Foxconn Black Ops - Raw, Unadulterated Power
by Rajinder Gill on July 30, 2008 11:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Step aside - Foxconn coming through!
Usually we can't wait to get boards off the subzero benching station as the effort required does not justify the end result; not so with the Black Ops. We thoroughly enjoyed using this board at subzero temperatures; it runs insane speeds with relative ease, leading to a truly exhilarating benchmark experience. However, on a more realistic note, there are still plenty of quirks with this board to withhold absolute support across every scenario. These quirks include non-working or hard to use strap/memory divider combinations while higher speed 2GB memory overclocking is almost exclusively limited to Samsung-based modules or those using newer Micron ICs.
That does not mean the Black Ops will not work with older Micron chips in 2GB module designs, but simply that speeds over 1500MHz with 8GB memory may come at timings looser than stock module ratings. This situation will undoubtedly improve with time as the BIOS is tuned. Meanwhile, the balance of success lies in whether users can forgive the current quirks in return for a board that's sick fast, resolute, and does not arrive at the line panting and puffing under strain when pushed to the absolute limits.
As it stands right now, Foxconn's latest toy does require patience to reach its full potential when using conventional cooling methods. While we believe the Black Ops is an admirable choice as an enthusiast level motherboard, there are established boards like the ASUS P5E3 Premium that can provide an easier journey to overclocking in certain situations for the general enthusiast.
 |
So, although the Black Ops is not "Top Dog" on every front, it is worthy of accolades for being capable of doing things that no other board can out of the box. Yes, it's raw and at times ragged, but let's not forget that it's marketed as being a power product for extreme benchmarking and it delivers on that promise in an impressive manner. For the future, we are sure that Foxconn recognizes (we have reminded them repeatedly) outright sale volumes will likely hinge upon a more modest approach and that there will need to be development of products that are geared more for everyday use. Should the company be able to deliver products on both fronts while maintaining their customized support structure, we are looking at the possibility of a great success story from a company that has been firmly planted in the OEM sector.
To conclude, we are excited to present our Silver Editor's Choice award to Foxconn for the Black Ops X48 motherboard. Their execution and design of the Black Ops product certainly pushes the envelope for current motherboard technology and raises the bar for other players in this niche market. In fact, we are very excited to see what comes next from Foxconn. For now, if extreme benchmarking and power tuning is your thing, your prayers have been answered by the arrival of the Black Ops.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
32 Comments
View All Comments
ImmortalZ - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - link
You do realize these people are given QX9770s, GTX280s and assorted hardware for free, every generation?Do you know most of these people end up working for the very manufacturer's products they torture test?
Do you know that you're a moron?
strikeback03 - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - link
Personally, I'd rather grow a mullet, buy a Mustang, and head for the local drag strip.Berger - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - link
'Digital Freak' what a freaking handle.No need to be discriminative you narrow minded moron.
Nyarlathotep - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - link
I used to really like linux but the more posts I´ve read by linux users, the more I hate it. Linux nerds probably get paid by Microsoft for ruining linux chances. They are everywhere whining and crying. For every decent linux user there seem to be 5 obnoxious nerds.Yesterday I uninstalled Ubuntu from my laptop because it made me feel like if I supported obnoxious linux nerds. If it wasn´t for them linux would probably be the most popular OS right now, not windows.
TA152H - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - link
One thing I have been saying for 25 years, and has been validated by the years is that Unix will never be a popular operating system. Linux often mentioned by people that don't really use it that much, they want to whine about Microsoft and such, or at a higher level, whine about the establishment in general. Don't get me wrong, I despise Microsoft too, but I'm not so pathetic as to act like Unix is the answer. It's a horrible operating system that's a pain in the backside to work with. They can sugar coat that dung all they want, but it will always smell and will only be a niche product. GUIs help some by insulated the user from the miserable underpinnings, but, really, anyone that likes the word "grep", and thinks upper and lower case parameters should have different meanings, is generally going to be a maladjusted dickhead.I still think OS/2 was better than Windows, but it's very much a niche product now (in its new incarnation as Ecomstation) and is used about as often as rotary telephones. I whined for a while about Windows too, but mainly because all my work experience had been with OS/2, and I didn't want to be jobless :-P.
No one really listens to the whining dorks that cry to the sky about foul play. Linux isn't popular because, basically, it sucks like all Unix varieties do. They'll exist in niches, but you can't expect the mainstream market to embrace it. Apple did a good job of hiding the difficulty of the underlying operating system, but it's still a niche product as well. Even if there were a good operating system it would be extremely difficult to break the software monopoly of Microsoft, so saying a Unix variety would be the dominant operating system were it not for some oft-ignored dweebs, is as silly as the whiners are.
We've already gone from MVS, to DOS, to Windows NT as the dominating operating systems during the lifetime of Unix. It's always been a niche product. Outside of the Microsoft haters, do many people really want it to be anything more than that? It's a pity IBM still won't make OS/2 open source. It would at least have a chance as an open source competitor. Unix? Never. But, as has been the case for 30 years, you'll still hear them saying it's just about to take off. It never changes, and kind of gives one a sense of security in a world that changes too fast. Unix will take over soon! Just wait! It's even money if it will happen before the Sun eats the Earth.
swaaye - Friday, August 1, 2008 - link
:)yyrkoon - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - link
Look. You should be using your OS of choice for YOU, not anyone else.The whole idea is HAVING the ability to make that choice.
I use Windows on my main machines here at home, but I like the option of being able to use which over OS I please on them, and yes, I have a couple of Linux boxen too, as well as an openSolaris machine. Hell, I would not be adverse to putting OSX on my own hardware, IF Steve Jobs and Apple will ever pull its head out of their backsides . . . In a general purpose computer world, proprietary systems are the 'bad guys' not the OS.
yyrkoon - Thursday, July 31, 2008 - link
http://ubuntu-virginia.ubuntuforums.org/showthread...Companies need to learn that business tactics as such will put you into a world of hurt in a hurry. Behold the wonderful internet at its finest.
swaaye - Friday, August 1, 2008 - link
Just how much of an audience in the real world do you think slashdot gets? lol.swaaye - Friday, August 1, 2008 - link
or any site, for that matter.