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X58 To The Max: Three New Flagship LGA 1366 Motherboards
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1. More Power!

One word explains how Intel’s oldest Core i7 chipset has been able to dominate the high-end desktop market for an impressive two years: more. More PCI Express (PCIe) 2.0 pathways feed more high-bandwidth expansion cards. More memory channels on the socket increase bandwidth to more physical CPU cores, while new models, like the Core i7-980X and Xeon X5600-series chips, are introduced.

Yet because the concept of more always translates to cost, manufacturers are constantly looking to pack more features into these already-more-expensive motherboards.

Our most recent “more” article for X58 motherboards examined boards with USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, two items that take advantage of the X58’s four left over PCIe 2.0 pathways. Intel solutions aren’t completely comparable, since Intel's LGA 1156 platform only has 16 lanes to begin with. It might surprise you then that the latest trend in more doesn't have anything to do with additional connectivity at all.

Top LGA 1366 motherboards now feature two eight-pin ATX12V/EPS12V power connectors to enable enhanced power delivery under the rigors of extreme overclocking. Builders whose overclocking needs are less intensive will still find that a single connector works, while those running at stock speeds will even find a four-pin connector adequate. Today we consider the totality of features, performance, and stability of the three latest examples of flagship-class X58-based platforms.

2. Features Comparison
X58 Motherboard Features
 Asus Rampage III ExtremeGigabyte X58A-UD9MSI Big Bang XPower
PCB Revision1.00GT1.01.0
ChipsetIntel X58 ExpressIntel X58 ExpressIntel X58 Express
Voltage Regulator8 Phases24 Phases16 Phases
BIOS0602 (05/18/2010)F3 (05/28/2010)V1.2 (06/09/2010)
133.3 MHz BCLK133.4 MHz (+0.05%)132.9 MHz (-0.32%)133.2 MHz (-0.1%)
Clock GeneratorICS 9LPRS918JKLFICS 9LPRS914EKLFICS 9LPRS134BKLF
Internal Interfaces
PCIe x1632 lanes to 4 slots
(x16/x0/x16/x0,
x8/x8/x8/x8)
64 lanes to 7 slots
(x16/x0/x16/x0/x16/x0/x16,
x8/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8/x16)
32 lanes to 6 slots
(x16/x0/x0/x16/x0/x0,
x8/x0/x8/x8/x8/x0,
x8/x4/x4/x8/x4/x4)
PCIe x1/x40/10/01/0
Legacy PCI1NoneNone
USB 2.01 (2 ports)3 (6 ports)2 (4 ports)
IEEE-1394111
Serial Port NoneNone
Parallel PortNoneNoneNone
FloppyNoneYesNone
Ultra-ATA 133NoneYesNone
SATA 3.0 Gb/s786
SATA 6.0 Gb/s222
4-Pin Fan821
3-Pin Fan043
FP-AudioYesYesOn Riser Card
CD-AudioYesYesOn Riser Card
S/PDIF I/OOutput OnlyBothOutput Only
Power ButtonYesYesTouch Sensor
Reset ButtonYesYesTouch Sensor
CLR_CMOS ButtonYesNoJumper Only
Diagnostics PanelPass/Fail LEDsNumericPass/Fail LEDs
I/O Panel Connectors
P/S 2122
USB 2.066 (2 shared w/eSATA)6 (1 shared w/eSATA)
USB 3.0222
IEEE-1394121
NetworkSingleDualDual
eSATA12 (Shared with USB)2 (1 Shared w/USB)
CLR_CMOS ButtonYesYesYes
Digital Audio OutOpticalOptical + CoaxialOptical + Coaxial
Digital Audio InNoneNoneNone
Analog Audio666
Mass Storage Controllers
Chipset SATA6 x SATA 3Gb/s6 x SATA 3Gb/s6 x SATA 3Gb/s
Chipset RAID Modes0, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 100, 1, 5, 10
Add-In SATAMarvell 9128 PCIe
2 x SATA 6 Gb/s
JMB363 PCIe
1 x SATA 3 Gb/s
1 x eSATA 3 Gb/s
Marvell 9128 PCIe
2 x SATA 6 Gb/s
JMB363 PCIe
2 x SATA 3 Gb/s
JMB362 PCIe
2 x eSATA 3 Gb/s
Marvell 9128 PCIe
2 x SATA 6 Gb/s
JMB362 PCIe
2 x eSATA 3 Gb/s
Add-In Ultra ATAJMB363 PCIeJMB363 PCIeNone
USB 3.0NEC D720200F1NEC D720200F1NEC D720200F1
IEEE-1394VT6308P PCI
2 x 400 Mb/s
TSB43AB23 PCI
3 x 400 Mb/s
VT6315N PCIe
2 x 400 Mb/s
Gigabit Ethernet
Primary LANIntel WG82567V PHYRTL8111E PCIeRTL8111DL PCIe
Secondary LANNoneRTL8111E PCIeRTL8111DL PCIe
Audio
HD Audio CodecALC889ALC889ALC889
DDL/DTS ConnectUnspecifiedDolby Digital LiveUnspecified
3. Asus Rampage III Extreme

Quite possibly the best-featured motherboard Asus has ever produced, the Rampage III Extreme is everything its predecessor should have been, and then some.

The “and then some” comes courtesy of an NEC PD720200 USB 3.0 controller that wasn’t available when the first LGA 1366 Republic Of Gamers product was introduced. Retained from previous models is the ROG Connect dual-function USB header that allows tuners BIOS-level access from a second PC, no matter what programs or operating system the Rampage III Extreme is running.

The Rampage III Extreme adds support for four dual-slot graphics cards, a feature that simply must be present before any motherboard can claim to be the “ultimate gaming platform.” Supporting four x16 cards from 32 of the X58 northbridge’s 36 total lanes is accomplished by dropping the first and third x16 slots to eight lanes whenever a card occupies the second and fourth x16-length slots, respectively.

Yet even though 4-way CrossFireX and 3-way SLI are supported, Quad SLI is not (at least out of the box). Nvidia has decided to require two of its NF200 PCI Express bridges to enable the feature, and Asus includes these on workstation-class P6T7 WS SuperComputer motherboard. Competitive overclockers who love the Rampage III Extreme's other features might be interested in its announced ROG Expander, which adds NF200 controllers to the Rampage III Gene through a daughter board. That's going to be a separate purchase though, adding to the cost of this board.

As with most "Republic Of Gamers" products, the Rampage III Extreme's most prolific features are designed exclusively for competition-level overclocking. The Rampage III Extreme lives up to that purpose as well with dual eight-pin CPU power inputs. Gone is the space-consuming and marketing-driven array of 16 tiny voltage regulator phases, replaced by Asus’ Extreme Engine Digi+ collection of eight digital-analog hybrid phases that it claims respond more quickly and accurately while operating more efficiently at high loads. A Q-Reset button next to the CPU’s power connectors allows builders to cut CPU power temporarily to recover from a “cold-bug” boot failure when using sub-ambient cooling.

Buyers now have three ways to access BIOS-level controls from an external device, thanks to Asus’ new RC Bluetooth module. Just as with the previously mentioned ROG Connect, pressing a button transforms the device from an ordinary data link (for mobile device syncing and peripherals) to an overclocking gadget interface. A smart phone becomes the controller for RC Bluetooth, but only if it has Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional (or higher), Symbian 3.1 or 3.2, or Android 2.0. The third method of external control is to borrow an OC Station controller from a previous Asus motherboard that was so equipped and connect it to a special 4x2 pin connector along the Rampage III Extreme’s bottom edge.

The Rampage III Extreme still carries over the top traits of preceding models, such as the ProbeIt voltage-sensor points, the Go Button overclocking profile switch, and a row of PCIe slot-disabling switches to help overclockers determine which card has stopped responding after being pushed too far. An LN2_Mode jumper is meant to reduce “cold-bug” boot errors when using extreme cooling, hopefully reducing reliance on the previously mentioned Q-Reset button.

Asus even includes a button to enable manual switching between the Rampage III Extreme’s two BIOS chips, allowing tuners to boot from one IC and to make adjustments to the settings on the other IC.

The Rampage III Extreme’s remaining layout is almost as pleasing as its expansion slot placement. Six SATA 3Gb/s and two SATA 6Gb/s ports face forward to slip easily under the sinks of long graphics cards and behind the drive cages of most modern cases, while the lack of legacy drive interfaces prevents us from complaining about associated connector placement.

That’s not to say that the lack of legacy connectors makes the Rampage III Extreme’s layout perfect, however. Front-panel audio and FireWire headers are pushed so far towards the back of the bottom edge that they make cable reach a problem for some cases. Another potential problem is that outward-facing headers along the motherboard’s bottom edge require cables ends to be smashed flat when placing a double-slot card in the Rampage III Extreme’s bottom slot and that little issue precludes the use of Asus’ Q-Connector cable-end bundler.

The Rampage III Extreme installation kit differentiates itself from most competitors by including eight SATA cables and a replacement chipset cooling sink with a fan. The original chipset sink can also be replaced with certain chipset water blocks, although buyers should contact the water block’s manufacturer concerning compatibility. Asus includes two-way CrossFire and SLI bridges plus a three-way SLI bridge.

4. Rampage III Extreme BIOS

Asus’ Extreme Tweaker menu takes first priority in its Rampage III Extreme BIOS. Designed with most of the settings overclocking experts require, some novices will be pleased to find automatic overclock settings that are based on the CPU and memory installed. Ai Overclock options include overclocking to the CPU frequency of a higher model, overclocking base clock to match the X.M.P. values of some memory modules, and manual configuration.

CPU base clock can be increased up to 500 MHz. Voltage limits are similarly generous at 2.30 V CPU core, 2.50 V DRAM, and 2.50 V for the CPU’s on-die memory controller. Clock-skew, differential amplitude, and reference-voltage settings help advanced users seek those last few megahertz, while VRM stability controls such as Load-Line Calibration add consistency.

A broad selection of DRAM timing controls includes automatic settings for individual timings to ease the configuration of familiar values.

Asus O.C. profile allows tuners to save up to eight BIOS configurations and revert to previously saved settings. The “Go Button” menu provides a miniature overclocking profile that can be engaged when the system is running by using the appropriate button on the motherboard’s surface.

5. Rampage III Extreme Utilities

Local Software

BIOS-based CPU Level Up overclock settings can also be changed from within Windows.

Asus TurboV Evo accesses most BIOS overclock settings from within Windows.

Asus PC Probe II has grown to include more sensors, with alarm settings to notify distracted overclockers of any problems.

Remote Software

Many overclockers prefer to use the BIOS GUI because it doesn’t require a program that consumes resources or that might otherwise be the cause of a crash, while others like the ability of Windows overclocking programs to change settings without rebooting. Asus RC TweakIt fills the gap by using the Windows installation of a second PC (or notebook) to change the BIOS adjustments of a running Rampage III Extreme motherboard.

Running on a second PC, RC TweakIt adds temperature and fan-speed monitoring to the features found in TurboV.

RC Poster reports Rampage III Extreme system status to the second PC when the instant boot is initiated. RC Remote allows the motherboard to be started, reset, or shut down from a second PC, while RC BIOS Flashback allows the BIOS to be updated from a second PC.

Overclocking profiles can be created and stored from a second PC in the same way as provided by O.C. Profile in the BIOS.

RC Diagram provides graphical logging for several of the Rampage III Extreme’s key functions, again through a separate PC.

While we don’t see having a second PC around just for tuning the Rampage III Extreme as a practical solution in most environments, it could save a lot of time and effort in time-limited competitions, such as our previous event.

6. Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD9

Gigabyte thinks it has the perfect solution for anyone who can’t be satisfied by ordinary Quad-SLI or four-way CrossFireX graphics configurations. Its X58A-UD9 supports a total of seven single-slot graphics cards or up to four two-slot cards at uncompromised bandwidth.

Buyers still get all the features they’ve come to expect from Gigabyte’s high-end boards, including three additional SATA controllers, dual-gigabit networking, triple IEEE-1394 FireWire ports, and enhanced chipset cooling. One of those drive controllers has two SATA 6Gb/s ports, and Gigabyte also throws in a USB 3.0 controller for two of the board’s I/O panel ports. Gigabyte’s Hybrid Silent-Pipe 2 chipset cooler includes a northbridge sink with an integrated 3/8” tube water block and a bolt-on, slot-mounted heat sink.

Fitting seven expansion slots on an ordinary ATX motherboard wouldn’t have been a problem, but a cooling solution that consumes two slot places extends the X58A-UD9 to a nine-place design. There is no sanctioned standard for extra-long boards in spite of labels various companies have tried to use, while the EATX label (which is commonly misused) applies to boards that are wider but not longer than ATX. The X58A-UD9 easily fits into one of several 10-slot cases that follow Foxconn’s Ultra ATX proposal of 2008. The tenth slot of such cases is perfect for holding a two-slot graphics card in the X58A-UD9’s bottom slot.

As with most of its competitors, putting a two-space graphics card in the bottom slot usually requires smashing the front-panel cables flat, a nuisance that spoils what might otherwise be an excellent front-panel connector layout. That’s often not as big a problem for the right-angle connectors of legacy floppy cables, but anyone who needs this relic of Windows XP’s F6 prompt will still be disappointed to see it located so far away from the front panel bays where these outdated drives fit.

Other points of interest include power and reset buttons near the top of the front edge, a two-digit Port 80 diagnostics display near the bottom of the front edge, and a second eight-pin CPU power connector (covered by a yellow sticker in the above photo) that feeds the X58A-UD9’s 24-phase power regulator.

The X58A-UD9 alternates four true x16 slots with three eight-lane slots, where populating an eight-lane slot forces it to borrow half of the lanes from the slot above it. Four-card configurations get a full 16 lanes per card, while only the seventh card gets full bandwidth when all seven slots are filled. That still accounts for nearly twice as many PCIe lanes compared to what the X58 northbridge offers, which is a technological wonder brought about through the use of two NF200 PCIe bridges.

One often-overlooked feature that Gigabyte wants everyone to remember is that two of its front-panel USB ports support its “3x USB Power” and “USB On/Off” circuit design for charging high-current USB devices, such as the Apple iPad, even from standby power when the system is off.

As the only board in today’s comparison to include the important four-way SLI bridge, the X58A-UD9 still falls a little short in its cable set by having only four SATA cables on a board that supports 10 internal drives. Less-elaborate graphics configurations are possible from the included two- and three-way SLI bridges, while adding the pair of included CrossFire bridges to one that came with a card would make four-way CrossFireX possible.

7. GA-X58A-UD9 BIOS

Gigabyte’s M.I.T. menu has become a home page for several submenus that contain actual settings. A few key frequency and temperature readings can be found at the bottom, while the “Current Status” submenu goes into added detail.

The advanced frequency menu adds drive strength and clock skew to otherwise ordinary frequency and ratio controls, while the advanced memory menu below acts as a launching point for even more submenus.

Using the “Quick” setting for “DRAM Timing Selectable” allows all channels to be configured simultaneously, with the “Auto” option available for individual timings.

The “Advanced Voltage Settings” offers adjustments for the majority of CPU and chipset features, including DRAM termination and reference-voltage levels.

Up to eight configurations can be saved as custom-named user profiles. The X58A-UD9 also remembers the settings used for previous boots, in case you forgot to save your last good settings.

8. GA-X58A-UD9 Overclocking Utilities

Gigabyte’s EasyTune6 utility for Windows provides several status and overclocking menus to adjust CPU, memory, and graphics performance.

The EasyTune6 Tuner menu is where the excitement happens. Choosing the Quick Boost option allows the board to attempt an automatic overclock to the frequency of a higher-model processor, while Easy mode brings up an array of manual options that are mostly blocked-out. Advanced mode unlocks its settings, beginning with base clock and memory ratio.

The Ratio tab is limited to CPU clock only, while the Voltage tab offers a far broader selection of adjustments that mimic those found in BIOS.

It’s unusual to find a basic graphics card overclocking utility in motherboard tuning software, but Gigabyte is also a video card manufacturer. This utility should work with most recent Gigabyte cards, but our Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 threw its fan settings way off.

The EasyTune6 Smart menu doesn’t report drive status, but is instead the only method Gigabyte provides for altering its automatic fan-speed control. While this level of control is annoyingly not found in BIOS, the software method works extremely well.

Hardware monitoring includes a full set of alarm controls to notify users if any problem occurs.

9. MSI Big Bang-XPower

As the epitome of MSI’s Big Bang series, its XPower motherboard attempts to combine most of Gigabyte’s connectivity with some of Asus’ overclocking features at a price that undercuts both competitors. Examples of this effort include its six x16-length PCIe 2.0 slots (compared to Gigabyte’s seven), dual-gigabit networking (offered by Gigabyte, but not by Asus), and an external overclocking capability (offered by Asus but not by Gigabyte).

A lower price certainly doesn’t make the Big Bang-XPower cheap, and this $300 model includes the same USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s controllers used by both competitors. All three of today’s contenders use dual eight-pin CPU power regulator inputs to differentiate themselves from lower-amperage designs, but MSI filters the power coming out of its 16-phase regulator with purportedly higher-quality Hi-c flat capacitors.

However, being all things to all people is an impossible task. Maintaining a lower price meant leaving out any of the PCIe bridges used by Gigabyte to multiply its PCIe lanes, forcing MSI to instead divide the Big Bang-XPower’s pathways in a similar manner compared to Asus' design. Yet Asus has only four slots, making lane division a simple matter of going from dual-x16 to quad-x8 transfers whenever the second and fourth slots are filled. MSI splits slot connectivity first to x8 mode and then to x4 mode to accomplish lane division across six slots.

It’s at this point where MSI had to decide whether to optimize its slot layout for dual- or triple-card graphics arrays, since performance graphics cards are usually dual-slot designs. MSI put the XPower motherboard’s true x16 slots in positions one and four, a design that leaves extra space beneath double-slot cards for added airflow and even allows the use of triple-slot cards like the Asus ARES. Slots three and five take eight lanes each from slots one and four, while slots two and six take four lanes from slots three and five. The end result is that fitting a three-way graphics array into long slots one, three, and five produces an x8-x8-x8 configuration with eight-lanes wasted. Oops!

Optimizing both two- and three-way arrays would have required lane arrangements of x16-x4-x8 (for long slots one-two-three) and x4-x16-x8 (for long slots four-five-six). But such an arrangement would also have required a case to have some added space beneath the motherboard's bottom edge when installing two triple-slot cards in the 16-lane slots.

Competitive overclockers could be the true target market for MSI’s XPower, and MSI caters to them with multiple clock-control access methods, voltage-cap unlocking switches, a POST code display, and several line-voltage detection points. The OC Genie button above can be set to enable reference clock control through the touch sensors to its left, for example.


MSI’s OC Dashboard controls multiple clocks from outside the box, plugging into the I/O panel through included cables. This allows overclockers to tune their system while Windows is running, without adding pesky software solutions.

We’re particularly fond of the XPower’s V-Check Points design, as its plastic shell holds the probes of our voltage meters perfectly. Further evidence of the board’s two-way graphics intentions is found in the placement of its two SATA 6Gb/s ports. The fourth x16-length slot is one of only two to have the full 16 pathways and any long graphics card installed there slips under these connectors.

MSI’s audio riser card fits into the board’s solitary PCIe x1 slot, using Realtek’s ALC889 codec and Creative Labs EAX Advanced HD 5.0 and Alchemy software packages to provide advanced audio features. This particular module has been modified from its previous incarnation by removing a metal tab from its cover, increasing clearance for motherboard components.

Six internal SATA cables beef up an installation kit that’s been otherwise fluffed with pamphlets. Three SLI and one CrossFire bridge ease multi-GPU installations, and users who need additional eSATA ports will be happy to find a breakout plate with power and data cables to add internal drives externally.

10. Big Bang-XPower BIOS

MSI’s Cell Menu contains primary clock and voltage settings, with separate submenus for memory timings and signal amplitude control.

Choosing the Memory-Z submenu takes the user though several steps to a single XMP memory reading. We would have preferred to see both XMP configurations for our modules.

The Advanced DRAM submenu allows timings to be set per-channel, but thankfully defaults to a single set of timings for all channels.

The ClockGen Tuner submenu contains only CPU and PCIe amplitude controls.

MSI’s M-Flash menu directs the PC to a protected-mode user interface, where the BIOS can be updated or stored to non-bootable drives, including most USB flash drives.

An Overclocking Profile menu allows up to six BIOS configurations to be stored separately with custom names and descriptions.

11. Big Bang-XPower Overclocking Utilities

MSI’s ControlCenter application for Windows includes several system status pages that will excite neophytes, but mean little to advanced users. Once again, we see only a single XMP value displayed, though the BIOS is capable of detecting additional profiles.

The Control Center Overclocking menu contains three preset profiles, which can be modified within the BIOS limits. Clicking each profile causes clock speed to slowly change to its preset and the “Game” profile is already set past the stability of our CPU. Manual changes can be set within the BIOS' limits, saved to profile defaults, and applied to current settings.

MSI Green Power works like its overclocking option, but somewhat in reverse to reduce overall power consumption.

12. Test Settings
Test System Configuration
CPUIntel Core i7-920 LGA 1366, 2.66 GHz, 8 MB L3 Cache
RAMKingston KHX16000D3ULT1K3/6GX (6 GB), DDR3-2000 at DDR3-1333 CAS 7-7-7-20
GraphicsSapphire Radeon HD 5850 1 GB, 725 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4000
Hard DriveWestern Digital Velociraptor WD3000HLFS, 300 GB, 10,000 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 16 MB cache
SoundIntegrated HD Audio
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit Networking
PowerCorsair CMPSU-850HX 850 W Modular
ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
GraphicsAMD Catalyst 10.6
ChipsetIntel INF 9.1.1.1020


Kingston’s DDR3-2000 allows us to check each motherboard’s memory overclocking capability, though faster modules might have been in order had we used a newer processor. Stock-speed benchmarks are generated at an easier-to-replicate DDR3-1333 CAS 7.

Sapphire’s Radeon HD 5850 is powerful enough to reveal any PCIe shortcomings.

Rosewill’s FORT120 might have been retired as a product, but its high cooling capacity and small footprint have kept it on this bench.

High thermal performance, quick set-in, and slow evaporation make Zalman’s ZM-STG1 thermal grease a great solution for bench testing. The company supplied two bottles for each tester.

Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool
Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA
Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 4x AA
DiRT 2 DemoIn-game benchmark
Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA
Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4x AA
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS)
Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA
Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of PripyatCall Of Pripyat Benchmark version
Test Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AA
Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion:9.0.2.25 x64
Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 min
Default format AAC
Handbrake 0.9.4Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1 GB) to .mp4, High Profile
TMPEGEnc 4.0 XPressVersion: 4.7.3.292
Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes)
Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX Codec 6.9.1Encoding mode: Insane Quality
Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4
Quarter-pixel search
XviD 1.2.2Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS4Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image
Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.90Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
7-ZipVersion 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32 KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8
Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2010Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
13. Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Crysis

The X58 chipset supports two cards with 16 PCIe 2.0 lanes. Installations of three or more cards benefit from the NF200 PCIe bridge’s lane multiplication, while its added latency is a slight detriment to installations of two or fewer cards. That puts Gigabyte’s NF200-enhanced X58A-UD9 in a tough position for our single-card graphics performance tests.

Differences to this point have been minimal, slightly favoring Asus’ tiny 2.1 MHz CPU overclock and not favoring Gigabyte’s 8.4 MHz CPU underclock, though the previously-mentioned NF200 latency hit may also be in play.

14. Benchmark Results: DiRT 2 Demo, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat

DiRT 2 continues to place today’s contenders in order of CPU base clock.

Gigabyte edges out MSI at the lowest tests settings of both benchmarks above, showing that the performance deficit of using an NF200 controller in a system that doesn’t need it are tiny at most.

15. Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding

Apple iTunes performance is frequency-dependent, so a win for the slowest-clocked board is anomalous.

HandBrake puts MSI in the lead, while Gigabyte’s slower clock drags it down. These types of differences shouldn’t matter to overclockers, since they set their own speed.

Repeat performances in TMPGEnc and MainConcept again point out a clock-speed discrepancy.

16. Benchmark Results: Productivity

Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk 3ds Max reveal nothing more than a one-second difference in completion times.

AVG isn’t as clock-speed dependant, and thus shows no difference in scan times between various motherboards.

A second here and a second there puts MSI in the lead during our file compression tests.

17. Benchmark Results: Synthetic

3DMark shows Asus in the lead, but not by a significant amount.

PCMark indicates an issue with MSI’s AHCI implementation. We reinstalled the Intel ICH10R AHCI driver for Windows 7 and Vista x64, but the performance deficit persisted. This particular problem, though small, might not appear at all in reviews that use a different controller mode.

Sandra’s Arithmetic and Multimedia benchmark reflect the tiny difference in CPU clock between various motherboards.

Sandra Memory Bandwidth is affected by both clock speed and timings. We only set the four main timings and command rate, so the closeness here indicates a high level of similarly between the default timings of these three boards.

18. Overclocking

All three boards in today’s competition offer voltage levels in excess of what most users actually need, but competitors who use liquid nitrogen cooling will be happy to see these ultra-high limits.

BIOS Frequency and Voltage settings (for overclocking)
 Asus Rampage III ExtremeGigabyte X58A-UD9MSI Big Bang XPower
CPU Base Clock100-500 MHz (1 MHz)100-600 MHz (1MHz)100-600 MHz (1 MHz)
CPU MultiplierYesYesYes
DRAM Data RatesBCLK x6-x18 (x2)BCLK x6-x18 (x2)BCLK x6-x16 (x2)
PCIe Clock100-200 MHz (1 MHz)90-150 MHz (1 MHz)100-190 MHz (1 MHz)
CPU Vcore0.85-2.30 V (6.25 mV)0.50-1.90 V (6.25 mV)0.90-2.30 V (6.25 mV)
Uncore Voltage1.20-2.50 (6.25 mV)1.075-2.015 V (20 mV)1.20-1.83 V (6.25 mV)
IOH Voltage1.11-2.20 V (13.25 mV)1.00-2.00V (20 mV)0.80-1.70 V (10 mV)
ICH Voltage1.11-2.00 V (13.25 mV)0.92-2.38 V (20 mV)1.10-2.00 V (10 mV)
DRAM Voltage1.21-2.50 V (13.25 mV)1.30-2.60 V (20 mV)1.20-2.50 V (1 mV)
CAS Latency3-11 Cycles5-15 Cycles4-15 Cycles
tRCD3-15 Cycles1-15 Cycles3-15 Cycles
tRP3-15 Cycles1-15 Cycles3-15 Cycles
tRAS3-31 Cycles1-31 Cycles9-31 Cycles


Our air-cooled configuration and first-generation Core i7 processor limit us to a far more practical 1.45 V, a configuration we’ve maintained through several product generations to make comparisons of overclocking capabilities possible between articles.

This is the closest we’ve seen any three boards come to overclocking parity, indicating the true limit of our CPU at our chosen voltage. The actual difference is less than the 21 MHz we’d get from increasing the base clock by 1 MHz, so all three boards are tied within the “margin of error” for each board’s clock generator.

Base-clock capability is also essentially tied for all three boards, with Gigabyte’s 220 MHz setting coming in at an actual 219.8 MHz.

Memory is where things get a little trickier. MSI appears to lead in the average of three- and six-module speeds, but it’s hard to know exactly where it would have ended up had its 7x memory multiplier actually worked. That’s right, MSI’s memory overclock started at the DDR3-1600 setting rather than the DDR3-1866 setting used by its competitors, requiring a higher base clock to reach its memory overclocking limit.

19. Power, Heat, And Efficiency

We manually set a 133 MHz base clock with all power-saving features enabled during both our benchmark and power consumption tests. MSI wins big here with power consumption numbers that are close to those we’ve seen on less-overclockable products.

MSI makes a lot of noise about its Icy Choke design, but this is the first time we’ve seen it produce noticeably lower voltage regulator temperatures. This alone could explain the XPower’s lower power consumption.

A quick comparison of the total performance for today’s three motherboards shows a difference of only 1.25%, even though the clock speed difference between the top and bottom boards was only around 0.4%

Dividing average performance by average power consumption could get ugly:

MSI leads by a huge margin, a fact that should excite efficiency fans, such as our own Patrick Schmid.

20. Conclusion

Today’s tested motherboards offer some of the best features we’ve seen, which should come as no surprise, since many of those features have only recently been introduced. Yet, features aren’t the primary motivation behind the design of these parts.

Instead, we find dual-CPU power connectors on each board that are designed to provide the higher amperage extreme overclockers need to reach CPU limits at extreme voltage levels. Liquid nitrogen is only typical at the competition levels these motherboards were designed to tolerate.

While performance and air-cooled overclock results were a dead-heat for all three boards, MSI’s Big Bang-XPower led in efficiency. If extreme overclockers aren’t impressed by that feat of engineering, then they probably won’t be too impressed by the fact that the board isn’t able to effectively support high-performance SLI or CrossFire configurations in excess of two cards. Though it has six x16-length expansion cards, going even to three cards drops all three slots to x8 mode.

Gigabyte’s X58A-UD9 might be a better choice for overclocking competitions where 3D performance is important, as its seven x16-length slots support up to four-way CrossFireX and SLI configurations at 16 lanes per card. However, buyers do pay for those extra PCIe 2.0 lanes, as the X58A-UD9 costs over twice as much as MSI’s Big Bang-XPower and nearly twice as much as Asus’ Rampage III Extreme. Buyers who want to use this in a PC continue paying for those extra PCIe pathways, as the extended size of the X58A-UD9 requires a 10-slot case to hold four high-end graphics cards.

Four perfectly placed and split slots put Asus’ Rampage III Extreme right in the middle of the PCIe-vs.-price battle. Two-way solutions get the full 16 lanes per card, while the eight-pathway handicap in three- and four-way graphics configurations still beats MSI’s strange eight-four-eight configuration by a wide margin. This board is also designed for overclockers, and that’s where it shines.

The idea of keeping around an extra PC, even a notebook, to access the Rampage III Extreme’s overclocking features at a low level might sound cumbersome, but it works so well that many competitive tuners will likely be drawn to this solution for its convenience. Anyone who still finds the idea a little far fetched might instead be happy with the board’s smart phone interface, something most people carry with them all the time anyway. Builders who already own an OC Station module are also welcome to use it with the Rampage III Extreme, though the fact that it’s not included with this product detracts from the added value of its interface.

The Rampage III Extreme doesn’t have the PCIe multiplication of Gigabyte’s X58A-UD9, but it at least supports four graphics cards at lower cost. Gamers will be happy to see that it fits into a standard case, while overclockers will be thrilled with its added features. That combination makes the Rampage III Extreme a winner in our opinion.