GA-EX58-UD4P or GA-EX58-UD5 ?

[simonbrads]

I'm planning my new X58-based build and am trying to figure out whether to go for the GA-EX58-UD4P or the GA-EX58-UD5 motherboard.

The review at the address below claims that the UD4P replaces the UD5... Surely this is wrong!?

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=263&Itemid=69

Any opinions on which one would be generally better would be appreciated!

Btw, this will be mated with an i7 920 (lightly overclocked) and probably Corsair XMS RAM (unless anyone cares to suggest a better alternative).

 

[bilbat]

I see no EOL (EndOfLife) announcement at GB for the UD5, and found a dozen vendors selling it; doesn't seem likely...

I'm going to re-post this: when the i7s approached release, I warned, long and loud, that this is not a good place for people with little or no systems experience to be. This is a completely new chip mask, with a completely new northbridge, a completely new memory technology ('direct connect three channel'), which requires completely new boards, with completely new BIOS! There were bound to be problems, and some serious! You should have expected weekly BIOS upgrades, and scads of difficulties - it's, essentially, a huge 'public beta' project... If you have little depth of experience, and no knowledge of troubleshooting (hardware especially), nor have a serious reason to invest a lot of time in an untried platform - this is a really bad choice. If you expect building a computer to be like plugging in a toaster; if you're the sort of person who didn't do well in math or science classes (or just completely avoided them); ditto!

Everyone seems to think they've 'gotta have' the latest and greatest goodies that appear on the market - but a comprehensive set of untried technologies like this requires serious: effort, understanding, and, most of all - time! Most everyone I see here with X58 based problems would most likely have been infinitely better served to have stuck with a Q9550; I liken this situation to deliberately shooting yourself in the foot - and then complaining because you've got to change the bandage twice a week!

 

[simonbrads]

Thanks for the opinion. That reviewer must have got his wires crossed.

The main advantage of the UD4P seems to be the Ultra TPM module, but I think, on balance (and given the two boards are the same price), I'll go with the UD5.

And thanks for the warning, but I'm pretty experienced with computer technology. Admittedly, my day job is in software, but I've done a few of my own builds, too.

 

[bilbat]

Ahhhh - you know the difference between hex and binary, and what a 'stack push' is! You'll be fine...

I hope to be helpful; I wouldn't yet buy one, but as soon as the 35nm's hit the channel, I'm planning to build an i7-based 8 or 10 TB media server (preferable with about a rev about 3.2 MOBO), so I'm 'bringing myself up to speed', as fast as I can find reliable info. 'TweakTown', over at
http://forums.tweaktown.com/f69 is a really good source...

Good luck!

Bill

 

[htoonthura]

I see no EOL (EndOfLife) announcement at GB for the UD5, and found a dozen vendors selling it; doesn't seem likely...

I'm going to re-post this: when the i7s approached release, I warned, long and loud, that this is not a good place for people with little or no systems experience to be. This is a completely new chip mask, with a completely new northbridge, a completely new memory technology ('direct connect three channel'), which requires completely new boards, with completely new BIOS! There were bound to be problems, and some serious! You should have expected weekly BIOS upgrades, and scads of difficulties - it's, essentially, a huge 'public beta' project... If you have little depth of experience, and no knowledge of troubleshooting (hardware especially), nor have a serious reason to invest a lot of time in an untried platform - this is a really bad choice. If you expect building a computer to be like plugging in a toaster; if you're the sort of person who didn't do well in math or science classes (or just completely avoided them); ditto!

Everyone seems to think they've 'gotta have' the latest and greatest goodies that appear on the market - but a comprehensive set of untried technologies like this requires serious: effort, understanding, and, most of all - time! Most everyone I see here with X58 based problems would most likely have been infinitely better served to have stuck with a Q9550; I liken this situation to deliberately shooting yourself in the foot - and then complaining because you've got to change the bandage twice a week!

You can be crazy, but do not pass your crazy ideology among people here.

 

[bilbat]

I am crazy - manic depressive; and proud of it! I'm in good company: Charles Baudelaire, Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Graham Greene, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Ludwig Boltzmann, Georg Cantor, Isaac Newton, Vincent Van Gogh, Winston Churchill, Alexander Hamilton - Doctors Hershman & Lieb, in "Manic Depression and Creativity" posit that, if one were to subtract the contributions of all the manic depressive geniuses, western civilization would be set back by at least a century...

I don't, however, think it's crazy to point out likely problems, or the difference between one's proclivities, and the tasks at hand. What I do think is crazy is the computer media's 'cheerleading' on behalf of their advertisers, to make putting together a complex array of parts seem like merely a matter of assembly! I have pointed out before that I cancelled my subscription to PC Magazine, when, one day, I received an issue in which they reviewed a drive controller card which they were never able to make work, although they tried it in several systems, and had access to a level of tech support from the manufacturer ( who, since, I am glad to report, has gone out of business) that no user could ever get – and they wound up giving it an eight or nine rating, out of a possible ten, BASED ON THE FEATURES LISTED ON THE BOX!!!

 

[simonbrads]

I hope to be helpful; I wouldn't yet buy one, but as soon as the 35nm's hit the channel, I'm planning to build an i7-based 8 or 10 TB media server (preferable with about a rev about 3.2 MOBO), so I'm 'bringing myself up to speed', as fast as I can find reliable info.

I've been doing a bit more research, and it seems there aren't any 32-nm i7's on the roadmap (yet). From what I can tell, there'll be 2-core/4-thread i5's (codename Clarkdale) and 6C/12T i9's (codename Gulftown).

Admittedly, although i5 is a confirmed marketing name, i9 is just rumoured. So, Gufltown may end up being marketed as i7 (effectively replacing Bloomfield). But it seems more likely the three will live in parallel, at least for a while.

Anyway, just thought I'd throw that in there for anyone who's as confused by all of Intel's codenames as I was a few days ago!

 

[bilbat]

From an Intel blog at:

http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2008/08/getting_to_the_core_intels_new.php

Sep 22 | Bill Calder said:

answering a few of the questions raised by a few posters:

Yes there will be two different sockets (1166 and 1366); initial i7’s will have the 1366 socket.

As for when these processors will be manufactured on Intel’s next generation manufacturing technology (32nm): Intel has not announced a specific date per se, but 32nm production is expected to begin sometime in the second half of 2009.

There is also discussion of the upcoming 8-core (16 thread) CPUs...