Sweclockers have published a table unveiling the specifications of forthcoming socket AM3+ motherboards currently under preparation by Asus for the launch of the forthcoming AMD FXs (Bulldozer/Zambezi). While it’s no surprise to see a high end Crosshair model as well as the roll-out of a whole range of sub-models, a Sabertooth has also come on stream for the first time in Asus’ AMD range. In all there are six motherboards on the list but we don’t yet know if it’s exhaustive.
Three chipsets are represented with, first of all, three 970 cards: the M5A97, M5A97 Pro and M5A97 Evo. The common point is support for just 16 PCI Express lanes on the chipset. The motherboard will however have two physical 16x slots, with the second piloted by the southbridge. Multi-GPU systems are to be avoided on these motherboards. Note, in addition, that they don’t support SLI.
The M5A99X Evo uses the AMD 990X chipset which adds the option of splitting the 16x lanes into two 8x ports (making a total of 16x/0x/4x ou 8x/8x/4x). The highest end chipset, the 990FX, adds an extra port, the motherboards which use it (Sabertooth and Crosshair only) will have four 16x physical slots, configurable as 16x/8x/8x/4x. Only the 990 models have SLI support.
For the rest of the specs, DDR3 will, as previously announced, be supported by the Zambezis without overclocking. The chipset supports Serial ATA 6 GB/s ports, still with USB 2.0. Asus has added two USB 3.0 ports on the M5A97 and M5A97 Pro with an external chip, four ports (via an adaptor on the front for the extra two) on the M5A97 Evo, M5A 99X Evo and Sabertooth 990 FX and six on the Crosshair V Formula.
