# First look at the Intel D5400XS motherboard



## PCWORM (Feb 7, 2008)

One glance at the Intel D5400XS motherboard with its dual-CPU sockets and active chipset cooling is enough to tell you that this isn't your normal PC motherboard. Code named Skulltrail, the Intel D5400XS represents Intel's ultimate PC motherboard platform. Regular motherboards only have a single CPU socket, two PCI Express slots, and support for only one of the two competing dual-GPU formats. In comparison, the Skulltrail has two processor sockets, four x16 PCI Express video card slots, and built-in support for both SLI and CrossFire. If you set two Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors in the board, you have an 8-core monster ready to run. 
The board will work with the new Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processor, as well as LGA771 Xeon processors. It won't be able to handle the more common LGA775 processors, such as the Core 2 Quads or Core 2 Duos, but the motherboard's limited CPU compatibility illustrates Skulltrail's elite status in Intel's product lineup. The motherboard's primary CPU option, the quad-core 3.2GHz QX9775 is more powerful than any LGA775 chip currently available. Intel hasn't announced any future Skulltrail-compatible processors besides the QX9775 and does not guarantee future compatibility with its upcoming "Nehalem" processors.
On the graphics side, the Intel D5400XS features four PCI Express x16 card slots and can handle both SLI and CrossFire. Support for the competing dual-video card standards from Nvidia and AMD are usually mutually exclusive on PC motherboards. If the motherboard supports CrossFire, it won't support SLI and vice versa. Intel boards commonly support CrossFire, but designers were able to drop a pair of Nvidia nForce 100 chips into the board to add two-way SLI support. 
   *aycu38.webshots.com/image/43917/2002958495596227321_rs.jpg
*aycu15.webshots.com/image/44894/2005707779912326599_rs.jpg

Check the below link for the full article alongwith benchmark figures:-

*www.gamespot.com/features/6185511/...clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;picks;title;7


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## MetalheadGautham (Feb 7, 2008)

dual cpu board ? Don't they already exist ? For servers ? I wonder how they perform on PCs.
Do you know what is the cost of this beast ? And how good is it at OC-ing ?


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## PCWORM (Feb 7, 2008)

Nah dunno the price...


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## nish_higher (Feb 7, 2008)

^ guess u didnt buy feb digit..its price is around 25k


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## MetalheadGautham (Feb 7, 2008)

nish_higher said:


> ^ guess u didnt buy feb digit..its price is around 25k


But similar performance(but without crossfire+sli) dual cpu motherboards for servers retail at 10k don't they ? And what about boards like the one in mac Pro ? This is a great news only because its the first time _Intel_ hsd done something like this with mainstream desktop boards.


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## PCWORM (Feb 7, 2008)

MetalheadGautham said:


> But similar performance(but without crossfire+sli) dual cpu motherboards for servers retail at 10k don't they ? And what about boards like the one in mac Pro ? This is a great news only because its the first time _Intel_ hsd done something like this with mainstream desktop boards.


No i dont have that issue,,,as they say,,this mobo is targeted towards the
desktop gaming segment, somewhat diffrent from the server mobos,,It has
support for both sli and crossfire,,,but shelling-out money for this one at this 
time is probably not advisable becoz it has support only for the top-of-the-line Proccys from intel,,,wud not work with Core2 duo or PentiumDs,,,


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## shady_inc (Feb 7, 2008)

I can see 4 PCI-e slots on that thing.4*8800GT's anyone.? 8) 
@ Gautham: This thing is made for overclocking.It's even recommended on this board.!


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## PCWORM (Feb 7, 2008)

shady_inc said:


> I can see 4 PCI-e slots on that thing.4*8800GT's anyone.? 8)
> @ Gautham: This thing is made for overclocking.It's even recommended on this board.!


This board can work like heaven if we have games supporting eight cores(similar to the ones which are developed for the PS3's cell)


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## darklord (Feb 7, 2008)

Its Skulltrail platform from Intel,just like AMD's 4X4 thing. Its nothing but a 2P board with features meant for overclocking and high end gaming systems and so on.
It supports Crossfire for sure, SLI, i dont think so.Also Crossfire scales much better compared to SLI.


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## PCWORM (Feb 7, 2008)

darklord said:


> Its Skulltrail platform from Intel,just like AMD's 4X4 thing. Its nothing but a 2P board with features meant for overclocking and high end gaming systems and so on.
> It supports Crossfire for sure, SLI, i dont think so.Also Crossfire scales much better compared to SLI.


No it has Even SLI,,,
 seems like uve done sumthin again with ur procy(i can see it in ur avatar)
 can i get an enlarged pic?


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## nish_higher (Feb 7, 2008)

MetalheadGautham said:


> But similar performance(but without crossfire+sli) dual cpu motherboards for servers retail at 10k don't they ? And what about boards like the one in mac Pro ? This is a great news only because its the first time _Intel_ hsd done something like this with mainstream desktop boards.


yes exactly.and tests dont reveal anything astonishing..also this is workstation mobo not gaming--u can see workstation benches here-
*www.legitreviews.com/article/661/1/

"D5400XS motherboard that supports a pair of LGA771 based Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors"

"_There are rumors that 3-way SLI on Skulltrail could be enabled with a driver from NVIDIA. Just wanted to inform you that Skulltrail motherboards use two NVIDIA nForce 100 SLI MCPs. The nForce 100 SLI chip allows a maximum of two GeForce graphics cards to work together, enabling SLI between two GeForce GPUs such as the GeForce 8800 GTX, and enables Quad SLI on dual-GPU graphics boards such as the GeForce 7950 GX2. The nForce 100 SLI MCP will NOT support 3-way SLI. This cannot change even with a driver/bios update."_


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## PCWORM (Feb 7, 2008)

nish_higher said:


> yes exactly.and tests dont reveal anything astonishing..also this is workstation mobo not gaming--u can see workstation benches here-
> *www.legitreviews.com/article/661/1/
> 
> "D5400XS motherboard that supports a pair of LGA771 based Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors"
> ...


Hmm,,so it is not so good option for gaming freaks,,


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## nish_higher (Feb 7, 2008)

not at all.Q6600\6700 rule for gaming whn coupled with a decent mobo-the one that has 3way sli \ quad crossfire .who needs so much power just to run a game!


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## darklord (Feb 7, 2008)

My bad, the intel site says it supports it. 

@PCWORM,
there you go
*www.thehardwarelabs.com/forums/imagehost/247a6b4ee5b67e.jpg


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## nvidia (Feb 7, 2008)

Thanks for the info
That fan near the south bridge looks cool


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## MetalheadGautham (Feb 8, 2008)

Actually, there is one rather cunning use for this baby: To run PS3 Emulators and play full fledged console games via emulation in their full glory.

Its difficult(extra CPU consuming) to emulate the environment of a processor/architecture. So the extra power will be rather handy.


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## PCWORM (Feb 8, 2008)

MetalheadGautham said:


> Actually, there is one rather cunning use for this baby: To run PS3 Emulators and play full fledged console games via emulation in their full glory.
> 
> Its difficult(extra CPU consuming) to emulate the environment of a processor/architecture. So the extra power will be rather handy.


Yea,,,this possibility can be considered,,!!
but PS3 emulators are not available as of now,,,ive heard their is an XBOX360
emulator available on internet,,it can be used to play x360 exclusives like Mass effect..



darklord said:


> My bad, the intel site says it supports it.
> 
> @PCWORM,
> there you go


Awesome man!!!!


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## Voldy (Feb 11, 2008)

Cool It's really a beast !!
btw thanks for the info


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## PCWORM (Feb 11, 2008)

Vicky333 said:


> Cool It's really a beast !!
> btw thanks for the info


Thanx,,,i hope for more of these gaming beasts from intel,,,
 anybody here knows an ASUS board which could rival this thing?


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## sandip_mane (Apr 13, 2008)

*www.gamespot.com/features/6185511/index.html

Great Copy and Paste job done by either Digit or Gamespot. Some smartness could have been shown..Check above link.


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## Hrithan2020 (Apr 14, 2008)

Its an overkill..Doesn't really warrant the price or power in the mainstream market(considering the psu,gpus needed).Now with 8 core CPU's in future..let's see how it works out.esp if all applications become multi-threaded..


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