The March 2010 launch of Intel's hexa-core Core i7-980X gave us a good reason to revisit the LGA 1366 interface. Today, we're looking at four new X58 Express-based motherboards that tie USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s support in to Intel's flagship platform.
Many people assume newer is better, but that’s not always true when it comes to processor interfaces. The high-end LGA 1366 platform launched with Intel’s Nehalem architecture in 2008, and the mainstream LGA 1156 platform that followed nearly a year later wasn’t designed to match the connectivity needs of a high-end market.
Yet, by the time new technologies like USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s were available to the public, the market was treating Intel’s high-end platform like a has-been, despite the fact that it continues to offer the PCI Express 2.0 needed for both capabilities.
The problem with LGA 1156 is its lack of PCI Express 2.0 connectivity. Most gamers won't want to sacrifice any of the processor’s sixteen 5.0 Gb/s lanes for an add-in controller, since doing so steals bandwidth from the graphics card. And the PCI Express lanes that come from Intel's P55, H57, and H55 controller hubs only run at the PCIe 1.1 data rate, severely bottlenecking performance.
While some manufacturers initially tried to sneak away the graphics cards lanes, and others used a bridge device to connect four 2.5 Gb/s lanes to two 5.0 Gb/s controllers, true enthusiasts knew that the only “perfect” way to add those high-performance controllers would be to simply use a platform with more true PCI Express 2.0 connectivity.

Fortunately, X58 already has 36 PCIe 2.0 pathways, allowing up to 32 to be devoted to graphics, while four serve other needs. Those other needs can include 5.0 Gb/s USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s (at 5.0 Gb/s max). But X58 needed a new high-end processor to help thrust it back into the spotlight. That product came six weeks ago with the introduction of Intel’s six-core Core i7-980X processor.
Now that people are finally taking second (and third) looks at the X58, let’s see what these new-for-2010 motherboard’s have to offer.

- Being Well-Connected
- Features Comparison
- ASRock X58 Extreme3
- Asus P6X58D-E
- Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
- Gigabyte X58A-UD7
- Test Settings
- Benchmark Results: Modern Warfare 2 And Crysis
- Benchmark Results: DiRT 2 Demo, Call of Pripyat
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Synthetic
- Overclocking
- Power, Heat, and Efficiency
- Conclusion

I must be a BYOPC masochist.
I would have liked to see those new ports put to use on these boards...
One thing I haven't seen anywhere though, but would like to, is the overclocking variance added through differing ram capacities. Even though I reached 4ghz on stock vcore, I had to push my QPI to 1.35 to keep the system stable with 6 modules installed. With 4 modules, this was reduced to 1.28, and with 3 it was around 1.24 and with only 2 I could run the QPI volts at 1.2.
Perhaps an idea for an in-depth article at some point in the future Toms?
The next step would be to see how these boards stack up using 6 cores and letting people know what power with 6 cores means using a 1 & a half year old motherboard. Although knowing that 6 cores, USB3.0 and SATA 6.0gb are a long way from being standard, it is by no means premature to have this board as one knows that they will be paying and buying for the long haul! The smartest ones do, and seeing as you guys chose the best parts for the price in terms of quality/performance, the UD3 is a perfect fit for a 5850 or maybe 2!
You should send this article to someone at Intel and maybe they will want to soon follow the way of USB3.0 for their vanilla board! I guess these builds are the new standard for high end or borderline excellent.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/x58-usb-3.0-sata-6-gbps,2614-2.html
The table claims Asus P6X58D-E have Chipset S-ata 6 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s
Should probably be 6 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s...
Thanks.
Yeh, X58 is obviously exceeds your needs but there hasn't been much news on the Via Apollo Pro front.
same reason people buy asus .... ignorance
Obviously, this board doesn't have intended performance. So, as is, probably very few would, but, once fixed, it's got a very good chance of being successful. Price is a very important consideration, and when you have USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s to go with it, it's got all the "headline" stuff at a low price.
Keep in mind that motherboards are also sold to OEMs, who can make more of these features on their specific models.
Put another way, assuming they will fix this motherboard (which is a very safe assumption, I think), would you rather have someone waste money on brain-damaged P55 motherboard, or spend the $200 on an x58 and still get USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s ? If you only need a basic machine, the 32nm LGA1156 processors are fine, but for a serious machine, x58 does have a lot of advantages and far fewer compromises.
Anyway, every other site has raved about the Asrock board especially factoring in cost with no mention at all of any performance hit. It's possible it is just the sample Tom's received?
Anyway, now that I see this I will hold off on purchasing and give it a few more days to see if anything comes of this issue followup.However I tend to think something was amiss with this one instance of motherboard since everything else I've read has been "glowing".