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X58 To The Max: Three New Flagship LGA 1366 Motherboards

X58 To The Max: Three New Flagship LGA 1366 Motherboards
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Supporting Intel’s highest-performance processors with twice the bandwidth of its mainstream counterpart, the X58 chipset proves the staying power of good ideas. We take a closer look at what makes the latest generation of premium motherboards special.

One word explains how Intel’s oldest Core i7 chipset has been able to dominate the high-end desktop market for an impressive two years: more. More PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 pathways feed more high-bandwidth expansion cards. More memory channels on the socket increase bandwidth to more physical CPU cores, while new models, like the Core i7-980X and Xeon X5600-series chips, are introduced.

Yet because the concept of more always translates to cost, manufacturers are constantly looking to pack more features into these already-more-expensive motherboards.

Our most recent “more” article for X58 motherboards examined boards with USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, two items that take advantage of the X58’s four left over PCIe 2.0 pathways. Intel solutions aren’t completely comparable, since Intel's LGA 1156 platform only has 16 lanes to begin with. It might surprise you then that the latest trend in more doesn't have anything to do with additional connectivity at all.

Top LGA 1366 motherboards now feature two eight-pin ATX12V/EPS12V power connectors to enable enhanced power delivery under the rigors of extreme overclocking. Builders whose overclocking needs are less intensive will still find that a single connector works, while those running at stock speeds will even find a four-pin connector adequate. Today we consider the totality of features, performance, and stability of the three latest examples of flagship-class X58-based platforms.

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  • 0 Hide
    mi1ez , 20 July 2010 17:34
    I didn't see prices listed anywhere - the UD9 is $700!
  • 0 Hide
    silverblue , 24 July 2010 06:18
    I don't see the point in comment moderation if the same guy is posting the same sales scam crap over the course of 2 1/2 days and still hasn't been banned. If only he'd insulted a hardware company or something.
  • 0 Hide
    rebus_forever , 9 August 2010 00:54
    lol comments, as this is a site full of techys im surprised some sort id solution hasnt been put in place