Intel X58 - The first Nehalem desktop chipset

Tejstar · 12 May 2008 at 21:34

EXPreview have the first details on the new chipset for Nehalem, called the X58.

Intel’s next-gen high-end desktop Intel X58 chipset will consist of X58 PCI Express bridge as well as ICH10 input/output controller hub. The X58 is projected to feature four PCI Express 2.0 memory controllers to support two graphics cards with two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots or four graphics cards with four PCIe 2.0 x8 slots.

Support for up to four graphics cards emphasizes that graphics processing units continue to play a huge role in today’s gaming machines and that this would hardly change in the coming quarters.

Tejstar · 30 May 2008 at 17:46

bit-tech have some more news on the X58.

The socket is still LGA, but instead of the 775 used on current boards, this one now features 1366 pins and is slightly rectangular – not Pentium Pro rectangular, but simply a stretched out square.

The back of the socket now has a metal backplate to brace itself and I’m afraid you’ll be buying a new heatsink too because the socket fittings have changed since LGA775. In fact, the whole area that needs to be exclusively for “Intel CPU use” is now apparently over twice the volume of that compared to LGA775 giving motherboard manufacturers even less space to shoehorn in additional components.

HighlandeR · 30 May 2008 at 19:34

Looks nice, cant wait

dillingerdan · 31 May 2008 at 02:32

Integrated memory controller? And 3 channels at that? If so then VERY VERY nice.

mathwat · 31 May 2008 at 08:46

does anyone know the expected price will be for cpu/motherboard?
bet they will be high.. :mad:

so i can start saving for the end of next year..

Vir · 31 May 2008 at 09:50

really looking forward to how the nehalem + these new chipsets perform, add the new ATI and Nvidia graphics cards that will come out later to that and it will be a nice christmas me thinks

gurusan · 31 May 2008 at 09:56

Any more info regarding the no overclocking thing?

mdjmcnally · 31 May 2008 at 10:41

gurusan said:
Any more info regarding the no overclocking thing?

If 1336 then will be able to still, will be the mainstream socket with fewer pins that will attempt to block overclocking on.

Attempt to get overclockers to buy the expensive extreme chips.

matt100 · 31 May 2008 at 10:52

I'm sure mobo manufacturers will get round that with BIOS surely? It'd be a serious issue for the likes of DFI/Asus etc, in fact all the mobo mfrs.. why buy anything other than a stock intel board if there are no clocking features?

shaffaaf27 · 31 May 2008 at 11:24

the memory controler is intergrated into the cpu, meaning no NB. therefore nothing for the mobo maker to control if the cpu locks it

matt100 · 31 May 2008 at 11:30

that really would take a lot of the fun out of it wouldn't it.. I can't see Intel being daft enough to turn their back on the enthusiast market.

I know in the grand scheme of things we're a very small part of the market but we are the people who supply Intel with the stupidly fast benchmarks when we get stuck in with ln2 etc.

They'd just let AMD back into the game which is no bad thing but being able to get a free speed boost, even if it meant being slightly slower than an intel chip would see me consider going back for sure.

Not mad keen on this triple DDR3 thing either, so it's 3 sticks or crappy performance?? Unless DDR3 starts to drop sharpish that's going to be an expensive upgrade.

hmpf.

mdjmcnally · 31 May 2008 at 13:50

Not really because they will do what they do now and get some well known overclocker to overclock it and then have the big press release.

Monkeynut · 31 May 2008 at 15:21

Should give AMD a break, with overclockers moving to their cheaper chips, provided they don't pull the same stunt.

silversurfer · 31 May 2008 at 15:25

Yea that'd be ironic if the next gen meant a swing back to amd for us lot because intel locked everything down to stock. They'd love everyone to buy intel motherboards

Im not upgrading till I can overclock 32 cores when I feel like it. For ages I stuck to my Socket A uber overclock for similar reasons and it did no harm

Vlad Drac · 31 May 2008 at 18:30

Here's another review with some Nehalem screen shots.

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/05/30/nehalem-and-x58-show-up-in-taipei/1

Chimerical · 1 Jun 2008 at 10:53

What in God's name is that blue cube sitting ontop of the CPU?

Pretty cool Heatsink.

FreeStream · 1 Jun 2008 at 10:59

Chimerical said:
What in God's name is that blue cube sitting ontop of the CPU?

Pretty cool Heatsink.

I think thats for them to work out what space they have to work with around the CPU socket with a huuuuge cooler on...

gurusan · 1 Jun 2008 at 11:01

Chimerical said:
What in God's name is that blue cube sitting ontop of the CPU?

Pretty cool Heatsink.

I think that's just a reference thing showing the min required space around the CPU for mobo manufacturers to take into consideration.

Tejstar · 2 Jun 2008 at 19:19

Just seen this screenie over at VR-Zone.

Another interesting hunt over at Computex is definitely the Intel Nehalem and we managed to get our hands on a 2.66GHz Bloomfield running on a X58 Tylersburg board. Its 3DMark Vantage CPU score is pretty remarkable at 16334 which is about 45% faster than a similarly clocked Yorkfield.