Looking at the pictures, the only major difference I can see among all the six ASUS boards is... the sticker. LOL. I'm curious what the *real* differences will be when the products are actually finalized. Heatsinks and cooling will certainly be an area where they will vary, but I'd also expect different VRM setups, different IO panels, and maybe variations on the slot arrangements. Right now, I don't see any of that.
It looks like some models have power buttons, more headers, or clear CMOS on the back. But you're right, maybe ASUS pulled out the clone stamp tool from Photoshop a little too early :)
I'd agree with Ian; if you look hard enough you can spot minor differences like the presence or lack of certain headers, certain utility features like the boot code indicator & power button, and IO panel arrangements. The cases that the samples are in, at least from the photos, are obscuring other possible minor differences, SATA headers (though I could be daft and missing them, I don't have much of an eye for sample boards), and features that ASUS implements for their enthusiast segments. Otherwise it definately looks like the ASUS boards all have a common basis... none of them have legacy PCi slots, and I'm left wondering about that molex connector near the IO panel... time will tell I guess.
Seeing how pathetic the Bulldozers looks like at first sigth, it seems that Intel is the way. I just wish they could release the Sandy Bridge-E before November...
I dont even see a point in SNB-E. It has no USB 3. No PCI-E 3.0. No Thunderbolt, and all these boards only have 4 RAM slots, down from the 6 on X58 boards. So i cant even have as much RAM anymore. Then a few months later you have Ivy Bridge with all of the above features actually included and probably the same 4 RAM slots. SNB-E should have been released months ago. Intel have pretty much killed the high-end and it's seriously pissed me off.
Could the lack of additional RAM slots have something to do with the fact that these boards are quad-channel RAM? You'd need 8 slots if you wanted additional RAM.
That and IIRC x79 is officially rated for much faster ram than any of Intel's other chipsets, to the point where the signaling problems from 2 dimms/channel would be very severe.
All the coverage I've seen elsewhere has SNB-E with 32 (or more) PCIe 3.0 lanes on the CPU. (The southbridge is only PCIE 2, but IIRC so are the IB South-bridges). The other big feature it's going to have that IB won't be offering on LGA1155 is hex core CPUs (and oct core Xeons???????).
I'm not happy with their timing/feature set either. They've pushed too much of the enthusiast market into their mainstream platform.
Full length (or is that half-length?) PCIe slots are very nice (and should be standard imo), but how many lanes (2.0 and 3.0) does X79+SNB-E supply by default?
Numbers I've seen range from 32-40. 32 to provide 2x16 or 4x8 for the GPU. The 8 that come/go depending on the article are probably: 4 to boost SATA6 transfers from the SB (can these be broken off for other stuff if you only have 1 SSD?), and 4 that are actually DMI.
I haven't seen any numbers on how many lanes the south-bridge will have. Most reports I've seen have it dropping native legacy PCI support (only 2 boards having any leads me to suspect those 2 are using a bridge chip), so I hope they bumped the total from 8 to 12 to provide for all the odds and ends that used to be stuck on the PCI bus.
I hope it's 48: 32 for graphics, 4 for the ICH, and 8 for other accessories, or perhaps 8 for the ICH and 4 for accessories. In any case, I'd like to have a x8 slot for my 3Ware RAID controller.
Do they plan on supplying triple SLI bridges with an extra long space between the first and second card? Seems like most of these boards have that extra space.
"Almost every X79 board at Computex was on show, so let us play a game of spot the difference."
I spotted the difference!
Of all the gallery pictures, the ECS board is the odd one out.
It is the only board printed explicitly with the wording "PCIe Gen 3"
These are the magic words I was looking for. This may provide a proper upgrade path to the Ivy Bridge cpu revision. Doubtless Nvidia will move to support PCIe Gen 3 around launch. I don't want to be buying another board so soon after.
So, can we confirm, is it really Gen 3? Are the other motherboards Gen 3 capable but just don't say so explicitly? It still seems unconfirmed which if any lanes on the X79 chipset will be Gen 3 vs Gen 2. Seems unlikely ECS would screenprint their board with a feature it can't support so perhaps it IS true.
Sapphire have a good idea with x16 slots.
The lack of PCI from all but Asrock(2) and the MSI (GD65) is no great loss these days. Anyone who was desperate to connect a vital PCI card could always do it using an external bridge box like those from Magma.
It seems Asus has moved away from using a TPM header to connect POST display and buttons on a separate "Doctor" diagnostics PCB. Although some cases could not fit it I really liked it, exposing the LPC bus for optional TPM module (if you could source one). It did seem to make the jump to Sandy Bridge but now seems strangely missing, even on such high end enthusiast system.
What I'd really like to see is the successor to my Asus P6T7 Supercomputer board, and it must be PCIe Gen 3 capable, with good I/O. That is, an updated 7 slot monster for parallel GPU (Tesla/Quadro/Geforce). Hopefully they see the benefit in launching such model subject to Nvidia licensing. Failing that, a more modern P6T6 Workstation Revolution, or something like an updated SR-2.
It is good to see that at least some manufacturers put one PCI slot. I do require one for my "uber" sound card. Card was worth more than my x58 motherboard itself and it doesn't work when plugged into PCI-PCI-Ex riser/converter.
BTW: They have one great labeling machine at Asus. Same board, many, many different stickers. Must be working overtime behind scenes. ;)
Yes, specialised pro audio soundcards were one of the niche areas I was thinking of. Another was scientific instrumentation for labs eg National Instruments cards which can easily cost more than the motherboard. Actually I even designed FPGA interface firmware for some custom PCI cards myself. Even with all these considerations, I feel PCI Express slots are now more useful to me.
I agree that PCI is not dead, and won't be, as long as there are affordable but still operational cards around on ebay for less than contemporary PCIe versions (assuming they exist). Only a few weeks ago, a friend of mine was looking for a motherboard supporting *ISA* slots for similar reasons, that probably is taking things a bit too far ;-)
From the 6 Asus boards some lack the Com port header, diagnostic led and onboard reset/power switch. But why did they place that fan header on the top right corner? Also from all the board it seems there is no mounting holes to install the HSF? If the outer holes on the socket is for the HSF, does this mean SNB-E (even their stock) to be a screw on with a black plate and no more push pin?
What is this bullshit with impossible to route traces? How come the likes of Supermicro, Quanta and Tyan can do it with not only four, but EIGHT DIMMs, but ASUS and others can't?
It has eight DIMMs, quad-channel, in ATX form factor, with six expansion slots. It also has the DIMMs in line with airflow, parallel to the top of the motherboard - this way they don't need heatspreaders since air moves between them from the front of the case.
How come Supermicro can use an extra PCB layer and ASUS can't? This excuse is just bullshit. They are cutting cornes on their highest-end motherboards to save a few cents off each motherboard, then forcing everyone else to redesign heatsinks and memory heatspreaders (cause they're too stubborn to put the DIMMs in their proper orientation).
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
29 Comments
Back to Article
cactusdog - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Looks good!! Should look better when they finish them.....cactusdog - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
omg the msi has 2x8 pin 12v connectorsdragonsqrrl - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
That's not unusual for a high-end X58 board.cactusdog - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
You're right, it has been done before.Anyway, for people complaining theres not enough memory slots, its not going to be a problem when they release 8GB sticks for a total of 32GB.
JarredWalton - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Looking at the pictures, the only major difference I can see among all the six ASUS boards is... the sticker. LOL. I'm curious what the *real* differences will be when the products are actually finalized. Heatsinks and cooling will certainly be an area where they will vary, but I'd also expect different VRM setups, different IO panels, and maybe variations on the slot arrangements. Right now, I don't see any of that.IanCutress - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
It looks like some models have power buttons, more headers, or clear CMOS on the back. But you're right, maybe ASUS pulled out the clone stamp tool from Photoshop a little too early :)DanNeely - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Asus has been segmenting their product line this way for the last few intel generations.MWilliamson - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I'd agree with Ian; if you look hard enough you can spot minor differences like the presence or lack of certain headers, certain utility features like the boot code indicator & power button, and IO panel arrangements. The cases that the samples are in, at least from the photos, are obscuring other possible minor differences, SATA headers (though I could be daft and missing them, I don't have much of an eye for sample boards), and features that ASUS implements for their enthusiast segments. Otherwise it definately looks like the ASUS boards all have a common basis... none of them have legacy PCi slots, and I'm left wondering about that molex connector near the IO panel... time will tell I guess.DanNeely - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
A molex plug somewhere on the board was a semi-common feature in the 4pin 12V power era to get a bit more current than was otherwise available.NordicRuneProject - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Seeing how pathetic the Bulldozers looks like at first sigth, it seems that Intel is the way. I just wish they could release the Sandy Bridge-E before November...B3an - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I dont even see a point in SNB-E. It has no USB 3. No PCI-E 3.0. No Thunderbolt, and all these boards only have 4 RAM slots, down from the 6 on X58 boards. So i cant even have as much RAM anymore.Then a few months later you have Ivy Bridge with all of the above features actually included and probably the same 4 RAM slots.
SNB-E should have been released months ago. Intel have pretty much killed the high-end and it's seriously pissed me off.
SpaceRanger - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Could the lack of additional RAM slots have something to do with the fact that these boards are quad-channel RAM? You'd need 8 slots if you wanted additional RAM.DanNeely - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
That and IIRC x79 is officially rated for much faster ram than any of Intel's other chipsets, to the point where the signaling problems from 2 dimms/channel would be very severe.mino - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
That doesn't change the fact.DanNeely - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
All the coverage I've seen elsewhere has SNB-E with 32 (or more) PCIe 3.0 lanes on the CPU. (The southbridge is only PCIE 2, but IIRC so are the IB South-bridges). The other big feature it's going to have that IB won't be offering on LGA1155 is hex core CPUs (and oct core Xeons???????).I'm not happy with their timing/feature set either. They've pushed too much of the enthusiast market into their mainstream platform.
softdrinkviking - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I like the brown PCB!i know it's never going to happen, but it would be cool if that carried through to the final product.
Zandros - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Full length (or is that half-length?) PCIe slots are very nice (and should be standard imo), but how many lanes (2.0 and 3.0) does X79+SNB-E supply by default?DanNeely - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Numbers I've seen range from 32-40. 32 to provide 2x16 or 4x8 for the GPU. The 8 that come/go depending on the article are probably: 4 to boost SATA6 transfers from the SB (can these be broken off for other stuff if you only have 1 SSD?), and 4 that are actually DMI.I haven't seen any numbers on how many lanes the south-bridge will have. Most reports I've seen have it dropping native legacy PCI support (only 2 boards having any leads me to suspect those 2 are using a bridge chip), so I hope they bumped the total from 8 to 12 to provide for all the odds and ends that used to be stuck on the PCI bus.
dgingeri - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
I hope it's 48: 32 for graphics, 4 for the ICH, and 8 for other accessories, or perhaps 8 for the ICH and 4 for accessories. In any case, I'd like to have a x8 slot for my 3Ware RAID controller.dgingeri - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
the memory layout and the socket just looks kind of like a butterfly to me.is it just me, or does it look like the PCIe must be on the chip directly? I don't see any sign of a IOH, just the ICH.
DanNeely - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
That's correct.AdamK47 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
Do they plan on supplying triple SLI bridges with an extra long space between the first and second card? Seems like most of these boards have that extra space.8steve8 - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
full size atx is so 1999peternelson - Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - link
"Almost every X79 board at Computex was on show, so let us play a game of spot the difference."
I spotted the difference!
Of all the gallery pictures, the ECS board is the odd one out.
It is the only board printed explicitly with the wording "PCIe Gen 3"
These are the magic words I was looking for. This may provide a proper upgrade path to the Ivy Bridge cpu revision. Doubtless Nvidia will move to support PCIe Gen 3 around launch. I don't want to be buying another board so soon after.
So, can we confirm, is it really Gen 3? Are the other motherboards Gen 3 capable but just don't say so explicitly? It still seems unconfirmed which if any lanes on the X79 chipset will be Gen 3 vs Gen 2. Seems unlikely ECS would screenprint their board with a feature it can't support so perhaps it IS true.
Sapphire have a good idea with x16 slots.
The lack of PCI from all but Asrock(2) and the MSI (GD65) is no great loss these days. Anyone who was desperate to connect a vital PCI card could always do it using an external bridge box like those from Magma.
It seems Asus has moved away from using a TPM header to connect POST display and buttons on a separate "Doctor" diagnostics PCB. Although some cases could not fit it I really liked it, exposing the LPC bus for optional TPM module (if you could source one). It did seem to make the jump to Sandy Bridge but now seems strangely missing, even on such high end enthusiast system.
What I'd really like to see is the successor to my Asus P6T7 Supercomputer board, and it must be PCIe Gen 3 capable, with good I/O. That is, an updated 7 slot monster for parallel GPU (Tesla/Quadro/Geforce). Hopefully they see the benefit in launching such model subject to Nvidia licensing. Failing that, a more modern P6T6 Workstation Revolution, or something like an updated SR-2.
ypsylon - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
It is good to see that at least some manufacturers put one PCI slot. I do require one for my "uber" sound card. Card was worth more than my x58 motherboard itself and it doesn't work when plugged into PCI-PCI-Ex riser/converter.BTW: They have one great labeling machine at Asus. Same board, many, many different stickers. Must be working overtime behind scenes. ;)
peternelson - Thursday, June 2, 2011 - link
Yes, specialised pro audio soundcards were one of the niche areas I was thinking of. Another was scientific instrumentation for labs eg National Instruments cards which can easily cost more than the motherboard. Actually I even designed FPGA interface firmware for some custom PCI cards myself. Even with all these considerations, I feel PCI Express slots are now more useful to me.I agree that PCI is not dead, and won't be, as long as there are affordable but still operational cards around on ebay for less than contemporary PCIe versions (assuming they exist). Only a few weeks ago, a friend of mine was looking for a motherboard supporting *ISA* slots for similar reasons, that probably is taking things a bit too far ;-)
Sorry the converter bridge didn't work for you.
Etern205 - Friday, June 3, 2011 - link
From the 6 Asus boards some lack the Com port header, diagnostic led and onboard reset/power switch.But why did they place that fan header on the top right corner?
Also from all the board it seems there is no mounting holes to install the HSF?
If the outer holes on the socket is for the HSF, does this mean SNB-E (even their stock) to be a
screw on with a black plate and no more push pin?
cmircea - Sunday, June 5, 2011 - link
What is this bullshit with impossible to route traces? How come the likes of Supermicro, Quanta and Tyan can do it with not only four, but EIGHT DIMMs, but ASUS and others can't?Here's a definite example:
http://www.supermicro.com/Aplus/motherboard/Optero...
It has eight DIMMs, quad-channel, in ATX form factor, with six expansion slots. It also has the DIMMs in line with airflow, parallel to the top of the motherboard - this way they don't need heatspreaders since air moves between them from the front of the case.
How come Supermicro can use an extra PCB layer and ASUS can't? This excuse is just bullshit. They are cutting cornes on their highest-end motherboards to save a few cents off each motherboard, then forcing everyone else to redesign heatsinks and memory heatspreaders (cause they're too stubborn to put the DIMMs in their proper orientation).
henhaohenhao - Wednesday, July 13, 2011 - link
Come go and see, will not regret it Oh look
http://www.ifancyshop.com