The X38 chipset is very new and promises support for the latest technologies in the shape of a 45nm Penryn processor with PCI Express 2.0 CrossFire and DDR3 memory with XMP so you might think there’s a degree of future-proofing in your shiny new X38 motherboard. Your choice of chipset and motherboard locks you into a specific processor family, front side bus, type of memory and graphics technology and that in turn starts the upgrade clock ticking from the very minute you finish your PC build so AMD, Intel and Nvidia have to tread a very careful path to avoid making their customers feel like mugs. In the past two years we’ve had 975X, P965, P35 and X38 which is one generation of chipsets every six months. It’s a logical progress and just as night follows day, you can bet that a new processor core requires a new chipset and Intel has kept busy launching a steady stream of core logic silicon. That sounds utterly ridiculous so what the heck’s going on? The problem stems from Intel’s roadmaps which rely on a steady release of products so we get 65nm Core 2 processors on a 1,066MHz front side bus, followed by 65nm on a 1,333MHz front side bus, then 45nm on 1,333MHz and next year the 45nm Penryn will move to a 1,600MHz front side bus. We’ve only just reviewed the MSI X38 Diamond but it’s already in danger of being replaced by the X48 Platinum.
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