Intel X48 Motherboards to Show Up This Week

According to industry-tracking website DigiTimes, Intel X48-equipped motherboards will soon be making their way into the retail channel. The first set of shipments are small, but full-throttle shipments should occur in the coming week.

X48 is an evolutionary upgrade over X48, with the prime difference being an upgrade in the systems FSB, which will sit at 1600MHz. Because of this, the upcoming QX9770 processor will be natively supported. That processor is mysterious, because we first previewed it way back in November. It’s not often that we release reviews so far in advance of a product launch, so it’s looking like the launch could be soon, thanks to the X48 launch.

We’ve yet to take a look at an X48 board, but have plans to soon. Our first review will be the ASUS P5E3 Premium board, which I expect to be a great performer and feature a splendid bundle (if previous generations are anything to go by). This board is likely to be included in the initial launch as well.

Although Intel has not yet officially announced its high-end X48 chipset, some first-tier motherboard makers started shipping boards in small volumes a few days ago. Mass shipping will start in the middle of March, according to sources in the channel. Asustek Computer and Gigabyte Technology both started shipping the motherboards this week.

Source: DigiTimes