Even though it hasn't yet finished the latest X79 chipset, Intel seems to have come a long way in the making of the core logic that will be tasked with supporting high-end processors of both new and old generations.
Whenever a new core-logic is devised, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices can, depending on how different it is from the existing ones, allow it to keep supporting older sorts of chips.This was not the case with the newest consumer platform, which only supports LGA 1155 units, but the newest X79 core-logic does look like it can support even existing chips.That the new platform will be compatible with LGA 2011 units is already a given, but current processors of the LGA 1366 variety may also be possible to use with the new chipset.According to X-bit Labs, the Santa Clara, California-based CPU maker has already planned a number of motherboards.Named DX79SI (Siler) and DX79TO (Thorsby), the two will be aimed at enthusiasts, although the latter will be more price accessible than the former.That said, DX79TO (LGA 1366) features fast DDR3 RAM (random access memory) support, two PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots (for add-in graphics cards) and 8 SATA ports, plus 6-channel audio, Gigabit Ethernet, a pair of USB 3.0 and all other expected connectivity and I/O.Meanwhile, the DX79SI (LGA 2011) will have three PCI Express x16 connectors, 12 Serial ATA ports, 4 USB 3.0 ports, up to eight DIMM RAM slots (for up to 64 GB of memory) and 8-channel audio, plus 14 USB 2.0 connectors, WiFi/Bluetooth, Gigabit Ethernet and all other common elements of a mainboard.The one legacy element that the new enthusiast-grade boards lack is PS/2 connectivity, used by regular motherboards and mice. This might cause other makers of PC platforms to drift away from the port as well.Two motherboards with the same chipset but different sockets might be seen an odd move, but it might allow the combined amount of 1366 and 2011 socket chips to make life hard for the AMD FX Series of Zambezi/Bulldozer units. Of course, with no comment from Intel, everything is still hearsay.
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