ASUS P6T SE vs. Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R

[parisha]

I think I've finally chosen my processor for the my desktop (i7 920). Now I need a motherboard. I'm looking at these two because they seem to be in my price range and others have reported good success overclocking with them. Is there any reason I'd go for one over the over? Here's more information about the system I plan on building:

CPU: i7 920
Graphics card: Gigabyte GTX 260
RAM: Not quite sure, aiming at 6 GB Crucial, G.skill or something (maybe G.SKILL PI Series 6GB)
Case: Antec 300 Illusion
Power supply: Corsair 750W
Monitor: Samsung 2233SW

I want to overclock the i7 as much as I possibly can; I do not plan on doing SLI anytime soon (maybe not at all). I do not need a "ton of stuff" for my motherboard - I mainly just want to not have a huge hassle overclocking.

Motherboards seem to be admittedly the hardest computer component to buy. I have no building experience or brand experience, so I don't really know what to look for / avoid. On Newegg, people seem to complain about motherboards pretty uniformly. This Gigabyte and ASUS are both less than $200 and don't seem too frightening.

If you have another motherboard to recommend, though, please do so.

Thank you for helping me.

 

[rockyjohn]

I generally prefer Gigabyte because of their UD - ultra durable - construction. You might want to review this article about it:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gigabyte-ultra-durable,2094.html

The two boards you are looking at are both compared in this review:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cheap-x58-motherboard,2368.html

The Gigabyte X-58 UD3R, while highly rated, has the major disadvantage of only having 4 memory slots. Since one of the majoradvantages of X-58 related systems are the triple channel memory, I cannot see giving it up even it practically speaking it is not needed or used much by applications today. While considerabley more expensive, I would go with the UD4 or UD5.

Here is a comparison of the 3 Gigabyte boards.

http://www.giga-byte.com/Products/Motherboard/Products_ComparisonSheet.aspx?ProductID=2989,2986,3304

I would go with the UD4P. It is not carried at newegg so here is an alternate listing:

Gigabyte Technology Intel X58 Core i7 DDR3 UD3 GA-EX58-UD4P- Retail - $230
http://www.thegreatguys.com/servlet/the-22284/Gigabyte-Technology-Intel-X58/Detail

And the UD5 at newegg:

GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD5 LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail - $270
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128362

I would pay the higher price for the UD4P over the ASUS LE board primarily because the latter is limited to using only one channel of memory with speeds over DDR3 1333. It would be nice to be able to add another set of triple channel memory in a year or two as more is required - and prices decline. Also see this comparison of the ASUS board and 2 of the Gigabyte ones - since it is at newgg they don't have the UD4P to include:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010200280%201070545356&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=N82E16813128375%2CN82E16813131386%2CN82E16813128362

 

[parisha]

I want to use 6 GB of DDR3 1600 RAM - the UD3R should be fine for that, right? That was a very, very helpful article. If I never plan on going above 6 GB (and I don't), then the Gigabyte seems good. I am also now considering the ASRock, the Foxconn and the MSI boards from that article. For someone who wants to overclock and is not planning to use more than 6 GB DDR3, all of these options don't seem too shabby.

They all clear 4 Ghz in that article, which is higher than I ever plan on going.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Asus

 

[parisha]

Jack - I've heard many folks praise Asus, and many criticize them. Can you say anything about why you'd choose the Asus?

 

[rockyjohn]

When THG did their recent $1,300 Enthusiast build, which board did they select:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-own-pc,2503.html

And when they did the $2,500 Performance build, which board did they select:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-new-pc,2497.html

 

[dwhatd]

No doubt you have the board now. I've been running the Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R board for a while now. It's very easy to bend the pins and Gigabyte won't offer a replacement.
I've installed many CPUs in my time and years ago bent pins on a board by being too forceful so I'm now very careful.
Google the board and you will see a lot of people have bent pins.
Choose the ASUS every time.