EVGA Details X58 SLI FTW Board

News
By Aaron Heibert
published

All kinds of information is starting to surface more and more frequency with the X58 launch nearing. EVGA has added their share to the info pool with its X58 SLI FTW board – Featuring E-LEET tuning.

EVGA is apparently set to launch their new X58 SLI FTW board this November. Along with all the promising features of the X58 Express Chipset, EVGA throws some of their well known design into the mix including, but not limited to, effective board layout support 2-Way and 3-Way SLI configurations, 10 SATA ports and 1 eSATA port, headers facing away from the edge of the board.

Quoting EVGA:

“ EVGA is proud to show a sneak peak of a new motherboard based on the Inte® X58 Express Chipset, supporting the upcoming Intel® Core™ i7 processor. The EVGA X58 SLI FTW motherboard will feature 6 DIMMs of triple-channel DDR3 memory, and a board layout optimized for the enthusiast including 2-way and 3-way SLI support. EVGA VDroop control minimizes VDroop for the highest level of stability possible and EVGA E-LEET Tuning Utility gives you the power to Overclock at your fingertips. With these features and more, it is no wonder EVGA products currently hold the top 3DMark Vantage Performance Record! Product will be available in November 2008. ”

EVGA X58 SLI FTW Motherboard Specs:


- Supports Intel® Core™ i7 Processors
- Intel® X58 Express Chipset with ICH10R
- EVGA VDroop Control
- 100% Solid State Capacitors
- 6 DIMM Triple-Channel DDR3
- Enthusiast Layout Supporting 2-Way, 3-Way SLI and CrossFireX
- 10 SATA II 3.0GB/s Ports (1 e-SATA)
- EVGA E-LEET Tuning Utility

It is definitely nice to see a board without all the overloading of copper bling that has been common with some manufacturers. There doesn’t appear to be anything overly special about the layout except that all the headers at facing off the edge of the board, which is definitely key if you have long cards installed, a la GTX. Spacing between the lower DIMM clips and where the top of your primary graphics card will sit looks to be adequate as well. It does however look like some of the really large aftermarket coolers will have difficult installations if at all – should open up a new line of coolers which isn’t really a bad thing. And lastly, some people may feel that they could have used a more professional name for the tuning utility – E-LEET just sounds, well...

Good all around board otherwise! Hopefully we get one for testing here at Tom’s.

Aaron Heibert
12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • The_Blood_Raven
    Am I the only one who feels that there is way too little space for a big heatsink on that thing? I mean common how much more heat dissipation do you need for a motherboard?!
    Reply
  • one-shot
    I'm also concerned if there is room for larger coolers on this board. We'll see if overclocking is even allowed before a massive cooler is actually needed. Just thinking about the price makes me nervous.
    Reply
  • Eggrenade
    It looks like the heatsinks on the board to enable higher OC's have defeated themselves because no cooler will fit on the cpu, except water of course. I suppose they are only marketing to the very high end.
    Reply
  • eklipz330
    eh, im not too concerned of the lack of space... there aren't too many... or any lga 1366 heatsinks out there right now, so im sure the designers will think of something... they're smart people they know what they're doing
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    I love the way this board looks! I won't get an i7 system anyway, so I don't care about the price, but those looks .... I love it. My ds4 isn't bad either, but it's a lot more colorful, and in some situations colorful isn't what you want.
    Reply
  • master9716
    NO NO NO !!! its not nice to see a MOBO with no Copper Bling . Infact they should start moving into some Platiinum colored bling or some seethrough motherboards that will match my clear case and chrome Ultra power supply.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    My case is completely matte black with just 3 chrome fan grills at the front along with a black power button, and the only lighting are the diodes on the memory modules (black dragon). I'd love to have a black board with black slots for everything and a darkchrome colored heatsink instead of all this bling bling.
    Bling bling has it's place, but not in a computer you have to live with every day.
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    That said I'd love the new copper version of the tr 120 instead of the ordinary one I have now - since the ds4 is already shining copper it'd be a good match.
    Reply
  • enforcer22
    Wow what a crappy layout. Hope you like onboard garbage if you actualy plan on using those slots for video cards.
    Reply
  • grieve
    The heatsinks are removable I am sure...Nice looking board, I like the skyrise heatsinks, now I wont have to replace the copper passive junk, just add a fan to the Northbridge heatsink and good to go.
    Reply