Head to head Multi-GPU Monsters.

Asus pushes the limits. What some motherboard. MSI抯 motherboards short on showbiz moves but supports CrossFire.
Asus Striker II Extreme
Some of NVIDIA's recent motherboard chipsets haven't ended up that clever. The nForce 780i is a case in point. Despite the 7 Series moniker, it was little more than a rehash of the 680i chipset with the help of PCI Express 2. 0 unconvincingly glued on.
The 780i also carried over the 680i's hot-running silicon. The result was pants overclocking, particularly for a high-end chipset. But that's all history with the 790i. Its C73 northbridge packages native PCI-e 2. 0, runs much cooler, while overclocking headroom is much improved.
As for Asus' undertake the 790i, it's the entire solution, complete with triple-way SLI support, exceptionally high-quality digital audio and a northbridge heatsink that can come pre-plumbed for water conditioning. Nice, but just look at the price.
MSI X48 Platinum
Intel has a bad habit of killing from relatively new chipsets and leaving buyers in your lurch. So it was aided by the X48 chipset, which appeared within months of the X38. Given that the X48 is essentially the same silicon, we can't quite comprehend why Intel didn't make a single release that combined the options that come with both.
Nevertheless, the X48 certainly offers comprehensive support for the very latest Intel 45nm money. That includes the near-mythical Main 2 Extreme QX9770 and it is currently unique 1, 600MHz front side bus.
Of path, the X48 also aids Intel's CrossFire multi-GPU graphics technology, making it the most obvious foil to NVIDIA's hottest 790i SLI motherboards. In general performance terms and overclocking power, there is little to select between the two.