Intel Launches X38 Express chipset: Reviews Inside
@ 2007/10/10Back in May, Intel launched the P35 Express chipset, a replacement for its popular 965P. Classified as a mid-range product, the P35 added official support for front-side bus speeds up to 1333MHz, came bundled with a new ICH9R south bridge chip, and became the first desktop chipset to support DDR3 memory. Enthusiasts lapped it up, and in the months since, we've seen a wave of P35 motherboards that offer great performance and tantalizing overclocking potential.
Intel's mid-range chipsets have traditionally been excellent, so the P35's success wasn't a surprise. That success also raised expectations for Intel's new high-end core logic chipset: the X38 Express. This isn't a new trend; the all-around goodness typical of Intel's mid-range chipsets has long made it difficult for the company's flagship offerings to shine.
Topping the P35 Express won't be easy, but Intel has a few tricks up its sleeve with the X38. Chief among them is next-gen PCI Express 2.0 connectivity—a first for desktop chipsets—with enough lanes for dual-x16 CrossFire configurations. As is customary for its high-end chipsets, Intel has also rolled out memory controller optimizations that promise faster performance and support for higher DDR3 memory speeds.
To find out whether these perks are enough to elevate the X38 Express over its blue-collar P35 sibling, we've run the first X38 boards from Asus and Gigabyte through a relentless series of memory controller, application, and peripheral performance tests. Read on to see how the X38 fares and what you can expect from the first wave of motherboards based on this new chipset.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/13351
-- Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 Review
-- http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/...Chipset_Debuts
-- http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...abyte_x38-dq6/
-- Asus :
Intel's mid-range chipsets have traditionally been excellent, so the P35's success wasn't a surprise. That success also raised expectations for Intel's new high-end core logic chipset: the X38 Express. This isn't a new trend; the all-around goodness typical of Intel's mid-range chipsets has long made it difficult for the company's flagship offerings to shine.
Topping the P35 Express won't be easy, but Intel has a few tricks up its sleeve with the X38. Chief among them is next-gen PCI Express 2.0 connectivity—a first for desktop chipsets—with enough lanes for dual-x16 CrossFire configurations. As is customary for its high-end chipsets, Intel has also rolled out memory controller optimizations that promise faster performance and support for higher DDR3 memory speeds.
To find out whether these perks are enough to elevate the X38 Express over its blue-collar P35 sibling, we've run the first X38 boards from Asus and Gigabyte through a relentless series of memory controller, application, and peripheral performance tests. Read on to see how the X38 fares and what you can expect from the first wave of motherboards based on this new chipset.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/13351
-- Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 Review
-- http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/...Chipset_Debuts
-- http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...abyte_x38-dq6/
-- Asus :
If one could easily find generic 2gb DDR3 sticks for a competitive amount of cash I would certainly go for the newest chipset, certainly because of its PCI-E 2.0 support. Nvidia is also planning to roll out a chipset supporting PCI-E 2.0 and of course logically a PCI-E 2.0 compatible GPU will follow.
But it doesn't seem very likely that DDR3 prices will drop significantly at the time when Nvidia starts rolling out its next line of products.
We'll see. I'll take my pick early next year or so.