Purchasing X58 This Week, Lots Of Choices

[ExcaliburMM]

From Ebay, to the egg, to the FS/FT forum right here at Anand, I have been watching every thread, lurking and PMing and seeing what boards I can snag for what prices.

DFI LP DK T3eH6 - 140$ - Personal favorite. Loyal to DFI and <3 colors.
Gigabyte UD3R - 140$ - Alternative to UD4P's layout issue. Oddball with 4x DDR3 slots. Wtf?
Gigabyte UD4P - 150$ - Quality Gigabyte board. Disqualified. Can't use GFX + 2 PCI slots.
Intel DX58SO - 150$ - Not sure if want Intel manufac board. Doesn't have 2 PCI
MSI Pro-E - 180$, 170$, 165$ - MSI has burned me twice on dead mobos. Heat issues, being MSI, ect.
EVGA 758 - 245$, 200$, 190$, 180$ - Pricey pricey pricey. Too expensive.

The question becomes, what is the best board for buck out of the offers I have here? I'm looking to take my 920 D0 to 4GHz, have 3x2GB OCZ Gold (1600/CL7), 4870 1GB, as well as 2 PCI cards (sound and wireless.). I'll be using a Thermolab BARAM as my CPU cooler. I'll be using Win7 64bit.

Does anyone have anything I should consider before I start counting boards in and out? Any warranty/RMA experiences, anything at all I should know before I pick one of these lovely boards? Looking for specifics by the way, not just GET THIS ONE!

 

[Jd007]

Gigabyte UD4P

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Gigabyte UD4P

Any reasons to back this up? Note I am entirely aware of the quality of the board, I am simply looking for anything beyond the obvious 'Its a really nice Gigabyte board', ect.

 

[Hey Zeus]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130227

Took 1 minutes for me to overclock my friends 920 to 4.2Ghz

 

[ExcaliburMM]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130227

Took 1 minutes for me to overclock my friends 920 to 4.2Ghz

I've also been burned by 2 dead MSI mobos. Granted one was an NV chipset which I now know better than to buy.

Right now its really between the DFI and the UD4P, and maybe the EVGA if I feel like paying that much.

 

[bjamm2]

Where are you seeing your prices? I'm looking for almost an identical build in the next week. Got the i7 920 d0 from Microcenter today for $199 and now just need a mobo to match it up with.. but was hoping to stay around $150-175.. I'm seeing minimum $189+ for most boards..

 

[ExcaliburMM]

In the FS/FT forum mainly, some offers people have made or prices I've worked them down to. Depending on which one I settle on I can get you in touch with one of the other dudes.

 

[Jd007]

UD4P is faster than ASUS P6T Deluxe overall, has 3-way CrossFire/SLI support, and adequate cooling for the IOH (X58 chipset/northbridge).

One big tip: stay away from MSI X58 series boards (X58 Pro-E, X58M, X58 Platinum). Their IOH cooling is completely useless. I had one once, got rid of it in two days after finding out that my northbridge idled at 80C. It's not just me, it's wide spread, and MSI didn't address the issue properly at all, not even today. Sure the board has good performance and OC capability, but it also has this huge flaw. Here, here, here, and here are some proofs for just how wide spread the problem is.

 

[Hey Zeus]

I've also been burned by 2 dead MSI mobos. Granted one was an NV chipset which I now know better than to buy.

Right now its really between the DFI and the UD4P, and maybe the EVGA if I feel like paying that much.

Get the UD4P then

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Thanks for the info Jd. However I see a problem: I have 2 PCI cards (Sound and wireless.) and my GFX is dual slot. Thus it'll cover one on the UD4P. Oh dear. :c

Edit: Had to knock the UD4P and MSI off the list. The UD3R is do-able though.

 

[Jd007]

Thanks for the info Jd. However I see a problem: I have 2 PCI cards and my GFX is dual slot. Thus it'll cover one on the UD4P. Oh dear. :c

It'll cover one PCI slot, but not a PCI-E slot. The UD4P has dual-slot spacing between all of its PCI-E slots, so you are fine running CrossFire/SLI.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

It'll cover one PCI slot, but not a PCI-E slot. The UD4P has dual-slot spacing between all of its PCI-E slots, so you are fine running CrossFire/SLI.

I need both PCI slots, not both PCI-E slots.

Edit: Any reason the UD3R wouldn't serve me just as well as the UD4P considering I use single GFX solutions?

 

[Jd007]

I need both PCI slots, not both PCI-E slots.

Oh I misread. Anyway, have you considered the ASRock X58 Extreme? It's one of the best performing X58 boards out there while being very affordable. And you can use both PCI slots with a dual-slot graphics card.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Oh I misread. Anyway, have you considered the ASRock X58 Extreme? It's one of the best performing X58 boards out there while being very affordable. And you can use both PCI slots with a dual-slot graphics card.

I ordered one Open Box. It had a dead memory channel and I had to return it for a refund. I can also find superior boards for cheaper if you look at the prices I have listed here.

 

[Jd007]

Then I'd go with the DFI. Great layout (for you), and 6 DIMM slots as opposed to 4 on the UD3R. Plus it's cheap.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

Ah yes the UD3R is the oddball with the 4 slots, I knew there was something I didn't like about it.

Alright, it seems once again DFI Prevails. Thanks for all the help Jd.

 

[bjamm2]

Would an MSI be my best bet? I am just upgrading for video encoding performance and slight gaming (starcraft 2 when it comes out!) I have a 9800GT PCI-E currently and will not be running SLI.

Will run an i7 920 d0 to 4ghz with an H50, 6gb ram and no pci cards, just lots of 1.5tb hard drives and a ssd.

 

[ExcaliburMM]

I'd recommend you get the UD4P bjamm. If I didn't have 2 PCI cards, that's what I'd get.

 

[bjamm2]

I think thats what Im ggoing to go with.. for $150 i can't find anything better than that.. can you pm me where you found it? ... i found one in FS threads so nevermind if thats the one your talkin about..
thanks

 

[bjamm2]

I think thats what Im ggoing to go with.. for $150 i can't find anything better than that.. can you pm me where you found it? ... i found one in FS threads so nevermind if thats the one your talkin about..
thanks

 

[krose]

If you don't plan on using more than 3x2GB memory then the EX58-UD3R is fine. I have been using it for the past 4 months and no complaints. Easy to OC and stable. I chose it because I also had two PCI cards.

 

[Piano Man]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813157163R

Got mine running @ 4.2GHz no sweat. The only reason I'd get something else is if I needed USB3/SATA6.0

 

[Gillbot]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813157163R

Got mine running @ 4.2GHz no sweat. The only reason I'd get something else is if I needed USB3/SATA6.0

that was going to be my suggestion, it will even support 32nm cpus.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=29294214&postcount=39

 

[cbn]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16813157163R

Got mine running @ 4.2GHz no sweat. The only reason I'd get something else is if I needed USB3/SATA6.0

That one will support a PCI-E x4 SATA 3/USB 3 card right? Isn't the orange x4 PCI-E slot spaced far enough away from the blue x16 slots so that dual slot Video cards could still be used?

P.S. What sort of trouble would someone run into buying open box?

 

[ExcaliburMM]

That one will support a PCI-E x4 SATA 3/USB 3 card right? Isn't the orange x4 PCI-E slot spaced far enough away from the blue x16 slots so that dual slot Video cards could still be used?

P.S. What sort of trouble would someone run into buying open box?

The ASRock X58 Extreme I bought from Newegg had a dead memory channel. They also appeared to have every intention of re-selling it.