Tuesday, February 10th 2009
ASRock Prepares X58 Deluxe Motherboard
Following the release of the X58 SuperComputer high-end motherboard, ASRock made an addition to its socket LGA-1366 motherboard lineup with the X58 Deluxe. The new SKU is simply a trimmed-down package of the X58 SuperComputer, with a few features and accessories removed. The motherboard continues to be a high-end offering from ASRock that supports leading multi-GPU standards in their highest-possible configurations: ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA 3-Way SLI and Quad-SLI. It retains the PCB and component-layout of the X58 SuperComputer for the most part.
The changes kick-in where, the X58 Deluxe makes do with only a single gigabit Ethernet interface, as opposed to two on the X58 SuperComputer. It does away with an SLI interconnect bridge that spans across two expansion slots (2S). The SuperComputer package originally bundled three SLI bridges in all: 2-way 2S, 2-way 3S and, 3-way. The 2S bridge connected two NVIDIA graphics cards on neighbouring PCI-Express x16 slots. With the red-coloured slots wired-up for a maximum of 8 PCI-E lanes only, the 2S bridge become redundant and not recommended for common two-card SLI setups. The rest of the offering remains the same, with support for up to 24GB of DDR3 memory, four PCI-Express x16 slots, 8-channel HD Audio and gigabit Ethernet. The new model is expected to be priced a little lesser than the X58 SuperComputer. It is yet to be officially announced by the company, though already listed on its website.
The changes kick-in where, the X58 Deluxe makes do with only a single gigabit Ethernet interface, as opposed to two on the X58 SuperComputer. It does away with an SLI interconnect bridge that spans across two expansion slots (2S). The SuperComputer package originally bundled three SLI bridges in all: 2-way 2S, 2-way 3S and, 3-way. The 2S bridge connected two NVIDIA graphics cards on neighbouring PCI-Express x16 slots. With the red-coloured slots wired-up for a maximum of 8 PCI-E lanes only, the 2S bridge become redundant and not recommended for common two-card SLI setups. The rest of the offering remains the same, with support for up to 24GB of DDR3 memory, four PCI-Express x16 slots, 8-channel HD Audio and gigabit Ethernet. The new model is expected to be priced a little lesser than the X58 SuperComputer. It is yet to be officially announced by the company, though already listed on its website.
24 Comments on ASRock Prepares X58 Deluxe Motherboard
Just like i7 vs q9550. Yes its better. But in the end, its just not worth forking out 1500 vs a near compariable, if not more powerful, q9550 at an easy 500 less.
Cool board though, but only worth the Quad Cross in my eye. Then again, NVidia has the devs still in their pocs.
A 3rd PCI-E (x4 or better) is nice for a proper RAID card and maybe even a sound card if no free x1 or it's blocked + keeps the positioning options flexible. Or as mentioned 3-way SLI if that is your thing + RAID card. If there is not a huge price premium and there is the electrical connections to back it up (i.e. minimum x8 one each like the AMD chipsets would be good) why not. :)
But I agree with Shadowfold here. I like motherboards that don't have rollercoasters on them.
I hope its in the 250 range and overclocks. Asrock needs to come out with an even cheaper board wit just 3 pci-e no x4 speed though.