Introduction
With the release this week of AMD Socket AM2, new mainboards are abound that sport the socket, with many of those carrying NVIDIA's brand new nForce5 core logic. With a few such mainboard products rattling around HEXUS.labs just now, we though some quick snapshot analysis would suit the product launch well before we go all out with a fat roundup in the near future.First out of the blocks is Foxconn's high-end enthusiast-class nForce5 590 SLI SKU, C51XEM2AA. Snappy and memorable name, what?
It stands out not only as one of the first nForce5 590 SLI mainboards to hit retail, but also because it's the NVIDIA nForce5 590 SLI reference board that NVIDIA developed (with Foxconn's help) to get the new core logic set up and running. So happy were Foxconn with the development effort on the reference hardware that they've decided to release it to retail unchanged, bar some Foxconn branding here and there.
We'd probably start crying if VIA ever did the same, but we feel confident in NVIDIA and Foxconn's effort enough to take it on its merits and see what's what.
Going back to the name, you might have seen the name Tritium bandied around with reference to nForce5, its overclocking ability, and maybe in relation to Tritium Certification of a system with NVIDIA using it as yet another brand. Sorry to say folks, but Tritium was simply the codename for the project to create and bring the C51XEM2AA to retail after Foxconn realised the reference board was (in their opinion) that good. Curious codename mystery resolved.
The best of the initial 590 SLI mainboards, then? Let's have a snapshot look and see.