An X38 First - Foxconn X38A Motherboard

As the date draws ever closer to the launch of the Intel's X38 chipset, motherboard manufacturers have been busy getting their boards retail ready. Promising true, full-speed dual PCIe x16 slot configuration, the chipset will be the first from Intel to actually feature proper dual-GPU support (as opposed to the regular PCIe x16/x4 solution of their past chipsets). In addition, the X38 will also be the first core logic chipset to support the PCI Express 2.0 specifications. As the most advanced consumer core logic chipset from Intel to date, the X38 is also the most anticipated by the community.

By now, you've probably seen all the major upcoming boards in the market from this year's CeBIT and Computex coverages, but we happen to actually have a Foxconn X38 motherboard on hand to give you a closer preview of what to expect. For a high-end motherboard, the Foxconn X38A looks deceivingly subtle, with no fancy cooling or elaborate technology claims to be seen. The board we received came with the standard turbine cooler design that Foxconn has been using on their boards since the beginning of the year. What's surprising though is the fact that the X38A comes with a hybrid memory configuration. We had initially expected all X38 motherboards, servicing the high-end community, to exclusively feature DDR3 memory. Simply by looking at the board's specifications and design, we get the feeling that Foxconn is targeting maximum exposure for the X38A instead of locking it out as an enthusiast-only board, which would be a really good thing...if it turned out to be the case.

This deceivingly conventional looking board is Foxconn's latest high-end enthusiast Intel processor motherboard based on the upcoming Intel X38 chipset - the Foxconn X38A.

Looks like a 6-phase PWM design using full solid capacitors throughout the motherboard, which has become a common practice these days. Foxconn will be reusing their standard cooler for the X38A, but if it is good enough for an nForce 680i SLI, it should be good enough for the X38A.

One of the few genuine surprises that the X38A gave us was this hybrid memory configuration. The board features four DDR2 slots and two DDR3.

Three physical PCIe x16 slots! Of course only two of them are real PCIe x16 interfaces for maximum CrossFire performance while the third slot rides on a slower interconnect speed for a Physics processing card and the likes if such products do pick up steam in the future.

Seemingly sparse rear I/O panel, which does not feature any special or proprietary ports, but Foxconn still decided not to include the usual Parallel and Serial connectors.