By now, we suspect most of you are aware of Intel’s extreme enthusiast platform – a.k.a. Skulltrail – that couples a pair of quad-core Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors with the dual-socket D5400XS motherboard, for a total of eight cores of high-performance goodness. We recently evaluated Skulltrail and have our thoughts on the platform posted for you all available right here.
What you may not be aware of at this point is that some of Intel’s partners also plan to introduce enthusiast-class motherboards complete with dual LGA771 sockets, similar to the D5400XS. Asus, for example is prepping the Z7S WS motherboard you see pictured below…
Foxconn is showing off its impressive new Quad CrossFire motherboard at CES, which features no less than 10 slots - four PCI-E 16x, four PCI-E 1x and two standard PCI. The motherboard also has a watercooled northbridge and southbridge. I’ll let the pictures say the rest.
Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?49147
A few sources have confirmed that AMD’s 790FX might be the best overclocker of AMD CPUs so far. AMD’s upcoming Phenom CPUs will be good overclockers and there is a big chance that 2.4GHz K10 part overclocks all the way to 3.0GHz.
AMD partners are very happy with its AMD 790FX motherboards and so is AMD, as these boards will satisfy customers, and of course, they are ready to accommodate two or even four RV670 graphic boards.
The board works well with R680 dual RV670 card; so, at least on the platform side, AMD doesn’t have anything to worry about. However, I am not sure that the AMD CPU team sleeps very well these days.
The boards based on AMD 790FX chipsets are already out and you can buy one if you really try hard, but the official launch should be in some two weeks, together with Phenom’s and RV670 cards.
Asus is one of the first motherboard manufacturers to announce boards based on the new AMD 790FX chipset and the company has launched two boards, both supporting CrossFireX for up to four graphics cards.
The two boards are the M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP and the M3A32-MVP Deluxe, although this time it’s more than just an addition of a USB Wi-Fi card that differentiates between the two boards, as the M3A32-MVP Deluxe/WiFi-AP features Asus new Cool Mempipe Technology which adds two RAM sinks which are connected to the motherboards heatpipe cooling.
Asus claims that this will lower the memory temperature of DDR2 modules by up to 10°C. Both boards have four x16 PCIe 2.0 slots, although they can be run in a combination of dual x16, x16 and two x8 or four x8 depending on how many cards you install.
Both boards also have two PCI slots, six SATA, one eSATA, 7.1-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial S/PDIF, six rear USB 2.0 ports, FireWire and four memory slots for DDR2 memory and if you have an AM2+ CPU, the boards will accept 1,066MHz modules. Both boards also features 8+2 phase power regulation which should make these boards interesting for overclockers.
bit-tech.net reports that ASUS has named its next Intel X38 based Republic of Gamer (R.O.G.) motherboard the “Maximus”. In the same manner as the previous ASUS P35 Blitz board, there will be two models to choose from: Formula DDR2 and Extreme DDR3. No word yet on features, cooling or just about anything other than a name and the availability will be “early September”.
Sources say AMD will release its RD790 chipset by the end of September, with Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology likely to be the first to launch motherboards supporting the new chipset, according to industry sources. The high-end RD790 has motherboard makers eagerly awaiting its launch, and they have listed the new chipset as one of their major product focuses for the fourth quarter, the sources added.
Asustek and Gigabyte have been taking the lead in the race to the launch the first RD790 motherboards, having already delivered design verification test (DVT) samples to AMD’s Taipei validation lab, the sources revealed.
If everything goes smoothly, Asustek and Gigabyte will be able to start volume production of RD790 motherboards in early September, while competitors may not be able to launch motherboards supporting the new AMD chipset until mid October, the sources noted.
According to AMD’s product planning, the 65nm RD790 made at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the vendor’s first quad-graphics platform that supports the next-generation Phenom processors and HyperTransport 3.0. It will also introduce PCI Express 2.0 and Triple CrossFire support.
The RD790 to be unveiled at the end of September will still adopt the SB600 southbridge initially, but AMD will introduce the SB700 towards the end of November, the sources said, adding RD790 motherboards are expected to be priced at more than US$100 each.
Source: http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=5841
Intel will release a special version of the X38 chipset called X48 and this new old chipset will simply be the faster iteration of X38. This chipset is described as an overclockers dream and will be shipped to selected partners only.
Tier one the usual suspect including Asus will be among first to get them. These boards will be the top of the iceberg and they will be the best of the best, and so will the chipset.
It will be interesting to get our hands on it as X38 / X48 motherboard will leave all P35 boards sitting in the dust.
Source: www.fudzilla.com
According to a story on Digitimes, Asus and Gigabyte are just about ready to start shipping RD790 boards and both companies are more or less just waiting for the go-ahead from AMD.
Both companies have DVT samples ready and have already shipped several boards to their respective customers for evalutation.
Volume production should kick in over the next couple of weeks and if all goes well, there should be plenty boards ready in time for the launch for once.
Initial boards will feature the SB600 southbridge, but come November this should be replaced by the SB700. RD790 boards are expected to retail in excess of US$100.
While the P35 chipset has spawned a lot of high-end board, Intel’s X38 part was actually meant to be used in the ultra high-end. MSI is one of the first to jump the gun, with a detailed picture of the upcoming flagship Intel based product. The interesting aspect are the four PCIe slots for Quad Crossfire.
Source: www.techpowerup.com
AMD’s next generation chipset with support for three PCIe slots and have a Hypertransport 3 support is expected any day now.
The motherboard partners are expecting its first engineering sample boards these days and the final products might get the final shape as soon as September.
The first RD790 boards will come out in socket 1207+ variants as Phenom FX is first to launch while the Phenom X4 with socket AM2+ is expected later this year.
Source: www.fudzilla.com/
