherboards for sometime, but most of the current boards sporting the flagship chipset will be incompatible with Conroe due to VRM changes. The 975X chipset aimed at the enthusiast sector, and commands a relatively high price tag as far as motherboards go. This has always been the case with motherboards based on premium Intel chipsets. Fortunately, Intel has brought out a new chipset called the 965P to cater for the mainstream crowd. The Abit AB9 Pro is one of the first motherboard utilising the 965P chipset.