Gigabyte Technology may beat Asustek Computer to the market with its Intel X38 motherboards for the high-end market, with shipments expected to commence by the end of this month, according to market sources.

The two mobo makers had originally expected to start shipping X38 motherboards by the end of September, but now Asustek may have to delay its launch for two weeks because of revisions to its design, the sources said.

With a few bugs still remaining to be fixed, Intel has rescheduled the launch of its high-end X38 chipsets to September from August, the sources noted.

The sources indicated that Gigabyte's X38 motherboards were showcased at Computex Taipei this year, with the Ultra Durable 2 technology as its major selling point. Ultra Durable 2 features low RDS (on) MOSFET, ferrite core choke, and low ESR solid capacitors. The motherboards also use all-copper heatpipes.

Although the costs of Gigabytes' motherboards are relatively high, the sources said they expect good market acceptability for the company's X38 motherboards.