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Intel is the number one motherboard chipset manufacturer in the world to go along with being the number one CPU supplier to the computing public. The high-end enthusiasts in the market use Intel based motherboards but generally stay away from their branded motherboards. Intel is trying to get into the enthusiast market with boards like the DX48BT2 which is supposed to be for overclockers with their BoneTrail platform of which this is the motherboard component.
The X48 Express chipset was launched a month or two ago to great acclaim as it introduced new features like the FSB 1600MHz CPUs (Yorkfield) and sported a new MCH. The X48 chipset has been a success in the market place as AMD’s Phenom has not been a successful launch in terms of performance and features. Today’s review is on their branded DX48BT2 motherboard which Intel touts is for the overclocker and is geared for the enthusiast
Microsoft's recent release of the new Vista Operating System has changed the software and hardware landscape in ways that are just now becoming apparent. Motherboards with integrated graphics have become almost passe, as the requirements for the Vista Premium OS are high. The vast majority of CPUs on the market today are Dual-Core or more. Memory requirements for applications are fast overcoming the 1GB level. Manufacturers have to work harder and harder on drivers as the XP model has completely changed.
NVIDIA is one of the leading companies on the computer market today. With 2006 revenue exceeding 3 Billion USD, NVIDIA has diversified itself from being the video card chipmaker to entering into handheld, console, motherboard chipsets and more. ASUS manufactures motherboards based upon NVIDIA chipsets among other chipsets. One of the most popular ASUS motherboards over the last year has been the M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. ASUS has recently updated the motherboard to better serve the Vista customers in the form of the ASUS M2N32-SLI which is on the test bench today.
The big push today with computers is the support of Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system and Dual Core or even Quad Core CPUs. Intel released the Core 2 and Quad Core CPUs last year regaining the performance lead from AMD in the processor front. On the motherboard chipset front, Intel has released the 965P chipset and is about to release a new chipset for the 45 nanometer processors coming in the next few months.
NVIDIA announced the nForce 680i SLI chipset last year for the Intel platform. After a bit of an aborted start of their 590 SLI platform for Intel, NVIDIA decided to move on to their next chipset after only a few nForce 590 SLI boards were shipped to the market place. A mere six months after the nForce 590 SLI chipset was born, NVIDIA released the nForce 680i chipset with slightly modified features and better overclocking. They also launched the 650i SLI chipset for the performance-enthusiast and the nForce 650 chipset for the low-end and mainstream.
ASUS manufactures motherboards, video cards and other computer components. With the launch of the nForce 680i SLI chipset, ASUS released the Striker Extreme and P5N32-E SLI motherboard. It is a bit confusing but today's board on the review bench is the P5N32-E SLI PLUS motherboard based upon the nForce 650 SLI chipset, but the PCB design fits in with the Striker Extreme board which is on the 680i chipset. This board on paper seems like a very high-quality product, lets take a deeper look and see if this board really has what it takes to be a winner.
EPoX is a second-tier motherboard manufacturer based in Taiwan founded in 1995, over 10 years ago. They have quiet as of late in the US market, as the ever-changing motherboard market has mostly ignored their motherboards except for a few vendors. Recently, EPoX has re-emerged in the US market with a line of motherboards called Optimus, named I guess after the Transformer Optimus Prime. Long-time comics and cartoon fans know the Transformers are the Autobots versus the Decepticons and the board is styled after that series in a conceptual sort of way.
Multiple GPU solutions have taken the form of two main competitors, SLI and Crossfire from NVIDIA and ATI, respectively. While many more motherboards support Crossfire than SLI, due to ATI's relaxed stand towards other manufacturers having Crossfire support (i.e. Intel), NVIDIA's SLI solution has the lion's share of the market of multiple-GPU solutions actually in use (Steam survey 3/1/2007 NVIDIA 96%, ATI 4%.) Today, the motherboard on the review slate is the EPoX Optimus AD580 XR motherboard.
abit is one of the better known motherboard manufacturers out of Taiwan. It along with other motherboard manufacturers like ASUS and GIGABYTE have released motherboards based upon virtually every chipset available, as they sell millions of motherboards in a month and are considered Tier-1 motherboard manufacturers. Intel is the biggest CPU and motherboard chipset manufacturer in the world.
Intel is also easily one of the largest tech companies with thousands of employees and many products that meet every portion of the market. Intel launched the 965P chipset last year to replace the 945P chipset in the mainstream. The board on the test bench today is abit's AB9 QuadGT based upon Intel's P965 chipset. The AB9 QuadGT shares a lot in common with the AB9 Pro I reviewed earlier this year, with support for Quad Core CPUs added (hence the name).
NVIDIA was founded in 1993, and is best known for building kick ass video card chipsets. Over the last few years they’ve branched out into different markets including the consoles (Xbox 360, PS3), handheld graphics market, and notebook graphics. They entered the motherboard market in 2001 with the release of the original nForce series of motherboards which introduced features like GeForce 2 MX class integrated graphics, SoundStorm and other features into the motherboard market.
EVGA is best known for building NVIDIA video cards and their excellent technical support, but they have recently gone into making motherboards based upon NVIDIA chipsets as well. EVGA has built motherboards based upon the nForce 650i SLI, nForce 680i SLI and now the new nForce 780i SLI chipsets. The board on the test bench today is the nForce 780i SLI board from EVGA. It’ll be interesting to see how the new chipset will fare against the Intel X38 and P35 platform and how the 780i SLI fares against the older 680i platform. There a few new feature sets with the 780i, but beyond that there are not many changes with the it so performance increases should be minimal
