Read full article @ elitebastardsASUS Rampage Extreme motherboard review
It's been quite a while now since ASUS launched their first enthusiast-level Intel X48-based part, the Rampage Formula - An offering which put together the company's usual performance and overclocking-centric Republic of Gamers philosophy while still offering support for DDR2 memory.
Since that time, things have changed somewhat as memory prices have dropped, to the point where making the move to DDR3 isn't seen as an overly expensive upgrade any more. With this in mind, coupled with motherboard manufacturers really getting to grips with the X48 chipset and how to squeeze the most performance out of it, we now find it getting a second run-out via ASUS' Republic of Gamers series. This time the name of the motherboard is the Rampage Extreme, and DDR3 support is the order of the day, while ASUS also looks to add yet more new features and innovations to their already impressive range of offerings.
Let's now take a look and see if the Rampage Extreme can actually live up to its aggressive name.
Read full article @ techreportAsus and Intel square off with X58 under the hood
by Geoff Gasior — 3:39 AM on November 3, 2008
By now you've no doubt read all about Intel's new Core i7 processor. You know that the CPU otherwise known as Nehalem is based on an all-new architecture, complete with four cores (or eight, if you count Hyper-Threading), three levels of cache, an integrated memory controller, and a QuickPath Interconnect replacement for the front-side bus. You know that the Core i7 is unequivocally the fastest desktop processor around, and that in some cases, it's a fair bit quicker, clock-for-clock, than Intel's already impressive Penryn designs. Naturally, you want one. Badly.
Saddling up a Core i7 won't be as easy as plugging one of the new chips into your current system, though. Nehalem is built on a new LGA1366 package that isn't compatible with the existing LGA775 infrastructure. Without a front-side bus, the Core i7 also requires a chipset compatible with its QuickPath Interconnect: Intel's own X58 Express. You'll need a whole new motherboard to join the Core i7 party, then. But which one?
Intel has its own X58 board, of course—the latest in a series of attempts to effectively cater to overclockers and PC enthusiasts. As one might expect, Taiwanese giant Asus has an iron in the fire, too. We've had the P6T Deluxe in the labs for weeks now, and it's laden with all the rich features you'd expect from a perennial favorite.
To find out which of these two is the best option for those eager to adopt Intel's latest microarchitecture, we've run them through a grueling gauntlet of performance, peripheral, power consumption, and overclocking tests. Read on for a detailed look at the first Core i7 motherboards to make it into the Benchmarking Sweatshop.
Oh and:
Source techreportRetail Core i7-920, i7-940 have unlocked RAM multipliers
by Cyril Kowaliski — 3:49 PM on March 6, 2009
In our Core i7 review, we pointed out that the cheaper two i7 models—the 920 and 940—both had lower QuickPath Interface and L3 cache clock speeds than the i7-965. We also said the cheaper CPUs only supported DDR3 memory speeds up to 1066MHz. However, Intel apparently neglected to tell us about a small detail: retail-boxed Core i7-920 and i7-940 processors have no such restrictions on QPI and RAM speeds.
As Maximum PC reports, the two CPUs have the right multipliers for 4.8GT/s QuickPath and 1066MHz DDR3 memory speeds out of the box. However, users are free to pop into the BIOS and raise those multipliers, pushing the QPI speed to 6.4GT/s and the memory to 1600MHz—just like on a Core i7-965.
The interesting thing here is that Core i7 engineering samples did have limitations in place, so testers couldn't bump RAM or QPI speeds without raising the 133MHz base clock and potentially impacting stability. However, Intel quietly lifted the restriction from retail CPUs because of "requests from some . . . customers."
We received direct confirmation from Intel about the unlocking business, so that means one thing is certain: higher QPI and RAM speeds are possible no matter which Core i7 you get. And, as we've seen ourselves, going from DDR3-1066 to DDR3-1600 on a Core i7 can impact performance in some applications.