14 DAY TRIAL // This year has already brought stronger and more versatile CPUs, as well as the motherboards to go with them, and it looks like a certain extra feature is showing up on recent models, like on the G1.Sniper Gigabyte mainboard.
As is their wont, desktop motherboards have been incorporating newer and better connectivity and performance-enhancing technologies, as well as features that boost security, ease of use and versatility.
Of course, this has been going on ever since PCs first appeared, though there are a few elements that just a handful of them so far gained.
One of these features is support for the PCI Express Gen. 3 interface standard, though this will be of little use until next year.
This is because central processors that actually support the technology aren't expected to show up until the second quarter of next year (April, 2012).
Still, ASRock didn't feel this was enough of a reason not to use PCI Express 3 in the Z68 Fatal1ty Professional Gen 3, and it looks like Gigabyte has finished making the G1.Sniper.
Previewed by the folks over at SIN's Hardware, the motherboard boasts the LGA 1155 socket and is part of the G1.Killer motherboard series.
This is, in fact, a revision of the board, as its first incarnation was pictured about four weeks ago, though, at the time, the special switching circuitry needed to implement Gen. 3 PCI Express was not yet available.
Fortunately, the mass-produced platform will, indeed, have them, along with a 12 phase VRM, 7.1 audio, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, eSATA, HDMI, SATA 6.0 Gbps (4 ports) and five SATA 3.0 Gbps connectors.
Finally, four DDR3 memory slots are present, as is an OC button and the assurance that Intel's future 22 nm “Ivy Bridge” Core chips will be fully supported. All photos of the board can be found here.