X58 On A Budget: Seven Sub-$200 Core i7 Boards

Features
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Features Comparison

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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 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s JMB363 PCIe 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s JMB362 PCIe 2x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s
Add-in Ultra ATA VT6330 PCIe JMB363 PCIe None
IEEE-1394 VT6330 PCIe 2x 400 mb/s VT6315N PCIe 2x 400 mb/s VT6308P PCI 2x 400 mb/s
Gigabit Ethernet
Primary LAN RTL8111DL PCIe RTL8111C PCIe RTL8111C PCIe
Secondary LAN None None RTL8111C PCIe
Audio
HD Audio Codec ALC890B ALC1200 ALC888S
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Sub-$200 X58 Motherboard Features
  Foxconn FlamingBlade Gigabyte EX58-UD3R 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 2x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s JMB363 PCIe 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s JMB363 PCIe 2x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s JMB363 PCIe 1x SATA 3.0 Gb/s 1x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s
Add-in Ultra ATA JMB363 PCIe JMB363 PCIe JMB363 PCIe JMB363 PCIe
IEEE-1394 None TSB43AB23 PCI 3x 400 mb/s None JMB381 PCIe 2x 400 mb/s
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
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
56 Comments Comment from the forums
  • midnightgun
    If I am not mistaken, the reason the Asus P6T SE is so cheap is because it does not support SLI, only supports Crossfire. Is that not correct?
    Reply
  • Crashman
    9477978 said:
    If I am not mistaken, the reason the Asus P6T SE is so cheap is because it does not support SLI, only supports Crossfire. Is that not correct?

    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".
    Reply
  • midnightgun
    Perhaps. I have had my eye on this board since I started planning my eventual upgrade to i7/i5 architecture (MSI and Gigabyte as well). I know on ncix's forums (canada's equivalent to newegg in the states) the P6T SE had been listed as only crossfire since at least mid May.
    Reply
  • midnightgun
    Anywho, thanks for the review. Interesting read.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    midnightgunPerhaps. I have had my eye on this board since I started planning my eventual upgrade to i7/i5 architecture (MSI and Gigabyte as well). I know on ncix's forums (canada's equivalent to newegg in the states) the P6T SE had been listed as only crossfire since at least mid May.
    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.
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    Personally I will (atleast attempting to now) head straight for the Foxconn Bloodrage with a i7 920 and 3 ddr3 1333 sticks (and give them good timings, ignoring bandwidth and attempting a lower voltage) and a 4870 1gb (due to them being quite cheap now). =D
    Though first on my priority list is a better monitor (and rent).

    Neat article regardless.
    Reply
  • ceteras
    What an inspiring name for the Foxconn mainboard... looks like it's a corporate culture thing.

    I've skipped the Foxconn page, wouldn't buy from them anyway.
    Reply
  • Onus
    Interesting read. If I were going to build an i7 rig for myself, that ASRock would probably be my choice. I'm not thrilled about the VRM heating up so much, but I only do low-moderate overclocks so it ought to be ok. The feature set of that board looks suitable.
    Reply
  • gxpbecker
    I am kinda surprised that the ECS board held its own against these "sronger" boards. From my past experieces ECS has been the walmart brand of mobos. :)
    Reply
  • Ryun
    Question: Is the Asrock board able to go into S3 state/Standby mode? The one board I got from Asrock would not and after emailing their tech support they responded by saying that their boards do not support S3 state.
    Reply