<s>
Intel	O
's	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
is	O
an	O
enthusiast	O
gaming	O
platform	O
that	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
February	O
19	O
,	O
2008	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
difference	O
between	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
and	O
Intel	O
's	O
current	O
and	O
past	O
enthusiast	O
chipsets	O
is	O
a	O
dual	B-Architecture
CPU	I-Architecture
socket	O
design	O
that	O
allows	O
two	O
processors	O
to	O
operate	O
on	O
the	O
same	O
motherboard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
can	O
operate	O
eight	O
processing	O
cores	O
on	O
one	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
platform	O
supports	O
two	O
Core	O
2	O
Extreme	O
QX9775	O
processors	O
(	O
commonly	O
mistaken	O
for	O
the	O
Core	O
2	O
Extreme	O
QX9770	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
LGA775	B-Device
counterpart	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
operate	O
at	O
3.2GHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Skulltrail	B-Device
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
platforms	O
to	O
support	O
SLI	B-Device
on	O
chipsets	O
not	O
designed	O
by	O
Nvidia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
achieves	O
this	O
by	O
including	O
two	O
NVIDIA	O
nForce	B-Device
100	O
PCIe	O
1.1	O
switch	O
(	O
two	O
x16	O
to	O
one	O
x16	O
)	O
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
implementation	O
of	O
SLI	B-Device
supports	O
Quad	O
SLI	B-Device
technology	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
achieved	O
through	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
two	O
dual-GPU	O
graphics	O
cards	O
from	O
NVIDIA	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
GeForce	O
9800	O
GX2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Owners	O
of	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
systems	O
can	O
also	O
make	O
use	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
four	O
ATI	O
graphics	O
cards	O
using	O
ATI	O
CrossFireX	O
technology	O
,	O
which	O
made	O
SkullTrail	B-Device
the	O
only	O
platform	O
(	O
other	O
than	O
Intel	B-Device
X58	I-Device
and	O
P55	B-Device
Chipset	O
)	O
to	O
support	O
both	O
SLI	B-Device
and	O
CrossFire	O
with	O
public	O
drivers	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
HP	O
Firebird	O
803	O
also	O
supported	O
SLI	B-Device
on	O
one	O
(	O
proprietary	O
,	O
MXM	O
)	O
motherboard	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
drivers	O
were	O
special	O
and	O
only	O
available	O
for	O
Firebird	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
demonstrated	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
at	O
the	O
Fall	O
2007	O
Intel	O
Developer	O
Forum	O
in	O
San	O
Francisco	O
,	O
USA	O
,	O
and	O
at	O
the	O
2008	O
Consumer	O
Electronics	O
Show	O
in	O
Las	O
Vegas	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Skulltrail	B-Device
has	O
a	O
front	B-Architecture
side	I-Architecture
bus	I-Architecture
rate	O
of	O
400MHz	O
(	O
1600MHz	O
QDR	B-Device
)	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
demonstrated	O
with	O
two	O
45	B-Algorithm
nanometer	I-Algorithm
High-κ	B-Algorithm
processors	O
running	O
at	O
3.2GHz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
IDF	O
,	O
a	O
4.0GHz	O
phase	O
cooled	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
system	O
was	O
demonstrated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
18	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
Tom	O
's	O
Hardware	O
,	O
reporting	O
from	O
an	O
Overclocking	O
Enthusiast	O
site	O
,	O
reported	O
that	O
an	O
overclocked	O
speed	O
of	O
6.006GHz	O
was	O
achieved	O
on	O
an	O
8-core	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
setup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
found	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
extremely	O
powerful	O
computing	O
platform	O
,	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
by	O
media	O
outlets	O
for	O
being	O
"	O
ahead	O
of	O
its	O
time	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
in	O
part	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
support	O
for	O
multi-core	B-Architecture
computing	O
with	O
almost	O
all	O
popular	O
game	O
engines	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
the	O
extremely	O
high	O
price	O
of	O
the	O
components	O
involved	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
use	O
of	O
FB-DIMMs	B-General_Concept
due	O
to	O
the	O
workstation	O
chipset	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
pointed	O
at	O
as	O
a	O
major	O
limiting	O
factor	O
for	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
base	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
platform	O
consists	O
of	O
an	O
Intel	O
D5400XS	O
mainboard	O
which	O
cost	O
upwards	O
of	O
US$600	O
when	O
it	O
hit	O
the	O
market	O
as	O
a	O
standalone	O
part	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computers	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
platform	O
also	O
require	O
high-output	O
power	O
supplies	O
for	O
both	O
the	O
CPU	B-General_Concept
and	O
graphics	O
cards	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
a	O
computer	B-General_Concept
chassis	I-General_Concept
capable	O
of	O
accommodating	O
the	O
motherboard	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
Extended	O
ATX	O
form	O
factor	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
Atomic	O
has	O
reported	O
that	O
they	O
can	O
accommodate	O
cheaper	O
Xeon	B-Device
server	O
microprocessors	O
that	O
fit	O
in	O
the	O
LGA-771	O
socket	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
corroborated	O
by	O
Intel	O
's	O
official	O
processor	O
support	O
list	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
's	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
D5400XS	O
motherboard	O
is	O
made	O
with	O
two	O
nForce	B-Device
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Skulltrail	B-Device
D5400XS	O
motherboard	O
is	O
now	O
just	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
motherboards	O
available	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
motherboards	O
with	O
X58	B-Device
and	O
P55	B-Device
chipsets	O
,	O
that	O
runs	O
both	O
nVidia	O
's	O
SLI	B-Device
and	O
ATI	O
's	O
Crossfire	O
platforms	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
box	O
with	O
public	O
hardware	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
