14 DAY TRIAL // The LGA 2011 central processing unit socket is the one that rules the Intel-based high-end desktop and workstation market, as well as servers, but there is one specific type of single-socket mainboard that Gigabyte finally launched for the first time in the world.
Specifically, Gigabyte has released the first ever single LGA 2011 socket motherboard with support for 10 Gigabit Ethernet networking technology.
It might sound a bit forced, as if Gigabyte might only be saying it this way to have a “world's first” claim that always looks good in a headline.
But 10 GbE is a networking technology you only use when you expect lots of computers and/or consumer electronics to use the server for more than linking to the net.
Servers can and do often run constant data processing tasks, backups, security scans, encryption operations, etc.
And while 10 GbE allows for the connections to be made, it's ultimately the server that needs enough processing power to cope with all incoming and outgoing requests.
This is why 10 GbE has only been found on dual-socket LGA 2011 motherboards so far. That, and because 10 GbE is a premium feature not worth installing on any but the best motherboards.
Yet Gigabyte has launched a single LGA 2011 socket motherboard with 10 GbE. A motherboard bearing the name of GA-6PXSVT.
A single SFP+ 10GbE port is coupled with two Gigabit Ethernet ports, enabling great network transfer performance.
The Intel third-generation 82599EN 10GbE controller and a low-latency SFP+ interface drive the technology, and the performance is supposed to be better (in terms of bandwidth, thermal, footprint, and cost performance) compared to PCI Express expansion cards.
Onboard technologies are often lacking compared to add-in solutions, but Gigabyte claims that this is not the case here.
The Gigabyte 6PXSVT supports Intel Xeon E5-1600 V2 & E5-2600 V2 processors (22nm, up to 12 cores / 24 threads), and up to 256 GB of DDR3 memory thanks to the eight memory slots.
Other hardware parts include 10 SATA III 6Gb/s and 4 SATA II 3Gb/s ports (some driven by a Marvell 88SE9230 controller, not the Intel C602 chipset), so you can use 14 HDDs/SSDs/SSHDs/HHDs.
Finally, the still un-priced Gigabyte GA-6PXSVT features the Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller (APIC) technology, which improves virtualization performance, while OS Guard and Intel Data Protection Technology with Secure Key will keep things safe. Or, well, as secure as they can be with so many hackers around.