INTEL DX48BT2 MOTHERBOARD

INTEL DX48BT2 EXTREME SERIES X48 DESKTOP BOARD, ATX, DDR3 1600, 3XPCIE X16, 1600MHZ FSB, LGA775, RETAIL MOTHERBOARD

INTEL DX48BT2 EXTREME SERIES MOTHERBOARD

The current BIOS versions for the two models are the same, at 1521, and the various driver versions are also identical so you can read the DX38BT review to get the low-down on the layout of the DX48BT2. The short version is that it’s very neat and tidy with support for DDR3 memory and triple PCI Express 2.0 graphics slots with CrossFire but you don’t get legacy connectors such as PS/2 ports or a connector for a floppy drive.

As the single new feature with the DX48BT2 is the 1600MHz support for memory and front side bus that’s what we’ll concentrate on, starting with the Core 2 Extreme QX9650 processor.

This is a quad-core that runs at 3.00GHz on a 1,333MHz front side bus. With most makes of motherboards you can set the memory speed independently of the front side bus but Intel doesn’t make life so easy. By default our OCZ PC3-1600 Titanium ran at 1,066MHz and once we fed it the extra voltage that it needed we could run it at 1,333MHz without any problem. The performance varied slightly from previous tests that we ran on the DX38BT when the memory speed had been limited to 1,066MHz but the differences were relatively tiny.

Well, the time has finally come for Intel to wade in with its DX48BT2 motherboard which in essence is a DX38BT with the addition of support for 1,600MHz DDR3 memory and that all important 1,600MHz front side bus. The obvious comment here is ‘about time too’ but things aren’t quite that simple. Over the past few months it has become clear that Intel has no plans to release any more Core 2 processors on the faster front side bus before the arrival of Nehalem in Q4. This means that the QX9770 wasn’t the start of something wonderful but is to all intents and purposes a reviewer’s special - well would you spend £1,000 on one? - so the processors that you are interested in supporting should be a 45nm Penryn Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Quad running on a 1,333MHz front side bus.

Placing the DX38BT and DX48BT2 side-by-side I cannot see a single difference between the two motherboards. Of course you’d expect the two models would be very similar and in many ways that’s no bad thing as the layout of the DX38BT is pretty good but there are more oddities yet to come. Take the five passive coolers on the voltage regulators as an example. Intel picks them out on the product brief as having new and improved designs but they look the spitting image of the coolers used on the DX38BT. It’s possible that Intel has changed the material that it used for the coolers but I’m prepared to go out on a limb and say that they are the same.

INTEL DX48B2 EXTREME MOTHERBOARD SPECIFICATION AND FUTURE

Form factor	ATX (12.00 inches by 9.60 inches [304.80 millimeters by 243.84 millimeters])
Processor	Support for both 45nm & 65nm INTEL CORE 2 QUAD PROCESSORS in an LGA775 socket with a 1600, 1333 or 1066 MHz system bus Support for both 45nm & 65nm INTEL CORE 2 EXTREME PROCESSORS in an LGA775 socket with a 1600, 1333 or 1066 MHz system bus Support for both 45nm & 65nm INTEL CORE 2 DUO PROCESSORS in an LGA775 socket with a 1333 or 1066 MHz system bus Support for an INTEL PENTIUM DUAL –CORE PROCESSOR in an LGA775 socket with an 800 MHz system bus
Memory	Four 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets Support for DDR3 1600 MHz, DDR3 1333 MHz, DDR3 1066 MHz, or DDR3 800 MHz DIMMs Support for up to 8 GB of system memory Support for ECC and non-ECC memory
Chipset	INTEL X48 EXPRESS CHIPSET
Audio	INTEL HIGH DEFINITION AUDIO subsystem in the following configuration:8-channel (7.1) Dolby Home Theater Audio subsystem with five analog audio outputs and two S/PDIF digital audio outputs (coaxial and optical) using the Sigmatel* 9274D audio codec
ATI* CrossFire* multi-GPU platform support	ATI CrossFire technology enables two ATI* graphics cards to work together for ultimate 3D gaming performance and visual quality Full support of Next Generation ATI Crossfire
I/O control	I/O controller for Consumer IR
LAN support	Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) LAN subsystem using the Intel® 82566DC Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Peripheral interfaces	Twelve USB 2.0 ports (8 external ports, 2 internal headers) Six SERIAL ATA 3.0 Gb/s ports, including 2 eSATA port with RAID support supplied by a Marvell* controller Two IEEE-1394a ports (1 external port, 1 internal header) Consumer IR receiver and emitter (via internal headers) One Parallel ATA IDE interface with UDMA 33, ATA-66/100 support (2 devices supported)
Expansion capabilities	Two PCI Conventional* bus add-in card connectors (SMBus routed to both PCI Conventional bus add-in card connectors) One primary PCI EXPRESS 2.0 x16 (electrical x16) bus add-in card connector One secondary PCI Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x16) bus add-in card connector One PCI Express* 1.0a x16 (electrical x4) bus add-in card connector
MICROSOFT WINDOWS VISTA PREMIUM READY	With a PC built with Intel® Core™2 Duo or Intel® Core™2 Quad processors, and the Intel® Desktop Board, you can experience a more responsive and manageable environment of Microsoft Windows Vista* including a new visual sophistication of the Microsoft Windows Aero* interface.