One of the industry's first solid state drives that use the new SATA 6 Gb/s interface - probably the only devices that can truly benefit from its bandwidth, the Crucial RealSSD C300 series has gone on sale, on the company's online store. The 128 GB variant (CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1) is priced at US $499.99, while the 256 GB one (CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1) goes for $799.99. Backed by expertise from IM Flash Technologies, the RealSSD C300 high-speed Synchronous NAND chips to achieve read speeds of 355 MB/s, something the device cannot achieve over SATA 3 Gb/s taking its natural bandwidth and protocol overhead into account.

Providing SATA 6 Gb/s controllers is a growing trend among motherboard manufacturers with upper mid-range and high-end motherboards. Many of these use Marvell 88SE9123-NAA2, a two-port controller that uses a single PCI-Express 2.0 lane for system interface. AMD's new SB800 series southbridge chips that will feature in motherboards with AMD 8-series chipset, which release next month, have native SATA 6 Gb/s support. This is where RealSSD finds its support base.

American retailer Newegg.com has started listing Gigabyte's GA-890GPA-UD3H motherboard, one of the first motherboards based on the AMD 890GX + SB850 chipset. This socket AM3 motherboard boasts of native SATA 6 Gb/s support, USB 3.0, Radeon HD 4250 integrated graphics, at a price of $139.99. The GA-890GPA-UD3H supports socket AM3 AMD Athlon II and Phenom II series processors, including support for the upcoming Phenom II X6 six-core processors. It also supports dual-channel DDR3 memory at speeds of over 1866 MHz by overclocking. Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8/x8 when both are populated), three PCI-E x1, and two PCI, bringing CrossfireX support. The SB850 gives out six SATA 6 Gb/s ports with RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10, and JBOD modes. An NEC-made USB 3.0 controller also provides two USB 3.0 ports. The IGP connects to displays over D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. Presumably, this could be the starting point for more AMD 890GX based motherboards to reach stores world over.

ASUS seems to be ready with one of its first motherboards based on the AMD 890GX chipset. This socket AM3 series of motherboards seems to come in two variants: M4A89GTD Pro and M4A89GTD Pro USB3 (with the latter having support for USB 3.0 SuperSpeed connectivity. An early development version of this motherboard was displayed at this year's CES event. Fresh pictures show a production-grade model, complete with chipset and VRM cooling, as well as a box design.

The M4A89GTD Pro / USB3 is a socket AM3 motherboard with a 10-phase CPU VRM supporting future AMD CPUs with 140W TDP, 2-phase memory VRM powering the four DDR3 DIMM slots, AMD 890GX chipset with faster DirectX 10.1 compliant graphics, and AMD SB800 southbridge. The SB800 provides six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, while an additional JMicron-made controller gives out the IDE connector (and possibly the lone eSATA port). Expansion slots include two PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 when both are populated), two PCI, and one each of PCI-E x1 and PCI-E x4. Connectivity includes 8+2 channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 ports (on the USB3 variant), FireWire, and display connectivity including DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. The M4A89GTD Pro / USB3 is expected to be launched a little ahead of AMD's launch of its six-core Phenom II X6 processors.

ASRock is developing a new upper-mainstream socket LGA-1156 motherboard based on the Intel P55 Express chipset: the P55-Deluxe3. This motherboard builds on the chipset's feature-set, and offers USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s connectivity. It further borrows from a design ASUS innovated with its P7P55D Premium, which makes use of a PCI-Express 2.0 bridge chip, which connects to the P55 chipset over its PCI-Express 1.1 x4 link, and gives out PCI-Express 2.0 x1 connections to the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers. The SATA 6 Gb/s controller gives out two SATA ports (color-coded white), and an IDE connector. The NEC USB 3.0 controller gives out two external ports color-coded blue.

Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8 when both are populated), a PCI-Express x1, and two PCI slots. Both NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFire, are supported. Other connectivity options include 8+2 channel audio with SPDIF connectivity, gigabit Ethernet, eSATA, FireWire, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The ASRock P55 Deluxe3 should be priced somewhere in the $180~$200 range.

MSI seems to be almost ready with a new high-end motherboard for the socket LGA-1366 Intel Core i7 platform. The new MSI Big Bang XPower motherboard is based on the usual Intel X58 Express + ICH10R chipset, and offers six PCI-Express x16 slots, which which it can support CrossFireX, SLI, and still have room for dedicated PhysX accelerators or other PCI-E devices. The XPower also features support for SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 using additional controllers.

The CPU is powered by a 16-phase DrMOS PWM, which draws power from two 8-pin power connectors. It makes use of High-C capacitors for higher durability. An additional 6-pin PCI-Express power input adds electrical stability to the PCI-Express x16 slots. The socket is wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory support, which are powered by a 3-phase VRM.

AMD's upcoming six-core desktop processor, codenamed "Thuban" is on course for a May 2010, suggests a report. The series is likely to receive the brand name Phenom II X6. There are four models planned for release within Q2, 2010. The Thuban core is AMD's desktop implementation of the Istanbul core, in the socket AM3 package, supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory. It is a monolithic multi-core design with six x86-64 cores, each with 128 KB of L1, 512 KB of L2 cache, and a 6 MB L3 cache shared between the six cores. Just as with K10 dual, triple, and quad core processors where AMD used a HyperTransport interface clock speed of 1800 MHz (3600 MT/s), or 2000 MHz (4000 MT/s), the new processor will take advantage of HyperTransport 3.x interface, with a HT speed of 2400 MHz (4800 MT/s). Thuban will be built on GlobalFoundaries' 45 nm node.

The table below lists out details of the four planned models. The model number of the top part isn't known. Most likely it is a Black Edition part, which comes with an unlocked BClk multiplier. It operates at 2.80 GHz, with a TDP of 140W. A step below is the Phenom II X6 1075T, which has an expected TDP of 125W, the 1055T is a notch below, and 1035T being the cheapest part. The exact clock speeds of the latter three models isn't known as yet. A month ahead of releasing these chips, AMD will announce the AMD 8-series chipset platform, led by 890FX (high-end, best for CrossFireX), 890GX (performance integrated graphics with CrossFire support). The AMD SB800 series southbridge chips will feature native support for SATA 6 Gb/s. Its on-die SATA controller gives out six SATA ports complete with RAID support. Some existing AM3 motherboards based on 7-series chipsets may also support Phenom II X6 with a BIOS update.

Gigabyte's top of the line socket LGA-1156 motherboard, GA-P55A-UD7 just got a face-lift before release to the market. The GA-P55A-UD7 was pictured in its production form as early as in November, 2009. The retail model has notable changes from the production version. To begin with, GA-P55A series motherboard are characterized with SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 support. The new GA-P55A-UD7 has four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots instead of three on the production one. The four slots are connected to an NVIDIA nForce 200 PCI-E bridge chip, which is connected to the processor. The two x16 links from this chip can be split into four x8 links for each slot. A PLX-made bridge chip provides additional PCI-Express 2.0 lanes (probably connected to the P55 PCH), to drive the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers.

The area south of the CPU socket (typically where you expect a northbridge to be located in older generation motherboards), has the nForce 200 and PLX bridge chips. This is cooled by a fusion heatsink which can be connected to a water-cooling loop. It can also offload heat from the CPU VRM and PCH heatsinks. Of the ten internal SATA ports, six are 3 Gb/s ports provided by the P55 PCH, two 3 Gb/s ports from a Gigabyte GSATA2 controller (which also gives out an IDE connector), and two 6 Gb/s ports from a Marvell-made controller. Other features include two color-coded blue USB 3.0 ports, several USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, and 8-channel HD Audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs.

World renowned mainboard and graphic card manufacturer, Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. again presents its P55-GD85 mainboard, and is officially supporting the Intel latest 32nm process and LGA1156 packaged Core i3 / i5 / i7 series CPU. In addition, the mainboard is built-in with SATA 6Gb/s and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 protocols and each has 2X and 10X ultra-high data transmission bandwidths respectively than their predecessors. OC Genie, SuperPipe and DrMOS, the 3 excellent design inherited from Xtreme Speed P55 series mainboard, are incorporated providing P55-GD85 mainboard with best compatibility and can offer outstanding performance.

According to ASUS the Rampage III Extreme is "Designed for those who know the Dark Art of Overclocking". It comes equipped with all features that overclockers dream of, and also has new stuff like ROG Connect for example.
The board supports CPUs for Intel Socket 1366, which means Core i7 including Gulftown (yes, I asked). As chipset Intel's X58 and ICH10R is used like on the Rampage II Extreme. ASUS has routed 32 PCI-Express 2.0 lanes to the PCI-E x16 slots, so you can either run x16+x16, x16+x8+x8 or x8+x8+x8+x8 - all without the added heat and latency of NVIDIA's nForce 200. As we hear this does make quite a difference in a 4x HD 5870 configuration for example. Major improvements have also been made to the power solution which is now 8-phase digital 250 - 1000 kHz. Of course support for USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s is included as well.While exact details are not known, the price of the board will be "highest priced ROG" - my guess is around $400, with availability starting around the Gulftown launch which should be some time in March.

Big, big picture, about 5 MB, can be found here.

Two of ECS' upcoming motherboards based on AMD's 890GX+SB800 chipset, supporting socket AM3 processors have been pictured: the A890GXM-A Black Series, and the IC890GXM-A. The two are ATX motherboards which build slightly on the chipset's features on offer.

The A890GXM-A Black Series is the higher-end part aimed at overclockers and performance users. It has an elaborate heatsink that covers the 890GX northbridge and CPU VRM area, which makes use of a heatpipe for uniform heat dissipation. It is marked with "Six Core CPU Support", indicating that it is ready for AMD's upcoming "Thuban" six-core desktop processor. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots to support dual-channel memory. DDR3 memory with speeds over 1800 MHz are supported by overclocking.

One of ASUS' premier offers for this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event is a new high-end socket LGA-1366 motherboard, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage III Extreme. The board succeeds the Rampage II Extreme which launched over an year ago along with Intel's then new Core i7 series processors. The new model based on the Intel X58 Express + ICH10R chipset, comes with four well spaced out PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, a new set of overclocking enhancements such as the ROG connect which lets you control the motherboard's overclocking from any Bluetooth and Java enabled mobile phone, SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 connectivity using ASUS' innovative PCI-Express 2.0 bridge implementation, and a more powerful CPU VRM to keep the board stable with bleeding-edge settings.

The board features an enhanced CPU VRM which is now powered by two 8-pin ATX connectors apart from two 4-pin Molex connectors. Some of these could be redundant and needed only for electrical stability. The CPU and memory power circuitry makes use of super-ML capacitors for cleaner power delivery. Voltage readouts are located next to the DIMM slots for accessibility. The motherboard makes use of slimmer component heatsinks that look to be made of the ceramic composite which the TUF Sabertooth P55 motherboard uses.

At the ongoing CES event, ASUS displayed some of its upcoming motherboards which included the M4A89GTOD PRO, an ATX form-factor model based on the AMD 890G chipset. The AMD 890G seems to be a successor to the AMD 790GX, in being a performance integrated graphics part. It integrates a DirectX 10.1 compliant IGP while supporting discrete graphics with 2-way ATI CrossFireX.

The M4A89GTOD PRO comes with an expansive feature-set thanks to the AMD 890G. The more interesting component being the AMD SB800 southbridge chip, which is on its way to being one of the first PC motherboard chipsets to natively support SATA 6 Gb/s. The chip doles out six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, while doing away with its on-die IDE controller. An external JMicron-made storage controller compensates with an IDE connector, a SATA 3 Gb/s port (colored black) and perhaps an eSATA port (at 3 Gb/s speeds), too.

ASUS today announces the launch of a new motherboard series based on the Intel H57 and H55 chipsets. The ASUS P7H57D/P7H55 Series supports the new Intel Core i7, Core i5, Core i3, and Pentium processors with feature laden ATX and micro-ATX models to provide the best value and performance on the new LGA1156 platform. Featuring exclusive GPU Boost technology, the series delivers a rich visual experience and smooth video performance with Intel's latest HD capable integrated graphics capable processors. Built with Xtreme Design features, the P7H57D/P7H55 Series delivers optimized performance while being very energy-efficient. The ATX based P7H57D-V EVO also supports next-generation USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s technology for faster data throughput and better storage performance.

The recently surfaced high-end dual socket LGA-1366 motherboard is pictured in full, without its cooling assembly. The picture reveals quite a bit about EVGA's new monstrosity. To begin with, the motherboard is neither ATX, nor EATX in the truest sense. Like the recently announced X58 Classified 4-way SLI which was based on the "XL-ATX" form-factor, this motherboard seems to be 13.58 inches (344.93 mm) long, and about as wide as EATX (330 mm, 13 inches), or maybe a little more.

Each LGA-1366 socket is wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory, and is powered by an 8-phase digital-PWM circuit. Each socket further has a 3-phase power circuit for its DIMM slots. The CPU VRM for each socket takes input from an 8-pin ATX, and what appears to be a 6-pin +12V (PCI-E?) connector. The motherboard further takes power from a 6-pin PCI-E power connector apart from the usual 24-pin ATX power connector. Some of these inputs may be redundant and needed only for additional electrical stability to support competitive overclocking.

OCZ Technology has perhaps the most diverse solid-state drive portfolio, which includes 1.8" and 2.5" internal SATA 3 Gb/s SSDs - with SLC, and MLC NAND flash technologies; 3.5" SSDs, bootable PCI-Express SSDs, and even eSATA based ones. While SSDs utilizing SATA 6 Gb/s are very predictable in the near future, the company already has plans to unveil an external, portable SSD that utilizes the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, at the upcoming CES 2010 event. With over 4 Gb/s of interface bandwidth at its disposal, it can also be expected of the drive to be powered entirely by the USB port. A concept design is already in place.

ASUS is ready with yet another socket LGA-1156 motherboard, only this one you can't pass on. The Maximus III Extreme is the company's second motherboard in its coveted Republic of Gamers series of high-end motherboards suited for gamers and overclockers, and will end up as the best ASUS has to offer for this platform. Based on the P55 Express chipset, the Maximus III Extreme seems to make use of an additional PCI-Express bridge chip to provide two x16 links. External lane switching further allows there to be four slots with x8 bandwidth. A fifth x16 slot could be wired to the PCH, being electrically x4 to accommodate other PCI-E devices.

The CPU socket is powered by a 11-phase digital PWM circuit, which uses a SuperML capacitor. The four DDR3 DIMM slots are powered by a 3-phase circuit. Apart from the main 24-pin and 8-pin CPU power connectors, there is an additional 6-pin connector. We suspect this to be a PCI-Express power connector for additional electrical stability, which could help overclocking.

Following Intel's launch of the new socket LGA-1156 platform with quad-core Intel Core i5, Core i7 "Lynnfield", and the P55 Express chipset to drive the platform, Intel is preparing to drop another chalk in Q1 2010, with dual-core socket LGA-1156 processors that use the Core i3 and Core i5 brand identifiers. A feature unique to these processors is the integration of a graphics controller into the processor package. On the platform side, core-logic must support the Intel Flexible Display technology, which handles connectivity for that graphics controller. The chipset which will drive this would be Intel's upcoming H57 Express chipset, codenamed "Eagle Lake".

Motherboards based on the H57 chipset typically feature display connectors such as DVI, D-Sub, or HDMI. While intended to cover the mainstream segment, H57 can also be used to drive high-grade motherboards, as is shown by ASUS with its newest motherboard based on the chipset - the P7PH57D-V EVO. The ATX motherboard resembles the P7P55D Deluxe in many design aspects. It supports all the high-end features its cousin does, including support for SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 along with full-bandwidth PCI-Express 2.0 interfaces for the controllers.

Closely trailing the GA-X58A-UD7, Gigabyte is preparing a new high-end socket LGA-1156 motherboard based on the Intel P55 chipset. The GA-P55A-UD7 is touted to lead the new pack of motherboards under the P55A series, which bring technologies such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s integrated for the LGA-1156 platform. Observantly, after a very long time, Gigabyte has made use of an NVIDIA nForce chip on its high-end motherboards, certainly the first time it has made use of the nForce 200 PCI-Express bridge chip. Gigabyte made some clever use of its real-estate, especially with regards to the PCI-Express bandwidth.

The LGA-1156 socket is powered by a 24+3 phase circuit. It connects to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. Its PCI-Express 2.0 x16 link is wired to an NVIDIA nForce 200 chip, which gives out 32 PCI-Express 2.0 lanes to ensure support for 3-way NVIDIA SLI, ATI CrossFireX is naturally supported. There are three PCI-Express x16 slots (which arrange into x16, x16, NC; or x16, x8, x8, depending on how they're populated). A PLX-made PCI-Express bridge chip (probably connected to the PCH) ensures full-bandwidth PCI-Express 2.0 x1 connections to the NEC two port USB 3.0 controller, and the two port SATA 6 Gb/s controller made by Marvell. Apart from the six (color-coded blue) SATA 3 Gb/s ports the PCH provides, the two color-coded white ports on the south are SATA 6 Gb/s, while the two on the north are connected to a Gigabyte GSATA2 SATA 3 Gb/s controller, which also gives out an IDE connector.

First surfaced two weeks ago, Gigabyte's then called GA-EX58-Extreme 2 motherboard has been renamed to GA-X58A-UD7, ahead of its launch. Traditionally known for giving the DQ6 and UD6 identifiers for its high-end motherboards, Gigabyte used the 'Extreme' identifier for some of its later high-end offerings. This is the first time a '7' identifier is in place. Touted to be a full-fledged successor to the EX58-Extreme, the X58A-UD7 brings to the table an upgraded feature-set, including support for USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, and four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrical x16, NC, x16, NC; x16, NC, x8, x8; or x8, x8, x8, x8, depending on how they're populated,) enabling 4-way ATI CrossFireX. Support for NVIDIA 3-way SLI is also included. One of the star attractions of this model is its factory-fitted chipset water-cooling block. Based on the Intel X58 Express chipset, the X58A-UD7 supports socket LGA-1366 Intel Core i7 processors. Its price and release date are still under wraps.

ECS is jumping the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s bandwagon with two PCI-Express expansion cards for each kind of connectivity. The cards use popular controllers NEC µPD720200 for USB 3.0 and Marvell 88SE9123-NAA2 for SATA 6 Gb/s. While the USB 3.0 card provides both its ports on the rear-panel, the SATA 6 Gb/s card holds one internal SATA 6 Gb/s port, and one eSATA 6 Gb/s. Currently there is no word on the availability or price of the two. These cards follow similar offerings from the likes of ASRock and ASUS.

Just as ASUS was readying its first wave of socket LGA-1156 motherboards, the company picked up interest in offering SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 as a feature set. With the P7P55D Premium motherboard, the company even used a PCI-Express 2.0 bridge chip to ensure the SATA 6 Gb/s controller - the Marvell 88SE9123-NAA2 - got a PCI-E 2.0 x1 link, which other manufacturers end up wiring a PCI-E 1.1 x1 link from the P55 PCH. In a bid to propagate the design, the company had also designed an addon card that works on the same principle. The the card has finally taken shape in the form of the ASUS U3S6 (USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s), complete with its missing USB 3.0 controller that provides two SuperSpeed 5000 Mbps ports. The interface bottleneck for the NEC µPD720200 USB 3.0 controller is also reduced by provision of a PCI-E 2.0 x1 link. Both connectors are wired to a PLX PEX8613 3-port/12-lane PCI-E 2.0 bridge chip, which takes in four PCI-Express lanes (typically PCI-E 1.1 lanes from the southbridge or P55 PCH), and gives out the required two links. Although there is no word on the card's price yet, PCSTATS reckons something around $30 likely. In that case, the card would be a steal deal, considering recently announced SATA 6 Gb/s addon cards by HighPoint that hold just the Marvell 88SE9123-NAA2, are priced over $60.

HighPoint Technologies - an industry pioneer of innovative SATA and SAS RAID host adapter manufacturing, today unleashes the Rocket 600 series - the industry's first SATA 6 Gb/s host adapter based on PCI-Express 2.0 technology. The Rocket 600 series delivers the next generation of SATA performance with robust SATA connectivity and will be available at the beginning of November 2009.

The Rocket 600 series brings a new level of cost effective pricing and will help drive mass adoption to the next generation of SATA 6 Gb/s technology. They are fully industry standard AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) compliant and deliver Out-of-Box Ready installation for the majority of operating systems. The Rocket 600 series are backward compatible to PCI-Express 1.0 technology and (SATA 3 Gb/s & 1.5 Gb/s) devices. They use the same cable and connectors as previous SATA generations to ease integration.

Gigabyte's embracing new technologies such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gbps in making motherboards has taken the shape of an entire series of motherboards, which intends to cover every price point the company was eying with its large socket LGA-1156 motherboard lineup. The series is designated by GA-P55A before the model identifier. The series is lead by the high-end GA-P55A-UD6, followed (in order) by GA-P55A-UD5, GA-P55A-UD4P, GA-P55A-UD4, GA-P55A-UD3P, GA-P55A-UD3R, and GA-P55A-UD3. All of these are ATX motherboards. Some of these, such as the UD4s, UD5, and UD6, are multi-GPU friendlier with PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots that split into x8, and share 8 lanes with the next slot, while in lower models, the second PCI-E x16 slot is electrical x4, and wired to the P55 PCH. In all these motherboards, the SATA 6 Gb/s ports are two in number, and are color-coded white. Similarly, USB 3.0 ports on all these models are two in number, and color-coded blue, located on the rear-panel. These motherboards support socket LGA-1156 processors from Intel, currently available as the quad-core Core i5, and Core i7 "Lynnfield" series. It remains unclear whether all of these new models replace the existing GA-P55 series motherboards (that lack USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s) from the market, or somehow coexist at slightly higher price-points. What is certain however, is that you need to pay attention to the model names, and look out for P55A in the model names, since the rest of the nomenclature is identical. Detailed specifications are found in the specs sheets below.

After releasing a wave of socket LGA-1156 motherboards under the P7P55D series, ASUS is ready with its newest socket LGA-1366 offering, based on the Intel X58 Express chipset, supporting Core i7 "Bloomfield" processors. The P6X58D Premium first surfaced back in July, but hit development roadblocks due to industry-wide issues with the SATA 6 Gb/s controller it used, which now seem to have been ironed-out. It brings to the table support for new technologies such as USB 3.0, and SATA 6 Gb/s, along with making use of the company's Xtreme Phase motherboard component design. The two SATA 6 Gb/s ports are color-coded white, and placed next to the SATA 3 Gb/s ports color-coded blue, provided by the ICH10R southbridge. The white ports are driven by a Marvell SATA 6 Gb/s controller. The two USB 3.0 ports on the other hand, are color-coded blue, and are placed next to the PS/2 connectors on the rear-panel. They are driven by an NEC-made controller.

The LGA-1366 socket is powered by a 16-phase circuit. The six DDR3 memory slots support up to 24 GB of DDR3 memory across a triple-channel (192-bit) memory interface. Components, heatsinks, and slots on the board stick to the blue/white/black color-scheme. Heatsinks over the VRM, northbridge, and southbridge are connected by heatpipes. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrically x16, x8, x8, or x16, x16, NC, depending on how they're populated), two PCI, and one PCI-Express x1. Connectivity includes two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, USB 3.0, FireWire, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. ASUS-exclusive features include Precision Tweaker 2 (that provides voltage control with a fine-resolution), Stepless Frequency Selection, and ASUS CPU Parameter Recall. The new motherboard should reach markets this November.

Gigabyte is readying a new socket LGA-1156 motherboard, the GA-P55A-UD4. Bearing resemblance with the GA-P55-UD4, the motherboard features upgraded connectivity, with support for USB 3.0, and SATA 6 Gb/s. The new model also features an upgraded CPU VRM, with a 12+2 phase design compared to the 8+2 phase design on the GA-P55-UD4. USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s features are provided using additional controllers on board. A Marvell-made SATA 6 Gb/s two-port controller replaces the familiar Gigabyte GSATA2 controller, while an NEC-made controller provides two USB 3.0 ports on the rear-panel. The USB 3.0 ports are color-coded blue, and share the port cluster with the lone gigabit Ethernet connector, while the SATA 6 Gb/s connectors are color-coded white, next to the usual six SATA 3 Gb/s ones the P55 PCH provides.

The rest of the feature-set remains largely same, with four DDR3 DIMM slots to support up to 16 GB of memory, two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrically x8 when both are populated) supporting ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI, Dolby Home Theater supportive onboard audio, among other standard issues. The Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4 will not replace GA-P55-UD4 from the market, it will coexist, albeit priced higher. It remains to be seen if this is the only "P55A" motherboard Gigabyte sells.