14 DAY TRIAL // Intel has not had the chance of removing the veil of the X48 high-end chipset, and first-tier motherboard manufacturers are already rolling out motherboard models built around it. Asustek and Gigabyte were the first ones to release small volumes of motherboards earlier this week, but neither of the products won't be available in large amounts until the middle of March.
The chipset has been delayed by a few months, and was initially expected to show up in early January this year. However, the highest-end chipset offering from Intel got late on the market because of the alleged rumors claiming that motherboard manufacturers would have liked to deplete their X38 stock.
The X48-based motherboards will come with improved functionality, such as native support for Intel's highest-end LGA771 processors built on the 45-nanometer technology, as well as DDR3-1600 memory and FSB 1600 MHz support. Additionally, Intel will also release the P45 chipset during the second quarter of 2008, but will also be late to the show, as the most important motherboard manufacturers have already introduced their P45-based motherboards.
Just in case you were wondering where the rush is, you probably should know that Nvidia is gearing up for the next week's launch, when it will introduce the long-awaited nForce 790i SLI and 790i SLI Ultra chipsets, the worst enemies of Intel's X48. The threat was imminent, and Intel had no other option but give motherboard manufacturers the green light for shipping their X48-based motherboards, before they get Nvidia competition.
The motherboards released by Asus and Gigabyte are just the first wave of products built around Intel's highest-end chipset. More X48-based products are expected to hit the market in a short while from other major motherboard manufacturers, such as MSI and DFI.