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• Test Hardware and Components HardwareTechnical Details AMD Motherboard (Socket AM2+) Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe WiFi Revision: 1.02G Chipset: AMD790FX + SB600 Bios: 1202 (07/03/2008) Intel-Motherboard (Socket 775)Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 Revision: 1.3 Chipset: Intel X48 + ICH9 Bios: F5 (07/21/2008) Intel-Motherboard (Socket 1366)Intel DX58SO Revision: 403 Chipset: Intel X58 + ICH10 BIOS1: SOX5810J.86A.2260.2008.0918.1758 BIOS2: SOX5810J.86A.2624.2008.1021.1531 DDR2-Memory AMD SystemA-DATA DDR2-800+ (2x 2 GB) Type: AD2800E002GU Setup: DDR2-800 (CL 4.0-4-4-12-1T) DDR3 Memory Intel SystemA-DATA DDR3-1600 (2x 2 GB) Type: AD31600X002GU Setup: DDR3-1333 (CL 7.0-7-7-20) Graphics CardMSI N280GTX-T2D1G-OC Chip: Nvidia GeForce GTX280 (GT200) Core Frequency: 650 MHz Memory: 1024 MB GDDR3 2300 MHz (512 Bit) Blu-Ray-ROMPioneer BDC-202BK SATA150 Hard DriveCaviar SE 320 GB (WD3200AAKS) 7,200 RPM, SATA/300, 16 MB Cache PSUCoolermaster RS-850-EMBA 850 W, ATX 12V 2.3 Sound CardCreative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Chip: X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity A/D Converter: 96 kHz/24 Bit USB-StickCorsair Flash Voyager 4 GB Write: 16 MB/s Read: 33 MB/s   Drivers DriverDetails ATI Chipset 7.8Northbridge Filter Driver 1.02.000.2 IDE Driver 5.1.0.8 Intel Chipset9.0.0.1008 (6/2/2008) Intel Chipset (Nehalem)9.1.0.1007 Intel Matrix Storage8.5.0.1032 Nvidia Graphics Card177.41 WHQL (06/26/2008) Creative Audio Driver2.15.0006 (03/14/2008)

• CPU: Intel Core i7-975 Since the memory performance differences are smaller on slower processors, we decided to use the fastest Core i7 processor available: the new 3.33 GHz Core i7-975 Extreme Edition. It succeeds the 3.2 GHz Core i7-965, inheriting all technical characteristics, such as the 45 nm Nehalem core, 6.4 GT/s Quick Path Interconnect (QPI), 8 MB L3 cache, 256 KB L2 cache for each of the four cores and Hyper Threading. It also includes Turbo mode, which automatically overclocks the Extreme Edition Core i7 processor by one clock speed increment if possible within the 130 W thermal envelope (and two bins if only one core is active).Besides the 133 MHz clock speed increase—which is rather insignificant—the main difference is the upgraded stepping. The Core i7-975 is a D0 model, while the i7-965 CPUs were manufactured using C0 silicon. We locked the Core i7 CPU clock speed to 3.46 GHz manually to avoid performance variances due to Turbo mode; 3.46 GHz equals the 3.33 GHz base speed plus the 133 MHz increment that Turbo would add when activated. Platform: Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P Since we are using several MSI motherboards on overclocking projects, and an Asus platform for our upcoming 2009 CPU charts, we looked around for a different platform vendor this time. The board we chose is a Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P, which is based on the X58 Express chipset. It is an upper mainstream version of the EX58 Extreme, which we reviewed here. The layout and base hardware, however, is the same on the Extreme, the UD5 and the UD4P—they share the same 12+2+2 phase voltage regulator, PCI Express configuration and so forth. They differ in features like the heat pipe construction, secondary Gigabit controller, and additional storage connectivity. Gigabyte has done well in refining motherboard platforms by being quick to provide power saving features. Differences can typically be found only if you’re into heavy overclocking, but the overall hardware basis from Gigabyte appears more solid than ever these days. Finally, it’s good to know that the cheaper EX58-UD4P is almost identical, technically, to the enthusiast X58 Extreme. Memory: Corsair Dominator TR3X6G1600C8D (3 x 2 GB) Corsair is one of the top brands for enthusiast memory; we’ve been using DDR3-1600 Dominator memory as our reference RAM for many reviews in Tom’s Hardware labs worldwide. The intention of this review is to try many different memory speeds and both fast and slow timings, hence the TR3X6G1600C8D seemed to be a good choice. It can be overclocked to more than DDR3-1600 speeds, but can also be operated at a conservative DDR3-800 clock. Our timings covered CL6-6-6-18 up to CL11-11-11-30. See more products GigaByte GA-EX58-UD4P Motherboard... Newegg.com $259.99 NextWarehouse $230.34 Lagoom.com $230.50 Directron $243.98 Amazon.com $256.57

• The C7X58 motherboard tied into the SuperWorkstation 5046A-XB is typical Supermicro fare. That is to say the board is somewhat plain to look at, yet meticulously laid out, passively cooled, and clearly designed with reliability in mind. Because Intel isn’t yet shipping the single-socket “Nehalem-WS” Xeon family, Supermicro’s first-generation workstation design must center on the X58 chipset and accommodate Core i7 processors. It’s worth noting here that Intel is expected to continue supporting the workstation market with X58 once Nehalem-WS emerges. However, that single-socket Xeon will support ECC memory, enhancing the platform’s reliability story beyond what either Intel or Supermicro can boast right now. Supermicro is claiming support for all Core i7 and upcoming Nehalem architecture-based processors, so we assume that this machine will include single-socket Xeon compatibility when the time comes. With that being said, we wouldn’t hesitate to use Core i7 today, even in a true workstation build. Like most enthusiast boards out there, the C7X58 comes armed with six DDR3 memory slots in a triple-channel arrangement. Official support caps out at 24 GB of DDR3-1600/1333/1066/800 using ECC or non-ECC modules. The X58 I/O hub offers 36 lanes of PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 connectivity and the ICH10 controller wields six lanes of PCIe 1.1. Supermicro uses the chipset’s available PCIe support to enable two 2.0 x16 slots (presumably for graphics cards) and one x8 slot (wired for x4 operation at 1.1 link speeds). There’s also a standard PCI slot, although it and the x8 PCIe connector would both be covered if you opted for two dual-slot graphics cards. This is undoubtedly a limitation for anyone who was also considering an add-in storage controller or a PCI-based sound card. The good news is that, even though Supermicro’s C7X58 is a workstation board, it does support both AMD’s CrossFireX and Nvidia’s SLI multi-card rendering technologies. Would this make an ideal platform for gaming? We think not—selling for $800 online, a gamer could easily find a motherboard/chassis/power supply combination for less that’d still be able to work with both technologies and likely boast more tuning knobs and switches. On the other hand, Nvidia has done a lot of work to its Quadro drivers, making SLI a more marketable feature in its workstation card lineup. SLI currently runs in one of three different user-selectable modes: SLI Frame Rendering, which teams two cards and presents a single adapter to the operating system, SLI Multi-View, which allows multiple displays to render 3D independently, and SLI FSAA, which sounds a lot like Frame Rendering to us with an emphasis on enhancing image quality through anti-aliasing (AA) rather than performance. It’s absolutely feasible that a professional might want to leverage Supermicro’s SLI license to take advantage of the feature. AMD, on the other hand, seems to have put very little into CrossFire support on its FirePro cards, neglecting to even mention it as a supported feature. The FirePro V8700 we put into our test bed here has the requisite connectors, but they remain unutilized. As a result, a professional workstation seems to be overkill for anyone looking to employ a pair of Radeons in CrossFire. As mentioned previously, the C7X58 centers wholly on Intel’s X58 and ICH10 chipset components, so you get six SATA 3 Gb/s ports with software-based RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10; a 7.1-channel Realtek audio codec, eight back-panel USB 2.0 ports (with two more internal), and a floppy controller. There is no legacy parallel ATA support, and Supermicro doesn’t add the third-party logic needed to resurrect it. The company does, however, add FireWire 400 and a pair of Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet controllers. Check prices for Supermicro's 5046A-XB