14 DAY TRIAL // In addition to the consumer—oriented six-core Gulftown central processing unit, Intel has also released its new set of Xeon processors, namely the Xeon 5600 series of quad-core and six-core chips. This, of course, means that motherboard makers have been working on platforms designed to support the new chips. Eager to be among the first to declare the availability of Xeon-ready motherboards, EVGA has come out with a device that not only supports the processors, but that can also handle two of them at the same time.
The new EVGA motherboard is known as the Classified SR-2 (Super Record 2). It is designed with two LGA1366 sockets and is based on the enterprise-grade Intel 5520 chipset with ICH10R southbridge.
Each socket is powered by an 8-phase digital PWM circuit, with 2-phase uncore, and is built with higher amounts of gold on the pins in order to enhance conductivity. Of course, the two processors will need significant amounts of memory to match, which is the reason why the new motherboard has no less than 12 DIMM Triple-Channel DDR3 1333MHz+, for a total of up to 48GB of memory.
In order to support ultimate graphics configurations, the EVGA Classified SR-2 comes with seven PCIe x16/8 slots that support 2-way SLI, 3-way SLI, 4-way SLI or CrossFireX setups. This high number of PCI Express slots is made possible by two NVIDIA nForce 200 chips and external x8 switching. Furthermore, the motherboard has dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 3.0 connectors and ten USB 2.0 ports. As for storage, there are two SATA 6.0Gbps ports, as well as six SATA 3.0Gbps connectors.
The only limiting factor of the board is its tremendous size. In order to fit all the processing, memory and expansion capabilities, the company has used a form it calls “HPATX,” which is larger than even its XLATX. The product also features 100% Solid State Capacitors and a myriad of overclocking features, which truly make it a top-notch, enthusiast platform.
EVGA has not said when exactly the board will become available, but has given it a lifetime warranty and a price of $600. Finally, the company has also shown a 1200W power supply, with six +12V rails (38A each) meant to accompany and sustain the creature. Full information may be found on the official product page.