| Sub-$200 X58 Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock X58 Extreme | Asus P6T SE | ECS X58B-A |
| PCB Revision | 1.01 | 1.01G | 1.0 |
| Northbridge | Intel X58 Express | Intel X58 Express | Intel X58 Express |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH10R | Intel ICH10R | Intel ICH10R |
| Voltage Regulator | Eight Phases | Eight Phases | Six Phases |
| BIOS | 1.0 (06/11/2009) | 0403 (05/19/2009) | 080015 (03/23/2009) |
| 133.3MHz Bclk | 133.9 MHz (+0.425%) | 133.6 MHz (+0.20%) | 133.3 MHz (+0.00%) |
| Clock Generator | ICS 9LPRS918JKLF | ICS 9LPRS918JKLF | IDT CV193CPAG |
Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | 3 (x16/x16/x4) | 3 (x16/x16/x4) | 2 (x16/x16) |
| PCIe x1/x4 | 2/0 | 1/0 | 2/1 |
| PCI | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| USB 2.0 | 2 (4-ports) | 3 (6-ports) | 3 (6-ports) |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Serial Port | 1 | None | 1 |
| Parallel Port | 0 | None | None |
| Floppy | 1 | None | None |
| Ultra ATA-133 | 1 (2-drives) | 1 (2-drives) | None |
| SATA 3 Gb/s | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| 4-pin Fan | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 3-pin Fan | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| FP-Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CD Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Output Only | Output Only |
| Power Button | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reset Button | Yes | No | Yes |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Jumper Only | Jumper Only | Jumper Only |
| Diagnostics Panel | 2-Character | None | 2-Character |
I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| PS/2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Networking | Single | Single | Single |
| eSATA | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Yes | No | Yes |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical + Coaxial | Optical + Coaxial | Optical |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Aufio | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Add-in SATA | JMB380 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB362 PCIe |
| Add-in Ultra ATA | VT6330 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | None |
| IEEE-1394 | VT6330 PCIe | VT6315N PCIe | VT6308P PCI |
Gigabit Ethernet | |||
| Primary LAN | RTL8111DL PCIe | RTL8111C PCIe | RTL8111C PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | None | RTL8111C PCIe |
Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC890B | ALC1200 | ALC888S |
| Sub-$200 X58 Motherboard Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foxconn | Gigabyte | Jetway BI-600 | MSI X58 Pro-E |
| PCB Revision | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 3.1 |
| Northbridge | Intel X58 Express | Intel X58 Express | Intel X58 Express | Intel X58 Express |
| Southbridge | Intel ICH10R | Intel ICH10R | Intel ICH10R | Intel ICH10R |
| Voltage Regulator | Six Phases | Six Phases | Six Phases | Five Phases |
| BIOS | P05 (04/13/2009) | FB (05/04/2009) | A03 (05/15/2009) | 8.2 (04/20/2009) |
| 133.3 MHz Bclk | 133.7 MHz (+0.28%) | 133.0 MHz (-0.25%) | 133.0 MHz (-0.25%) | 133.8 MHz (+0.35%) |
| Clock Generator | ICS 9LPRS139AKLF | ICS 9LPRS914EKLF | ICS 9LPRS139AKLF | ICS 9LPRS133BKLF |
Internal Interfaces | ||||
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | 2 (x16/x16) | 2 (x16/x16) | 4 (2x x16 or 4x x8) | 3 (x16/x16/x4) |
| PCIe x1/x4 | 1/1 | 2/1 | 0/1 | 2/0 |
| PCI | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 2 (4-ports) | 2 (4-ports) | 2 (4-ports) | 3 (6-ports) |
| IEEE-1394 | None | 1 | None | 1 |
| Serial Port | None | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Parallel Port | None | None | None | None |
| Floppy | 1 | 1 | 1 | None |
| Ultra ATA-133 | 1 (2-drives) | 1 (2-drives) | 1 (2-drives) | 1 (2-drives) |
| SATA 3 Gb/s | 6 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
| 4-pin Fan | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 3-pin Fan | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| FP-Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CD Audio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| S/PDIF I/O | Output Only | Input + Output | Output Only | Output Only |
| Power Button | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reset Button | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Yes | Jumper Only | Yes | Yes |
| Diagnostics Panel | 2-character | None | 2-Character | None |
I/O Panel Connectors | ||||
| PS/2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| USB 2.0 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 |
| IEEE-1394 | None | 1 | None | 1 |
| Networking | Dual | Dual | Dual | Single |
| eSATA | 2 | None | 2 | 1 |
| CLR_CMOS Button | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical | Optical + Coaxial | Coaxial | Optical |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
Mass Storage Controllers | ||||
| Chipset SATA | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s | 6x SATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Add-in SATA | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe |
| Add-in Ultra ATA | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe | JMB363 PCIe |
| IEEE-1394 | None | TSB43AB23 PCI | None | JMB381 PCIe |
Gigabit Ethernet | ||||
| Primary LAN | RTL8111C PCIe | RTL8111C PCIe | RTL8111C PCIe | RTL8111C PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | RTL8111C PCIe | None | RTL8111C PCIe | None |
Audio | ||||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC888 | ALC888 | ALC888 | ALC889 |
- More For Less, More Or Less
- Features Comparison
- ASRock X58 Extreme
- Asus P6T SE
- ECS X58B-A
- Foxconn FlamingBlade
- Gigabyte EX58-UD3R
- Jetway BI-600
- MSI X58 Pro-E
- Test Settings
- Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty, Crysis
- Benchmark Results: Far Cry 2, World In Conflict
- Benchmark Results: Audio/Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Synthetic
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Overclocking
- Conclusion
At the time the review was written, the P6T SE web page read that it supported SLI. Perhaps Asus changed the web page following a complaint?
The big difference between the P6T SE and the P6T is the missing Jmicron SATA multiplier. By removing it, Asus killed the pathway that went to it, leaving the JMB363 controller with a "dead port".
I never trust a seller as a source: Asus listed the P6T SE as having SLI support as little as four weeks ago, and now has a completely different page for it. They weren't the only company that advertised SLI capability and leave out the bridge, but it now appears the former P6T SE web page must have been an error, probably from the company copying its P6T page and editing it for the P6T SE, but missing one detail.
Though first on my priority list is a better monitor (and rent).
Neat article regardless.
I've skipped the Foxconn page, wouldn't buy from them anyway.
Thank you Tom's. Reminds me why this is my home page since 2001.
Give parallel ATA a break! it still has a valuable place on the mb!
A very large valuable space mind you. Not to mention the air space
The X58 Pro-E doesn't seem to like S3 sleep. The power and HDD LEDs turn off but the fans are still going and I think the HDDs might be as well. I've made it turn off completely once, but then USB didn't work right once it woke, so I had to restart anyway.
I don't think there will be too much difference between the 2.
Agreed, the Foxconn boards are fine (actually quite good) for one time things on LN2 etc, but reliability for 24/7 is lacking.
Agreed. However, they should eliminate floppy, Parallel,MIDI/GAME ports.