Gigabyte announced an ATX-format motherboard designed to accept dual Intel Xeon C5500 CPUs. Intended for server applications, the GA-7JASV offers up to 96MB of RAM, six 3Gb/sec. SATA ports with RAID support, and dual gigabit Ethernet controllers, the company says.

Gigabyte's new GA-7JASV is said to support dual Intel Xeon C5500 processors. While further details weren't provided — Intel released five different C5500 models last week — this suggests the motherboard could support clock speeds of up to 2.53GHz base/2.93GHz turbo, and as many as eight total CPU cores.

Gigabyte's GA-7JASV
(Click to enlarge)

Gigabyte does note that its ATX-format motherboard (above) accepts up to 96MB of DDR3 memory (1333/1066/800MHz) via six DIMM slots. The device's Intel 3420 I/O hub provides six SATA 3Gb/sec. ports, with support for RAID levels 0, 1, 5, and 10, the company adds.

Also cited by Gigabyte is the GA-7JASV's use of a ServerEngines Pilot controller chip (right), which, the company says, provides the motherboard with Matrox 200e graphics capabilities. The chip also provides secure KVM (keyboard, video, and mouse) control remotely via IP, a IPMI 2.0-compliant baseboard management controller (BMC), and hardware-based SSL (secure sockets library) acceleration, according to ServerEngines.

Gigabyte says the GA-7JASV offers one PCI Express x16 expansion slot and three PCI Express x8 slots, plus a mezzanine slot designed to accept a SAS (serial attached SCSI) card. Rear I/O connectors, meanwhile, include two RJ45 ports for gigabit Ethernet, a VGA port, a serial port, and four USB 2.0 ports, the company adds.

Specifications listed by Gigabyte for the ATX-format GA-7JASV include the following:

• Processor — Dual Intel Xeon C5500 CPUs (specific models and clock speeds not listed)
• Chipset — Intel 3420
• Memory — Up to 96GB of DDR3 RAM via six DIMM slots
• Expansion:
  • 1 x PCI Express x16
  • 3 x PCI Express x8
  • Mezzanine card slot for SAS upgrade
• Other I/O:
• 6 x 3Gb/s SATA ports
• 1 x VGA
• 1 x serial
• 4 x USB 2.0
• Power requirements/operating range — n/s
• Dimensions — ATX format (12 x 9.6 inches)

Intel's new Xeons

Availability

Gigabyte did not release pricing or operating system specifics for the GA-7JASV, but the device appears to be available now, and most likely supports Linux and various Windows versions. More information may be found on the company's website, here.

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