deleted_account Posted August 27, 2007 Share Posted August 27, 2007 Intel x38 This thread will discuss the future, soon-to-be released Intel chipset, x38. This will replace the P975 while the P35 (currently available) replaces the P965. In this thread we will disucuss the possibilities of the x38 chipset with OSx86 and compatibilities (not yet). We can share and discuss the knowledge we have that will contribute to this community and the OSx86 future for Intel chipsets as well as the future official release of OS X Leopard for the hackint0sh. More to come... Intel officially announced the release date of the high end chipset named X38 Express being the 23th of September. According to motherboard manufacturers and vendors, mainboards centered on Intel's X38 chipset will be available starting in early September. The date announced by Intel is referring to reviews and performance numbers concerning the new chipset. According to the news site DailyTech, this situation is similar to the one encountered when the P35 Express mainboard chipset was launched as motherboards were available for sometime before Intel finally decided to officially announce the chipset's release. The X38 Express chipset is the new top of the line mainboard chipset for the Intel platform and it comes as the continuation of the Bearlake line of products that includes the G33 and the P35 Express chipsets. The older 975X Express chipset is targeted for replacement by the X38 Express as the 975X made its debut along side the Pentium D Presler processors and it shares a number of common elements with the older 945 and 955X Express chipset families. The Intel X38 Express chipset comes with a number of new features as the introduction of the PCIe 2.0 standard to the LGA 775 based computing platform. The new PCIe standard offers greater data transfer bandwidth than the current PCIe standard as it eliminates the encoding /decoding overhead of the previous standard. The PCIe version 2.0 allows motherboards to reach a total of four gigatransfers per second. As the X38 Express supports dual full-speed PCIe x16 expansion slots, multi graphics cards setups are possible. The chipset surely supports the ATI CrossFire multi-GPU technology and while it may also offer support for NVIDIA's SLI Technology, this is only a rumor. According to Intel's specifications, the X38 Express chipsets work only with DDR3 memory, but most motherboards manufacturers may include support for DDR2 as well in order to gain a bigger market share. Motherboards equipped with the new Intel chipsets will probably become available in a few weeks and some estimate that an entry level solution will sell for about $200, while higher end models may reach $300 some displays of motherboards: http://www.tweaktown.com/computex2007/25/i...lore/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 anyone have thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rextimmy Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 don't hold your breath waiting for apple to start using these chipsets ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekwipt Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I think apple will skip these chipsets for the new Mac Pro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totem Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 i think its song for a next year ... at the moment waiting for it is bad idea if You are going to use osX86 seriously just buy a p35 mobo (or quad 965/975) + ddr2 memory which is very cheap ... and thats all maybe apple will never use this chipset in its machines - its very possible and dont belive the rummors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delish Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 X38 chipset is for socket 775 only iirc, making it very unlikely it will be used in a next revision of Mac Pro, since that would be a downgrade from dual socket 771 it currently using. Since there really isnt any faster quad cores out there than what is currently available in the Mac Pro (3GHz quad core x2), just a upgrade to all versions including 2x quad cores is more likely imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dark4181 Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 apple will probably skip p35 to go to x38, face it, apple does hardware upgrades once in a blue moon i'm guessing x38 mac pro in Q4 to coincide with leopard... with the rest of the hardware line to follow 4-6 months later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3phemeral Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 apple will probably skip p35 to go to x38, face it, apple does hardware upgrades once in a blue moon i'm guessing x38 mac pro in Q4 to coincide with leopard... with the rest of the hardware line to follow 4-6 months later Just my thoughts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted September 10, 2007 Author Share Posted September 10, 2007 apple will probably skip p35 to go to x38, face it, apple does hardware upgrades once in a blue moon i'm guessing x38 mac pro in Q4 to coincide with leopard... with the rest of the hardware line to follow 4-6 months later apple may upgrade hardware once 'in a blue moon' but they sure upgrade with the latest and greatest... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_regie Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 anyone tried osx w/ x38 chipset motherboard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 hmm...it's now October, Intel hasn't really officially announced anything yet? (please correct me if i'm wrong) However, motherboard manufacturs have not hesitated to go with their original plans: Asus P5E3 Deluxe is coming out on the 10th (this coming week): http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=65468 (you might find stores already carrying it, and have already begun selling it. some, out of stock for this demanding board) Gigabyte DQ6 X38, I beleive is out already, no testers yet... Anyone here have experience with x38, please share here. Thanks. This will help the community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GladiatorII Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 there are 3 other asus boards with DDR2 Maximus Formula (Special Edition): http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&...amp;modelmenu=2 Maximus Formula: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&...amp;modelmenu=2 P5E: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&...amp;modelmenu=2 if anyone wants to test Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted October 8, 2007 Author Share Posted October 8, 2007 Thanks for sharing! Keep them comin' everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_muad_dib Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 all this mess for a chipset? i thought it was a new architecture... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azurael Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Apple WILL NOT use X38 because they have nothing to put it in unless they introduce a mid-range, headless desktop machine below the Mac Pro. They will continue to use Intel's server chipsets for the Mac Pro, which is a dual socket system, and in terms of the iMac, mini and portables, Apple use only the mobile versions of Intel's chipsets, and there will not be a mobile X38 firstly because dual X16 is totally un-necesary in a laptop (and I'd argue in any machine for that matter) and it runs much too hot (28W TDP for the northbridge is almost the TDP of a mobile Core 2 CPU!) They didn't use 975X and I can't see them using this. That said, X38 machines ought to work fine, because they use ICH9R southbridges, which have already been proven to work with P35 chpsets on OS X. There's nothing in a northbridge an OS needs drivers for. That said, why would anybody want X38? It's doesn't seem to overclock any better than P35, and requires expensive (and slower) DDR3 RAM. Sure, it has dual PCIe x16, but since dual x16 makes nearly no difference versus x8/x8 in multi GPU set-ups (which in themselves I'd argue, based on experience, are themselves a waste of effort half the time), it's purely an excercise in willy-waving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDSLeopard Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 I'm planning to purchase the Asus Maximus Formula for myself and of course apply Mac OS X Leopard to it. I don't really want to shell out that much cash for DDR3 at the high latencies right now. But other then the sound card which I am assuming of course will not work (Correct me if im wrong, This is based on other asus mobos with non-functioning sound) what other problems could I expect. I mean I already found a USB solution to the sound issue. I'm hearing that there will most likely be an issue with the gigabit lan. What do you guys think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 Apple WILL NOT use X38 because they have nothing to put it in unless they introduce a mid-range, headless desktop machine below the Mac Pro. They will continue to use Intel's server chipsets for the Mac Pro, which is a dual socket system, and in terms of the iMac, mini and portables, Apple use only the mobile versions of Intel's chipsets, and there will not be a mobile X38 firstly because dual X16 is totally un-necesary in a laptop (and I'd argue in any machine for that matter) and it runs much too hot (28W TDP for the northbridge is almost the TDP of a mobile Core 2 CPU!) They didn't use 975X and I can't see them using this. That said, X38 machines ought to work fine, because they use ICH9R southbridges, which have already been proven to work with P35 chpsets on OS X. There's nothing in a northbridge an OS needs drivers for. That said, why would anybody want X38? It's doesn't seem to overclock any better than P35, and requires expensive (and slower) DDR3 RAM. Sure, it has dual PCIe x16, but since dual x16 makes nearly no difference versus x8/x8 in multi GPU set-ups (which in themselves I'd argue, based on experience, are themselves a waste of effort half the time), it's purely an excercise in willy-waving. Thanks for the reply, and definitely detailed information. I agree with you on every part of it, i'm actually waiting for the x38 to come out, before I settle for a p35, hoping a price drop for the p35 by then. To get back on topic, this thread's purpose is to discuss x38, positive and negative inputs are welcome, so we appreciate your contribution, so others who'd like to share any of their thoughts, share away thanks again. I'm planning to purchase the Asus Maximus Formula for myself and of course apply Mac OS X Leopard to it. I don't really want to shell out that much cash for DDR3 at the high latencies right now. But other then the sound card which I am assuming of course will not work (Correct me if im wrong, This is based on other asus mobos with non-functioning sound) what other problems could I expect. I mean I already found a USB solution to the sound issue. I'm hearing that there will most likely be an issue with the gigabit lan. What do you guys think? Sounds lovely. Please share your results. good luck! the Asus Maximus Formula is such a nice board, probably my dream board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalar Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Apple uses the workstation 5000X series chipsets in the Mac Pro. I'm not sure what's used in Xserve, but it's definately one of the server variants (probably 5000V). The 'server' variants on 5000 P and V are not suitable for workstation use, and there's also the 7300 and the E8501 chipsets but those are 4-slots. To most people this is probably just errata but hey, someone might want to take on a 'hacked' Mac Pro build eh? (I am partially considering it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Apple uses the workstation 5000X series chipsets in the Mac Pro. I'm not sure what's used in Xserve, but it's definately one of the server variants (probably 5000V). The 'server' variants on 5000 P and V are not suitable for workstation use, and there's also the 7300 and the E8501 chipsets but those are 4-slots. To most people this is probably just errata but hey, someone might want to take on a 'hacked' Mac Pro build eh? (I am partially considering it). you should totally go for it, if you can, might be a bit of a pricey budget, do share if you do proceed with this build. thanks for the info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted November 1, 2007 Author Share Posted November 1, 2007 there are 3 other asus boards with DDR2Maximus Formula (Special Edition): http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&...amp;modelmenu=2 Maximus Formula: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&...amp;modelmenu=2 P5E: http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&...amp;modelmenu=2 if anyone wants to test Anyone tested these out? or any other x38 motherboards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nitramusa Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 Anyone tested these out? or any other x38 motherboards? Im curious too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted_account Posted November 9, 2007 Author Share Posted November 9, 2007 I believe these boards support DDR2, for those of you interested: ASUS P5E http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131219 ASUS Maximus Formula SE http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131221 Foxconn X38A http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813186134 Gigabyte GA-X38-DQ6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128066 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headrush69 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 That said, why would anybody want X38? It's doesn't seem to overclock any better than P35, and requires expensive (and slower) DDR3 RAM. Sure, it has dual PCIe x16, but since dual x16 makes nearly no difference versus x8/x8 in multi GPU set-ups (which in themselves I'd argue, based on experience, are themselves a waste of effort half the time), it's purely an excercise in willy-waving. Because Dell is using them in their XPS systems and I have credit with Dell. Edit: I ordered one, fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEHAWKs Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 I have Leopard GM running on my ASUS P5E3 Deluxe everything working just need sound and second lan realtek 8110sc to work everything other then that works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THEHAWKs Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 oh and its all running from PC EFI v4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts