Intel has just rolled out a dual-socket motherboard for PC manufacturers who want nothing but the very best for their customers, resulting in a high-powered machine that runs on a couple of quad-core processors as well as multiple graphics cards simultaneously. Known in consumer electronics circles as Skulltrail previously, you get the Dual Socket Extreme Desktop Platform that features a Desktop Board D5400XS and a couple of high-powered Core 2 Extreme QX9775 processors as well as the ability to support both Crossfire from ATI or SLI graphics cards from Nvidia. This way, no matter which graphical camp you prefer to set your base on, you will be able to start fragging almost immediately despite playing in the highest resolution possible while turning all other shaders and anti-aliasing options on.

Gamers won’t be the only segment of the population to benefit from this new platform. A whole host of other people who actually work, including 3D animators, digital audio artists, and high-definition video editors who create video games for consoles and desktops will actually welcome this new edition from Intel. After all, with more and more people moving towards the high definition arena, there is a greater need for high-definition video encoding and editing - resulting directly in a parallel growth where PCs are concerned.

Here’s more information on the Core 2 Extreme QX 9775 processor. It comes with 12 MB of L2 cache, a 1,600-MHz system bus, and four (!) cores running at 3.2 GHz. Just in case that’s not fast enough for you, the processor’s bus-ratio locks have been removed, enabling overclockers to have a field day notching up the clock speed. Now for the interesting question - how much will this cost? Well, Intel has slapped a recommended retail price of $1,499 for the QX9775, while the Desktop Board D5400XS has been priced at $649.

Source: Information Week