X58 To The Max: Three New Flagship LGA 1366 Motherboards
Features
By
Thomas Soderstrom
Published
Supporting Intel’s highest-performance processors with twice the bandwidth of its mainstream counterpart, the X58 chipset proves the staying power of good ideas. We take a closer look at what makes the latest generation of premium motherboards special.
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Test Settings
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| Test System Configuration | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-920 LGA 1366, 2.66 GHz, 8 MB L3 Cache |
| RAM | Kingston KHX16000D3ULT1K3/6GX (6 GB), DDR3-2000 at DDR3-1333 CAS 7-7-7-20 |
| Graphics | Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 1 GB, 725 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4000 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Velociraptor WD3000HLFS, 300 GB, 10,000 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s, 16 MB cache |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking |
| Power | Corsair CMPSU-850HX 850 W Modular ATX12V v2.2, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Gold |
| Software | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 |
| Graphics | AMD Catalyst 10.6 |
| Chipset | Intel 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.
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| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Crysis | Patch 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 Demo | In-game benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4x AA |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Campaign, 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 Pripyat | Call 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 | |
| iTunes | Version:9.0.2.25 x64 Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 min Default format AAC |
| Handbrake 0.9.4 | Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1 GB) to .mp4, High Profile |
| TMPEGEnc 4.0 XPress | Version: 4.7.3.292 Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9 |
| DivX Codec 6.9.1 | Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search |
| XviD 1.2.2 | Display encoding status = off |
| MainConcept Reference 1.6.1 | MPEG2 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 CS4 | Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 | Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV) |
| Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 | Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
| WinRAR 3.90 | Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| 7-Zip | Version 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 Vantage | Version: 1.0.1, GPU and CPU scores |
| PCMark Vantage | Version: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2010 | Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
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Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
67 Comments
Comment from the forums
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one-shot No EVGA SR-2? :(Reply
Ok, Hold on. Three Flagship LGA 1366 Boards and no overclocked power consumption results? These boards are obviously made for overclocking and those results would be very interesting to see. -
Lmeow Reply9498281 said:No EVGA SR-2? :(
The EVGA Classified SR-2 is based on the Intel 5520 chipset and uses Xeons, so it's not an X58 board technically speaking which is why it doesn't qualify. ;)
If I could spend that much on a motherboard I'd have chosen the Rampage III Extreme, not only does it have good features it also has the best colour scheme. ^^
Does anyone know why I try to submit a comment it doesn't show up, and I have to use the forums instead to post a comment instead? -
sudeshc I am totally impressed by ASUS they always come up with best solution in every category, but the price is a killer for me :(Reply
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rottingsheep IMO, the only interesting part about motherboard reviews is the overclocking and power consumption portion.Reply -
avatar_raq Nice article..I have only catch: Of all the mobos tested, Quad SLI is not possible on the ASUS R3E, courtesy of nVIDIA's driversReply
http://www.guru3d.com/news/quad-sli-on-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-is-not-possible/ -
dragonfang18 Whats the point when Intel will come out with new processors with different sockets next year?Reply -
Crashman avatar_raqNice article..I have only catch: Of all the mobos tested, Quad SLI is not possible on the ASUS R3E, courtesy of nVIDIA's drivershttp://www.guru3d.com/news/quad-sl -possible/Awesome, thanks. Manufacturers don't actually discuss this stuff.Reply
dragonfang18Whats the point when Intel will come out with new processors with different sockets next year?That's what people like you were saying months before LGA 1156 was released. We see which direction that went. -
dragonfang18 ReplyThat's what people like you were saying months before LGA 1156 was released. We see which direction that went.
Yeah... they are changing 1366 to some socket R... Well... At least I can look forward to these motherboards going down in price by next year when they go to Socket R's for performance than 1366's. I guess ill be happy with 1366's. Hopefully they go down by at least $100.