Take a look at this http://www.intel.com/pressroom/kits/events/ces2008/pre-ces_newsbullets.pdf 
The platform will feature dual quad-core Intel Core 2 Extreme processors for 8-core performance and 4 PCI Express x16 Gen 1.1 slots with planned support for up to 4 graphics cards.

Is the the X48 is in reality a hand picked X38 core certified for higher clock speeds by wintel ? considdering the pinouts look identical it would seem so

Its amusing that intel could possibly go through this much fuss to bump an exhisting chip instead of design a new one. Then again theyre playing the same marketing BS game they have been doing for the past 10 years arnt they

Really... try selling the X38 before coming up with the X48...

And who the hell is this Ultie_Tom idiot? Where the effing hell is his brain and his ability to write in ENGLISH?

"X48 caught with pants down

Naked chip action ensues"

You wouldn't happen to be trying to attract the porn addiction crowd, would you?

The BIOS battery is between the PCIe slots, imagine how much hassle that would be trying to optimize a crossfire setup, when you push it too far you have to remove the graphics cards and PCIe cards (HA, I mean if such existed for affordable prices) to reset.
Still, I guess all the parts have to go somewhere, and it's doable.

Can anyone tell me, what reason anyone would have to purchase an X38 board right now? I can't understand what Intel is thinking by releasing these 2 chipsets so close together. The X38 could have been skipped altogether. Not to mention that DDR3 is far from affordable, while good quality DDR2, which performs nearly as well, is dirt cheap.

I agree with the previous comment - what the bloody hell is intel thinking by allowing x48 hype to blow up when the dead-in-the-water x38 has yet to come into volume? 

Will the x38 be a "value" item in the >$300 motherboard segment? LOL

As Many have Stated ULTIMATE is Very Narrow & NOT 100% Perfected item.

So Far, Built in Graphics & CROSSFIRE With 1 Pci e 16x slot seems to be re.liable Solution, So its NO Wonder that Time of Stepping Down from RAW GUTS to GUTS that PLAY ULTIE IN WHOLE NEXT YEAR.

At End of OnBoard Graphics, 16x in 1,2, or More & OEM ULTIE, done Dea L, it will make sense to perfect build NOW, Even if more complex solutions could be built, they will, in TIME with ULTIMATE: sPREWELS 4 Big GAME Cees' & ITS BIG 64 bit MEM W/ mORE SLOTS & CHANNELS & GB TO BOOT WITH MORE BANDWIDTH PER SE' EVERYWHERE, AS THE ULTIMATE MONSTER, LOOK 4.IT '8 XMAS OR SOONER, yet it has to work in stable system first just to know good from bad.

Signed:PHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART VON DRASHEK.