X58 To The Max: Three New Flagship LGA 1366 Motherboards

Features
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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.

Features Comparison

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X58 Motherboard Features
Row 0 - Cell 0 Asus Rampage III Extreme Gigabyte X58A-UD9 MSI Big Bang XPower
PCB Revision 1.00GT 1.0 1.0
Chipset Intel X58 Express Intel X58 Express Intel X58 Express
Voltage Regulator 8 Phases 24 Phases 16 Phases
BIOS 0602 (05/18/2010) F3 (05/28/2010) V1.2 (06/09/2010)
133.3 MHz BCLK 133.4 MHz (+0.05%) 132.9 MHz (-0.32%) 133.2 MHz (-0.1%)
Clock Generator ICS 9LPRS918JKLF ICS 9LPRS914EKLF ICS 9LPRS134BKLF
Internal Interfaces
PCIe x16 32 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/x4 0/1 0/0 1/0
Legacy PCI 1 None None
USB 2.0 1 (2 ports) 3 (6 ports) 2 (4 ports)
IEEE-1394 1 1 1
Serial Port Row 13 - Cell 1 None None
Parallel Port None None None
Floppy None Yes None
Ultra-ATA 133 None Yes None
SATA 3.0 Gb/s 7 8 6
SATA 6.0 Gb/s 2 2 2
4-Pin Fan 8 2 1
3-Pin Fan 0 4 3
FP-Audio Yes Yes On Riser Card
CD-Audio Yes Yes On Riser Card
S/PDIF I/O Output Only Both Output Only
Power Button Yes Yes Touch Sensor
Reset Button Yes Yes Touch Sensor
CLR_CMOS Button Yes No Jumper Only
Diagnostics Panel Pass/Fail LEDs Numeric Pass/Fail LEDs
I/O Panel Connectors
P/S 2 1 2 2
USB 2.0 6 6 (2 shared w/eSATA) 6 (1 shared w/eSATA)
USB 3.0 2 2 2
IEEE-1394 1 2 1
Network Single Dual Dual
eSATA 1 2 (Shared with USB) 2 (1 Shared w/USB)
CLR_CMOS Button Yes Yes Yes
Digital Audio Out Optical Optical + Coaxial Optical + Coaxial
Digital Audio In None None None
Analog Audio 6 6 6
Mass Storage Controllers
Chipset SATA 6 x SATA 3Gb/s 6 x SATA 3Gb/s 6 x SATA 3Gb/s
Chipset RAID Modes 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10 0, 1, 5, 10
Add-In SATA Marvell 9128 PCIe 2 x SATA 6 Gb/sJMB363 PCIe 1 x SATA 3 Gb/s 1 x eSATA 3 Gb/s Marvell 9128 PCIe 2 x SATA 6 Gb/sJMB363 PCIe 2 x SATA 3 Gb/sJMB362 PCIe 2 x eSATA 3 Gb/s Marvell 9128 PCIe 2 x SATA 6 Gb/sJMB362 PCIe 2 x eSATA 3 Gb/s
Add-In Ultra ATA JMB363 PCIe JMB363 PCIe None
USB 3.0 NEC D720200F1 NEC D720200F1 NEC D720200F1
IEEE-1394 VT6308P PCI 2 x 400 Mb/s TSB43AB23 PCI 3 x 400 Mb/s VT6315N PCIe 2 x 400 Mb/s
Gigabit Ethernet
Primary LAN Intel WG82567V PHY RTL8111E PCIe RTL8111DL PCIe
Secondary LAN None RTL8111E PCIe RTL8111DL PCIe
Audio
HD Audio Codec ALC889 ALC889 ALC889
DDL/DTS Connect Unspecified Dolby Digital Live Unspecified
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.
67 Comments Comment from the forums
  • one-shot
    No EVGA SR-2? :(

    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.
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    A good 250$ X58 board is enough for most people.
    Reply
  • Lmeow
    9498281 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?
    Reply
  • lashabane
    I want more.
    Reply
  • 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
  • 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 drivers
    http://www.guru3d.com/news/quad-sli-on-asus-rampage-iii-extreme-is-not-possible/
    Reply
  • 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.
    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.
    Reply
  • dragonfang18
    That'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.
    Reply