CPU
Intel X38 High End Chipset Launch and Benchmarks
Though many leaks of the product have been circulating for some time, Intel officially took the wraps off and launched their new X38 Express chipset for the high-end desktop motherboard market.
With this launch, the Intel desktop chipset line-up gets a new flagship. Intel’s new X38 chipset encompasses all of the technology advances that have made the P35 a success and adds a slew of new features designed to increase memory and graphics subsystem performance, like PCI Express 2.0 SerDes and Intel Extreme Memory technology in the new X38 MCH. The Asus motherboard tested by HotHardware even features an embedded Linux-based OS that boots in a matter a seconds.
Based on the benchmark results the new Intel X38 Express chipset performs on par with, and perhaps ever so-slightly higher, than similarly equipped P35s - which is to say performance is quite good. Throughout the testing, the DDR3-equipped Asus P5E3 Deluxe performed just a bit better than a P35 using similar memory, and for the most part the same held true for the DDR2-equipped Gigabyte X38-DQ6.
