Chipset intel x58 ich10r. Huanan X58 and its clones are the most budget lga1366 boards. Studying BIOS Setup

Introduction

Sometimes it makes sense to be patient and wait. When they appeared last November high-end Intel Core i7 processors, the motherboards that supported them were expensive and relatively immature compared to today's models. Many manufacturers have taken the following approach to introducing support for the X58 architecture: the most expensive models enter the market first. And buyers who don't mind sacrificing some features will find that the latest mainstream motherboards are more reliable than their high-end predecessors.

We observed this development process when testing first high-end platforms based on the X58 chipset starting at $300 and then motherboards from mid-price category ($200-300), and hoped to see further progress in “budget” models costing around $200. But circumstances made adjustments to our plans: prices slowly crept up.

Testing the overclocking capabilities of seven motherboards dragged on for several weeks, but during this time the price fluctuations did not stop. Recent price increases on some motherboards would have eliminated two models from our roundup of sub-$200 platforms if the price increases had occurred before testing began. One of the companies even gave us two models to choose from, and the board we chose exceeded the price limit, but the second one did not. Since we were forced to add such a disclaimer, we took special care to evaluate the performance-to-cost ratio of these models.

comparison table

	ASRock X58 Extreme (Revision 1.01)	Asus P6T SE (Revision 1.01G)	ECS X58B-A (Revision 1.0)
North Bridge	Intel X58 Express	Intel X58 Express	Intel X58 Express
South Bridge	Intel ICH10R	Intel ICH10R	Intel ICH10R
Voltage regulator	8-phase	8-phase	6-phase
BIOS	1.0 (06/11/2009)	0403 (05/19/2009)	080015 (03/23/2009)
Base frequency 133.3 MHz	133.9 MHz (+0.425%)	133.6 MHz (+0.20%)	133.3 MHz (+0.00%)
Clock generator	ICS 9LPRS918JKLF	ICS 9LPRS918JKLF	IDT CV193CPAG
PCIe 2.0 x16	3 (x16/x16/x4)	3 (x16/x16/x4)	2 (x16/x16)
PCIe x1/x4	2/0	1/0	2/1
PCI	2	2	1
USB 2.0	2 (4 ports)	3 (6 ports)	3 (6 ports)
IEEE-1394	1	1	1
Serial port	1	No	1
Parallel port	No	No	No
Drive	1	No	No
Ultra ATA-133	1 (2 drives)	1 (2 drives)	No
SATA 3 Gb/s	6	6	6
4-pin for cooler	2	1	2
3-pin for fan	3	3	2
	Yes	Yes	Yes
CD Audio Input	Yes	Yes	Yes
S/PDIF	Only way out	Only way out	Only way out
Power button	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reset button	Yes	No	Yes
Clear CMOS button	Jumper only	Jumper only	Jumper only
Diagnostic display	2-character	No	2-character
PS/2	2	2	2
USB 2.0	7	6	6
IEEE-1394	1	1	1
RJ45 Ethernet	1	1	1
eSATA	1	1	2
Clear CMOS button	Yes	No	Yes
Digital audio output	Optical + coaxial	Optical + coaxial	Optic
Digital audio input	No	No	No
Analog audio ports	6	6	5
Drive controllers
Intel ICH10R	6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s	6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s	6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s
RAID Modes	0, 1, 5, 10	0, 1, 5, 10	0, 1, 5, 10
Additional SATA	JMB380 PCIe 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s	JMB363 PCIe 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s	JMB362 PCIe 2x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s
Optional Ultra ATA	VT6330 PCIe	JMB363 PCIe	No
IEEE-1394
	VT6330 PCIe 2x 400 Mbit/s	VT6315N PCIe 2x 400 Mbit/s	VT6308P PCI 2x 400 Mbit/s
Net
Primary Network Controller	RTL8111DL PCIe	RTL8111C PCIe	RTL8111C PCIe
Second network controller	No	No	RTL8111C PCIe
Sound
HD Audio Codec	ALC890B	ALC1200	ALC888S

	Foxconn FlamingBlade (Revision 1.0)	Gigabyte EX58-UD3R (Revision 1.6)	Jetway BI-600 (Revision 1.0)	MSI X58 Pro-E (Revision 3.1)
North Bridge	Intel X58 Express	Intel X58 Express	Intel X58 Express	Intel X58 Express
South Bridge	Intel ICH10R	Intel ICH10R	Intel ICH10R	Intel ICH10R
Voltage regulator	6-phase	6-phase	6-phase	5-phase
BIOS	P05 (04/13/2009)	FB (05/04/2009)	A03 (05/15/2009)	8.2 (04/20/2009)
Base frequency 133.3 MHz	133.7 MHz (+0.28%)	133.0 MHz (-0.25%)	133.0 MHz (-0.25%)	133.8 MHz (+0.35%)
Clock generator	ICS 9LPRS139AKLF	ICS 9LPRS914EKLF	ICS 9LPRS139AKLF	ICS 9LPRS133BKLF
Connectors and interfaces on the board
PCIe 2.0 x16	2 (x16/x16)	2 (x16/x16)	4 (2x x16 or 4x x8)	3 (x16/x16/x4)
PCIe x1/x4	1/1	2/1	0/1	2/0
PCI	2	2	1	2
USB 2.0	2 (4 ports)	2 (4 ports)	2 (4 ports)	3 (6 ports)
IEEE-1394	No	1	No	1
Serial port	No	1	1	1
Parallel port	No	No	No	No
Drive	1	1	1	No
Ultra ATA-133	1 (2 drives)	1 (2 drives)	1 (2 drives)	1 (2 drives)
SATA 3 Gb/s	6	8	6	7
4-pin for cooler	1	2	1	1
3-pin for fan	2	4	2	3
Front panel audio connectors	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CD Audio Input	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
S/PDIF	Only way out	Input + output	Only way out	Only way out
Power button	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Reset button	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Clear CMOS button	Yes	Jumper	Yes	Yes
Diagnostic display	2-character	No	2-character	No
Connectors and interfaces on the I/O panel
PS/2	1	2	2	2
USB 2.0	6	8	8	6
IEEE-1394	No	1	No	1
RJ45 Ethernet	2	2	2	1
eSATA	2	No	2	1
Clear CMOS button	Yes	No	Yes	No
Digital audio output	Optic	Optical + coaxial	Coaxial	Optic
Digital audio input	No	No	No	No
Analog audio ports	6	6	6	6
Drive controllers
Intel ICH10R	6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s	6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s	6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s	6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s
RAID Modes	0, 1, 5, 10	0, 1, 5, 10	0, 1, 5, 10	0, 1, 5, 10
Additional SATA	JMB363 PCIe 2x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s	JMB363 PCIe 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s	JMB363 PCIe 2x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s	JMB363 PCIe 1x SATA 3.0 Gb/s 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s
Optional Ultra ATA	JMB363 PCIe	JMB363 PCIe	JMB363 PCIe	JMB363 PCIe
IEEE-1394
	No	TSB43AB23 PCI 3x 400 Mbit/s	No	JMB381 PCIe 2x 400 Mbit/s
Net
Primary Network Controller	RTL8111C PCIe	RTL8111C PCIe	RTL8111C PCIe	RTL8111C PCIe
Second network controller	RTL8111C PCIe	No	RTL8111C PCIe	No
Sound
HD Audio Codec	ALC888	ALC888	ALC888	ALC889

Unlike the previously tested motherboard X58 SuperComputer, ASRock X58 Extreme can support up to two graphics cards in SLI or CrossFire mode. Both slots receive full bandwidth PCI Express 2.0 x16.

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This combination gives the X58 Extreme motherboard amazing flexibility for expansion, as many of today's competitors have sacrificed such a seven-slot design. ASRock has even made sure that the northbridge heatsink doesn't interfere with installing a long x1 card in the top slot, although you have to be careful to make sure that protruding parts of the card (like a resistor) don't come into contact with the heatsink.

By moving the memory slots, both power sockets, and several front panel connectors closer to the front top edge of the board, the X58 Extreme could have the most comfortable layout we've seen in years, with just one drawback: the drive connector is located in completely awkward lower back corner. But Windows XP users will certainly need a disk drive to install RAID drivers during installation operating system.

The two-character Port-80 diagnostic display and power and reset buttons are located in the lower front corner. Although these elements will not be available in a fully assembled system, they are very helpful during testing. ASRock has placed the clear CMOS button on the rear I/O panel so that it can be easily used even after installing the X58 Extreme motherboard in the case.

BIOS

The main frequencies and multipliers can be adjusted in the "Chipset Settings" submenu on the "Advanced" tab, although selecting the XMP (Extreme Memory Profile) profile does not produce the expected effect. Profile information is convenient to use during manual configuration.

Enabling the "Flexibility Option" will allow the motherboard to override memory speed settings. The "ASRock VDrop Control" option is much more useful for overclockers, since it increases the CPU voltage whenever high loads cause it to drop.

The DRAM Timing Control menu is not as confusing as some of ASRock's competitors, although most users only need four basic delay settings. Important, that auto mode for each setting allows you to configure only those timings with which the user is familiar.

The CPU voltage can be set by adding to the standard processor voltage or specified directly. The list of customizable items is small, but contains all the settings that most overclockers need.

Motherboard BIOS ASRock boards The X58 Extreme allows you to store three separate user profiles in "User Defaults".

Accessories

Click on the picture to enlarge.

The ASRock X58 Extreme accessory set is one of the few indications that this motherboard costs only $170 (from 7 thousand rubles in Russia). ASRock included only four SATA cables with its six-port board, but added an SLI bridge.

Using the same PCB as the model P6T In the mid-range price range, the Asus P6T SE removes very few features but adds significant money savings.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Asus P6T SE motherboard layout is as good as the model P6T, but we still think the board would have benefited if Asus had positioned the two (blue) PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots at least one more slot space away from each other. White long slot is still limited throughput x4, but it is ideal for a low-end graphics card or a high-bandwidth RAID controller.

We continue to take issue with the traditional bottom-rear placement of the front-panel audio ports, as it makes routing cables to the top bays of tower cases very difficult. Some of Asus's competitors, fortunately, have already moved away from this tradition.

Asus is one of the few companies that provides support for both LGA 1366 and LGA 775 CPU coolers. This could be a particularly valuable addition for all those users who want to upgrade from the LGA 775 socket without spending large sums of money on a replacement already existing water cooling system.

BIOS

All frequencies, voltages and BIOS delays are indicated in the summary table in the "Overclocking" section.

Using the same printed circuit board, as the more expensive P6T, allowed the P6T SE to also use the same BIOS, although Asus has updated it since we tested P6T .

Intel XMP Profile works exactly as we'd expect on all Asus motherboards we've tested, which isn't the case with some competing models. However, overclockers, even with little experience, can easily set the memory voltage and delays manually.

The voltage settings are more detailed than you'd expect from an X58 chipset board costing around $200, but most of the added settings are rarely used. Extreme overclockers will love this, but the settings for other components aren't as detailed.

In the "DRAM Timing Control" menu we again see unusually extensive memory settings. Fortunately, the user can set some settings manually and leave the rest in automatic mode.

Asus EZ Flash 2 supports updating BIOS firmware using its own interface, eliminating the need for boot disks. In contrast to this useful feature is the automatically enabled Express Gate feature, which increases boot time without adding functionality. Neither the P6T SE nor the P6T has an Express Gate module.

Accessories

Click on the picture to enlarge.

The P6T SE doesn't come with any CrossFire or SLI bridges, and only four SATA cables.

Note: Asus recently updated the information on its website about the P6T SE board to remove references to SLI compatibility.

Before writing our review, the ECS X58B-A motherboard cost around $200, but now in online stores you can buy it for about $220 (from 6.5 thousand rubles in Russia). We still included this model in today's review, since we have already tested it. We hope the price drops below $200 again.

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A quick look at the X58B-A model showed that it differs from a typical motherboard with Core i7 architecture no more than $200 only in the presence of a second network controller, although according to this criterion two more boards can be distinguished. Other enthusiast-oriented features, such as a two-character Port 80 diagnostic display, on-board power and reset buttons, and a clear CMOS button on the I/O panel, are found on several other competing models.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

ECS has gotten rid of some legacy components that are still found on most motherboards, such as the Ultra ATA interface and the floppy drive connector. Ultra ATA is of no use in new builds, and getting rid of it saves money and space on the board, but the drive is still needed by Windows XP users to install RAID drivers when installing the operating system. It is also worth noting that the disk drive interface practically does not entail any costs, since the corresponding controller is still present in the multi-I/O chip.

The layout of the X58 Express northbridge limits the X58B-A to six expansion slots, and in the place of the topmost slot is an additional power connector. This allows the CPU socket and memory slots to be moved back about a centimeter from the top edge of the board, although the only advantage of this arrangement, in our opinion, may be easier routing of traces and additional space between the large CPU cooler and the power supply mounted on top.

The northbridge's thirty-six PCIe 2.0 lanes are split between two full-bandwidth x16 slots and one x4 slot. The x16 slots are spaced two slot positions apart to provide more ventilation for the graphics cards. The x4 slot becomes more practical if it can accommodate a long expansion card, but ECS disappointed us by using a slot with a "closed" end. If there was an “open” x4 slot here, then you could connect an x8 RAID card or a third video card in x4 mode to it.

The lack of an Ultra ATA interface and a floppy drive connector leaves us with less to complain about the X58B-A's layout, but we still don't like the placement of the front-panel audio ports in the bottom-rear corner. In addition, we must once again remind you that SATA ports, deployed at an angle of 90 degrees to the surface of the board, can be blocked by the lower bays of traditionally designed cases, although most ATX cases have already taken this problem into account and corrected it.

BIOS

All frequencies, voltages and BIOS delays are indicated in the summary table in the "Overclocking" section.

The ECS X58B-A motherboard's "M.I.B II" menu contains a fairly short list of overclocking settings, but some of them are confusing. For example, increasing the "Performance Level" setting can actually slow down the processor speed, as the "Ultra" setting reduces the CPU multiplier to 12x and locks the CPU voltage to 1.25V.

In fact, changing the "Performance Level" value is generally the only way changes in the CPU multiplier, and we were forced to use this setting to evaluate the system bus overclocking capabilities of the X58B-A board.

The X58B-A provides a full range of memory settings, but setting values ​​above DDR3-1333 requires manually increasing the Uncore Ratio so that its value is at least twice as high as the memory frequency. Additionally, the board will not boot at memory frequencies below 1600 MHz unless the "eXtreme Memory Profile" is selected, and using one of these increases the memory voltage to a CPU-dangerous 1.76 V! The X58B-A is one of only two X58 motherboards we tested at DDR3-1600 instead of the DDR3-1866 typically used in Core i7 board reviews.

Accessories

The X58B-A supports both SLI and CrossFire, but surprisingly only includes a CrossFire bridge. The reason we're surprised is that SLI-capable video cards rarely (if ever) come with an SLI bridge, while CrossFire-capable video cards usually come with bridges.

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We were also surprised that the package included a full set of six SATA cables and an eSATA cable. Most manufacturers of boards in this price range remove several cables to save money.

Inexpensive overclockable motherboard Foxconn board Available in two versions: the one we took for testing, and the cheaper "FlamingBlade GTI". Foxconn gave us the opportunity to choose any version of the board for our review, but it seems we made the wrong choice, since the price of the model we tested increased from $199 to $210 - up to 7.1 thousand rubles in Russia).

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Similar to the ECS board, the Foxconn FlamingBlade supports two graphics cards that will be spaced two slots apart, increasing airflow to the top card's cooler. Like ECS, Foxconn uses a closed-ended x4 slot, which means it won't be able to connect a third graphics card or x8 RAID card in x4 mode. Unlike ECS, Foxconn retained the Ultra ATA interface and drive connector, sacrificing IEEE-1394 FireWire to reduce costs and save space.

It's been a while since we've seen straight-facing SATA connectors on Foxconn boards. This allows the FlamingBlade to be used in cramped ATX cases that place the hard drive bay close to the front edge of the motherboard. Foxconn has positioned the SATA ports so that they do not interfere with the connection of long video cards: above the center line of the top x16 slot. This arrangement limits the length of x1 slot cards to 20 cm, although this is usually sufficient.

The presence of mounts for both LGA 1366 and LGA 775 makes motherboard FlamingBlade is the best choice for upgrading older high-end systems.

However, it's not just FireWire support that's missing. FlamingBlade only supports three memory modules; the manufacturer has removed the second set of three DIMM slots that most competitors have. Simplified track layout can affect memory speed, so in overclocking tests we expect excellent speed from the FlamingBlade.

Speaking about the layout, we cannot fail to mention possible problems installations. The FlamingBlade has two such problems: the front-panel audio connector and floppy drive connector are located on the far bottom corner, making it difficult to route cables.

BIOS

All frequencies, voltages and BIOS delays are indicated in the summary table in the "Overclocking" section.

The "Quantum BIOS" menu contains CPU settings, memory latencies and voltage levels, distributed across different submenus; the main frequency settings are at home page. The "OC Gear" submenu provides eight profiles for saving custom BIOS configurations. The only major feature we didn't find was the PCI Express frequency setting.

FlamingBlade provides automatic options for all memory timings, so the user can only configure those he knows.

There are no automatic settings for voltage settings, but the default values ​​listed in the right panel can help overclockers who inadvertently select the wrong value.

Accessories

Click on the picture to enlarge.

The FlamingBlade ships with one angled and three straight SATA cables, but no drive cable. The included documentation only makes the kit more complete in appearance.

With three FireWire ports, four memory slots and seven expansion slots, motherboard Gigabyte board EX58-UD3R is very similar to a high-end Core 2 model. However, the LGA 1366 socket for Core processors i7 hints that we are looking at a completely different “fruit”.

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Both PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots support full bandwidth. Gigabyte even provides an "open" x4 slot. Unfortunately, the battery does not allow inserting a card longer than x4 into this open-ended slot. It's a shame that, unlike the EX58-UD3R, the X58B-A and FlamingBlade boards don't have such a slot, because they have room for long x4 interface cards, while the EX58-UD3R doesn't.

Another problem concerns the x1 slot: it is blocked by the heatsink of the X58 Express northbridge, so a seemingly seven-slot board in practice turns out to be a six-slot one, at least until someone releases a 7cm long PCIe x1 card that will fit there.

Windows XP users who need to install RAID drivers during installation of the operating system will complain that yet another manufacturer has pushed the drive connector to the far bottom corner. Another complaint is that the Ultra ATA connector is too low on the board to allow the cable to reach the top bay for the optical drive, but the Ultra ATA interface is no longer so relevant.

The rest of the connectors are well placed, including the header for the front panel audio ports, which is located just before the rear I/O panel audio connectors.

Instead of eSATA, Gigabyte placed additional SATA ports on the front of the board. This allows builders to choose between front panel eSATA connectors and SATA to eSATA pigtail connectors. However, looking ahead, let's say that this time such a “pigtail” is not included in the EX58-UD3R package.

BIOS

All frequencies, voltages and BIOS delays are indicated in the summary table in the "Overclocking" section.

The MB Intelligent Tweaker menu provides access to a wide range of frequencies and voltages that can satisfy the requirements of most overclockers.

The "Advanced Clock Controls" menu contains the "drive strength" and "clock skew" settings.

In the "Advanced DRAM Features" menu there is an "XMP Profiles" setting, which does not work as we expected, but it is perfectly possible to configure the memory manually. Memory delays are adjustable on a per-channel basis, but if you want to save time, there are automatic values ​​available for you.

Advanced voltage settings include the currently popular (among manufacturers) memory voltage references, although we doubt many users will need them.

Accessories

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Like other motherboards priced in the $200 range, the EX58-UD3R's package could just as easily be described by what's not there. The board only comes with basic accessories, and those users who want eSATA will really miss the SATA to eSATA pigtail.

The cheapest motherboard in this review with two gigabit network ports- Jetway BI-600 - is the only one of the three whose cost did not exceed $200 after the recent price increase. Another unexpected feature is two eSATA ports (instead of one), although Jetway has removed FireWire to save money.

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Thus, the user gets a variety of graphics options: from using the full bandwidth of 16 PCIe 2.0 lanes for one or two video cards (including CrossFire and SLI modes) to x8 lanes in 2.0 mode for four video cards (including Quad SLI and CrossFireX modes) to support a huge number of monitors with five cards. Different combinations can be used because this technology High-bandwidth PCIe also applies to high-end RAID controllers and other expansion cards. Builders just need to keep in mind that each black x16 long slot shares lines with the red slot above it, so if the black slot is not used, all 16 lines will be given to the corresponding red slot.

We're surprised Jetway can afford to use all these PCIe lane switches without increasing the cost of the BI-600 card, since none of its competitors have done so. It doesn't look like the manufacturer skimped on other components, as the BI-600 features a six-phase voltage regulator, six memory slots, a Port 80 diagnostic display, and on-board power/reset/clear CMOS buttons.

One odd thing about the layout is the large distance between the CPU socket and the X58 Express northbridge, which seems to be done to provide extra space for the ring-shaped heatpipe. The socket has been moved closer to the top edge of the motherboard, but the same cannot be said for the memory slots; There are concerns about this board's ability to support high-speed memory above Intel's stated maximum of DDR3-1333. We spent a lot of time on overclocking, and DDR3-1866 support is the minimum requirement to achieve the same performance as previously tested X58 motherboards.

All of our complaints about the layout concern the bottom edge of the board. Let's start with the far bottom corner: the front-panel audio connector causes cable connection difficulties in cases where the ports are located on the top panel. Further, the drive connector is located so far from the typical location of external 3.5" bays that many cables simply will not reach here. And finally, the Ultra ATA connector is located under the bottom x16 slot, which means that the cable will have to be pulled around the video card connected to this slot The Ultra ATA connector is unlikely to be used on new systems, but Windows XP is still used on some machines, so a disk drive will be needed to install RAID drivers.

BIOS

All frequencies, voltages and BIOS delays are indicated in the summary table in the "Overclocking" section.

The BIOS of the BI-600 motherboard is the most modest in this review: there is not even a CPU Uncore voltage setting. Due to the lack automatic settings, the "Uncore Frequency" value must be manually set to twice the "Memory Frequency" value for any changes to the memory frequency to be effective.

The lack of Uncore voltage setting makes it impossible (or nearly impossible) to go beyond DDR3-1600 on a BI-600 board. What's even more shocking is that CPU voltages above 1.275V appear to overload the motherboard's voltage regulators, causing the system to hard reset when the CPU is fully loaded. However, even 1.275V could not be achieved on the CPU core because the actual voltage was 0.20V lower than the set voltage.

Setting Jetway memory delays is an all-or-nothing process since the BI-600 does not provide automatic values ​​for individual timings. If you are afraid to touch parameters such as tRRD and tRFC, you will have to leave everything in automatic mode.

Accessories

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Three x16 PCI Express 2.0 slots support two cards at full bandwidth and a third card in x4 mode. Unlike the similar Asus board layout, MSI has distributed its x16 slots in a x16-x4-x16 pattern to provide additional ventilation for the two large graphics cards in the slots at full bandwidth.

Like the Asus board, the MSI X58 Pro-E does not have a Port 80 diagnostic display.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

MSI removed the “free” drive connector, but left the “costly” Ultra ATA controller, despite the fact that Windows XP is still popular in new builds, unlike Ultra ATA drives. MSI also added one eSATA port via the JMicron JMB363 controller, but while Asus doesn't have any header for this additional internal port, MSI puts it right behind the Ultra ATA connector.

On the X58 Pro-E motherboard, the connector for the front panel audio ports is located in the most inconvenient place (in the far bottom corner, where the cables from the ports located on the top panel of the cases do not reach). MSI added the ability to hardware adjust the bus frequency using three switches, leaving overclocking options through the BIOS. However, the X58 Pro-E does not support legacy LGA 775 coolers, which may cause problems for some users with liquid cooling systems.

BIOS

All frequencies, voltages and BIOS delays are indicated in the summary table in the "Overclocking" section.

MSI has never been a leader in BIOS functionality, but given the high competition in the market, it is not going to compromise on customization options for its inexpensive motherboard. Most of the settings found in best models MSI, transferred to the inexpensive X58 Pro-E board.

IN " Cell Menu"among others contains most of the important voltage settings (VCore-Uncore-DRAM-IOH). Key frequencies and speeds can also be found here.

Memory latencies turned out to be basic, but you can tweak a few advanced features by switching to manual mode in the advanced settings.

The X58 Pro-E can save up to four custom BIOS profiles, and a separate menu allows you to save copies of the BIOS and update it without boot disks.

Accessories

Click on the picture to enlarge.

MSI has included additional documentation to visually enhance its basic package. The X58 Pro-E's specifications list SLI support, but there is no SLI bridge among the accessories. A CrossFire bridge is included, but is usually not needed since most CrossFire graphics cards already come with one.

We ran some old tests and used the same test configuration so that the results can be compared to previous X58 motherboards.

System hardware
CPU	Intel Core i7 920 (2.66 GHz, 8 MB cache)
CPU cooler	Swiftech Apogee GTZ Liquid Cooling
Memory	Kingston KHX16000D3ULT1K3/6GX (6 GB), DDR3-2000 in DDR3-1866 mode CAS 7-8-7-20
Video card	XFX GeForce GTX 285 XXX Edition, 670 MHz GPU, GDDR3-2500
HDD	Western Digital WD5000AAKS, 500 GB, 7200 rpm, SATA 3 Gbit/s, 16 MB cache
Sound	Built-in HD Audio
Net	Built-in Gigabit network controller
power unit	CoolerMaster RS850-EMBA, 850 W, ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V
System software and drivers
OS	Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate x64 SP1
Graphics driver	Nvidia GeForce 181.20 WHQL
Platform Drivers	Intel INF 9.1.0.1007

Kingston DDR3-2000 memory is no longer the fastest we have, but these are the modules we have in stock in two three-channel kits for testing six-module memory configurations. In addition, using Kingston DDR3-2000 modules allowed us to compare the results of this memory overclock with the results of testing previous boards.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Zalman ZM-STF1 thermal paste was chosen due to its excellent thermal characteristics and convenient application method.

To reach the overclocking limit of our Core i7-920 processor, excellent cooling is required. The Swiftech Apogee GTZ cooling head quickly removes heat from the CPU using a powerful MCP-655b pump and a heat exchanger with three 120mm fans.

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Tests and settings

Call of Duty: World at War	Patch 1.1, FRAPS/saved game, High Textures, No anti-aliasing (AA) / No anisotropic filtering (AF), vsync off, Ultra Textures, 4x AA / Max AF, vsync off
Crysis	Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool, Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA, Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 8x AA
Far Cry 2	DirectX 10, Steam Version, in-game benchmark, Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA, Test Set 2: Ultra High Quality, 8x AA
World in Conflict	Patch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemo, Test 1: High Details, No AA / No AF, Test 2: Very High Details 4x AA / 16x AF
Audio
iTunes	Version: 7.7.0.43, Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 min, Default format AAC
Lame MP3	Version: 3.98 Beta 3 (05-22-2007), Audio CD "Terminator II" SE 53 min, wave to MP3
Video
TMPEG 4.5	Version: 4.5.1.254, Import File: "Terminator 2" SE DVD (5 Minutes), Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 6.8.3	Encoding mode: Insane Quality, Enhanced multi-threading enabled using SSE4, Quarter-pixel search
Xvid 1.1.3	Display encoding status = off
Main concept Reference 1.5.1	MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Autodesk 3ds Max 9	Version: 9.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 8	Version: 8.0.134, Virus base: 270.4.5/1533, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
Winrar 3.80	Version 3.70 BETA 8, Compression = Best, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
WinZIP 11	Version 11.2, Compression = Best, Benchmark: THG-Workload (139 MB)
3DMark Vantage	Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark Vantage	Version: 1.00, System, Memory, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
SiSoftware Sandra XII SP2	Version 2008.5.14.24, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark

Test results

The tests are sorted by descending average results, so it's not surprising that the fastest motherboard at the highest test resolution has a higher average result than the board with the highest frames per second at the lowest resolution. Gigabyte motherboard supplants Foxconn in gaming test Call of Duty, despite Foxconn slightly overclocking its base CPU clock speed.

At maximum quality settings, Foxconn beat Gigabyte, but only by the difference in processor clock speed. It is noteworthy that all other motherboards lag far behind in this test. Repeated testing did not help identify the cause, but the difference in the BIOS can explain everything: all thanks to the implementation of the Intel Turbo mode.

The results of the Crysis test are almost the opposite of the Call of Duty results: ECS and Asus are fighting for the top spot with varying degrees of success.

Asus leads all Far Cry 2 tests, but what's impressive is ECS's ability to hold second place without using an overclocked CPU base clock.

In the World in Conflict gaming test, the boards change places all the time, but Asus remains in the leading position.

Apple iTunes inexplicably favors the EX58-UD3R. If it weren't for BIOS quirks, we could expect all of today's samples to encode our audio track within 1 minute 11 seconds.

In Lame encoding, three leaders showed the same result, but Gigabyte mysteriously dropped to the penultimate line. It should be obvious by now that the Jetway BI-600 does not support Intel Turbo mode, a technology that increases the CPU multiplier by one (multi-core operations) or two (single-core operations) steps under high CPU load.

In video encoding in TMPGEnc, the Gigabyte motherboard again took the lead.

In MainConcept H.264, ASRock and Asus boards showed the same result as Gigabyte.

In the 3ds Max 9 application, Gigabyte and ECS motherboards took second place behind the top four.

In the AVG application, the ECS board rose to the top along with Foxconn, while Asus, for unknown reasons, fell even lower than Jetway without Turbo mode. We retested the P6T SE twice to ensure the results were correct.

In WinRAR, the difference in motherboard performance is the largest.

In WinZip, the results do not differ as much as in WinRAR: only the BI-600 board, which does not have this mode, lagged behind motherboards that support the Intel Turbo mode.

In the 3DMark Vantage synthetic test, there is not much difference between X58 motherboards.

The EX58-UD3R edged out the competition in PCMark Vantage. We tested the P6T SE again to double check the result, but it was the same.

In Sandra's synthetic CPU performance test, the top three leaders appear in order, reflecting differences in base clock speeds.

The Gigabyte motherboard's slight lead in memory bandwidth tests may explain some of the board's wins in other tests. ECS and Jetway were at a disadvantage due to the use of DDR3-1600 memory, since both boards were unable to properly run DDR3-1866 at a safe voltage level.

Due to the lack of support for Intel Turbo Boost technology, as well as weak voltage regulators that hold back the board's overclocking, the Jetway BI-600 came out on top in our power consumption tests.

The Gigabyte board has the lowest temperature of the voltage regulators, but the ECS X58B-A and ASRock X58 Extreme turned out to be really hot.

Since efficiency is measured as output per unit of energy, the average output must be determined before calculating average efficiency. In terms of overall performance, the Gigabyte board is in the lead, despite its CPU clock speed being underclocked by 0.25%, while Asus took second place, despite its initial overclocking by 0.20%. The ASRock motherboard was initially overclocked the most (by 0.425%), but only ranked third in overall performance.

Thanks to its lowest power consumption, Jetway BI-600 became the most efficient board despite the performance lag.

Base CPU frequency	100 - 300 MHz (1 MHz)	100 - 500 MHz (1 MHz)	133 - 511 MHz (1 MHz)
Multiplier adjustment	Yes	Yes	No
Memory frequency	BCLK x6 - x16 (x2)	BCLK x6 - x16 (x2)	BCLK x6- x12 (x2)
PCIe frequency	50 - 150 MHz (1 MHz)	100 - 200 MHz (1 MHz)	100 - 200 MHz (1 MHz)
CPU Vcore	0.84 - 2.00 V (6.25 mV)	0.85 - 2.10 V (6.25 mV)	0.50 - 1.60 V (6.25 mV)
Voltage Uncore	1.20 - 1.90 V (70 mV)	1.20 - 1.90 V (6.25 mV)	+481 mV (12.5 mV)
	1.10 - 1.49 V (6.25 mV)	1.10 - 1.70 V (20 mV)	+693 mV (11 mV)
	1.12 - 1.56 V (20 mV)	1.10 - 1.40 V (10 mV)	+150 mV (50 mV)
Memory voltage	1.56 - 2.00 V (15 mV)	1.50 - 2.46 V (20 mV)	+945 mV (15 mV)
CAS delay range	6 - 11	3 - 11	3 - 11
tRCD	3 - 15	3 - 10	3 - 15
tRP	3 - 15	3 - 10	3 - 15
tRAS	9 - 31	3 - 31	9 - 30

Frequencies and voltages in BIOS (for overclocking)
Base CPU frequency	66 - 500 MHz (1 MHz)	100 - 1200 MHz (1 MHz)	133 - 500 MHz (1 MHz)	133 - 400 MHz (1 MHz)
Multiplier adjustment	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Memory frequency	BCLK x6 - x16 (x2)	BCLK x6 - x18 (x2)	BCLK x6 - x16 (x2)	BCLK x6 - x16 (x2)
PCIe frequency	Not regulated	90 - 150 MHz (1 MHz)	Not regulated	100 - 200 MHz (1 MHz)
CPU Vcore	+1260 mV (10 mV)	0.50 - 1.90 V (6.25 mV)	0.80 - 1.55 V (10 mV)	-0.32 - +0.63 V (10 mV)
Voltage Uncore	+1260 mV (10 mV)	1.08 - 2.02 V (20 mV)	Not regulated	0.88 - 1.83 V (10 mV)
North Bridge Voltage (IOH)	1.10 - 2.36 V (20 mV)	1.0 - 2.0 V (20 mV)	1.10 - 1.25 V (50 mV)	0.80 - 2.35 V (10 mV)
South Bridge Voltage (ICH)	1.40 - 1.80 V (12 mV)	0.92 - 2.38 V (20 mV)	Not regulated	0.70 - 2.13 V (10 mV)
Memory voltage	1.50 - 2.86 V (10 mV)	1.30 - 2.60 V (20 mV)	1.50 - 1.65 V (25 mV)	1.20 - 2.477 V (10 mV)
CAS delay range	5 - 15	6 - 15	3 - 18	6 - 12
tRCD	5 - 15	1 - 15	3 - 15	3 - 15
tRP	5 - 15	1 - 15	3 - 15	3 - 15
tRAS	10 - 31	1 - 31	9 - 30	9 - 31

Most enthusiasts do not want to put up with the desire of manufacturers to sell their products at the highest possible prices; for them, the main criterion is that the board must provide stability after overclocking (and, preferably, at the same time cost as little as possible). Let's see how cheap motherboards perform.

If you're willing to put up with some limitations, such as support for a maximum of three memory modules, then the Foxconn FlamingBlade will provide you with exceptional overclocking. If you're looking for more traditional features, you'll love the MSI X58 Pro-E, which came in second place by a small margin when overclocked. The result of overclocking the Jetway BI-600 was affected by the limitations that we have already discussed in detail.

A difference of 2 MHz separates the ECS X58B-A from most competitors in terms of maximum base frequency.

Foxconn and Gigabyte motherboards had the highest memory frequencies, but their inability to support six memory modules placed them at the bottom of the table. Any of these motherboards will good choice for those users who are going to use only one set of memory, but in a configuration with six memory modules the MSI X58 Pro-E board is the leader.

Conclusion

The top-ranked Foxconn FlamingBlade motherboard in terms of overclocking is inferior to the second-place MSI X58 Pro-E when requiring more than three memory slots. When comparing functionality, the FlamingBlade supports a second gigabit network port, and the X58 Pro-E allows you to connect a third x16 card via the x4 slot. Both boards support two PCIe 2.0 x16 slots at full bandwidth, but that's true of any X58 chipset motherboard.

If you're more interested in performance than top-end overclocking, the Gigabyte X58-UD3R is worth a look, with its eight-phase voltage regulator and two ounces of copper layers that help run cooler. It costs the same as the X58 Pro-E model, although it provides slightly less space for memory modules and expansion cards, but the lower operating temperature makes it a reliable board under high loads.

Perhaps the most surprising board for us was the ASRock X58 Extreme, which took third place in both overclocking and performance, although it is the cheapest on the international market. Compared to the MSI X58 Pro-E, the X58 Extreme lacks features, but ASRock has placed greater emphasis on ease of installation by placing the front panel connectors above the centerline of the motherboard. ASRock even included a floppy drive connector to make it easier to install RAID drivers during OS installation Windows systems XP. Additionally, unlike the X58 Pro-E, the X58 Extreme board has a Port 80 diagnostic display.

Supporting up to five graphics cards, the Jetway BI-600 motherboard provides the best combination of features and cost. In addition, this board is the most efficient in terms of performance and power consumption, but only when using a CPU voltage lower than stated. In terms of functionality, this is a very good value board, but we can't recommend it until Jetway seriously works on its BIOS and hopes that the manufacturer will fix the voltage issues.

Since the BI-600 board is out of the game, we give the "site recommend" award to the ASRock X58 Extreme motherboard for its combination of excellent overclocking capabilities, good performance and the lowest cost.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Preface

We all know that, in addition to ordinary motherboards, ASUSTeK company produces a special series of “RoG” (Republic Of Gamers) boards with expanded functionality. However, not everyone still knows that last year a new series “TUF” (The Ultimate Force) appeared in the company’s product range. The boards in this series, in addition to the characteristic design reminiscent of camouflage colors, are distinguished by a cooling system made using a special technology and the use of highly reliable components, which made it possible to increase the warranty period to five years. However, until recently, the “TUF” series could only be called conditionally, since it included a single model - the Asus Sabertooth 55i board, based on the Intel P55 Express logic set. Today we have to study a new motherboard of the “TUF” series - Asus Sabertooth X58. As the name suggests, the board is based on the Intel X58 Express chipset and is designed for LGA1366 processors. However, it is unknown what is new in the design of the board, what are the differences in the BIOS settings, how does the board behave when overclocking the processor and memory, what level of performance and power consumption does it demonstrate? We will now begin to find out the answers to these questions.

Packaging and equipment

Thanks to the color design, the box with motherboard Asus Sabertooth X58 looks like a metal one, but is made of ordinary cardboard.

Inside, in addition to the board itself, there is the following set of components:

four SATA cables with metal latches, two of them with L-shaped connectors, and two more cables with straight ones, one pair is specifically designed for connecting SATA devices 6 GB/s (distinguished by white inserts on the connectors);
flexible bridge for combining two video cards in SLI mode;
plug for the rear panel (I/O Shield);
a set of “Asus Q-Connector” adapters, including modules to simplify the connection of buttons and indicators on the front panel of the system unit and the USB connector;
user guide;
notification of a five-year warranty period in several languages, including Russian;
reliability certificate indicating the testing methods for components;
DVD with software and drivers;
“Powered by ASUS” sticker on system unit.

Design and features

We have already mentioned the unique color scheme used by the “TUF” series boards. The winged logo of the series could easily belong to a special forces unit, and the combination of shades of black, green and brown is reminiscent of camouflage.

The unusual appearance of the radiators of the cooling system immediately attracts attention. They don't just feel rough, they actually feel rough to the touch! According to the manufacturer, the special ceramic coating of CeraM!X radiators dissipates heat better than conventional metal radiators, due to a larger dispersion area.

Basically, the board's capabilities are determined by the Intel X58 Express chipset on which it is based. All modern LGA1366 processors and three-channel architecture are supported random access memory. The total amount of memory that can be gained using six modules reaches 24 GB. Two connectors for video cards operate at full PCI Express 2.0 x16 speed, combining cards in SLI and CrossFireX modes is supported, while the third connector has four PCI-E lanes left. The Intel ICH10R south bridge with the ability to build RAID arrays 0, 1, 5 or 10 provides the connection of six SATA 3 GB/s drives.

The capabilities of the still flagship, but already quite old by the standards of the computer industry, logic set are expanded by a number of additional controllers. The Marvell 88SE9128 chip adds two SATA 6 GB/s ports, IEEE1394 (FireWire) support is provided by the VIA VT6308P, with the help of the NEC D720200F1 two appeared on the rear panel USB port 3.0, and based on JMicron JMB362, eSATA and Power eSATA ports are implemented. By the way, we have already seen Power eSATA ports on different motherboards more than once, and they were all combined. Power for the external SATA device was supplied via the USB bus and, if desired, the Combo eSATA/USB connector can be used to connect not only eSATA, but also USB devices. On Asus boards, the Power eSATA connector is not a combined connector; it allows you to connect only external SATA devices, but not USB.

The complete list of connectors on the rear panel of the board is as follows:

PS/2 connector for connecting a keyboard or mouse;
eight USB ports, including a pair of USB 3.0 (blue connectors), implemented thanks to the NEC D720200F1 controller, and six more can be connected to three internal connectors on the board;
optical S/PDIF, as well as six analog audio connectors, which are provided by the eight-channel Realtek ALC892 codec;
IEEE1394 (FireWire) port, implemented on the basis of the VIA VT6308P controller, the second port can be found as a connector on the board;
Power eSATA 3 GB/s (green) and eSATA 3 GB/s ports, made possible by the JMicron JMB362 controller;
LAN connector (the network adapter is built on a Realtek RTL8110SC gigabit controller).

The diagram allows us to notice a number of characteristic features of Asus motherboards, which the Asus Sabertooth X58 was not deprived of. Jumpers that expand the voltage ranges on the processor and memory; the MemOK! button, which allows you to overcome memory-related problems when starting the board; Q-Led LEDs, with the help of which it is easy to determine the source of problems at startup. Summary list technical characteristics The boards are represented by the following table:

Studying BIOS Setup

Only a relatively small group of readers are interested in the capabilities that motherboard BIOS provide, the list of available options and the intervals for changing parameters. Most people simply skip this chapter of the article. Therefore, BIOS snapshots with our comments are placed on a separate page, where everyone interested can familiarize themselves with them without any problems, and the rest can safely continue reading the next chapter of this review.

Review of BIOS capabilities of the Asus Sabertooth X58 board

Test system configuration

All experiments were carried out on a test system including the following set of components:

Motherboard - Asus Sabertooth X58, rev. 1.02 (LGA1366, Intel X58 Express, BIOS version 0603);
Processor - Intel Core i7-930 (2.8 GHz, Bloomfield D0);
Memory - 3 x 1024 MB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1866, KHX14900D3T1K3/3GX, (1866 MHz, 9-9-9-27, supply voltage 1.65 V);
Video card - HIS HD 5850, H585F1GDG ( ATI Radeon HD 5850, Cypress, 40nm, 725/4000 MHz, 256-bit GDDR5 1024 MB);
Disk subsystem - Kingston SSD Now V+ Series (SNVP325-S2, 128 GB);
Optical drives - DVD±RW Sony NEC Optiarc AD-7173A;
Cooling system - Scythe Mugen 2 Revision B (SCMG-2100);
Thermal paste - Zalman CSL 850;
Power supply - CoolerMaster RealPower M850 (RS-850-ESBA);
Housing - open test bench based on the Antec Skeleton body.

The operating system used was Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (Microsoft Windows, Version 6.1, Build 7600), a set of drivers for the Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility 9.1.1.1025, and a video card driver - ATI Catalyst 10.9.

Features of operation and overclocking

We did not have any comments regarding the operation of the Asus Sabertooth X58 board in nominal mode. The assembly of the test system was successful and without difficulties, the operating system was installed, and at rest the processor reduced the frequency and voltage.

For full functionality of energy-saving modes and Intel Turbo Boost technology, we enabled the “Intel C-STATE Tech” parameter in the BIOS, so with a light load on only one core, the processor multiplier increased to x23, and with a higher load, up to x22.

However, already in the initial phase of overclocking the processor, we encountered serious difficulties - the board always started and successfully passed POST, but invariably restarted at the stage of loading the operating system. At first, we believed that the problem lay in the incorrect function of increasing the voltage on the processor in the “Offset” mode, when it is not fixed at a constant value, as in the “Manual” mode, but is only added to the nominal one, which allows Intel’s processor energy-saving technologies to continue to function. The fact is that it was not even necessary to overclock the processor. It was possible to leave all the parameters at their nominal values, but only raise the voltage on the processor by just one minimal step - just 0.00625 V, and the board could no longer load the operating system and spontaneously went into restart. Subsequently, we figured out that the voltage increase in the “Offset” mode is carried out by the board quite correctly, and the source of the problems is the “Load-Line Calibration” parameter. If you disable it, the board quietly loads the operating system even when the voltage on the processor increases, but it reboots if the parameter is enabled or set to “Auto”. A separate rhetorical question for the BIOS developers - why is “Load-Line Calibration” turned on when all parameters are at their nominal values ​​and only the processor voltage is increased by the minimum possible step?

Here, by the way, we can mention a couple of characteristic shortcomings of the BIOS of Asus motherboards. First of all, the boards do not allow you to find out the nominal voltage of the processor; it does not appear explicitly anywhere. The boards correctly set it in the “Auto” mode, but we can only indirectly judge its actual value based on monitoring readings. The second drawback is that we cannot correctly record the voltage on the processor at its standard value. Formally, we can if we indicate required voltage in the “Manual” mode, but then it will always be maintained constant, regardless of the current load level and will stop decreasing during moments of rest, that is, Intel’s energy-saving technologies will stop working. You can set the voltage increase on the processor to “Offset” mode, but it will be automatically increased by the board when overclocking the processor if left at “Auto”. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the voltage on the processor by the smallest possible step, in this case it is an almost imperceptible 0.00625 V, in order to leave it as close to the nominal as possible. Unfortunately, even such a tiny increase in voltage led to the board's inoperability.

The function of counteracting the voltage drop on the processor under load - “Load-Line Calibration” - is a very convenient and useful feature, but not at all necessary for overclocking. By trying to keep the voltage on the processor when it is busy with calculations, and in these attempts often even exceeding the standard values, this function allows us to avoid unnecessary increase in voltage on the processor. At rest, when Intel's energy-saving technologies operate, the voltage decreases, but it is always sufficient even during overclocking, because the processor frequency also decreases and there is no load on it. We only need increased voltage when the processor is loaded with work, it is at this moment that the “Load-Line Calibration” technology comes into effect, preventing the voltage from decreasing, ensuring stability during overclocking. It was thanks to this function that we were able to overclock the processor on other boards to a frequency of 3.9 GHz, without formally increasing the voltage on it. In fact, it was increased by the Load-Line Calibration technology, but not always, but only under load, exactly when it was really needed.

This means that we can refuse to use Load-Line Calibration technology when overclocking, but in return we will need to manually increase the voltage on the processor, that’s all. Tests have shown that to ensure stable operation of our processor instance at 3.9 GHz, when increasing the base frequency to 177 MHz, it is necessary to add 0.075 V to the nominal voltage. Since the voltage was increased in the "Offset" mode, the full functionality of Intel's processor energy-saving technologies was maintained; at rest, the voltage was reduced and the processor frequency was reduced.

However, a new problem arose - no amount of voltage increase could ensure the board was able to ensure stable memory operation at a frequency of 1770 MHz with timings of 8-8-8-22-1T. These are the indicators that were previously successfully achieved on boards and . Therefore, we had to limit ourselves to a memory frequency of 1416 MHz, and the final overclocking results are presented in the following picture.

It must be said that the inability of the board to ensure the performance of our memory modules at high frequencies is not a very pleasant, but not a catastrophic fact. We compensated for the reduction in frequency by one step by correspondingly reducing memory timings and setting more aggressive values ​​7-7-7-20-1T. This allows us to hope that the difference in performance compared to Gigabyte boards, where the memory worked at 1770 MHz with timings of 8-8-8-22-1T, will not be very large. In addition, in this failure of the board you can find positive point. To ensure memory performance at high frequencies with relatively low timings on Gigabyte boards, we had to significantly increase the voltage on the memory controller integrated into the processor, which significantly affects the processor's power consumption. And for stable memory operation for more low frequencies on the Asus Sabertooth X58 board there was no need to increase this voltage at all; it remained nominal and equal to 1.2 V. As a result, we can assume that with other operating modes of the processor and memory during overclocking, the Asus board will not differ too much in performance from Gigabyte boards, however, it will be more economical. The following chapters of the review will show whether our expectations were correct.

Performance measurements

We traditionally compare motherboards in terms of speed in two modes: when the system operates under nominal conditions and when the processor and memory are overclocked. The first mode is interesting from the point of view that it allows you to find out how well motherboards work by default. It is known that a significant portion of users do not engage fine tuning systems, they only set the optimal parameters in the BIOS and do not change anything else. So we carry out the test, almost without interfering with the default values ​​​​set by the boards. In this case, we still enabled the full functionality of energy-saving modes and Intel Turbo Boost technology. For comparison, we used the results obtained earlier during motherboard tests Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD5 (rev. 2.0) And Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 2.0). For clarity, the indicators of the Asus Sabertooth X58 board are highlighted in a darker shade of color.

In Cinebench 11.5, we run CPU tests five times and average the results.

The Fritz Chess Benchmark utility has been used in tests for a very long time and has proven itself to be excellent. It produces highly repeatable results, and performance scales well depending on the number of computational threads used.

In the x264 HD Benchmark 3.0, a small video clip is encoded in two passes and the entire process is repeated four times. The average results of the second pass are presented in the diagram.

In the data archiving test, a one-gigabyte file is compressed using LZMA2 algorithms, while other compression parameters are left at default values.

As with the compression test, the faster the calculation of 16 million digits of pi is completed, the better. This is the only test where the number of processor cores does not play any role; the load is single-threaded.

Comprehensive performance tests are both good and bad in that they are complex, but the 3DMark Vantage test has gained widespread popularity. The diagram shows the result of passing the test cycle three times.

Since the video card in our reviews is not overclocked, the following diagram uses only the results of 3DMark Vantage processor tests.

Using the built-in FC2 Benchmark Tool, we run the Ranch Small card ten times at a resolution of 1280x1024 with medium and high quality settings and using DirectX 10.

Resident Evil 5 also has a built-in benchmark for measuring performance. Its peculiarity is that it makes excellent use of the capabilities of multi-core processors. Tests are carried out in DirectX 10 mode, at a resolution of 1280x1024 with medium quality settings, the results of five passes are averaged.

Everyone knows that the performance of similar systems operating in similar modes is usually almost the same. This time too, the difference in speed between the boards is small, but it is somehow very suspicious that the Asus Sabertooth X58 board for some reason always lags behind the Gigabyte boards in any tests. However, the point is not that the Asus board is so slow or the Gigabyte boards are so fast. It should be recalled that Gigabyte boards by default increase the base frequency, and with it all other associated frequencies, from the nominal 133 to almost 135 MHz, while the Asus board is not noticed in such frauds. The difference in frequency is approximately 1% and the performance of the boards differs by about the same amount. Sometimes less, when the speed depends not only on the processor or memory, but also on the video card. So there is no need to worry about this; in fact, in nominal mode, the Asus Sabertooth X58 board demonstrates completely normal performance. Let's see what happens if the same tests are carried out when overclocking systems by increasing the frequency of the clock generator.

This time, the last place of the Asus Sabertooth X58 board in the tests is quite natural, because it turned out to be unable to ensure memory performance at the same high frequencies as Gigabyte boards. Sometimes, when the speed mainly depends only on the frequency of the processor or the video card, the lag is small and is within one percent, or even less. But sometimes the difference in speed is very significant if the performance of the application is determined, among other things, by the operating parameters of the memory subsystem. An example is the Resident Evil 5 Benchmark game, where the Asus board lags behind by more than 4%, and even more indicative is the archiving test in the 7-Zip program, where it is already 7.5% slower. Such a lag can no longer be called symbolic; it can be noticed even during everyday work, and not just in tests. Thus, the importance of high memory frequencies and low timings should not be exaggerated; several articles on our website are devoted to highlighting this fact; however, the importance of optimal operating parameters of the memory subsystem cannot be underestimated.

Energy consumption measurements

Energy consumption was measured using an Extech Power Analyzer 380803. The device is turned on in front of the computer's power supply, that is, it measures the consumption of the entire system “from the outlet,” with the exception of the monitor, but including losses in the power supply itself. When measuring consumption at rest, the system is inactive, we wait for the complete cessation of post-start activity and the absence of access to the hard drive. The load on the Intel Core i7-930 processor is created using the “LinX” program. For greater clarity, diagrams of the growth of energy consumption were constructed when the systems were operating in nominal mode and during overclocking, depending on the increase in the level of load on the processor when changing the number of computational threads of the “LinX” utility. The measurements were carried out in four states: rest, load in one thread, in four and eight threads, in the diagrams the boards are arranged in alphabetical order.

As you can see, our assumptions were completely justified. When operating in nominal mode, the power consumption of the boards is almost the same under any load or no load, because the boards are very similar. However, when overclocked, the Asus board turned out to be noticeably more economical, which is fully explained by the rated voltage on the memory controller integrated into the processor, while on Gigabyte boards this voltage had to be increased to ensure stable memory operation at high frequencies. True, we remember that the Asus motherboard has to pay for the gain in power consumption with a loss in performance.

Afterword

The quality and reliability of the motherboard are extremely important, cornerstone characteristics, since they determine the durability and stability of the entire computer as a whole. It is no coincidence that MSI emphasizes the use of “military grade” components in its products, and Gigabyte’s set of measures aimed at increasing the reliability of motherboards – “Ultra Durable” – has already reached its third version. Therefore the appearance new series“TUF” (The Ultimate Force) of Asus motherboards, which provide increased reliability and durability, is quite natural, but they have one very significant advantage. Unlike all competitors, Asus does not limit itself to just words or test results to confirm the reliability of its products. And the certificate indicating the methods of testing components, which is included in the boxes of the “TUF” series boards, is just an additional touch, and not the main proof.

The test results showed that the Asus Sabertooth X58 board is not much different from regular boards Asus, except for a different color design, and if it differs, it is not by cutting down, but by expanding functions and capabilities. In terms of packaging methods and configuration, the boards are almost identical, the capabilities of the logic set are fully used, it is possible to combine video cards in multi-GPU modes, the functionality is expanded with the help of additional controllers that add support for SATA 6 GB/s, USB 3.0 and IEEE1394 (FireWire). In addition, selected components are used in the production of the board, and the radiators are coated with “CeraM!X” coating, which supposedly improves heat transfer. It would not be at all surprising if the price of the board was one and a half times higher than usual, but no, it is at the average level for LGA1366 and is approximately 8 thousand rubles. The only missing feature we could find is that the BIOS does not support the “Express Gate” function, which allows you to quickly load a Linux-based operating system with a number of basic capabilities for work and entertainment, which is available on most Asus boards, but this is a very insignificant difference .

Some potential users of the board may be upset by the difficulties we encountered when overclocking the processor and memory, but this fact should not be given too much importance. First of all, because overclocking on the board is still possible. Besides, probable errors may be fixed in future BIOS updates. And in the end, it is not difficult to find a board from Asus or another manufacturer that does not cause any difficulties when overclocking, but the combination of advanced features and low price is a very interesting offer, since it turns out that the Asus Sabertooth X58 board is purchased for its entire service life computer: at least the use of high-reliability components and a full set of additional controllers allow you to hope that you will not have to change this board before you decide to upgrade the entire system unit

Other materials on this topic

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R (rev. 2.0) - wide range of functions and low price
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The LGA1366 platform has already entered our IT life, and the corresponding Intel processors have firmly established themselves at the top of the performance ratings in almost all applications. The problem is that these systems are still quite expensive. It would seem that the novelty of the new processor architecture has already faded, and manufacturers have skimmed the cream and had to switch to producing cheaper and more accessible products. This is happening, but not as quickly as we would like. Firstly, the range of the Core i7 processor family has remained unchanged for a long time, and the cheapest model (Core i7 920) costs more than 10 thousand rubles. Secondly, prices for motherboards are also not pleasing to the eyes of buyers and exceed the same 10 thousand rubles. The reason for this is that only one Intel X58 chipset has been released for the LGA1366 platform, which in most cases determines the high price of the finished board. In addition, to assemble this system you will need a good LGA1366 cooler, as well as a set of DDR3 memory. Moreover, DDR3 memory itself is already quite affordable, and for a system on X58 you can’t get by without it. high-speed memory DDR3-1066. But there is one feature - for this system, Intel recommends a set of three modules with the same characteristics. Accordingly, memory manufacturers take advantage of the opportunity and set slightly inflated prices for three-channel kits. However, if we leave marketing nuances aside, for systems with Nehalem processors it is quite possible to use cheaper dual-channel RAM kits, and you will not see a significant drop in performance.

All this is superimposed on Russian reality, which is characterized by a high exchange rate of both the euro and the US dollar. But there is also encouraging news. In particular, in recent months, motherboards based on the Intel X58 chipset costing about $200 have appeared on the market, and one of these boards is included in this comparative testing. By the way, the goal this review consists of both summing up the first results on motherboards based on the X58 chipset (we have been testing them for almost six months), and in determining some guidelines by which all subsequent models will be evaluated.

But, before moving on to the boards, let's say a few words about the Intel chipset X58. From a technical point of view, the X58 northbridge is much simpler than its predecessors, the X48 and X38. The fact is that this chip does not have a built-in memory controller, which is integrated into LGA1366 processors. Instead, the X58 introduced a QPI bus controller for communication with the processor. As for PCI Express v2.0 bus support, there are no fundamental changes in this area - X58 supports only 36 lanes and supports 2x16, 4x8, and some intermediate configurations. This allows developers to implement support for AMD CrossFire technology in motherboards. In addition, a long-awaited event happened - some motherboards with the X58 chipset now have support for NVIDIA SLI technology. However, the merits of Intel engineers are not here, since SLI support is implemented in graphics drivers NVIDIA and some enthusiasts were already running SLI on the X48 a year ago by using modified drivers. As for X58 boards, almost all boards presented in this review officially support SLI. Although there is one board that does not mention SLI in its specifications, this little detail did not stop us from launching it in this mode.

The X58 north bridge is equipped with an ICH10(R) south bridge, with which it is connected via the DMI bus. And since the characteristics of this chip are already well known, we will not dwell on them in detail, but will only briefly list:

• support for six SerialATA II channels
• 12 USB 2.0 ports
• Gigabit network connection support
• High Definition Audio sound subsystem.

In addition, ICH10(R) supports six PCI Express lanes, which motherboard designers can use at their discretion.

Comparison table of motherboard characteristics

Name	ASRock X58 Super Computer	ASUS P6T Deluxe/OC Palm		ECS X58B-A
Chipset	Intel X58+ICH10R
Number of DIMM slots	6 (DDR3)
Chipset cooling (points)	Passive (3+)	Passive/active (5-)	Passive/active (5)	Passive (3+)	Passive (5-)	Passive (3)
PCIE x16/PCIE (>x1)/PCIE x1/PCI	4/0/0/3	3/1 (x4)/0/2	3/0/2/1	2/1 (x4)/2/1	3/1 (x4)/1/2	3/0/2/2
AMD CrossFire / NVIDIA SLI	+ / + (16+0+16+0; 8+8+8+8)	+ / + (16+16; 16+8+8)	+ / + (16+16; 16+8+8)	+ / + (16+16)	+ / + (16+16; 16+8+8)	+ / ? (16+16; 16+8+8)
Power scheme	8-phase	16-phase; 2-phase memory controller	16-phase; 3-phase memory controller	6-phase	12-phase; 2-phase memory controller	5-phase
Power connectors	24 + 8	24 + 8	24 + 8	24+8+Molex	24 + 8	24 + 8
Number of capacitors	13x 820 µF and 4x 270 µF	15x 560 µF and 4x 270 µF	12x 560 µF, 2x 270 µF and 1x 1000 µF	11x 820 µF and 4x 270 µF	17x 820 µF and 4x 270 µF	11x 820 µF and 4x 470 µF
Sound	ALC890B	AD2000B	AD2000B on a separate board	ALC888S	ALC889A	ALC888S
Network (Gigabit Ethernet; bus type)	2x Realtek RTL8111DL (PCI Express x1)		2x Marvell 88E8056 (PCI Express x1)		2x Realtek RTL8111C (PCI Express x1)	Realtek RTL8111C (PCI Express x1)
SerialATA	7: 6 channels ICH10R + 1 channel (JMB362)	9: 6 channels ICH10R + 2 channels SATA/SAS (Marvell 88SE6320) + 1 channel (Marvell 88SE6111)		8: 6 channels ICH10R + 2 channels (JMB362)	10: 6 channels ICH10R + 4 channels (JMB363 + 2 x JMB322)	8: 6 channels ICH10R + 2 channels (JMB363)
ParallelATA	1 channel (VT6330)	1 channel (Marvell 88SE6111)	1 channel (JMB363)	-	1 channel (JMB363)	1 channel (JMB363)
USB2.0 (built-in/optional)	7 / 5	8/6; (NEC 720114)*	6 / 6	6 / 6	8 / 4	6 / 6
IEEE-1394 (embedded/optional)	1 / 1	1 / 1	1 / 1	1 / 1	1 / 2	1 / 1
Size, mm	245x305	245x305	269x305	245x305	245x305	245x305
BIOS	AMI BIOS	AMI BIOS	AMI BIOS	AMI BIOS	Award BIOS	AMI BIOS
Vcore	0.84375 V to 1.6 V (0.00625 V)	0.85 V to 2.1 V (0.00625 V)	0.85 V to 2.5 V (0.00625 V)	0.5V to 1.6V (0.00625V)	0.5 V to 1.9 V (0.00625 V)
Vmem	1.53 V to 2.451 V (0.015 V)	1.5 V to 2.46 V (0.02 V)	1.5 V to 2.5 V (0.01325 V)	+0 to +0.63 V (0.01 V)	1.3V to 2.6V (0.02-0.1V)	1.2 V to 2.77 V (0.01 V)
Vsb/Vsb-io	1.12 V to 1.56 V (0.02 V)	1.1 V to 1.4 V (0.02 V)	1.1 V to 2.0 V (0.01325 V)	+0.05 V to +0.15 V (0.05 V)	0.92 V to 2.38 V (0.02 V)	0.7 V to 2.13 V (0.01-0.05 V)
Vtt	+0 to +0.3 V (0.1 V)	1.2 V to 1.9 V (0.00625 V)	1.2 V to 2.5 V (0.00625 V)	+0 to +0.63 V (0.01 V)	1.075 V to 2.015 V (0.02 V)	-0.32 V to +0.63 V (0.01 V)
Vioh	1.11 V to 1.49 V (0.12 V)	1.1 V to 1.7 V (0.02 V)	1.1 V to 2.2 V (0.01325 V)	+0 to +0.63 V (0.01 V)	1.1 V to 2.0 V (0.02 V)	-
Vpll	1.82 V to 2.5 V (0.02 V)	1.8 V to 2.5 V (0.02 V)	1.8 V to 2.5 V (0.01325 V)	-	1.8 V to 2.52 V (0.02 V)	1.0V to 2.43V (0.01-0.05V)
QPI; MHz (step)	100 to 300 MHz (1)	100 to 500 MHz (1)	100 to 500 MHz (1)	133 to 511 MHz (1)	100 to 1200 MHz (1)	100 to 400 MHz (1)
Real overclocking (Core i7 920), MHz	180	200	212 *	180	200	200
Dynamic overclocking	-	-	-	-	C.I.A 2	-
Memory subsystem (points)	3+	5	5+	3-	5+	3+
System monitoring (points; fan-control)	4 (Quiet Fan)	5- (Q-Fan 2)	5+ (Q-Fan 2)	3 (Smart Fan)	4 (Smart Fan)	4 (Smart Fan)
Equipment (features)	4+	4+	5	2+	n/a	2+
Number of FANs	5	5	8 *	4	6	3
Peculiarities	Combi eSATA/USB port; BIOS profiles (3)	AI Proactive support (AI Overclock, AI Net 2, OC. Profile (2), EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, MyLogo 3); ASUS Express Gate; Power and Reset buttons;	AI Proactive support (+); there are no LPT and COM ports on the rear panel, no PS/2 for a mouse; Power, Reset, CMOS buttons; ProbeIT; TweakIT; LCD Poster module; DieHard BIOS;	Power / Reset / CMOS buttons; seven-segment POST indicator; there are no LPT and COM ports on the rear panel;	Supports DualBIOS, EasyTune Center, FaceWizard, @BIOS, BIOS profiles (8); Power / Reset / CMOS buttons; seven-segment POST indicator;	Supports Dual CoreCenter, LiveUpdate, DigiCell; Power / Reset / CMOS buttons; there are no LPT and COM ports on the rear panel;
Average price according to Market.3DNews, rubles:	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data	No data

In the table, we used the symbol * to indicate a feature or record value. Before moving on to the tests, let's look at the features of the participants in this summary review in a little more detail.

ASRock X58 SuperComputer

The first impression of the ASRock X58 SuperComputer board was quite positive. Firstly, I liked the box, and even more - its contents, which include connecting bridges for both AMD and NVIDIA video cards. The kit includes two CrossFire “bridges”, which allows you to combine three AMD video cards into an array. And if the user has two or three NVIDIA video cards, then it can also combine them into an SLI bundle using the appropriate "bridges". Since SLI technology with two video cards can operate in several slots, the box contains connecting “bridges” of different lengths (the total number of SLI “bridges” is three pieces).

Thus, we smoothly move on to another distinctive feature of the ASRock X58 SuperComputer board - it has four PCI Express x16 slots. Of course, the total number of PCI-E bus lines remains unchanged, but the user has a unique opportunity to use three video cards for a powerful graphics subsystem + the ability to use a fourth video card.

Four PEG slots are the main advantage of this board, since all other participants in the review have, at best, three PEG slots.

The remaining expansion capabilities of the ASRock X58 SuperComputer correspond to the high-end level of the board and include two Gigabit network controllers, built-in HD audio, USB ports and FireWire, as well as support for seven SerialATA II channels.

ASRock engineers have always been famous for their non-trivial approaches to the development of motherboards. They distinguished themselves this time too. In particular, we installed an additional JMB362 controller on the board, which supports two SerialATA II channels. But at the same time, only one port is implemented, which is located on the rear panel of the board.

Moreover, this port is physically and electrically compatible with the USB interface. Thus, this connector can be used to connect both SATA and USB devices. Another oddity is the use of a rather rare VIA VT6330 controller, which provides support for the ParallelATA interface and serial bus FireWire.

With the BIOS settings, everything also turned out to be a little different from other manufacturers. For example, to get into the BIOS, you need to press not the usual Del key, but for some reason F2. As for the interface and grouping of settings, in this regard the ASRock X58 SuperComputer board is a great original. However, the main functions are easy to find, such as memory settings and system monitoring.

As for overclocking functions, they are present on the board:

And they work quite well. In particular, we have achieved a frequency of QPI=180 MHz. However, there is also a drawback, which is that with optimistic settings the system freezes completely. In this case, it only helps full reset CMOS. However, this shortcoming is somewhat compensated for by support for CMOS profiles:

We also note a pretty good processor power converter, power elements which are located under the additional radiator.

Preliminary conclusion - in general, the ASRock X58 SuperComputer board is a very interesting product based on the Intel X58 chipset. However, its main advantage - four PCI Express x16 slots - is, apparently, the only one. The fact is that ASRock set a fairly high price for this board, which is comparable to similar ASUS boards. As a result, we have come to the conclusion that the ASRock X58 SuperComputer is a niche product and we recommend it only to those users who absolutely need an LGA1366 platform with four PCI Express x16 slots. Pros:

• 8-phase processor power supply;
• the presence of four PCI Express x16 v2.0 slots;
• SerialATA II/RAID support (seven channels; ICH10R + JMB362);
• support for one P-ATA channel (VIA VT6330);
• a wide range of proprietary ASRock technologies (OC Tuner, IES, CMOS profiles, Quiet Fan, etc.);
• passive cooling system for the chipset and power module.

Minuses:

• overcharge.

Board Features:

• there are no LPT and COM ports on the rear panel;
• combined eSATA/USB port.

Detailed review of the board ASRock X58 SuperComputer

ASUS P6T Deluxe/OC Palm

As befits a leader in the motherboard market, ASUS has the widest range of products based on the Intel X58 chipset, which includes nine (!) models. Two of them belong to the professional series (Professional), two to the gaming series (Republic of Gamers) and as many as five models are intended for the rest of the users. Of these, the P6T Deluxe/OC Palm board is the most powerful and functional and is the embodiment of all advanced technologies ASUS. The company's engineers tried to make the board as versatile and interesting as possible.

Let's start with the package, which includes the OC Palm module, which is the already familiar ASUS ScreenDUO device, which we reviewed in detail a year and a half ago. However, the board does not fully utilize its potential - only overclocking functions are implemented. The package also includes a pair of SAS cables, and the board itself supports two corresponding channels using an additional Marvell 88SE6320 controller. In total, the board supports nine SerialATA channels, six of which are implemented using the ICH10R southbridge capabilities, and another one (the corresponding port is located on the rear panel) is implemented using the 88SE6111 controller.

SAS technology stands for Serial Attached SCSI and is a transitional interface from parallel SCSI to a more convenient and productive serial one. The main difference between SAS and SATA is two independent channels for data transfer, but SAS is backward compatible with SATA. This means that you can easily connect SATA drives to the SAS controller.

The board has HD audio, two gigabit network controllers, and a FireWire serial bus controller on board. Separately, it is worth mentioning the support USB bus 2.0, the number of ports of which, in most cases, is determined by the capabilities of the “south bridge”. For the ICH10R, this number is 12, but ASUS engineers “used up” two ports to install the ExpressGate hardware module (an embedded stripped-down version of Linux), and the number of free ports was reduced to ten, which is completely unacceptable for a high-end board. Therefore, an additional NEC 720114 controller is installed on the board, which supports four additional USB 2.0 ports.

As for the graphics subsystem, the board has three PEG slots:

Another PCI Express slot has four lanes, and its rear wall is cut out. Theoretically, this allows you to install a fourth video card, but in practice the card will run into the cooling system.

A special feature of the rear panel is one PS/2 port, which allows you to connect either a corresponding mouse or keyboard.

We also mention the power and reset buttons, which are located near the “south bridge”.

The memory settings section will please computer enthusiasts with a large number of timings:

The system monitoring section, on the contrary, contains only a standard set of sensors and functions.

We can talk about the BIOS of the ASUS P6T Deluxe board for a long time. There is a function for saving/loading CMOS profiles (OC Profile), and emergency firmware recovery technology (CrashFree BIOS 3), and the EZ Flash 2 utility. The story about the energy-saving hardware and software technology EPU can take even more time. But we’d better move on to overclocking:

The board's overclocking potential is quite high, which is not least explained by the rather powerful 16-phase power converter.

Moreover, the memory controller built into the LGA1366 processor has an independent 2-phase converter, which also increases stability at non-standard frequencies. In practice, we achieved a stable frequency QPI = 200 MHz, but with latest firmware BIOS this result may be 10 MHz higher.

Preliminary conclusion - the ASUS P6T Deluxe/OC Palm board is a computer analogue of a universal Swiss army knife, and in any field this product is among the leaders. The only thing that seemed unnecessary to us on the board was the OC Palm module. Therefore, if you have a choice, we recommend purchasing the board without it, unless the board is purchased as a gift.

Pros:

• high stability and performance;
• 2-phase power supply circuit for the memory controller;
• SAS/SerialATA II/RAID support (nine channels; ICH10R+Marvell 88SE6320+Marvell 88SE6111);
• support for one P-ATA channel (Marvell 88SE6111);
• High Definition Audio 7.1 sound + two Gigabit Ethernet network controllers;
• support for USB 2.0 interface (14 ports) and IEEE-1394 (FireWire; two ports);
• a wide range of proprietary ASUS technologies (PC Probe II, EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, MyLogo 3, Q-Fan 2, etc.);
• additional set of AI Proactive technologies (AI Overclock, OC Profile, AI Net 2, etc.);
• passive/active cooling system for the chipset and power module;
• Power and Reset buttons;
• support for ASUS Express Gate technology.

Minuses:

• not detected.

Board Features:

• there are no LPT and COM ports on the rear panel; PS/2 combo connector.

Detailed review of the boardASUS P6T Deluxe/OC Palm

Version Extreme boards ASUS Rampage II fully lives up to its name - it is truly “extreme”. Firstly, it is the largest (269x305 mm) and, thanks to the massive cooling system, the heaviest. Secondly, it is the most expensive of the products reviewed ($350-370). Thirdly, the board allows extreme overclock the processor and reach its technological limit. In particular, we reached FSB frequency = 212 MHz, and also overclocked the test processor to 4.0 GHz.

This board belongs to the Republic of Gamers series, which is becoming more and more aimed at overclockers. The previous generation of this series had several key features. In particular, the expansion capabilities were somewhat weaker than those of similar high-end ASUS boards, the equipment was slightly richer (including a disk with a popular game), and the cooling system was much more powerful. Almost half of the boards from the ROG series had a built-in water block on the “north bridge” of the chipset, which was perfectly combined with very powerful overclocking functions.

As for the Rampage II Extreme board, it is worth noting some changes to the ROG concept. Firstly, in terms of expansion capabilities, the board is almost as good as the P6T Deluxe. Secondly, the game disc is excluded from the package and thirdly, there is no water block.

The last point is explained by the fact that the thermal load on the X58 northbridge is much lower and is not so critical for overclocking, since the memory controller has moved from the chipset directly to the processor.

However, ASUS engineers left the technical possibility of installing a liquid cooling system. But for overclocking this is not the main thing - the design of the PCB, the corresponding overclocking functions and power converters are much more important. In particular, the PWM of the processor is made according to a 16-phase circuit, and the power converters of the memory controller, the memory modules themselves and the “north bridge” are made according to a three-phase circuit.

Let's list the expansion possibilities - two gigabit network controllers, two FireWire ports and an additional SerialATA/ParallelATA/RAID controller.

We also note support for 12 USB 2.0 ports and an 8-channel audio subsystem on a separate SupremeFX II board. In addition, the board has three PCI Express x16 slots, two PCI Express x1 slots and one PCI slot.

As you can see, ASUS engineers have completely abandoned support for LPT ports and COM ports. There is also no PS/2 connector for connecting a mouse. But there are plenty of USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, a SATAII port, a button for resetting CMOS settings (works only with a certain position of the CLRTC_SW switch), as well as a connector for connecting an LCD Poster.

In addition, the board has buttons for turning on the system and rebooting, as well as a joystick and a couple of buttons for the LCD Poster.

We also mention the jumper for forcing the selection of the BIOS chip. The fact is that the board has two BIOS chips installed and, if necessary, the user can set the active one.

For overclockers who constantly experiment with different BIOS firmware, a backup chip is a big plus.

As for the BIOS itself, the board boasts a very large set of RAM settings.

System monitoring is also performed at a very high level. In particular, the board displays the current values ​​of the processor and system temperatures, the temperatures of the “north” and “south” “bridges,” as well as temperatures from three additional temperature sensors that are included in the kit. In addition, the board monitors the voltages and rotation speeds of all eight fans, six of which support the Q-Fan2 function to adjust the rotation of the cooler depending on the temperature of various components.

In addition, ASUS Rampage II Extreme can save all BIOS settings in memory and load them when necessary. It supports eight (!) independent profiles:

Overclocking capabilities are concentrated in the "Extreme Tweaker" section and are free of any disadvantages:

On the ASUS Rampage II Extreme board, we achieved stable system operation at a record (for our testlab) frequency QPI=212 MHz.

To summarize, we can compare maternal ASUS board Rampage II Extreme, with a Formula 1 car that is designed to achieve the highest speed. However, in our case, this car is equipped with air conditioning, a TV and a trunk for bags of potatoes, and can also cook borscht. In other words, you can use Rampage II Extreme to build a computer for any task, and in any case this board will show its best side. However, its main purpose is overclocking and stable operation at ultra-high frequencies. That is why it costs $70 more than the almost identical ASUS P6T Deluxe board. Pros:

• high stability and performance;
• 16-phase processor power supply;
• 3-phase power supply circuit for the memory controller, north bridge and memory modules;
• support for NVIDIA SLI/3-Way SLI and AMD CrossFireX technologies;
• SerialATA II/RAID support (eight channels; ICH10R+JMicron JMB363);
• support for one P-ATA channel (JMicron JMB363);
• High Definition Audio 7.1 sound (on a separate card) + two Gigabit Ethernet network controllers;
• support for USB 2.0 interface (12 ports) and IEEE-1394 (FireWire; two ports);
• a wide range of proprietary ASUS technologies (PC Probe II, EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3, MyLogo 3, Fan Xpert, etc.);
• additional set of AI Proactive technologies (AI Overclock, OC Profile (eight profiles), AI Net 2, Turbo-V, EPU, etc.);
• ProbeIT technology; TweakIT technology, LCD Poster module and on-board controls;
• DieHard BIOS technology (two BIOS chips);

Minuses:

• overcharge.

Board Features:

• powerful overclocking functions and excellent results;
• there are no LPT and COM ports on the rear panel, no PS/2 for a mouse;
• non-standard dimensions of the board.

Detailed review of boards

ECS X58B-A

When we received and tested the ECS X58B-A board, we came to the conclusion that this product is a good implementation of the potential of the Intel X58 chipset.

The board has quite powerful expansion capabilities, which include two Gigabit network controllers, HD audio, two FireWire ports and an additional dual-channel SerialATA controller.

As the latter, ECS engineers used the JMB362 chip, with the corresponding ports located on the rear panel of the board. And let’s immediately note that the board does not support ParallelATA and FDD interfaces.

In addition, the board has two PCI Express x16 slots, two PCI Express x1 slots, one PCI Express x4 slot and one PCI slot.

The rear panel of the board has the following configuration:

Pay attention to the button designed to reset the CMOS settings. In addition to it, the board has a couple more buttons - Power, Reset, as well as a seven-segment POST code indicator.

By settings BIOS board The ECS X58B-A is somewhat inferior to its competitors. This applies to both RAM settings,

So does the system monitoring section.

The overclocking capabilities are implemented more efficiently, which, despite the rather modest power converter, allowed us to increase the QPI bus frequency to 180 MHz.

Before this board appeared on public sale, we assumed that it would become a cheap alternative to the high-end boards of the Big Three. However, at the time of this comparative testing (end of April 2009), it turned out that there are cheaper X58 boards with similar technical characteristics. Pros:

• presence of two PCI Express x16 v2.0 slots;
• support for NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire technologies;
• SerialATA II/RAID support (eight channels; ICH10R + JMB362);
• High Definition Audio 7.1 sound + two Gigabit Ethernet network controllers;
• support for USB 2.0 interface (12 ports) and IEEE-1394 (FireWire; two ports);
• passive cooling system for the chipset and power module;
• Power and Reset buttons; Reset CMOS button;
• seven-segment POST code indicator.

Minuses:

• not detected.

Board Features:

• there are no LPT and COM ports on the rear panel;
• no support for ParallelATA, FDD.

Detailed review of boardsECS X58B-A

Traditionally, high-end motherboards from Gigabyte have had the best expansion capabilities, which is why they have received our awards more than once. In this regard, the Gigabyte EX58-UD5 may well continue this tradition.

Let's start with the fact that the board has a record number of SerialATA channels - ten. Six of them are implemented using the capabilities of the ICH10R “south bridge”, and the remaining four are implemented using a combination of a Gigabyte SATA2 controller (JMB363) and two JMB322 controllers. This scheme provides users with significant flexibility in organizing RAID arrays and, in particular, allows the implementation of very interesting SAFE50 and SAFE33 modes. In total, 12 hard drives (ten SATA II + two PATA) can be connected to the Gigabyte EX58-UD5 board.

Approximately the same can be said about the number of FireWire bus ports - there are three of them. This is not a record, but still more than that of competitors. The rest of the features are almost standard - two gigabit network controllers, 12 USB 2.0 ports and built-in HD audio.

The slot configuration is richer than standard - three PCI Express x16 slots, a pair of PCI slots, one PCI Express x4 slot and one PCI Express x1 slot.

We liked the back panel for its functionality. In particular, it has eight (!) USB 2.0 ports, optical and coaxial SP-DIF outputs, a FireWire port and a CMOS reset button.

Also on the board there are buttons for turning on and rebooting the system. However, Gigabyte's marketers spared a couple of cents for the latter, and its pitiful appearance spoils the impression of the entire board. This little detail is more than compensated for by the presence on the board seven-segment indicator POST codes, as well as extremely extensive RAM settings.

System monitoring, on the contrary, is much more modest.

In particular, we did not like the lack of information on voltages +12 V and +3.3 V. But we liked that the Gigabyte EX58-UD5 board allows you to save all BIOS settings in memory and load them if necessary. In total, it supports eight independent profiles:

The overclocking capabilities are implemented well, without any significant drawbacks:

This was confirmed in practice when we reached a stable frequency QPI=200 MHz. And, concluding the topic of overclocking, we note two significant points. Firstly, the board has a fairly powerful processor power converter, which is made according to a 12-phase circuit.

Secondly, the Gigabyte EX58-UD5 board is the only one of the tested models that implements a dynamic overclocking mechanism.

In general, this board is made at a fairly high level, has no significant flaws, but has the best expansion capabilities in its class. I was very pleased with the retail price, which at the time of testing was around $275, which is $25 cheaper than the ASUS P6T Deluxe board. Pros:

• high stability and performance;
• 12-phase processor power supply;
• 2-phase power supply circuit for the north bridge and memory modules;
• presence of three PCI Express x16 v2.0 slots;
• support for NVIDIA SLI/3-Way SLI and AMD CrossFireX technologies;
• SerialATA II/RAID support (ten channels; ICH10R+2 x JMicron JMB322);
• support for one P-ATA channel (Gigabyte SATA2);
• High Definition Audio 7.1 sound + two Gigabit Ethernet network controllers;
• support for USB 2.0 interface (12 ports) and IEEE-1394 (FireWire; three ports);
• a wide range of Gigabyte proprietary technologies (C.I.A2, EasyTune 6, FaceWizard, @BIOS, etc.);
• support for Ultra Durable 3, Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced technologies, BIOS profiles;
• passive cooling system for the chipset and power module;
• Power and Reset buttons; CMOS reset button;
• seven-segment POST code indicator;
• Virtual Dual BIOS technology (two BIOS chips).

Minuses:

• not detected.

Board Features:

• powerful overclocking features and excellent results;
• no support for LPT and COM ports.

Detailed review of boards

So, we move on to the latest, but very interesting board - MSI X58 Pro. First of all, it attracts with its price of $200, and externally the board gives the impression of a more expensive product.

That’s right, MSI engineers saved money “secretly” - they installed only one gigabit network controller and software “disabled” NVIDIA SLI technology. This is either childish naivety or a subtle marketing calculation, since SLI technology is “turned on” back by flashing the BIOS from the MSI X58 Pro SLI model.

So, the board has three PCI Express x16 slots, two PCI Express x1 slots and two PCI slots.

Other expansion options include the already mentioned network controller, two FireWire ports, an additional SerialATA/ParallelATA/RAID controller (for a total of eight SATA channels + one PATA channel), as well as 12 USB 2.0 ports and built-in 8-channel audio.

The rear panel configuration does not contain legacy LPT and COM ports. However, one COM port is implemented using a bracket that is not included in the kit.

There are no traditional jumpers on the MSI X58 Pro board, and the corresponding button (located on the left edge of the board) is used to reset the CMOS settings. There are also buttons for starting and rebooting the system, as well as a block of three dip switches that are responsible for the starting frequency of the QPI bus.

As for the BIOS, we had no complaints about the RAM settings,

as well as to the system monitoring section.

We especially note that the MSI X58 Pro board allows you to save all BIOS settings into memory and load them if necessary. It supports four independent profiles:

Overclocking turned out to be surprisingly good - the board worked stably at QPI=200 MHz. And this despite the fact that this MSI board has the most modest cooling system for the chipset and power converter, and the PWM itself is made using a cheap 5-phase circuit.

Separately, we note that the successful launch of SLI will not be reflected in the conclusions in any way, since it is a non-standard function of the MSI X58 Pro motherboard. However, this product is good even without SLI, since it matches the characteristics of most X58 boards and at the same time costs $200, which is noticeably cheaper than other competitors, the price of which starts at $250. Pros:

• high stability and performance;
• presence of three PCI Express x16 v2.0 slots;
• support for AMD CrossFireX technologies;
• SerialATA II/RAID support (eight channels; ICH10R + JMB363);
• support for one P-ATA channel (JMB363);
• High Definition Audio 7.1 sound + Gigabit Ethernet network controller;
• support for USB 2.0 interface (12 ports) and IEEE-1394 (FireWire; two ports);

conclusions

Summing up the results of comparative testing is complicated by the fact that there was no comparison as such, since all the presented motherboards are in different price categories. The exceptions are the ASRock X58 SuperComputer and ASUS P6T Deluxe models, the average price of which is $300. In this case, the choice between them is quite simple - if there is a need for four PCI Express x16 slots, then we buy ASRock. In all other cases, the ASUS board looks preferable.

The next alternative to the ASUS P6T Deluxe is the Gigabyte EX58-UD5, which has slightly better expansion capabilities and costs a little less (about $275). There is no fundamental difference between the boards, and we find it difficult to choose the best one. Most likely, the choice should be made based on personal experience and preferences, as well as taking into account the need for additional proprietary technologies (ASUS has a slight advantage here).

For the next board - ECS X58B-A, we did not experience any fluctuations. At a price of $250, we do not recommend purchasing it. The fact is that the MSI X58 Pro board with almost the same technical characteristics and a price of only $200 is widely available.

The differences between them are in the details - the MSI board does not have a second network controller, and the ECS board does not support ParallelATA and FDD. In addition, the MSI board overclocks better and shows results comparable to the Gigabyte EX58-UD5 and ASUS P6T Deluxe.

And since we're talking about overclocking, let's move on to the most expensive board - ASUS Rampage II Extreme, costing $350-370.

In fact, this is the best motherboard designed for overclocking. There are also very good X58 overclocking boards made by DFI and EVGA, but they are not available in Russian stores. We also note that overclocking is the main advantage of Rampage II Extreme, but it is far from the only one. And in all other areas this product is very, very competitive. But we cannot forget about one drawback - it is a very stingy package. For $360, the box with the board should be large and heavy, and the list of components should take more than one page. In addition, this board belongs to the Republic of Gamers series and just because of the name it is simply obliged to include a popular game (all previous ROG series boards were equipped with the game STALKER or Company of Heroes).

General conclusions for all boards - among the models we reviewed, we did not find an outright bad product. And even those boards that we do not recommend buying are technically quite suitable for use. But the problem is that they cost much more than their direct competitors - i.e. The problem is not in terms of stability or functionality, but in the "wrong" pricing. In addition, manufacturers do not reduce prices simultaneously, but based on their own plans. And it is quite possible that in a couple of months other models will become more attractive in terms of price/quality ratio.

The ASUS “ROG” (Republic of Gamers) series of motherboards for advanced gamers and enthusiasts, periodically updated with new original solutions with unique capabilities and uncompromising overclocking potential, is already well known to many users. But for a long time this series existed in a noticeable separation even from the “top” versions of mass-produced motherboards, which have Deluxe and Premium prefixes. It is in order to fill the resulting niche that ASUS has developed a very reliable “TUF” (The Ultimate Force) series, which is designed for productive systems that work intensively 24/7. To guarantee uninterrupted operation, models in this series are equipped only with very high-quality elements, which undergo very thorough testing before being put on the board.

At the time of writing this article, the TUF series consisted of only two ASUS SABERTOOTH 55i models based on the Intel P55 Express system logic and the Intel X58 Express chipset. We will delve into the specifics of the latest solution today. Let us remind you that not long ago we tested several solutions from the ASUS ROG series with an Intel LGA1366 processor socket: ASUS Rampage III Extreme and ASUS Rampage III Formula. Therefore, in addition, we will have the opportunity to fully understand what the differences are between the ROG and TUF series.

Motherboard Specification:

Manufacturer
	Intel X58/ICH10R
CPU socket
Supported processors	Intel Core i7 Extreme/ Core i7
System bus	6400 MT/s, Intel QuickPath Interconnect
Memory used	DDR3 1866/1800/1600/1333/1066 Non-ECC
Memory support	6 x DDR3 DIMM three-channel architecture up to 24 GB Support for non-ECC memory and XMP profiles
Expansion slots	2 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (support x16/x16) 1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (in x4 mode) 2 x PCIe x1 1 x PCI 2.2
Support for Multi-GPU technologies	Supports NVIDIA 2-Way SLI and ATI Quad-GPU CrossFireX
Disk subsystem	Intel ICH10R chipset supports: 6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s supporting SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 JMicron JMB362 controller supports: 1 x Power eSATA 3.0 Gb/s 1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s Marvell 88SE9128 controller supports: 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s
Sound subsystem	Realtek ALC892 High-Definition Audio codec supports: 192 kHz/24bit BD Lossless Sound Optical S/PDIF on rear panel
	VIA VT6308P controller supports 2 1394a ports
LAN support	Realtek 8110SC Gigabit LAN controller
	24-pin ATX power connector 8-pin ATX12V power connector
Cooling	Ceramic cooling system
Fan connectors	1 x for CPU cooler 4 x for case fans
External I/O ports	1 x PS/2 ports for keyboard or mouse 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 1 x Power eSATA 3Gb/s 1 x eSATA 3Gb/s 1 x optical S/PDIF 1 x IEEE 1394a 1 x LAN (RJ45) 6 audio jacks
Internal I/O ports	6 x USB 2.0/1.1 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s 6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s 1x S/PDIF output 1 x IEEE 1394a 1 x COM Front panel audio connectors System panel connector
	16 Mb Flash ROM, AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.0, SM BIOS 2.5, WfM 2.0, ACPI 2.0a Support EZ Flash 2, CrashFree BIOS 3
Overclocking options	Frequency change: BCLK, PCI-Express, memory. Changing voltage on: processor, memory and chipset
Proprietary technologies	"TUF ENGINE!" Power Design: - 8-phase CPU power supply - 2-phase QPI/DRAM power supply - 2-phase memory power supply E.S.P.: Efficient Switching Power Design TUF components (molded inductor, capacitors & MOSFETs; military grade certified) CeraM!X radiators Fan Xpert EZ Flash 2 Crash Free BIOS 3 Q-Connector O.C. Profile Q-DIMM Q-Slot Q-LED
Equipment	2 x SATA cables 2 x SATA 6Gbit/s cables 1 x SLI bridge Set of Q-connectors (system panel and USB) Instructions and Guide 1 x DVD with drivers and software Stub
Form factor Dimensions, mm	ATX 305 x 244 mm
Products webpage	The latest version of BIOS and driver can be downloaded from the support site http://support.asus.com/.

The packaging of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard is designed in an unusually stylish manner in metallic tones, which immediately attracts attention.

The front of the package opens. Unfortunately, there is no “window” through which you can see appearance ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard, but all its main advantages are listed. Since the “TUF” series boards implement completely new unique technologies, then we will characterize them using information from the manufacturer.

The radiators of the motherboard cooling system have an innovative ceramic coating, which allows you to increase the radiator dispersion area due to micropores. In turn, as is known, the efficiency of the radiators themselves depends on the dissipation area.

Next distinctive feature series "TUF" is the implementation of an exclusive power supply circuit E.S.P.(Efficient Switching Power Design) not only to optimize the power consumption of the processor, but also for other system components such as graphics card, RAM, PCI slots and system logic chips. The diagram approximately shows how different the efficiency of the power supply units of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard is from other motherboards.

Moreover, the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard is equipped with reliable TUF components that meet high military quality standards. For example, the chokes installed on the board can withstand a load of 40 A, which is 25% higher than standard chokes used on mass-market boards.

But the technology is often used on other models of ASUS motherboards. It serves to fine-tune the RAM parameters in case the system refuses to start with the current RAM settings due to incompatibility or overclocking.

The back of the package shows the appearance of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard and contains part of its specifications.

The kit of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard is actually standard for solutions based on the Intel X58 Express system logic from this manufacturer:

• Two SATA cables;
• Two SATA 6Gbit/s cables;
• One SLI bridge;
• Instructions and user manual;
• DVD with drivers and software;
• Set of Q-Connectors (system panel, USB);
• Stub.

Despite the high status of the product, the package does not spoil the buyer with such a variety of accessories as in more expensive solutions from the Republic of Gamers series.

It's interesting to note that the kit comes with a reliability certificate that lists all the military standard tests that the capacitors, inductors and MOSFETs have undergone. The list of tests consists of a thermal stress test, a test for moisture resistance and exposure to salts, a vibration test, as well as tests for strength under mechanical stress.

The layout of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 is generally devoid of drawbacks - the main part of the ports and all power connectors are located along the edge, so you can conveniently connect to them.

All heatsinks on the motherboard are covered with a ceramic coating that is rough to the touch. The dissipation area of ​​the radiators due to the large and long fins on the north bridge and MOSFET is already very large, even when compared with the coolers of ROG series boards. One of the MOSFET heatsinks is also combined with a heat pipe on the northbridge. In addition, the northbridge heatsink has a cut-out, so you don’t have to worry about the motherboard’s compatibility with long PCIe x1 expansion cards.

The radiator on the south bridge of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard has the smallest dissipation area, which, although it is made figuratively, does not have noticeable fins.

The Intel ICH10R south bridge supports six SATA ports with the ability to organize SATA RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10. In addition, the board also has a JMicron JMB362 SATA controller, which supports external eSATA 3 Gb/s and Power eSATA ports. Two internal ports of the new SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface are highlighted in white and operate using the Marvell 88SE9128 controller. In addition, the internal ports of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard include six USB 2.0 and one IEEE 1394a port. Of the outdated interfaces, the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 has only a COM port, but it does not support FDD, LPT, or even IDE.

To install graphics accelerators, the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard has three PCIe x16 connectors, but only four PCI Express lanes are connected to the bottom PCIe x16 slot. Therefore, using SLI or CrossFireX technology, only two video cards can be combined, but in the most powerful x16+x16 PCI Express 2.0 configuration. In addition, for installing expansion cards on the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 there is one PCI slot and two PCIe x1.

The audio subsystem of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard is based on the 8-channel Realtek ALC892 HDA codec with the ability to play Blue-Ray 192 kHz/24-bit tracks without loss of quality. The audio connector on the front panel of the sound subsystem supports HDA and AC`97 formats, which improves compatibility with various cases.

ASUS RAM slots traditionally do not have latches on the bottom, so it will be easier to remove modules from them. Near the RAM slots there is a technology activation button, and in the very corner of the motherboard there is a jumper that allows you to increase the processor supply voltage setting limit from a high 1.7 V to an extreme 2.0 V. Another similar jumper that removes the limitation on the supply voltage of RAM modules , allowing the limit to be increased from 2.1V to 2.46V, is located at the bottom of the motherboard.

The processor power regulator on ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 is made according to an 8-phase circuit. Two more smaller chokes are elements of the two-phase power supply unit of the QPI/DRAM controller. As expected in high-performance solutions, the processor power connector has an 8-pin design.

Each phase of the stabilizer includes four MOSFETs. The heatsink on the motherboard removes heat not only from the semiconductor elements, but also from the PWM controller. This happens very rarely.

The proprietary EPU ASP0800 chip acts as a PWM controller for the 8-phase power supply unit of the processor.

WITH reverse side ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard, the cooling system is fixed partly with spring-loaded screws and partly with simple plastic latches.

The following ports are located on the interface panel of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard:

one PS/2 combo port for keyboard or mouse,

• optical S/PDIF,
• six USB 2.0,
• two USB 3.0,
• IEEE 1394a port,
• one eSATA port,
• one Power eSATA port;
• RJ45 connector for network connections,
• six connectors for 8-channel audio.

The ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard has quite impressive capabilities for connecting fans. You can connect four case fans and a processor cooler to it.

ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard BIOS is based on AMI code. In the top line of the BIOS you can see the name of the motherboard and the current BIOS version.

All settings related to overclocking are collected in the table:

Parameter	Menu name	Range
Processor technologies	C1E, CPU TM, Intel SpeedStep, Hardware Prefetcher; Execute Disable Bit; Virtualization Tech, Intel HT Technology, Intel Turbo Boost Teach, Virtualization
CPU multiplier	CPU Ratio Setting
System bus frequency, MHz
PCI Express Bus Frequency
Memory divider		800/1066/1333/1600/1866/2133/2400
Frequency UCLK
QPI bus multiplier	QPI Link Data Rate	Slow Mode, 4800 MT/s, 5866 MT/s, 6400 MT/s
RAM Latency		CAS Latency, RAS to CAS, RAS PRE, RAS ACT, RAS to RAS, REF, WRITE Recovery, READ to PRE, FOUR ACT WIN
	CPU Differential Amplitude	700mV, 800mV, 900mV, 1000mV
		100 – 1500 ps
CPU voltage, V		0.850000 – 2.1 V
	QPI/DRAM Core Voltage
Memory voltage	DRAM Bus Voltage
	IOH PCIE Voltage
Southbridge voltage
	ICH-PCIE Voltage

The memory multiplier on the Intel Core i7-980X processor is unlocked, so its frequency can be increased from 800 MHz to 2400 MHz, but with other processors in the nominal operating mode, the efficiency of the modules will be limited to DDR3-1333.

As usual, the BIOS has the ability to configure timings (latencies) and sub-timings (minor delays) of RAM. The value of the current timings is very conveniently displayed right in this submenu and this is a big plus.

The voltage range in the power settings of the components is not as wide as in the ROG series models, but it should be enough to carry out even extreme overclocking. The step in some power settings is also not very encouraging, but only if you compare these parameters with solutions specifically made for overclocking. For most standard boards, such a set of settings would be a blessing.

Processor technology management settings are collected in a separate “CPU Configuration” section.

Monitoring capabilities on the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard allow you to monitor:

temperature of the processor, north and south bridge;

rotation speed of five fans in the system;

voltage on the processor and main lines of the power supply is 3.3V, 5V and 12V.

In the same section of the BIOS there are settings for ASUS Q-Fan technologies for automatically controlling the rotation speed of the processor cooler and two case fans.

Branded utilities

Unfortunately, among the proprietary software for the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard there is no ASUS TurboV EVO utility, which is intended primarily for overclocking from the operating system. Monitoring of key system parameters can be done using the PC Probe II utility.

Using another proprietary utility, ASUS Fan Xpert, you can create your own profile, which will be used to regulate the rotation speed of the processor cooler or case fans.

Overclocking options

Clock frequency of the system bus of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard with air cooling Intel processor The Core i7-980X Extreme Edition, as well as with the quad-core Intel Core i7-930 processor, managed to increase to 216 MHz, which can be considered a fairly good indicator.

Testing

The following equipment was used to test the capabilities of motherboards:

CPU	Intel Core i7-980X Extreme Edition (LGA1366, 3.33 GHz, L2 1.5 MB, L3 12 MB)
	Noctua NH-U12P + LGA1366 Kit
RAM	3x DDR3-2000 1024 MB Kingston HyperX KHX16000D3T1K3/3GX
Video card	MSI R4850-2D1G-OC (Radeon HD 4850, 1 GB GDDR5, PCI-E 2.0)
HDD	Samsung HD080HJ, 80 GB, SATA-300
Optical drive	ASUS DRW-1814BLT SATA
power unit	Seasonic SS-650JT Active PFC, 650 W, 120 mm fan

Test results:

According to the performance testing results, the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard does not stand out among solutions of its class.

Energy consumption

Total power consumption of the test bench:

The ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard did not surprise us with its level of energy consumption, although it turned out to be 3-5 W more voracious than the system assembled on the ASUS Rampage III FORMULA motherboard.

Testing the audio path based on the Realtek ALC892 codec

Overall results (RightMark Audio Analyzer)

16-bit, 44.1 kHz

The built-in Realtek ALC892 audio codec showed good test results, so its capabilities will be sufficient for most owners of the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 board.

conclusions

Unique motherboard ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 TUF series can be used to build very productive workstations and gaming PCs with two video accelerators, as well as for overclocking. Moreover, to carry out the latter, the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 has quite a lot of capabilities, starting with powerful processor power units and ending with a large set of settings in the BIOS necessary to increase the frequency and achieve stability. Of course, the range of supply voltage changes is not as large as that of similar solutions from the ASUS ROG series, but the available capabilities will be sufficient in most cases if you are not extreme with a liquid nitrogen “dewar”. But in terms of the number of supported proprietary technologies, the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard noticeably differs from the ASUS ROG series solutions for the worse, although this mainly affects the convenience of overclocking. But we liked the ceramic-coated cooling system on the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 even more than the radiators on the ASUS Rampage III Extreme and ASUS Rampage III Formula, because it has better fins and for this reason alone it will be more effective.

Having tested the ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 motherboard, we are almost completely convinced that this is truly an ultra-reliable solution designed for long-term and stable operation. Functionality ASUS SABERTOOTH X58 is also at a very high level, meeting all modern requirements, which is confirmed by the presence of a high-quality sound codec, as well as support for the new SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 interfaces.

Advantages:

support for NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossFireX;

increased reliability and durability;

highly efficient cooling system with ceramic coating;

support for new SATA 3.0 and USB 3.0 interfaces;

powerful processor power stabilization unit;

high overclocking potential;

possibility of extreme voltage increases.

Flaws:

• lack of support for new ASUS proprietary utilities;