X48 Express chipset has support for FSB 1600MHz CPUs and earlier 1333/1066 FSB CPUs. This ranges the gamut of CPUs from the QX9770 to the Core 2 Duo CPUs. The motherboard in fact supports all LGA-775 CPUs on the market today. The QX9770 is the first and only FSB 1600MHz Intel CPU but other CPUs including the QX9650 and Q6600 have become very popular in the market.

The board sports four DIMM (Dual Inline Memory Module) sockets for DDR3 memory. The board supports both ECC and non-ECC memory. Intel has updated the memory support for their X48 boards to DDR3-1600MHZ. Of course the X48 also supports the DDR3-800/1066/1333Mhz speeds as well. The DX48BT2 supports up to 8GB of memory with 2GB memory modules in each socket. Intel’s documentation indicates that if DDR3 1600 is used you need to use one slot on each channel with a maximum of 2GB available and use XMP memory for the best results.
NVIDIA is the dominant multi-GPU vendor with ATI only providing a small portion of multi-GPU setups. SLI which is exclusive to NVIDIA chipsets except for the expensive Skulltrail platform sells more than 90% of the multi-GPU compared to ATI’s Crossfire, according to a recent Steam Hardware survey. Intel X48 supports ATI’s Crossfire which allows two ATI video cards to run together to improve gaming performance.
The onboard audio is compliant with Intel’s High Definition Audio specification. The CODEC used on the DX48BT2 is the Sigmatel 9274D. The audio subsystem includes support for advanced jack sensing for the back panel audio jacks that allows the CODEC to recognize what’s being plugged into the jack, stereo and output for all back panel jacks, Line out and Mic in for the front audio jacks and a signal to decibel ratio of 90Db.

The rear IO of the board has an interesting mix of features. Two external SATA ports are on the board allowing for the installation of more than eight SATA devices on the DX48BT2. Eight USB 2.0 ports on the rear provide enough USB ports for even the craziest enthusiast, with four more available via headers. A single IE-1394 port on the rear provides Firewire suppor t. Gigabit LAN support is provided by a RJ-45 jack controlled by an Intel 82566DC Gigabit LAN controller. Five rear audio jacks provide support for eight-channel 7.1 sound via onboard audio and a Optical Digital Line Out jack round out the rear I