Intel's X58 Chipset

Hey everyone, this is Icarus here with some thought on the new Intel X58 chipset.

The Intel X58 chipset was released during November of 2008, and was released as a successor of X48. Now, the importance here is not just the name itself; this is a direct challenge to all of the computer hardware companies out there that have been making large amounts of money off of nVidia chipset motherboards. Now, how does this effect you, the consumer who has sparked an interest in computer hardware?

Well, here's the thing: the X58 chipset can run SLI. Yes, I just said that: it can run SLI. For those of you who don't know what SLI is, I will explain it in another article today. For now, I will just say that SLI is a program created by NVidia that allows the computer to run more than one video card at the same time.

Now, why does SLI in the X58 matter so much? Well here's the reason why: it takes away a valuable advantage NVidia chipsets had over Intel chipsets. Traditionally, Intel chipsets were only able to run Crossfire and CrossfireX, or just a single NVidia video card without SLI. NVidia chipsets, on the other hand, can only run NVidia Graphics cards(with the exception of patches for some ATI graphics cards) but can run two in SLI and even three in TriSLI. However, now that the X58 can run NVidia graphics cards(GPU's), more consumers will begin to turn to this chipset.

Now, NVidia loses more than one battle here. One of NVidia chipsets motherboards' main concerns for consumers was the price tag. The fact is, that many NVidia chipset motherboards are more expensive than the Intel chipset motherboards. However, this was justifiable because NVidia still had the SLI and TriSLI advantage over Intel chipsets. Now that the X58 chipset can run NVidia GPU's in SLI, NVidia has lost one advantage, and lots its justification for the price tags. And because most consumers only go as far as running two graphics cards in SLI, NVidia may lose a lot of loyal customers.

However, this does not mean that NVidia will fade away or go bankrupt. X58 chipset motherboards can run two graphics cards in SLI, but it cannot run three graphics cards in SLI. NVidia can; therefore, NVidia still gets to keep the enthusiast market under its arms. Another advantage NVidia still has is its apparent ability to overclock better than Intel chipsets. While this advantage may seem to be mysterious because most consumers do not know why this is so, this is still an advantage that NVidia will hold onto. Therefore, NVidia will still be able to keep most of the consumers who know how to overclock well.