Best Motherboard for X58

[airjocky2]

I'm looking for the best Mobo for core i7 920. I was thinking about the asus p6t deluxe but I've been reading about alot of problems with it. EVGA on looks good too. My set up is:

Antec twelve Hundred
i7 920
2x evga 260+ 216
6GB corsair dominator 1600
Windows vista Ultimate 64bit
Vigor Monsoon III cpu cooler (if it will fit...it looks big)
still looking for PSU

p.s. never built a PC before...haven't even owned a desktop since 1999 so sorry about noobiness

 

[Peaks]

I have heard good things about the Gigabyte boards. How much do you want to spend?

EX58-DS4 - £174.99
EX58-UD5 - £199.99
EX58 Extreme - £229.99

 

[airjocky2]

I like the $299 USD price of the Asus p6t and the EVGA board. I don't know much about Gigabyte. Are they a good company/board?

 

[Techno-boy]

I like the $299 USD price of the Asus p6t and the EVGA board. I don't know much about Gigabyte. Are they a good company/board?

Well, Gigabyte is another famous important giant motherboard maker that goes head to head with Asus but I think that Gigabyte is not as popular as Asus like when it comes to Video Cards or LCD Monitors.

Sometimes, I believe that Gigabyte's quality is better due to being what Gigabyte called "Ultra Durable Motherboards". Gigabyte engineers normally choose the best components for the motherboard such as the Japanese Solid Capacitors which will last longer and will not choose some questionable components that Asus used with P5K Motherboard in the past. Now, there is "Ultra Durable 3" which includes 2 oz copper PCB instead of 1 oz copper which allows the electrons to flow better on the PCB circuit. Also, Gigabyte's DES Advanced (Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced) is hardware-based and will save more energy than Asus's EPU 6 Engines while EPU 6 Engines is more software-based. However, there are more people buying Asus motherboard than those who buy Gigabyte motherboard eventhough, Gigabyte motherboards is tend to be slightly cheaper and I don't know why, maybe due to Asus's popularity.

Anyway, they both are good companies in making motherboards but I think that Asus is slightly more popular than Gigabyte especially when it comes to LCD Monitors or Video Cards or etc but Gigabyte is still very popular when it comes to motherboard selection.

 

[Techno-boy]

PS: However, forgot to mention that Asus tends to win the performance crown over Gigabyte when it comes to gaming but the difference in performance between Gigabyte and Asus motherboards are not much and you won't realize the difference while gaming...

 

[Peaks]

You really wont notice the difference when gaming. To be honest I thing Asus and Gigabyte are pretty much head to head in this race. They are directly comparable to one another, so it really comes down to personal taste. Im sure lost of people would say go gigabyte, lots would say go Asus, I say go with what you can afford!!!!

Solid caps aren't going to make that much difference either, i mean you may get a few extra years out of them but wet caps are tested with 10 times the strain they would be running on any normal PC so you are guaranteed 5 years or so.

Techno-boy you said it. they are both good manufacturers and gigabyte are cheaper so i say go with them.

 

[cjl]

I have the Asus P6T and love it. That having been said, I'd say any of the current gen X58 boards are an excellent choice, aside from the Intel which only has 4 RAM slots.

 

[fragr]

Haha I have the exact setup as you. Except I got a third EVGA GTX 260 216 Core card. For the PSU, I'd DEFINITELY recommend the Corsair HX1000W 1000W PSU. One of the BEST PSU's around at the moment. I also went with the EVGA X58 motherboard as it came with the bundle with the video cards I odered. I got the Cooler Master V8 instead of the Monsoon. Reason being, you have to bend the heatsink to the left of the CPU in order for the monsoon to fit. It's not that big of a deal but I didn't wanna go through the hassle of doing it. Hopefully this helps you out some way. Oh, one last thing. You can get a bundle with 2x EVGA GTX 260 216 Core Superclocked Edition w/ a EVGA X58 motherboard for $749.99 off www.TigerDirect.com. I believe www.Newegg.com is also selling the bundle. Or.... You can also order it straight off of EVGA's website.

 

[FScuderiaX]

Im on the same boat as you right now...debating between P6T an EVGA X58. Since the performance is pretty close, I prefer to Tri-SLI option, Lifetime Warranty, single, dual, or triple channel memory support with EVGA. I've had bad luck with ASUS and do not wish to purchase any of there products anymore so it will be EVGA X58 for me!

 

[airjocky2]

Thanks for the input and info all. Especially about the Monsoon not fitting. I did not know that and this being my first build I don't think I wanna be bending stuff on the board (it looks cool though). V8 it is. I think based on all this I might go EVGA right now. It seems like they just have more pluses than the Asus. Customer service being the main one which is huge to me.

 

[FScuderiaX]

I bought an Asus G2S laptop under a year ago which i've sent back 3 times for repair. Its always something different and has been a complete nightmare (spent over $2K on the POS) and they wont even give me a different laptop after all the trouble I've been through, and a supervisor I spoke with was a complete jerkoff. Fine with me...EVGA you have a new customer! I hear nothing but good comments about their customer support (Lifetime Warranty can't go wrong) so they take my vote. Plus Asus boards can be very picky with hardware, RAM support coming to mind.