Gigabyte Lets Fly With New Intel X99 Motherboards, Looking HOT
Here's hoping you didn't burn through all of your upgrade cash last month, as Gigabyte has a new series of motherboards that any Intel-centric gamer is going to want. The company's new X99 Series Mobos support Intel's latest Core i7 Extreme Edition (LGA 2011-v3 socket) processors as well as DDR4 memory. The company says that these boards use an all-digital CPU power design from International Rectifier, which includes both digital 4th Generation digital PWM Controller and industry-leading 3rd Generation PowIRstage controllers.
Moreover, there's a unique PCI Express design that utilizes 100% of all 40 lanes from the CPU when in a 4-Way or 3-Way graphics configuration. Standard designs limit all 4 main PCIe lanes to x8(64Gb/s) bandwidth, but thanks to the onboard external clock generator combined with the direct connection of one of the x16 lanes to the CPU (switchless design), GIGABYTE X99 motherboards can unlock the full bandwidth available and provide the best graphics bandwidth possible to the user. Oh, and did we mention that it'll feature a Turbo M.2 socket to provide compact connectivity for SSD devices, as well as Killer networking components built right into the PCB?
While Thunderbolt ports aren't included, the board does support the protocol via an add-in card. There's no word yet on pricing, but we suspect we'll hear more on that front in the weeks ahead.
Moreover, there's a unique PCI Express design that utilizes 100% of all 40 lanes from the CPU when in a 4-Way or 3-Way graphics configuration. Standard designs limit all 4 main PCIe lanes to x8(64Gb/s) bandwidth, but thanks to the onboard external clock generator combined with the direct connection of one of the x16 lanes to the CPU (switchless design), GIGABYTE X99 motherboards can unlock the full bandwidth available and provide the best graphics bandwidth possible to the user. Oh, and did we mention that it'll feature a Turbo M.2 socket to provide compact connectivity for SSD devices, as well as Killer networking components built right into the PCB?
While Thunderbolt ports aren't included, the board does support the protocol via an add-in card. There's no word yet on pricing, but we suspect we'll hear more on that front in the weeks ahead.
