The March 2010 launch of Intel's hexa-core Core i7-980X gave us a good reason to revisit the LGA 1366 interface. Today, we're looking at four new X58 Express-based motherboards that tie USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s support in to Intel's flagship platform.
Many people assume newer is better, but that’s not always true when it comes to processor interfaces. The high-end LGA 1366 platform launched with Intel’s Nehalem architecture in 2008, and the mainstream LGA 1156 platform that followed nearly a year later wasn’t designed to match the connectivity needs of a high-end market.
Yet, by the time new technologies like USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s were available to the public, the market was treating Intel’s high-end platform like a has-been, despite the fact that it continues to offer the PCI Express 2.0 needed for both capabilities.
The problem with LGA 1156 is its lack of PCI Express 2.0 connectivity. Most gamers won't want to sacrifice any of the processor’s sixteen 5.0 Gb/s lanes for an add-in controller, since doing so steals bandwidth from the graphics card. And the PCI Express lanes that come from Intel's P55, H57, and H55 controller hubs only run at the PCIe 1.1 data rate, severely bottlenecking performance.
While some manufacturers initially tried to sneak away the graphics cards lanes, and others used a bridge device to connect four 2.5 Gb/s lanes to two 5.0 Gb/s controllers, true enthusiasts knew that the only “perfect” way to add those high-performance controllers would be to simply use a platform with more true PCI Express 2.0 connectivity.
Fortunately, X58 already has 36 PCIe 2.0 pathways, allowing up to 32 to be devoted to graphics, while four serve other needs. Those other needs can include 5.0 Gb/s USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s (at 5.0 Gb/s max). But X58 needed a new high-end processor to help thrust it back into the spotlight. That product came six weeks ago with the introduction of Intel’s six-core Core i7-980X processor.
Now that people are finally taking second (and third) looks at the X58, let’s see what these new-for-2010 motherboard’s have to offer.
Here’s a quick comparison chart of the available BIOS settings each motherboard provides to assist overclocking and related performance optimizations.
BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking)
Though some boards have broader adjustments than others, we normally reach the limits of our hardware at BIOS settings far below the maximum. Part of that is due to a very early C0 stepping CPU core that we’ve used consistently to provide comparable overclocking data for all of our X58 motherboard roundups.
The motherboards with 16-phase and 24-phase CPU power regulators push our old CPU beyond 4.1 GHz, while those with eight-phase units settle under that mark.
Asus takes the lead in maximum base clock by a mere 1 MHz. Both $200 motherboards reach the same speed, but ASRock takes the lead alphabetically.
Asus also takes the lead in memory speed. Greater numbers might have been achieved using Gulftown’s improved memory controller.
Lower idle power gives Gigabyte a small lead in the power consumption test, which is sorted by the average of idle and full-load tests.
Elaborate heat sinks and additional power phases appear to help the more expensive boards dissipate heat more effectively.
The P6X58D-E’s slightly higher-than-standard base clock might have helped it a little in the benchmarks, but returned no favors in efficiency. Gigabyte wins with both boards.
The addition of USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s controllers is nothing more than an evolutionary step in X58 motherboard design, and all of today’s boards used the same parts to address these technologies. Aside from those updates, frankly, none of today’s motherboards stood out in any technically-interesting way compared to previous-generation parts. The Asus and Gigabyte solutions aren't able to accommodate three double-slot graphics cards within an ATX case’s seven-slot confines, and ASRock even centered its third slot on PCIe 1.1 connectivity in order to free up a couple PCIe 2.0 lanes for its new onboard controllers. The performance difference between the Asus and Gigabyte boards falls within the 0.7% difference in base clock.
Yet, while none of the technology strikes us as exceptionally new, one product stood out by providing a great amount of it for an incredibly low price. Gigabyte’s X58A-UD3R has nearly as many onboard features as its “big brother,” but costs around $150 less. The X58A-UD3R even offers more features than Asus’ mid-priced P6X58D-E, for a price roughly equal to ASRock’s lower-cost model. With consideration for the price premium that normally accompanies X58-based products, we simply haven’t seen a motherboard value this good since November of last year. That level of value earns the X58A-UD3R an award.
Meanwhile, there’s the problematic ASRock X58 Extreme3. We’ll keep this particular board close at hand in case ASRock finds a solution for what we think is probably a BIOS woe. Users who like the X58 Extreme3 and want to follow ASRock’s response should bookmark this page to look for any further updates.
