Windwithme’s X58 review Part12-GIGABYTE X58A-UD7 Review

Since LGA1366 launched at the end of 2008, there are not many news in the market recently.
Instead the new LGA1156 has very high exposure rate in all medias.
These 2 structures are very similar and make users hard to choose as the different strength.

LGA 1366, the extreme level product line and will have 6 cores CPU soon.
Currently X58 chipset support 3 channel and 6 DIMMs DDR3 for higher extensibility and Quad core CPU with HT technology.
LGA 1156 is the following segment. P55 is single chip and the power consumption is lower.
HT version CPU and LGA 1136 are similar price. i5-750 is the most valuable choice so far.
In the future, i3 dual-core will make LGA 1156 product line be richer, but still only the combination of dual-core, quad-core and HT.

Even though there are not many news of X58 MB, but it’s still the top end product in Intel platform.
USB3.0 and SATA3 are launched in these 2 months, and most manufacturers implement with P55 MB.
Compared to X58 revision, there is only GIGABYTE X58A-UD7.
GIGABYTE X58A-UD7 is the key role for this review.
Let’s look at the appearance first.




Accessories
User’s manual, software manual, driver CD
SATA/eSATA cables, USB Port bracket
CrossFire and 3WAY SLI bridge


Lower Left Corner
4 X PCI-E, the bandwidth is 2 X16 and 2 X8, support CrossFire and 3WAY SLI
2 X PCI-E X1
1 X PCI
Realtek 8111D dual LAN chipset support Teaming
Realtek ALC889, supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio/Dolby Home Theater technology
Design in Taipei


Lower Right Corner
6 X blue SATAII provided by ICH10R, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10
2 X white SATAIII, provided by Marvell 9128, SATA3 supports RAID 0, RAID 1
2 X white SATAII, provided by GIGABYTE SATA2 chip, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD
1 X IDE，GIGABYTE SATA2chip provide
Dual BIOS dual protection, also built-in Debug LED


Upper Right Corner
6 X DIMM DDR3, supports 800/1066/1333/2200, the max DDR3 capacity is 24GB
Cyan big button is Power and blue small button is Reset
DDR3 uses 2 phases PWM and next is 24-PIN power connector


Upper Left Corner
LGA 1366 CPU socket, and CPU metal cover is electroplated.
X58A-UD7 uses 24 phase PWM. It’s same as own P55-UD6 design and the highest in X58 board in the market now.


IO
4 X USB 2.0(Yellow)
2 X USB 3.0(Blue)
2 X RJ-45 LAN
2 X eSATA/USB 2.0 Combo
1 X S/PDIF Fiber/Coaxial output
1 X 1394a
clr CMOS button


Full look after installing the Hybird SILENT-PIPE
These heat pipe is also used in previous X58-EXTREME


The shortcoming is lose one PCI-E X1 after installation

The screw holes next to NB heat sink are used to install Hybird SILENT-PIPE


This heat pipe also supports water cooling system.
The user can install the pipe into it without buying a water cooling block.


USB 3.0 chip is NEC D720200F1
3x USB power design to provide 3 times electric current by independent chip for all USB ports.
It can solve the insufficient power issue which may cause read write lose as using external storages.
I will test USB 3.0 performance later.


Below SB heat sink is Marvell SE9128 chip which supports SATA3
SATA3 ports is SATA6 and SATA7 in upper side.



Boot Screen


MB Intelligent Tweaker, also called M.I.T.


DDR3 parameters setting. X58 supports three channel, so there are 3 sets items


Voltage Page
Load-Line Calibration StandardLevel1/Level2
CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V
QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.120~2.000V
IOH Core 0.850~2.080V
CPU PLL 1.000~2.580V
DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V


Advanced CPU Features
C1E is power saving and lower frequency feature. It runs automatically as low CPU utility rate.
Intel Turbo Boost is opposite with C1E. It will increase clock in full speed operation.
You can find many articles in internet.
Because of the limited space, also I had detail review in previous product, so I won’t explain Intel Turbo Boost


PC Health Status


X58A-UD7 is GIGABYTE most high end product. The voltage and items in BIOS are rich
The setting is stable at 175/2100. If your hardware OC capability is good, you can refer to this set up.
I hope it is valuable for your configuration.

For the DRAM test, supporting 3 channels is big advantages for X58 platform.
I use the famous extreme memory maker, CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8, supports 3-channel.
Black/Red color make GT be more attractive




DDR3 2100 CL8 8-8-24 1T, BIOS set as 1.600V
SP2004 3 X Blend mode, 5.88GB stable in full load


Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 30925 MB/s
EVEREST Memory Read - 21274 MB/s


DDR3 OC can reach 2100 CL8 easily and only need 1.600V
Besides DOMINATOR-GT CMG6GX3M3A2000C8 quality is great, the X58A-UD7 OC capability is also in good standard.
It makes the combination be even greater.
Comparing to P55 dual channel performance, X58 3-channel bandwidth is much higher.


The CPU is Gulftown, 6 cores and HT technology work as 12
It’s not selling in the market yet, but there are many CPU test since August.
CPU OC to 4GHz to see some future structure performance

CPU 175 X 23 => 4025MHz
DDR3 2100 CL8 8-8-24 1T

Hyper 12 X PI 32M=> 14m 53.289s
CPUMARK 99=> 620


CINEBENCH R10
1 CPU=> 5662
x CPU=> 31983


PCMark Vantage
GTX260 SLI 2WAY=> 20313


GTX260 SLI 3WAY=> 27205


During the test, you can see many software only support 4-8 cores.
In physical 6 cores plus HT, some benchmark scores decreased rather than increased.
I think the software need to improve more in this condition.
SLI 3WAY is also the same. CrystalMark 2004R3 scores is decreased.
So far, some software cannot support this high spec 100%.
However, Gulftown with SLI 3WAY really get the higher benchmark scores.


GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD7
Good
1.X58A-UD7 uses GIGABYTE most high end components and technologies
2.Support 3WAY SLI and CFX. NV system can use PhyX to build 4 VGA
3.SATA3 use high end Marvell 9128 chip. USB 3.0 uses NEC chip
4.BIOS items are rich and wide voltage items. CPU/DDR3 OC ability is great.
5.Built-in 6 SATAII, 2 USB/eSATA and 2 USB 3.0
6.Hybird SILENT-PIPE enhance the thermal solution. NB also support water cooling block

Weak
1.Hybird SILENT-PIPE will block one PCI-E X1
2.LAN and Audio chips are all Realtek. They could consider for some better one.



Performance ★★★★★★★★★★
Components ★★★★★★★★★★
Specification ★★★★★★★★★☆
Outlook ★★★★★★★★★☆
C/P Value ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

GIGABYTE X58A-UD7 is really the new blood for X58 platform
Except enhance the components, it also implements latest USB 3.0 and SATA3
LGA 1156 doesn’t sell well because i7 CPU plus P55 price is almost the same as LGA 1366
After LGA 1156 i3 CPU launch, the platform should be cheaper and rise the C/P value.
For the current market, LGA 1366 is still the most high end one.

SATA3 is helpless for users who only use 1~2 HDD.
7200rpm HDD performance is around 100~120 MB/s.
However, for milti-HDD and SSD users, SATA3 is a great improvement.

The most attractive part is USB 3.0. USB2.0 has been using for years.
30~35 MB/s bandwidth is too slow for most USB external storage users.
USB 3.0 can reach 150 MB/s in test which is almost 5 times faster.
This technology is more practical.

GIGABYTE announced GIGABYTE X58A-UD7 is high standard in overall performance.
Previous GIGABYTE X58 series can support Gulftown 6 cores CPU by upgrading BIOS.
It’s a pity that LAN and Audio can use better chip to match their high end components level.
If you want to build a top level PC, LGA 1366 is your best choice.
For top MB, X58 price is higher, but compare to the same price range X58 products, UD7 is still competitive.

If you wish to have better thermal solution, I suggest you to install it,
If you are using 3-way VGA then Hybrid-pipe can just ignore it.

Does anyone know if the Gigabyte SATA driver is also the SATA3 driver ? The descriptions shows that the Marvel RAID utility doing SATA3 which sounds wrong? But the Gigabyte SATA driver only refers to SATA2 ??

I would rather not install the Marvel software because is installs another MSconfig start up tray which cant be easily disabled, but if this is also the the SATA3 driver then I have no choice ???

Just want to add, I found this article about this new mb:

So does this mean all that extra PCIEx16 slots are pretty useless if I want to use 2 graphic cards (SLI or CF) and at the same time enable USB 3 & SATA 3?

I have a question are you happy with the Gigabyte X58UD7 motherboard? Did you have any problem at all with this motherboard in any way? The reason I ask is because on Newegg I have read that with this motherboard the computer start up times are longer for some reason and also some people have said the memory does not register properly. And if money is not an issue at all would you get the Asus P6X58 or the Gigabyte X58UD7? I would really appreciate you input over this matter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 0x58%20ud7

Thank you so much for your time and a detailed explanation over this matter I have already bought the board its on its way. After buying it I just got a little confused after reading some reviews. I totally agree with you that a lot of time people don't know the details about certain things. I bought the Corsair 800D case as well with the Corsair CPU Water cooler, with the i7 930. This is my first build and hopefully everything goes well. It can't be that hard

I really can't seem to find any 'quick' info on this - and I'm curious, too, as I'm evaluating the UD9 for a pretty specific application - want to know if I need that 'behemoth'? I usually go to Extreme Systems for this kind of info - it's where the real, serious nut-jobs hang out - and they know their stuff! However! There are more than fifty pages to the main UD7 thread - even to just accomplish a 'quick scan' will take hours & hours...

If you have decent case airflow, I wouldn't be afraid to give it a try, for several reasons:

chipsets are designed to 'run hot' - the Tcase_max for most is around 100°C - 105°C...

so long as you keep Bidirectional PROCHOT enabled, the chipset will be able to initiate a thermal shutdown, should one be required...

there's quite a bit of mass to the 'base' heat-pipe assembly - it should 'soak' pretty well itself...


My main concern would be the covers over the various sinks themselves - I've always thought these were an idiot idea. Used to be - they were easy to pry off to expose the fins, but, don't know about those - they look pretty substantial - and, pretty sure that yanking 'em will exclude the possibility of RMAing the board, should it become necessary. That's another thing I was hoping to find (within this lifetime! ) at Extreme - whether anyone had detailed their experince with pulling 'em?

Anyhow - I'd give 'er a try without, and start by monitoring your MCH temp (which also strikes me odd - there isn't one!) on the "PC Health Status" page of the BIOS - if it stays under, say 70 to 80, install a monitoring tool, like HWMonitor Pro 1.09 (32-bit) or [url=http://www.cpuid.com/medias/files/softwares/hwmonitor-pro/hwmonitor-pro_1.09-64bits.zip]
HWMonitor Pro 1.09 (64-bit)[/url] to keep an eye on the temps, and then 'exercise' 'er a bit...

Always !

Thank you - ever so much! Might I ask, how in the hell did you find that? When I do a search at Extreme, it just 'turns me up' the thread, and that's like, page 54 of 64?! Obviously, I'm missing something - and I'll just bet it's something 'obvious', too...