www.MotherboardNews.com
X79 Motherboards Galore at Computex 2011 Pre-Show
by Cole on May 30, 2011
in Chipsets,Motherboards,Previews
While massive hardware show, Computex 2011, doesn’t officially start until tomorrow, hardware news sites present at the event have been flooding their sites with images and details on the latest and greatest products from a plethora of manufacturers. VR-Zone has posted a great walk-around of one of the shows halls, which shows new cases, power supplies, cooling systems and much more and while this is fine and quite dandy, we are interested in the latest and greatest motherboards and boy do we have some X79 motherboards to show you now!
All of the motherboards below feature Intel’s upcoming LGA 2011 socket (for Sandy Bridge-E processors), X79 chipset, quad-channel memory (interestingly placed in pairs on either side of the socket), and PCIe Express 3.0. Also, at this time we do not have full feature breakdowns for each board, so full previews will likely be published as the Q4 2011 launch of these motherboards approaches. Finally, please note that most of these motherboards have their heat-sinks removed in order to full display the features of the board itself.
ASRock Extreme4 X79
ASRock Extreme4 X79
At first glance we see that ASRock has kept their black PCB found on their Extreme4 motherboards, but done away with the blue and white accents in favour of red and black – a welcomed change in our opinion. With regards to PCI slot layout we have three physical x16 slots, two x1 slots as well as two legacy PCI slots. Again, please note that all of these motherboards are full PCIe Express 3.0-equipped.
As far as connectivity, we have a whopping 13 SATA ports, a single USB 3.0 internal header, 3x USB 2.0 internal headers, power/reset buttons as well as diagnostic LEDs.
*For more images of the ASRock Extreme4 X79 head over to VR-Zone
GIGABYTE X79A-UD3GIGABYTE GA-X79A-UD3
Moving over to the GIGABYTE board on display we have GIGABYTE’s typical black PCB design with black, grey and blue accents that are typically found on their recent UD3 boards. As for PCI slot layout, GIGABYTE has gone with five full physical PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and just a single legacy PCI slot.
As far as connectivity, we have 14 SATA ports (two are found at 90 degree angles on bottom), a single USB 3.0 internal header and 2x USB 2.0 internal headers. As for enthusiast features such as power/reset switches, we don’t see any on this board, but keep in mind that the UD3 models from GIGABYTE are typically mid-end boards with the UD4, UD5 and UD7 rounding out the mid-high range.
*For more images of the GIGABYTE GA-X79A-UD3 head over to VR-Zone
ASUS C1X79 EvoASUS C1X79 Evo
At first glance you might be wondering what exactly ASUS is going with this board, but please note that this is simply an engineering sample. As for PCI slot layout we see that ASUS has opted for three physical PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots and a single PCIe 3.0 x4 slot.
As for connectivity we have, again, 14x SATA ports, no USB 3.0 internal headers, 4x USB 2.0 internal headers, power/reset buttons and diagnostic LEDs. As for the the missing USB 3.0 internal headers, it looks like those mysterious black connectors between the 24-pin and SATA ports might actually be USB 3.0 internal headers without the plastic shroud and pins.
*For more images of the ASUS C1X79 Evo head over to VR-Zone
Foxconn Quantum Force X79Foxconn Quantum Force X79
While Foxconn may be a less familiar brand in North America, they are known throughout the world for their OEM manufacturing and we must say that this Quantum Force X79 motherboard is gorgeous! We have four physical PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, a single PCIe 3.0 x4 slot and legacy PCI slot.
As for connectivity we have 14x SATA ports (all along the side this time), a single USB 3.0 internal header (wired beside 24-pin, but no plastic cover on top), 2x USB 2.0 internal headers, power/reset/overclocking buttons as well as diagnostic LEDs. Kudos to Foxconn for previewing a great enthusiast board so soon before launch.
*For more images of the Foxconn Quantum Force X79 head over to VR-Zone
ECS X79R-AECS X79R-A
We see that ECS is carrying over the same black/white/grey colour scheme used in their upcoming AMD motherboards. As for PCI slots, ECS has provided a great layout with four physical PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. Personally, I have no issue with the slot below the top x16 being blank as it really only effects those enthusiasts looking to use four water-cooled GPUs.
As for connectivity we have 10x SATA ports, a single USB 3.0 internal header, 2x USB 3.0 internal headers, power/reset buttons and diagnostic LEDs.
*For more images of the ECS X79R-A head over to VR-Zone
So there you have it, five X79 motherboards for your preview pleasure even before Computex 2011 officially starts. We will be coming at you with plenty of news over the next few days so stay tuned! Be sure to check out our Up Close and Personal Intel’s LGA 2011 Socket post!