The X48 chipset is one of the most feature packed chipsets Intel has on offer and this is primarily due to the inclusion of the ICH9R south bridge. The X48 actually supports a wide range of memory; although it was originally said to be a DDR3 only chipset, we now know this is not true as the Gigabyte X48-DQ6 supports DDR2 memory instead. Processor support remains much the same as the X38 chipset, though the new X48 chipset does bring official 1600MHz FSB support. The second generation Intel Matrix Storage Technology2 is also found on this new chipset, supporting a total of six SATAII ports.
So the Intel X48 certainly delivers when it comes to features despite lacking anything really new. The only other question that needs to be addressed regards performance, how well does the X48 perform when compared to Intel’s previous X38 flagship chipset and what is the overclocking performance like? This review will certainly answer both these questions, but before we get that far, let’s take a moment to examine the test subject. Continue reading