Intel Desktop DX79SI Motherboard Pictured

Intel have been planning their own motherboards for the new socket LGA 2011 platform for a while now and since the new LGA 2011 processors (Sandy Bridge-E) are due out later this year the first samples of motherboards are starting to come out. Intel’s DX79SI motherboard is the board under scrutiny today and unlike past Intel branded motherboards it is actually stylish and rather good looking. Labelled under the “Extreme Series” of motherboards it has support for a single LGA 2011 processor with support for two lots of quad channel memory: 8 DIMM slots, meaning you can get 100% more memory bandwidth over dual channel memory. The board fits the standard ATX specifications thanks to some clever design placement. You also get three PCI-E 3.0 slots with electrical configurations 16X/16X/8X, a PCI-E 3.0 1X slot and a legacy PCI slot. Connectivity is a bit on the disappointing side since the current Patsburg-A variant of the X79 chipset lacks proper SATA functionality so you only get two SATA II and two SATA III ports and no e-SATA. No words on pricing or the date of availability just yet.

The rear-IO is rather plain since the motherboard has no need for graphic outputs as LGA 2011 has no onboard video support. The rear IO consists of:

• Dual Ethernet (one Intel and the other Realtek)
• 8 Channel Audio
• TOSLINK
• Two USB 3.0
• Six USB 2.0
• Firewire
• Clear CMOS