Intel launched an extreme board with the introduction of the LGA 2011 platform but with the upcoming release of the lower end LGA 2011 processors Intel is bringing in a cheaper motherboard. The DX79SI is the current board Intel have out for the X79 series and they have developed a new one the DX79TO motherboard which is a scaled down version of the DX79SI.
The DX79TO has weaker VRM but still uses the same VRM cooling as the DX79SI and there is still 64GB of DDR3 support across 8 DIMM slots. In terms of PCI-E the third PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x8) slot is reduced to a PCIe x1 but the rest of the board has two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots wired to the CPU, one legacy PCI, and three PCIe x1. The 8-channel HD audio is replaced by a 6-channel audio, the optical SPDIF has been removed, the dual LAN seen on the DX79SI has been replaced by single LAN on the DX79TO.
Intel provides only one USB 3.0 controller meaning two rear USB 3.0 and no front USB 3.0 support. Intel has removed a substantial amount of features to get this board in at a 'cheap' price of $200~ and as a result this board will definitely not appeal to the enthusiast, for an extra $80-$100 it makes sense to go for a more feature rich ASUS motherboard.
Source: TechPowerUp
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