Making a Cheaper X58
Ever since the debut of Intel's Core i7 platform, the cost of switching to the new platform has been one of the major concerns among enthusiasts. The processor itself actually is quite reasonable for its price but that's just part of the equation. Not only does the platform require the more costly DDR3 memory, the motherboards that launched with the Core i7 were targeted (quite naturally) at the high-end enthusiast market.
Hence, the general impression has been that the Core i7 platform involves quite a hefty chunk of cash, something that rival AMD has also played up when marketing its Phenom II processors. Now that the Core i7 has been around for a while, the vendors have started to scale down their boards' feature sets and produce more reasonably priced versions.
Foxconn's latest Flaming Blade series of X58 motherboards is going down such a path. With a price point of around US$200, these boards are designed with a more reasonable set of features, like only having two PCIe x 16 slots for dual graphics cards instead of the three or four slots found on more expensive boards. Therefore, performance to price ratio is the main goal here.
There are two models available in this series, the Flaming Blade and the Flaming Blade GTI. The main differences are that the GTI uses a ICH10 Southbridge, so there's no RAID functionality and it can only do ATI CrossFireX and not both CrossFireX and SLI, because the SLI certification is an additional cost. The GTI version also lacks a second Gigabit LAN controller and it has no eSATA ports too.
We won't be looking at the lesser GTI model today. Instead, our review will be focused on the Flaming Blade, as we check out whether this board manages to bring the performance of the Core i7 platform to those with more modest budgets. Before that, here's what the motherboard package contained:-
- 1 x Ultra DMA cable
- 3 x SATA cables
- I/O shield
- SLI Bridge
- Driver CD
- User's manual
- Quick installation guide
With a name like 'Flaming Blade', red is the most obvious choice of color.
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The Flaming Blade has a healthy collection of outputs, including two eSATA, eight USB 2.0, an optical S/PDIF and a clear CMOS switch.
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Foxconn Flaming Blade Technical Specifications
| CPU Support |
- Intel Core i7 using LGA 1366 package
- Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) - 4.8GT/s to
6.4GT/s
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| Chipset |
- Northbridge:
Intel X58 Express chipset
- Southbridge: Intel
ICH10R
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| Memory |
- Supports 3 DIMM DDR3 SDRAM
- Supports up to 12GB memory size (max 4GB per DIMM)
- 800/1066/1333/1600 (O.C)/1800 (O.C) MHz triple
channel
DDR3 memory
architecture
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| Storage |
- Intel ICH10R
Southbridge
- 6 x SATA
3.0Gbps
interface
- Intel Matrix
Storage Technology
- Support AHCI controller with SATA RAID 0, RAID 1,
RAID 5 and RAID 0+1
- JMicron JMB363 PCIe to PATA controller
- 1 x IDE connector supporting up to two ATA-133 IDE
devices
- 2 x eSATA ports (back panel)
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| Audio |
- Realtek ALC888 HD Audio CODEC
- 1 optical S/PDIF connector
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| Networking |
- 2 x Realtek 8111C Gigabit LAN
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| IEEE 1394 (FireWire) |
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| Rear I/O |
- 8 x USB 2.0
ports
- 2 x eSATA ports
- 2 x RJ45 LAN
ports
- 1 x optical S/PDIF output connector
- 1 x Clear CMOS button
- 1
x PS/2
keyboard port
- Audio jacks
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| Internal Connectors |
- 1
x Floppy connector
- 1 x Ultra ATA
IDE connector
- 6 x SATA
connectors
- 2 x USB 2.0 headers (Up to 4 USB 2.0 ports)
- 1 x VFD connector
- 1 x 24-pin ATX power connector
- 1 x 8-pin 12V power connector
- 3 x fan connectors
- 1 x diagnostic LED
- Power and reset switches
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| Expansion Slots |
- 2 x PCIe x16 slot (PCI Express 2.0)
- 2-way CrossFireX or SLI
- 1 x PCIe x4
slot
- 1 x PCIe x1 slot
- 2 x
PCI slots
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| Special Features |
- Aegis Panel
- Fox DMI
- Fox Logo
- Fox LiveUpdate
- Force Reset
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| PCB |
- ATX Form
Factor, 24.5 x 30.5cm
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| Terms Of Service
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