Intel X58 Motherboard Roundup - What does $300 Get You?
by Gary Key on December 5, 2008 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
Test Setup
We are utilizing the Intel i7 920 processor in our testing today. We believe this processor will be the top selling i7 processor for the near term due to its reasonable cost and excellent performance capabilities. We test with Hyper-Threading enabled, all power saving options enabled, and memory set to DDR3-1066 at 6-6-5-15 1T timings unless noted. Memory sub-timings are set to auto along with all voltages set to auto. All peripheral options on the board are enabled along with the Vista HD audio drivers for each audio solution.
Our 6GB memory kit is provided by Corsair and this particular kit will reach DDR3-1800 on 1.75V, thus providing reasonable overclocking headroom for our i7 920. We also tested with several different kits from Kingston, OCZ, Patriot, G.Skill, and Mushkin that have all provided excellent results from 1066 up to 2000 speeds depending on the kit. The retail i7 processors do not have a memory multiplier or QPI lock as we noticed in our engineering samples. We will take a look at all of the available DDR3 tri-channel kits running at various clock speeds in a separate article.
Our video card choice is the Sapphire HD 4870 512MB edition. We originally had decided to test with the Sapphire 4870X2 card but constant driver problems prevented us from effectively utilizing the card in our first benchmark results. The latest 8.11 drivers are a welcome relief, but problems still exist in a few games with AA disabled. We will show CF results with the HD 4870 today and GTX 260 results in our overclocking guide shortly. At this point, at least in motherboard testing, we prefer the NVIDIA GTX260/280 series on the X58 due to better driver support.
We stored everything in an ABS Canyon 695 chassis for these particular tests. This is case you have to see and touch in person to really appreciate it. We are also testing our GTX 260 setups with the Thermaltake Spedo. We might add that the Spedo is an excellent case for the money. For those of you who have spent most of your money on upgrading to the X58 platform but still need a case on a budget, the Antec Nine Hundred Series worked very well for us during thermal testing. If you already have a case like the Cooler Master 830 Stacker or Cosmos 1000, then you are set.
Cooling is provided via the Vigor Monsoon III and allows us to reach 4.0GHz~4.1GHz on air-cooling. Our other coolers from Thermaltake, Thermalright, and Cooler Master offer similar performance. CoolIT Systems has provided their updated Freezone Elite to handle overclocking duties when we push our CPUs and GPUs to the limit in part two. Storage duties come via the superb WD Black Edition 1TB drive. Power delivery is provided by the Corsair 1000HX PSU.
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whb456 - Monday, April 20, 2009 - link
They should be paying you for all the hard work you're doing for them. ;-)rreuscher - Thursday, February 19, 2009 - link
Hi,I don't know if this the right place to post this comment, but I try it.
I read that you always perform DPC latency tests in all your reviews, I'm missing this results for this Gigabyte X58-UD5 board.
I build last week a system with an i7/920 CPU (Bios F4) but the DPC latency is a nightmare (my dual core 4 year old laptop outperforms this system). I'm using/intended this machine for dedicated Real Time Audio production, which means I need a steady DPC latency.
The system shows very low DPC latency values with WIN XP and hyperthreading off (about 4 us), but with constantly spikes reaching up to 8000 us, and this is a killer.
Did you did some testing on this also ?
Kind regards, Rene Reuscher
sahina - Tuesday, January 27, 2009 - link
I am looking for 4GB memory sticks for this board but the only one in QVL is S10C1 4GB Samsung M378B5273BH1-CF8 DS Samsung K4B2G0846B HCF8. This is DDR3 1066. I can not find it for sale in the market.Has anyone tested this board with 24GB RAM?
Twoboxer - Monday, January 26, 2009 - link
Anand, your comments represent a start, but . . .If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. Unfortunately, there is very little grey area between "reviewer" and "shill".
1) Ask mfgs to submit samples by Date X.
2) Test until the board will go no further.*
3) Publish report.
4) Rinse and repeat to recognize and publicize improvements, if any.
* If you want to make ONE phone call to each manufacturer, fine.
Allowing mfgs to cherry-pick parts is concession/advantage enough. ONE phone call is honorable. More than that is a disservice to your readers, and denies you your supposed purpose as a reviewer. The time saved during your first review will more than cover rinse/repeat.
In practice I can often get a better idea of what parts to buy after reading a couple of dozen consumer in-use reviews on, for example, Newegg.
You may find it painful or difficult to change course, but you are now at least on the right path. IMO, you can either continue on the return path to "reviewer", or watch Newegg become the de facto replacement for much of your work.
aussie greg - Saturday, January 24, 2009 - link
I want to join the chorus of 'cFoo' and probably many others.What you [Anand] have to say about all the 'SNAFU'S' relating to these boards, have been going on with many other boards for years, My Asus P5 would not work until the 3rd bios update and then failed shotly after...by the time it was replaced updates had reached 12...in 10 months! I was without a fully working mobo for 7 months!
It's not good enough, it's actually pathetic dishonest performance by the manufacturers and probably worth investigating by a relevant govt. authority. Anandtech...and others, should bite the bullet and name names, in detail.
Maybe if some of these companies got the kick up the arse [with apologies] they deserve, we consumers would be better off.
Ausssie Greg
Eru The One - Tuesday, January 20, 2009 - link
I have been pouring over reviews for the last three days comparing any x58 motherboard review I can find. I feel i've narrowed my choice down to the Gigabyte Extreme but I have yet to see anyone comparing DFI's new x58 against anything.I think I should wait before I see someone doing this before I make my final choice. Can you guys at AnandTech help me out here?
tyaiyama - Wednesday, December 17, 2008 - link
I am planning to build a system using P6T Deluxe:Pro: ATX form factor not E-ATX(previously?)
PATA is implemented by Marvel 88SE6111
Dual GbE
Triple channel DDR3
True16+2 Phase Power Design
100% High-quality Japan-made Conductive Polymer Capacitors
Con: Max memory 12 GB
3rd PCIe 2.0 x16 (not usable)
SAS Onboard
Some people may say FDD connector is not necessary, but I need it. I use SATA for all drives; thus I actually do not need PATA, but just in case. Triple channel DDR3 4GB module will be available next month. Since i7 is the memory controller at the same time, what maximum size does it support? I know it is at least 128GB. Through BIOS upgrade, can we use 24GB or more memory in P6T?
cFoo - Sunday, December 14, 2008 - link
Anand, I hope one day you will decide to let the cat out of the bag. Post all the problems and the manufacturer's name beside them. I understand that would risk them from giving you exclusive early access to the boards. But we desperate need accountability. You cannot let them stomp all over fair and accurate journalism.Accountability now! I'm sick of spending $300+ dollar and waiting 1-2 months for fixes. If I wanted to do that, I'll rather wait 1-2 months to buy the board for $100 cheaper!
mwm - Friday, December 12, 2008 - link
Thanks, Anand; I really appreciate the valuable info regarding your experience with partially-DOA motherboards. Where else would be get this information? How many hours would it take a builder to run down the problem? We don't have the bench or knowledge resources to do that. So we are just screwed.Keep up the good work. (I'd even like to see a cheat-sheet on exactly what did not work on a board: a little embarrassment and no sale from guys like myself might prompt them to pay more attention.)
Yours,
mwm
woodworker72 - Wednesday, December 10, 2008 - link
What happened to the Rampage II review? I see the detailed review of the P6 from ASUS. There was a review a few weeks ago that lacked details due to legal restrictions, but what about now? Thanks!