As the release date for Intel's Core i7 processors is nearing, this can only mean one thing – namely that a number of motherboard manufacturers are also getting close to coming out with their own versions of Intel's x58-based platforms. As we already informed you, pictures of an MSI X58 board have already surfaced on the Internet. Meanwhile, Taiwanese competitor ASUS noted that it planned to be the first to launch a Nehalem-supporting board.

 

Just recently, photos of yet another X58-based mobo popped up all over the Internet, this time around, Gigabyte being the manufacturer in question. Interestingly enough, the new board has been spotted at NVIDIA's NVISION 08 event, where Gigabyte offered the audience a glimpse of its upcoming “Extreme Edition” motherboard, designed for Intel's Core i7 processors. According to TG Daily, the board can provide system builders with lots of features that will transform a desktop PC into a true supercomputer.

 

At a closer look at the provided photos, one can easily notice that the new X58-supporting board looks rather similar to a server mobo, given its high connectivity options and onboard connectors. The prototype board supports up to six graphics cards, with four PCIe Gen2 x16 and two Gen2 x4 slots. Also, as expected, it supports ATI's CrossFireX technology. At the same time, NVIDIA's SLI gets no support from this Gigabyte high-performance mobo. Other technical specifications include up to 24GB of DDR3-1333 memory, or 6GB of DDR3-1900/2000 (with overclocked 2GB DIMMs).

 

The prototype is still in its development stages, which means that we won't get to see the pictured model on any store shelves anytime soon. Gigabyte claims that it still needs to work on the mobo's cooling solution (thus allowing all six graphics cards to be fitted on the board), and to redesign the layout of the 6 SATA ports so that the board supports extend-length PCIe cards.