We can’t give the game away about the performance of the P6T Deluxe - well, not for a couple of weeks, anyway - so let’s just say that the quad-core Core i7 which we set to 2.66GHz then 3GHz crunched through benchmarks as effectively as the clock frequency suggests. It’s a similar story with triple-channel DDR 3 running at 1066MHz. The low clock speed hurts latency, while the integrated memory controller and triple-band feature delivers bandwidth like there’s no tomorrow.

As for the P6T Deluxe, well it’s a decent motherboard but it’s a very safe design that covers all of the options but it does it without adding anything exciting to the mix

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10...us_p6t_deluxe/

All very nice but unfortunately this 'expensive but worth it' new platform recently became too expensive after the global economic meltdown.
Don't know about the rest of the world but hardware prices have risen 30-40% here in Australia.
This MB is currently priced at AU$530+ (AU$600+ for the palm version)
Core i7 920 CPUs will launch at AU$615+

I suspect even the 'early adopters' will be having second thoughts?

It's like that pretty much everytime we see new technology pop up: the performance increase over the previous generation is noticeable, but definitly not worth the expenses you have to make to enjoy the new technology. Prices are high, so early adopters will be either people who get the system for free or the real hardware enthousiasts, who are willing to spend more money on hardware.

Agreed but the launch prices we've all been talking about for months were semi-affordable (i.e. ~AU$1100 for just CPU, MB & 3xDDR3) but it now looks like costing at least that for just an MB & CPU thanks to the value of the dollar.

The rise in the cost of living (rent/mortgage costs, food prices, fuel etc etc) has also eaten into peoples disposable income reserves so I suspect there won't be many guys getting 'wife approval' for this upgrade just yet. I know I won't now.....

Good luck to all you single, high earning, still living with mum & dad early adopters!

I wouldn't call myself exactly an "early adopter", but this time I wanted to grab a Core i7 right away with the launch; unfortunately, prices here in Europe are also on the expensive side - the entry-level model will cost ~320€ (or 400 USD - far more than the 250 USD initially promised) according to some early results from geizhals.at, a decent motherboard will cost somewhere around 250€ (320 USD), and a memory kit - some 250€ as well. All summed up, we're talking about ~1100USD, not accounting for a new cooler and all the other small stuff that goes with. It's far more than my budget as a student allows, and I guess I'll have to wait some more months (again). The CPU price isn't exactly the big problem (hey, this is Intel, we're used to), but all the other platform vendors simply go on my nerves - strictly speaking, a X58 mobo shouldn't cost much more than a P45 one, I just don't see what the extra money goes for...