X38 Chipset

[Gary Key]

Latest Information -

1. Final Silicon spin is completed, approved, and production level chips are shipping to Tier One launch partners now. This is a two week swing from the last update we had from the suppliers.
2. Drivers are almost complete, undergoing final quality control testing.
3. Expect boards in distribution channels from the big "3" by the second week in September. Like the P35 launch, it will be a foot race as to which boards hit retail first and where they are available. Just like the P35 launch, it seems at this point that certain distributors, channel partners, and retail outlets will have the boards available for sale early, the only question is if they will sell them. We think they probably will so the boards should arrive long before the launch date/press embargo at 12:00am on 9/24.
4. Of course, we get the same rules that applied on the P35 launch, if you buy a retail board, you can post performance numbers, if not you are under NDA until the release date unless you want to break it and incur the wrath.
5. Latest NV GPU drivers do not have X38 SLI support in them and we do not expect any at launch. Latest word is that SLI certification will not occur on X38 at this time. What the future holds is anyone's guess but this whole SLI/CrossFire separation on chipsets is just silly in our opinion.

Sticky for a few weeks.

AndyHui - Senior AnandTech Moderator

 

[gtsing]

may i ask where this info came from?

 

[BenchZowner]

Doesn't matter, it's true.
Mid-Sept is Asus, Gigabyte X38 time

 

[T2k]

AMEN>

 

[xenolith]

Many high up on the tech industry "food chain" are saying the X38 will "destroy" the enthusiast market.

PCIE 2.0, dual 16X, enhanced FSB and latency tweaking with a much improved memory controller... all openly discussed for the first time by Intel engineers with a dedicated purpose of building an overclocking monster... I can't wait!

 

[cmdrdredd]

For $350 for the boards I bet too which makes it a no go for me

I also wonder if the top boards will be DDR3 only.

 

[bryanW1995]

Originally posted by: gtsing
may i ask where this info came from?

dude, gary key knows people! he works for anandtech and is currently in the final stages (we hope) of his p35 comparison.

 

[Sylvanas]

Sweet thanks for the news Gary

 

[chewietobbacca]

Incredible news. Final piece to my build!

 

[nrb]

Do you think there will be any boards that support x8/x8/x8/x8 quad-Crossfire?

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: gtsing
may i ask where this info came from?

From He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named......

 

[Raja1]

Originally posted by: Gary Key

Originally posted by: gtsing
may i ask where this info came from?

From He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named......

FHWMNBN

another one for the Internet dictionary..

I have a feeling this chipset is going to rule the DDR3 performance clocking arena. The last generation showed that sync clocking on the Intel chipsets was the easiest way to fast memory access latency, while other brand chipsets tried various spins of async clocking, Intel chose to stick where performance and reliability was best. This chipset has been desinged from the ground up with the enthusiast in mind, I'm expecting something solid, the let down at this time is SLI, though I'd still expect some pretty decent (if not the best) single card performance..

regards
Raja

 

[Cookie Monster]

What prices are we looking at?

 

[chewietobbacca]

Who are the big 3? ASUS, Gigabyte, but who else?

 

[bka4u2c]

Originally posted by: chewietobbacca
Who are the big 3? ASUS, Gigabyte, but who else?

I would think ABIT, but could be DFI or MSI as well.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Gary Key
Latest Information -

1. Final Silicon spin is completed, approved, and production level chips are shipping to Tier One launch partners now. This is a two week swing from the last update we had from the suppliers.
2. Drivers are almost complete, undergoing final quality control testing.
3. Expect boards in distribution channels from the big "3" by the second week in September. Like the P35 launch, it will be a foot race as to which boards hit retail first and where they are available. Just like the P35 launch, it seems at this point that certain distributors, channel partners, and retail outlets will have the boards available for sale early, the only question is if they will sell them. We think they probably will so the boards should arrive long before the launch date/press embargo at 12:00am on 9/24.
4. Of course, we get the same rules that applied on the P35 launch, if you buy a retail board, you can post performance numbers, if not you are under NDA until the release date unless you want to break it and incur the wrath.
5. Latest NV GPU drivers do not have X38 SLI support in them and we do not expect any at launch. Latest word is that SLI certification will not occur on X38 at this time. What the future holds is anyone's guess but this whole SLI/CrossFire separation on chipsets is just silly in our opinion.

Sticky for a few weeks.

AndyHui - Senior AnandTech Moderator

5) crossfire and SLi separation is not silly for Nvidia. Having only their chipset certified for SLI makes it possible to force users to purchase their boards to use SLI thus adding to their already overstuffed pocketbook.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: chewietobbacca
Who are the big 3? ASUS, Gigabyte, but who else?

In retail terms Asus, Gigabyte & MSI.
ECS & Foxconn are also normally considered Tier 1 players but more biased towards oem afaik.

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
What prices are we looking at?

The situation is very fluid at this point but it appears most of the early release boards will be DDR3 based, so expect prices in the $250~$300 range up front. Most of the manufacturers will also have DDR2 based boards for the $175~$250 market by late October. Eventually, a few of those DDR2 boards should drop down to the $150 range or under, much in the same way the 975X boards have been slotted over time. We fully expect capitalism at its best for the first 30 days, so seeing a first to market board around $350 will probably not surprise us.

 

[Gary Key]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst

Originally posted by: chewietobbacca
Who are the big 3? ASUS, Gigabyte, but who else?

In retail terms Asus, Gigabyte & MSI.
ECS & Foxconn are also normally considered Tier 1 players but more biased towards oem afaik.

Do not forget Intel who will be heavily marketing their BadAxe 3 to the enthusiast sector and it might just be the board to have for overclocking. Too early to tell but it looks promising at this point.... :thumbsup:

 

[asdftt123]

Originally posted by: Gary Key

Originally posted by: Cookie Monster
What prices are we looking at?

The situation is very fluid at this point but it appears most of the early release boards will be DDR3 based, so expect prices in the $250~$300 range up front. Most of the manufacturers will also have DDR2 based boards for the $175~$250 market by late October. Eventually, a few of those DDR2 boards should drop down to the $150 range or under, much in the same way the 975X boards have been slotted over time. We fully expect capitalism at its best for the first 30 days, so seeing a first to market board around $350 will probably not surprise us.

So does that mean there will be no DDR2 versions upon the early-mid September release? Will we have to wait till late October to see any DDR2 versions? If so, that's a huge bummer. I wonder how many people will take the hit and spend $800+ on a kit of DDR3 + X38...? Probably nobody sane.

 

[asdftt123]

Okay, so I plan on purchasing an X38 board for my build in September and I can't afford to wait till late-October for a DDR2 version. I also refuse to dish out $500+ for a kit of DDR3. I contacted Gigabyte in regards to the release of their X38 DDR2 and DDR3 boards and the reply I got was this:

Thanks for contacting Gigabyte.



We will bring in DDR2 revision for time to market consideration and the DDR3 at a later time. Hope this answered your question.



Thanks and regards,
Charles

I'm really hazy as to what this guy is trying to say...anyone have a clue?

 

[asdftt123]

For those who are interested...follow up response:

Yes, your interpreting is correct. We should have the DDR2 revision available when Intel is launching the X38 on Sept. 23. DDR3 version will be available few weeks later.



Thanks and regards,
Charles

Gigabyte's tech support is really fast. O_O

 

[DasFox]

DDR3 prices are crazy!

 

[quadraphonic]

It seems weird for this big "performance" board to be coming out without SLI support. nVidia's the big boy right now and while that could change, this seems a step in the wrong direction IMO. Hopefully we see SLI/xfire compatability to keep the customization options open.

 

[chewietobbacca]

NVIDIA wants to keep SLI so they can keep their chipset business. In fact, thats the only reason considering their mobos tend to be plagued with more problems and are less stable than the Intel boards. And NVIDIA knows that, and hence they sell their boards as being SLI capable, something no Intel board can have. If they gave SLI to Intel, no one would buy Nvidia boards anymore...