While there have been quite a few leaks and releases already on the new X79 motherboards, we at Techindustriya have kept our word under the NDA we signed. So now, we can actually release what we saw last October when Asus invited us to get a sneak peak of their line of motherboards based on the X79 chipset.
The X79 chipset is the latest from the Intel that will fit the new Sandy Bridge-E and Ivy Bridge CPUs. This chips will sport the 2011 pin connection that will also allow for 4 channel memory. As you will notice in our photos, the memory slots have increased to 8 slots to accommodate 4 channels. Also, with 2011 pins, the new socket is the biggest one we’ve seen so far.
First off, Asus announced two motherboards baring the P9X79 moniker, a Pro and a Deluxe versions. The P9X79 line is their mainstream line of motherboards that don’t compromise functionality and quality just because they are mainstream. Both essentially have the same features with the Deluxe version having a little bit more which we’ll talk about later.
These boards sports Asus’ latest DIGI+ Power Control. With DIGI+ Power Control, you will be able to finely tune the motherboard’s CPU and now, the DRAM settings from the Windows. This means that you can precisely configure the motherboard for either power efficiency or overclocking with a high degree of stability.
With the X79 motherboards, Intel has not included their own Smart Response Technology which essentially makes use of both an SSD and HDD that work in tandem to provide the speed of the SSD with the storage capacity of an HDD. This is where Asus’ own SSD Caching technology comes in. Although similar to Intel’s Smart Response Technology (SRT), Asus SSD Caching is much simpler to set up from the multi-step process with SRT. With the included SSD Caching controller in all P9X79 motherboards, all you need to do is plug in both storage devices and set it up with the included software.
Another feature is the USB 3.0 Boost. As it is, USB 3.0 is immensely faster than USB 2.0 but Asus has found a way to make it even faster. P9X79 motherboards include a UASP capable USB 3.0 controller which, according to Asus, can give you as much as 170% faster performance from traditional USB 3.0. The caveat though is that the attached hardware must also support UASP as well.
As with all Asus motherboards, the P9X79 motherboards take advantage of UEFI BIOS which not only gives you a friendlier UI in the BIOS, UEFI allows you to go past the 2TB limit of the older BIOS. Along with UEFI BIOS, you will be able to flash the BIOS through USB with USB BIOS Flash Back. With a USB thumb drive with the updated UEFI BIOS and a simple press of a button, you can safely flash a newer version even without critical components such as the CPU and memory.
While all the above features are included in all P9X79 motherboards, BT Go 3.0 is only available in the P9X79 Deluxe version. BT Go 3.0 adds a separate Bluetooth module for wireless capabilities including the ability to control your PC through a mobile device such as an iPhone.
