skulltrail

Intel-Nvidia screamer has lots of processors--and fans

The first dual G4 PowerPC systems from Apple were all heat sinks and fans. In this tradition, a rarefied Intel Skulltrail-based powerhouse from Thirdwave uses two top-line quad-core QX9775 processors and a bevy of Nvidia GPUs--and plenty of fans.

The system (photo) in fact looks more like a stand-alone power supply box than a computer. Of course heat dissipation is paramount in enthusiast screamers.

The original Apple dual G4 systems (circa 2001) were a testimony to heat dissipation--and Rube Goldberg. So much heat that the system could quite literally raise the temperature in a small room. (Note: I can testify … Read more

Intel 'Skulltrail' processor lands on price list

Intel has posted the quad-core QX9775 on its price list, indicating the top-of-the-line chip used in the Skulltrail motherboard is available in volume.

The Skulltrail motherboard was announced in mid-February but the QX9775 processor was initially very scarce. Intel has now listed (PDF) the processor at $1,499. The 45-nanometer part runs at 3.2GHz, packs 12MB of cache, and uses a 1600MHz bus.

Skulltrail is a very high-end enthusiast gaming platform based on the company's 5400 "Seaburg" workstation chipset. Skulltrail distinguishes itself with a dual CPU socket design that uses eight processing cores (two QX9775 chips) … Read more

Intel's power-guzzling V8

Intel is getting ready to launch the full-sized SUV of desktop motherboards. Expected later this quarter, the Skulltrail board packs two quad-core 130-watt QX9775 processors--which Legit Reviews said sucked up to a whopping 351 watts. In short, this is not the MacBook Air. The tiny processor in that power-stingy computer sips a mere 20 watts.

Skulltrail pulls out all the stops. It has dual 1600-MHz front side-buses connected to dual Xeon sockets and four full PCIe x16 slots, with planned support for up to four high-end graphics boards. And Xeon processors running on Skulltrail boards have been demonstrated by Intel … Read more

Intel's eight-core Skulltrail platform ahead of game

Intel let a variety of tech enthusiast sites run wild with benchmarks today showing off its forthcoming eight-core desktop platform, code-named Skulltrail. You can get eight-core computing already in the form of Apple's Mac Pro or a pair of Intel Xeon 5400 processors, but Skulltrail marks the first eight-core platform we've seen aimed at high-end workstation computing and PC gaming. The Skulltrail motherboard not only supports two CPUs, but it also supports both Nvidia's SLI and ATI's Crossfire multigraphics card standards. The problem is that for all of Skulltrail's power, PC gaming isn't quite … Read more

New PC platforms from Intel will face hurdles

Intel had three different high-end PCs to show us at the show this morning. Two were based on its forthcoming dual-quad-core enthusiast motherboard, code-named Skulltrail. The other was based on Intel's X48 chipset, which is the 1,600MHz front side bus version of X38, which itself came out last November to coincide with Intel's new Core 2 Quad 9000-series chips. We were suitably impressed at the benchmarks Intel ran for us, as well as the overclocking and cooling of each.

The problem is that each platform is going to be a hard sell, as they're dependent … Read more