Tuesday, January 4th 2011
Gigabyte G1-Killer X58 to Feature X-Fi Hardware Audio, Killer Network Processor
Gigabyte's elusive G1-Killer X58 motherboard has quite some task ahead of it, to compete in a nearly-saturated socket LGA1366 motherboard market, including its high-end segment. Merely sporting a black PCB (new and rare for Gigabyte), and an ammo-clip shaped heatsink, and a handful of PCI-E slots isn't going to cut it, well...much. So Gigabyte decided to load the G1-Killer X58 with a Creative X-Fi CA20K2 PCI-Express audio processor, and Bigfoot Networks Killer E2100 network processor with 1 GB of dedicated DDR2 memory.
The CA20K2 from Creative sits at the heart of sound-cards such as the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium series, X-Fi Titanium HD, and Auzentech X-Fi Forte. It features 128 hardware channels, and handles the audio stack on-chip when applications and games use OpenAL in Windows Vista or Windows 7. Apart from X-Fi regulars such as CMSS-3D and Crystalizer, the CA20K2 gives you EAX 5.0 HD support. The audio processor is backed by Nighicon high-end audio capacitors which can be found in premium sound-cards. The Killer E2100 ASIC is Bigfoot's high-end PCI-Express network processor that can completely offload the network stack from the CPU. The G1-Killer X58 is expected to be unveiled at CES.
Source:
DonanimHaber
The CA20K2 from Creative sits at the heart of sound-cards such as the Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium series, X-Fi Titanium HD, and Auzentech X-Fi Forte. It features 128 hardware channels, and handles the audio stack on-chip when applications and games use OpenAL in Windows Vista or Windows 7. Apart from X-Fi regulars such as CMSS-3D and Crystalizer, the CA20K2 gives you EAX 5.0 HD support. The audio processor is backed by Nighicon high-end audio capacitors which can be found in premium sound-cards. The Killer E2100 ASIC is Bigfoot's high-end PCI-Express network processor that can completely offload the network stack from the CPU. The G1-Killer X58 is expected to be unveiled at CES.
25 Comments on Gigabyte G1-Killer X58 to Feature X-Fi Hardware Audio, Killer Network Processor
Oddly, this actually is exactly what I wanted someone to do with both of these products. Now all I need is an AMD version with the Bulldozer socket and I am sold.
Great sound for a motherboard, I must say, mainly because it had hardware acceleration (in a time where sound hardware acceleration actually mattered).
I'm sorry but these things just tick me off. It's like calling a DVD-ROM tray a cup holder or calling the computer a CPU. You just don't do it.
And Gigabyte just need to stop with this shit they have like 15 different 1366 boards in their line up enough is enough already.
"The detachable magazine is often referred to as a clip; such usage is sometimes frowned upon by many authorities on firearms but is nonetheless commonplace"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_(firearms)
"The term clip is commonly used to describe a firearm magazine, though this usage is technically incorrect. In the correct usage, a clip is used to feed a magazine or revolving cylinder, while a magazine or a belt is used to load cartridges into the chamber of a firearm.[1]"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clip_(ammunition)
I honestly like this mobo and the direct they are going with this by adding these as features. I really wan an AMD Bulldozer board with the same additions.
Killer NIC? Nope.
Actually X-Fi processor on-board? Nope. Just software X-Fi.No, they did not use top of the line codecs. Just plain old realtek and similar on those Asus cards and MSI boards.
At any rate, I can do without the Killer NIC, but I am interested to see how this X-Fi performs against something like a Forte or Titanium.
Onboard sound is still not good enough for me. However if you are going out to a A/V Receiver it maybe be different.