A new wave of high-end motherboards cram expansion cards and features into the most impressively-stocked motherboard yet.
Just when you thought GIGABYTE had over-engineered a motherboard to ridiculous lengths in search for overclocking records, you turn around and discover a brand-new line of hardcore X58 boards – with quite a few actually-tempting surprises in store.
Motherboard launches have more recently focused on mainstream platforms such as P67, but these three new boards are aimed squarely at enthusiasts: the G1.Assassin, G1.Sniper and G1.Guerrilla each arrive at a cost approaching and eclipsing $500.
The G1.Assassin is the leader of the pack, an engorged XL-ATX behemoth that commands a hefty $590 retail value, and that integrates all the X58 features we're used to alongside a hardware-implemented Creative Soundcard and the Bigfoot Killer 2100 network chip.
Though many other so-called 'premium audio' offerings have claimed to offer the full soundcard experience (and indeed the lowest-end G1.Guerrilla only offers software emulation), both the G1.Assassin and G1.Sniper X58 boards use the Creative X-Fi CA20K2 audio processor paired with a set of Nichicon solid capacitors for each channel of sound.
On top of this already capable setup – which is effectively the same as having an X-Fi Titanium expansion card – GIGABYTE engineers threw in headphone amplification for the front-panel header for a decidedly louder experience. We'd estimate this soundcard at roughly $100 if you were to buy it separately.
Augmenting all three of these boards even further is the inclusion of the Bigfoot Killer 2100 Gigabit Ethernet processing chip, a custom processor that manages network duties in hardware and saves a few precious CPU cycles.
Though its usefulness is questionable (as extricated in an I/O column from Issue 87), whatever benefits it may have to offer are all baked in regardless and save the high $200-odd price tag if one were to buy the Bigfoot K1 card at retail. Amusingly the implementation here is overclocked compared to the K1, running 400MHz to 333MHz, though it's likely to make stuff-all difference.
Further furthering the sheer amount of features crammed into these boards, the G1.Assassin boasts a whopping eight USB 3.0 ports – four on the rear I/O panel, and four available for front header use – while the other two models are restricted to a still-impressive four USB 3.0 ports in total.
Not to be forgotten, two SATA 3.0 ports make a showing in all models and are filled out by six standard SATA 2.0 ports. As if to slam home that GIGABYTE are going all-out to throw as much stuff at you as possible, a 5.25" bay device called the Front Access Control Panel (imaginative, no?) comes bundled with the G1.Assassin, offering power-eSATA with two USB 3.0 ports fed by the motherboard, and an overclock button that switches between two different OC profiles. Don't fret if you're feeling button envy but don't want to make the stretch to the top-end model; the other two models simply have their overclock button on the rear I/O panel. Convenient and fun!
In what feels like more of an afterthought these products actually do work as motherboards, too, and each offers a LGA1366 socket with 8-phase power (16 for the G1.Assassin), six DDR3 slots for up to 24GB at 2200MHz, 3-way SLI and Crossfire support (4-way Crossfire for the top model) and all the other GIGABYTE engineering features we've become accustomed to (like souped-up USB ports for charging everything and anything).
It's likely that each board also has an NVIDIA NF200 bridge chip to connect up this quite frankly mind-boggling amount of tech, doubling for the highest model. Cooling all this tech is a themed series of heatsinks crafted after different firearm pieces – you'll find a gun barrel over the socket's power phases, an ammo clip (complete with a round poking out) over the Southbridge, and a futuristic ammo-counter over the Northbridge.
It's convincing enough that GIGABYTE felt it necessary to explain: "The heat sink consists of three parts created for visual aesthetics and thermal properties and is not intended as a weapon, norcan [sic] it be assembled as a firearm." In short, don't pull your motherboard apart. It's not a toy.
This may be the final hurrah for the X58 platform, but it's one we're incredibly excited about – it packs in an effective value approaching $300 in some circumstances – so stay tuned for our inevitable review just as soon as we can get our hands on one. For more information and a handy table, head to the G1 series microsite.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012