http://www.maximumpc.com | JUL 08 | MAXIMUMPC | 39
I
t pays to be an Intel fan these days. You have not only
the supremely powerful Penryn CPU in your corner, but
also a host of performance-oriented, feature-packed
motherboards to choose from. Contributing to the bounty
are two recently released enthusiast core-logic chipsets—
Intel’s own X48 and Nvidia’s nForce 790i Ultra SLI—which
represent the pinnacle of LGA775 computing.
Long delayed, but much anticipated, the X48 is a
sequel to Intel’s impressive but short-lived X38 chipset.
While the latter worked with Intel’s premiere Core 2
Extreme QX9770 CPU, the X48 off ers offi cial 1,600MHz
front-side-bus support. It also off ers support for DDR3,
PCI Express 2.0, and CrossFire X.
The 790i chipset also off ers 1,600MHz FSB support,
DDR3, and native PCI-E 2.0, but it diverges from X48 in its
support for SLI multi-videocard confi gs.
Sounds fairly straightforward, but choosing a
motherboard is far from simple. Even two chipsets that
off er similar features can diff er markedly in performance.And the variations even persist within diff erent mobos
using the same chipset. There’s likely to be signifi cant
deviation between vendor A’s nForce motherboard and
vendor B’s product. While they share the same basic core
logic, the boards refl ect each vendor’s unique approach to
leveraging the chipset’s features. From the number of PCI
Express slots, to the location of USB ports, to how the BIOS
is written and optimized, a motherboard’s design is no
small matter.
That’s why we’ve called in four of the hottest Intel-
based motherboards currently available, two representing
X48 and two representing 790i. We’ll put these boards
through their paces to determine a winner in each camp—
and ultimately, the superior chipset.
Naturally, AMD fans will wonder, Where’s the love?
Aft er all, AMD’s performance 790FX chipset off ers
comparable features for its processors. Not to worry. We
have reviews of two top-of-the-line 790FX motherboards at
MaximumPC.com (http://tinyurl.com/5gzmns).INTEL CORE-LOGIC
CAGEMATCH