well intel X48 anotherl hyped motherboard.
AnandTech: Intel X48 - Much Ado about Nothing....
First Thoughts-
"Our initial test results indicate that except for official 1600FSB support, there are not any real performance differences between the X38 and X48 chipsets at stock or mildly overclocked settings. This does not surprise us, as Intel's chipset guidance outline has not indicated anything differently. It was not until we started pushing both boards that we could tell a difference, even then it was minor for the most part. The X48 based Premium board did allow us to reduce CPU and MCH voltages when compared to the Deluxe board. This could be a combination of factors ranging from BIOS and board design to improvements in the X48 chipset. In early testing, it is proving difficult to isolate the specific differences. We believe it is a combination of BIOS design and the X48 chipset. However, it appears on the DDR3 boards that the user will not be able to take advantage of these minor differences unless they are really pushing the board. This will be important for some but for the majority of users it will not matter which chipset is used.
We cannot provide benchmark results with the upcoming 3.2GHz QX9770 quad-core processor that features a native 8x400FSB setting until next week. We can say in preliminary testing that both ASUS boards generated almost identical benchmark results at stock settings with the X38 Deluxe board having no problems with the native 400FSB setting. However, the X48 Premium board provided minor improvements in memory performance when overclocking past the 1800MHz level.
Overall, we can state that with the latest BIOS releases the X38 boards are maturing quickly and the transition to the X48 will be seamless for the manufacturers and potential users. We are being told that the X48 will command a price premium (average $30~$50) over the X38 boards. In our early testing, that premium only seems justified for those who extract 98%+ out of their boards or for those who want the security of knowing their 1600MHz FSB capable processors will operate properly without the supplier having to guarantee 1600MHz compatibility on the X38 product. The latter statement is one that we have not experienced yet with any X38 board. Our only open question at this time is if DDR2 performance has improved with the X48 as rumor says it will. We will answer that question shortly with the GA-X48-DQ6 board from Gigabyte.
In regards to the ASUS P5E3 Premium board, it appears to us that ASUS fixed our few qualms with the BIOS design and options on the Deluxe board. Both boards pack a tremendous number of features on-board and provide excellent, if not class leading performance, provided you make the jump to DDR3. Although they are expensive, we believe both boards set the standard in the DDR3 arena. We look forward to providing final test results shortly with both boards. For now, it appears the hype surrounding the X48 chipset was overblown. While it is an improvement in certain cases, we have not seen it clearly outperforming the X38 yet. Maybe some additional octane from the upcoming QX9770 will provide additional horsepower, but for now, we have two almost equal performing engines under the hood.
INTEL X48 preview
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