During a chat with one of the motherboard manufacturers we were told that X58 motherboards will be no less than six layers, and might even need eight layers. The reason for this is the triple-channel memory configuration, as it brings with it at least a couple of issues when it comes to motherboard construction.

First of all, it's a matter of getting the traces down, six DDR3 memory slots uses a lot of traces on a motherboard and this requires extra layers. The other problem is that there will be signal leakage if the extra layers aren't used, which will cause all sorts of problems, including instability and data loss.

Most motherboards are made using a four or six-layer layout these days, although generally it's only workstation motherboards that use six layers due to cost. It's possible to make a four-layer X58 motherboard and if you've seen Intel's reference design, then you'll also know what the limitation of a four-layer motherboard is.

Using less layers means that the motherboard will support limited memory configurations so that you either get stuck with the Intel 3+1 solution for triple-channel, or you have to move down to four slots and dual-channel, both unlikely to be popular choices with consumers.

Time will tell how this problem will be solved, but as of right now there's no easy solution and Intel is trying to work with the motherboard manufacturers to come up with a clever solution to the problem. Considering that each extra two layers add 50 percent cost to the PCB manufacturing, we could end up seeing some very expensive X58-based motherboards if this problem can't be solved.