Asus vs. Gigabyte vs. MSI, any others?

[Poderoso]

Hi all, I need your help.

I'm looking for probably the most crucial component of my next system and need your experience. I've always been a fan of the three manufacturers in the thread title, as they've always delivered for me. My next system will have a SATA 6 Gb/s SSD, and 2x 460 GTX's in SLI, and an Intel Core i7 950 so those are musts. I will also have a Cooler Master HAF 'X' case so I'll be able to support any form factor (although uATX would look comical in it). Other than that I'm looking for longevity in a board, i.e. future expandability, maybe toss in USB 3.0 as it's the new gadget standard. Perhaps compatibility with higher rated RAM or CPU's that are not practical purchases right now, but may become affordable in the future. The budget is up to $500, so the GA-X58A-UD9 is out of the question


Choices from Asus:
P6X58D Premium
P6X58D-E
Sabertooth X58

Choices from Gigabyte:
GA-X58A-UD5
GA-X58A-UD7

Choices from MSI:
X58A-GD65 - G52-75221XD
XPower - G52-76661X1

Which one will you pick and why? Do you have any other candidates not on this list?

 

[tecmo34]

My top three would be these, in order, based on price to performance (Added EVGA, as I believe they make better SLI boards than MSI)

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
ASUS P6X58D-E
EVGA X58 FTW3

 

[jaquith]

I disagree with Tom's review of the GA-X58A-UD3R {also some GA-X58A-UD5} if you SSD + RAID then chances are you'll corrupt the RAID and/or have numerous Shut-Downs + BSOD {confirmed}.

For all of my gaming rigs: EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1 / X58 4-WAY SLI Classified XL.

Choices:
High Budget
$380 - EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1 / X58 4-WAY SLI Classified XL ; note *
$380 - ASUS Rampage III Extreme
$350 - EVGA 141-BL-E760-A1 / X58 3-WAY SLI Classified ; note *

Mid Budget
$289 - 132-GT-E768-KR / X58 EVGA X58 FTW3
$299 - ASUS Rampage III Formula
$269 - P6X58D Premium {the Premium is worth $30 over the P6X58D-E}

{*} Unless your SSD is faster than 300 Mb/s (e.g. C300 CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1) use the SATA2. Neither of the 3-WAY/4-WAY SLI Classified MOBO have SATA3 nor USB 3; instead most of the technology is geared towards the GPUs + OC; you can add a SATA3 card if needed.

 

[Poderoso]

My top three would be these, in order, based on price to performance (Added EVGA, as I believe they make better SLI boards than MSI)

Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
ASUS P6X58D-E
EVGA X58 FTW3

Ok, I'll definately check out EVGA. Actually, I think I was looking into that specific motherboard tonight. It looks pretty good. I also think I looked at the UD3R from Giga, but can't remember why I chose not to include it.

I disagree with Tom's review of the GA-X58A-UD3R {also some GA-X58A-UD5} if you SSD + RAID then chances are you'll corrupt the RAID and/or have numerous Shut-Downs + BSOD {confirmed}.

For all of my gaming rigs: EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1 / X58 4-WAY SLI Classified XL.

Choices:
High Budget
$380 - EVGA 170-BL-E762-A1 / X58 4-WAY SLI Classified XL ; note *
$380 - ASUS Rampage III Extreme
$350 - EVGA 141-BL-E760-A1 / X58 3-WAY SLI Classified ; note *

Mid Budget
$289 - 132-GT-E768-KR / X58 EVGA X58 FTW3
$299 - ASUS Rampage III Formula
$269 - P6X58D Premium {the Premium is worth $30 over the P6X58D-E}

{*} Unless your SSD is faster than 300 Mb/s (e.g. C300 CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1) use the SATA2. Neither of the 3-WAY/4-WAY SLI Classified MOBO have SATA3 nor USB 3; instead most of the technology is geared towards the GPUs + OC; you can add a SATA3 card if needed.

I'm with you on the corruption with SSD's in RAID. As I understand it, Win7 doesn't support TRIM for SSD's in RAID configs. Until they do, I'll stick with an SSD for a boot drive only.

It's interesting that your top picks are both EVGA, I really have to look at this manufacturer closer. I see that you're definately going for boards with high SLI support. I guess I never looked at not having SATA III natively, i.e. popping a board in. Mainly due to air flow restrictions and such. But I am open minded. This will open up a larger base of choices with probably better SLI performance.

Thanks fellas for your input.

EDIT: I forgot to add that my SSD of choice will be a Crucial RealSSD C300 topping out at around 350Mb/s in SATA III.

 

[jaquith]

^ I too meant ANY RAID Configuration 1 SSD {OS + Apps} & 2 HDD in RAID x {Data}. In general, for now, multi SSD + HDD are better served on dedicated cards for best performance.

Interesting Table - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-ssd-trim,2705-16.html
Interesting {omission} that the test MOBO "Supermicro X8SAX" does NOT offer or mention SATA3; meaning in order to achieve these max test results a dedicated RAID/SATA3 Card is used ~ food for thought.
Test MOBO - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-ssd-trim,2705-13.html
X8SAX MOBO - http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/X58/X8SAX.cfm

As far as airflow, won't be an issue with a SATA3 card; the airflow is front -> rear.

Choices with on-board SATA3:
High Budget
$380 - ASUS Rampage III Extreme

Mid Budget
$289 - 132-GT-E768-KR / X58 EVGA X58 FTW3
$299 - ASUS Rampage III Formula
$269 - P6X58D Premium {the Premium is worth $30 over the P6X58D-E}

Footnote: If you are looking at the C300 64GB then only the OS and minimal Apps can be used; instead I would highly recommend at least a 120-128+GB SSD. The gain otherwise overall is minimal. In addition, Samsung offers a HHD with a 30 GB SSD + 500 GB HD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591&cm_re=hybrid_drive-_-22-148-591-_-Product Ignore the "benchmark" tests, the HHD drives look ONLY for frequently used data to relocate to the SSD, so {single X1} use of data as with any benchmark will NOT be moved to the SSD and therefore the tests will be ~ HDD speeds.

Good Luck!

 

[hell_storm2004]

I would single it down to one:
P6X58D Premium.

 

[jaquith]

The Big Question is what's your total Budget?? Otherwise everyone including myself are throwing opinions.

 

[Poderoso]

^ I too meant ANY RAID Configuration 1 SSD {OS + Apps} & 2 HDD in RAID x {Data}. In general, for now, multi SSD + HDD are better served on dedicated cards for best performance.

I'll keep this in mind for sure. I wasn't thinking of doing any RAID set-ups for now anyways, just an SSD and a storage drive. I have a 2 TB external for back-ups, so I just need something to hold my music on the PC.

Interesting Table - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-ssd-trim,2705-16.html
Interesting {omission} that the test MOBO "Supermicro X8SAX" does NOT offer or mention SATA3; meaning in order to achieve these max test results a dedicated RAID/SATA3 Card is used ~ food for thought.
Test MOBO - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-7-ssd-trim,2705-13.html
X8SAX MOBO - http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Xeon3000/X58/X8SAX.cfm

Interesting review. You're right, that mobo doesn't have SATA 6Gb/s natively hehe. So they did the benchmarks with a card without impacting performance, or else I'd be they'd mention it.

As far as airflow, won't be an issue with a SATA3 card; the airflow is front -> rear.

True.

Choices with on-board SATA3:
High Budget
$380 - ASUS Rampage III Extreme

Mid Budget
$289 - 132-GT-E768-KR / X58 EVGA X58 FTW3
$299 - ASUS Rampage III Formula
$269 - P6X58D Premium {the Premium is worth $30 over the P6X58D-E}

You know, I over looked the Rampage III, I think I looked at version II and noticed it didn't have SATA 6gb/s so I moved on. I think you may have found the winner.

Footnote: If you are looking at the C300 64GB then only the OS and minimal Apps can be used; instead I would highly recommend at least a 120-128+GB SSD. The gain otherwise overall is minimal. In addition, Samsung offers a HHD with a 30 GB SSD + 500 GB HD - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591&cm_re=hybrid_drive-_-22-148-591-_-Product Ignore the "benchmark" tests, the HHD drives look ONLY for frequently used data to relocate to the SSD, so {single X1} use of data as with any benchmark will NOT be moved to the SSD and therefore the tests will be ~ HDD speeds.

Good Luck!

I should have been more specific. I'm looking at the 128GB Crucial version. Now that Hybrid is quite the drive. I'll definately look into it as an upgrade for my current systems, but I think I'll stick with the 128GB SSD for 350+MB/s read speeds for games and apps. Lots of really great information Jaquith, thank you.

EDIT: Check this review out, he does mention that the benchmarks are not indicative of the actual speed experienced with this Hybrid drive. And a nice touch is that if the SSD fails, the drive continues to work as a standard drive and no data is lost hehe. http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/seagate_momentus_xt_500gb/

 

[Poderoso]

The Big Question is what's your total Budget?? Otherwise everyone including myself are throwing opinions.

$500. Thank you all for your comments. I'll do a few more reviews on the aforementioned products, but I believe the Asus Rampage III will be the winner.

 

[Poderoso]

Best answer selected by Poderoso.

 

[jaquith]

$500. Thank you all for your comments. I'll do a few more reviews on the aforementioned products, but I believe the Asus Rampage III will be the winner.

^ Sorry, I meant for the entire rig. "Fine-tuning" of MOBO selection; i.e. $ in the best places...

Yeah, you'll love the Asus Rampage III it's a damn good MOBO - Enjoy the build!

Good Luck!