Last time we heard AMD's 8-series chipsets were slated for release sometime in April to precede their first six-core desktop processors (code-named Thuban) in May. If the latest whispers from the rumor mill are to be believed, however, 890GX-based motherboards could arrive a little sooner than expected.

Citing a story at Turkish site DonanimHaber, Softpedia is reporting that the 890GX chipset from AMD will be launched next week, on March 1, followed by the 880G on April 26. While we can't vouch for the accuracy of their source, Fudzilla has separately spotted premature listings for an Asus M4A89GTD Pro/USB3 motherboard featuring an unannounced AMD 890GX chipset.


The board packs an SB850 south bridge, DirectX 10.1-compliant Radeon HD 4290 integrated graphics with DVI and HDMI out, two PCI Express Gen2 x16 slots (capable of running in a dual eight-lane config with two GPUs), PCIe Gen2 x4 and x1 slots, six SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports, one eSATA port, and two USB 3.0 ports. Prices start at around 140€ although a USB 2.0-only version will also be available for 15€ or so less.

A quick search on Google's products engine shows the same board with U.S. pricing in the neighborhood of $160, which seems in line with high-end Socket AM3 motherboards currently available on the market. Whether rumors prove to be true or not, AMD will likely show off its new Leo platform at CeBIT 2010 next month.