Keywords: Asus Z7S WS motherboard sli crossfireAsus has unveiled a new motherboard based on Intel's enthusiast Skulltraill platform, called the Z7S-WS, which is based on a custom design by the company.
The new motherboard features a massive chipset cooler, three full size PCI-Express 2.0 slots, two of which are x16 and one x8. This is one difference compared to Intel's D5400XS motherboard, which features four PCIe x16 1.1 slots. Typically, a PCIe 2.0 x8 slot provides the same bandwidth as a x16 1.1 slot, so you lose quad-crossfire support, while gaining some slight extra performance. Since Intel uses Nvidia SLI bridge chips, it supports both SLI and Crossfire, while the Z7S-WS doesn't. Both boards support 1600MHz FSB CPUs.
The Asus board uses the LGA771 retention mechanism, while the Intel board uses the LGA775 retention, which makes better coolers more easily available.
Of note in the Asus design is the inclusion of a fan over the very hot FB-DIMMs and a digital PWM design that powers the CPUs, instead of the typical analog one - of five phases in the Intel board.
The Asus board also uses only solid capacitors, further enhancing the reliability of the motherboard.
Prices of the Skulltrail platform's components were announced today, and put the Intel D5400XS board at the range of a whooping $649. While no official price has been given for the Asus board, it shouldn't be too far off, and although the lack of Nvidia's SLI bridge chips help bring the price down, I wouldn't expect anything less than $500. A lower price, competitive with Intel's board, is possible.
Each QX9775 CPU will sell for $1499, and you need two for the best possible performance. Nothing stops you from using cheaper LGA771 CPUs though. The 3GHz X5472 is available for around $1000, currently, and the quad-core E5430, which runs at 2.66GHz on a 1333MHz FSB, is selling for less than $500. With an 8x multiplier, 3.2GHz are achieved with the 1600MHz FSB - if Asus provides decent overclocking capabilities.
The original news post and other pictures are available at HotHardware.
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