Motherboard Mega-Roundup: 6 Top Mobos Reviewed and Compared
Motherboard Mega-Roundup: 6 Top Mobos Reviewed and Compared
Posted 09/23/2010 at 11:12am
| by Gordon Mah Ung and Paul Lilly
70
Comments
Print
We put the top 890FX and X58 mobos through their paces
Gordon's freestyle technique is decent, but next time he decides to fling mobos, we want to see him do a thumber backhand, or better yet, a skip shot.
Ready to finally build your post-recession machine?
That’s good, because we’ve decided to round up the best and brightest motherboards available. And we’re not talking Micro ATX, sub-$100 budgetrino boards here. We reached for the most feature-filled, over-the-top X58 and 890FX boards from the top three mobo vendors.
Want to know how over the top? One board lets you remotely reboot or overclock it using your cell phone. Another features power connectors usually found only on dual-processor server motherboards. Hell, one has a heat pipe so freaking big, some editors here thought it was some sort of new PCI-E add-in card. And one board is so large, you’ll have to buy a case specifically for its generous dimensions.
So if you’re ready to build a machine that will motor you away from those recession doldrums, keep reading because the best board here will be the one you want in your AMD or Intel machine.
The X58 Reviews
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
MSI Big Bang-XPower
Asus Rampage III Extreme
X58: The Final Analysis
With performance essentially equal, it comes down to overall experience
We know, enthusiasts like to see benchmarks and measurements and numbers. But, as we’ve observed for a long time, performance across the same chipset rarely sees major variances. That lesson is evident here, where there’s no clear performance winner. Each board scored minor victories that were most likely the result of a benchmark’s margin of error and/or each board’s out-of-the-box overclock. The Gigabyte board, for example, runs its bclock at 134.9, which gives it a slight clock-speed advantage. Still, all the boards are fast.
In the overclocking department, we didn’t try to wring each board to its fullest potential manually, as that’s dependent on the individual overclocker. We did, however, test how each board handled automatic overclocking. Interestingly, all three were pretty safe automatic overclocks, taking our 2.8GHz Core i7-930 to the 3.33GHz Core i7-975 Extreme Edition range without fail. Of course, everyone knows that’s a pretty wimpy feat. All three companies are simply being realistic. Folks who use the automatic tools will be happy with what they get but anyone who buys a board designed to boot with frigid liquid-nitrogen is going to overclock manually.
So, what this comes down to are features and the setup experience. Surprisingly, with the amount of engineering and qualification that goes into the top-tier boards, not everything is perfect. The Gigabyte X58A-UD7 was probably the trickiest. Out of the box, with the latest public BIOS and a retail Core i7-930, the board kept falling back to a 15x multiplier, which made our 2.8GHz chip a 2GHz chip. And no, it wasn’t in SpeedStep mode. That won’t trip up an enthusiast, but Joe 12-pack might not know he’s underclocking a chip. Only manually setting the multiplier to 22x gave us the right clock speed.
The Gigabyte’s ET6 utility also kept tripping Windows 7’s UAC control on each boot. Another kvetch about the Gigabyte board: It’s qualified for tri-SLI and includes a bridge, but you will need a special case to accept the last card. Both MSI’s and Asus’s tri-SLI configurations should fit in most standard enclosures.
Not that the MSI and Asus boards were without fault. As we noted above, MSI’s default power configuration was plain wacky. Requiring a user who has just spent a ton of cash on a top-tier board to enable S3 and tweak two power settings to enable “wake on USB” seems wrong. Granted, at $300 on the street, MSI’s board is the cheapest of the three here. And we do dig the Big Bang’s PCI-E layout and surface-mounted controls.
As for the Rampage III, Asus needs to send its north-bridge fan design back to the drawing board. Besides it not working with large coolers, the fan is shrill and prevents you from reaching the top GPU latch with your fingers. And how ’bout another USB header? The other two boards here pack two USB headers for case front-panel ports, but Asus only gives you one.
In the end, though, those are pretty minor complaints. It was a very close competition between Asus’s Rampage III Extreme and MSI’s Big Bang-XPower, but the RC Bluetooth mode and out-of-the-box flawless setup give the Rampage III Extreme the edge.
Benchmarks
| Gigabyte X58A-UD7 | MSI Big Bang-XPower | Asus Rampage III Extreme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCMark Vantage 64-bit Overall | 8,993 | 8,903 | 8,940 |
| Everest Ultimate Mem Read (MB/s) | 14,618 | 15,406 | 14,628 |
| Everest Ultimate Mem Write (MB/s) | 12,076 | 14,776 | 12,194 |
| Everest Ultimate Mem Copy (MB/s) | 16,470 | 17,036 | 17,062 |
| Everest Ultimate Mem Latency (ns) | 59.8 | 60.2 | 60.5 |
| SiSoft Sandra RAM Bandwidth (GB/s) | 22.8 | 22.6 | 23 |
| 3DMark Vantage Overall | 15,549 | 15,211 | 15,443 |
| 3DMark Vantage GPU | 14,643 | 14,415 | 14,640 |
| 3DMark Vantage CPU | 18,618 | 18,227 | 18,483 |
| Valve Particle test (fps) | 149 | 144 | 149 |
| Resident Evil 5 low-res (fps) | 130.2 | 128.2 | 126.7 |
| HAWX low-res (fps) | 175 | 177 | 174 |
| HD Tune Pro Sustained Write (MB/s) | 98.9 | 102 | 102 |
| HD Tune Pro Burst (MB/s) | 136.7 | 136.7 | 172 |
Best scores are bolded. We outfitted all three motherboards with an Intel 2.8GHz Core i7-930, 6GB of Corsair DDR3/1333, a VisionTek Radeon HD 5850, a ThermalRight Ultra-120, a Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, and Windows 7 Professional.
Next Page: The 890FX Reviews >>
More like this
70
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
jeckwelch
March 24, 2012 at 12:03am
Excellent article. Its really a good article. It gives me lots of pleasure and interest. It’s a most important post. So i want to know some other details about this article. http://pakistan.metrosources.com
Lagos81
March 17, 2012 at 2:22am
Nice post. Thank you for taking the time to publish this information very useful! I've been looking for books of this nature for a way too long . I'm just glad that I sell my porsche found yours. Looking forward for your next post. Thanks
adamjohn
February 27, 2012 at 11:55am
This is very informative sticker printing services it really helped me decide which motherboard i should use for my pc!I will definately keep this in mind for my next building project Die Cut Stickers Printing
Thanks for sharing the information.
http://www.sireprinting.com
Shawn Teo
February 09, 2012 at 11:09am
I really like this article..Nicely presented information in this post, I prefer to read this kind of stuff.I would like to thank for the efforts you have made in writing this post. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing ability has inspired me to start my own blog now. Thanks for Sharing. Great Websites!
http://www.newlaunchsingapore.com
Campbell
March 08, 2012 at 5:39am
I wonder how you got so good. This is really a fascinating blog, lots of stuff that I can Get into. One thing I just want to say is that your Blog is so perfect! http://www.inclusiveinternationalcalls.com/
jsspauk
January 20, 2012 at 9:44am
Nice post, keep up with this interesting work. It really is good to know that this topic is being covered also on this web site so thanks for taking time to discuss this !printing leeds
emttrainings
January 18, 2012 at 10:36am
I've done two build now with the X58 and I have to say that it's an incredible board. EMT
jsspauk
January 17, 2012 at 9:25am
I will bookmark your blog and check again here regularly. I'm quite certain I'll learn many new stuff right here!!radio advertising
jsspauk
January 17, 2012 at 9:24am
Thanks for sharing. i really appreciate it that you shared with us such a informative post.
sahilgarg
January 17, 2012 at 3:04am
This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality.articles on health|| business finance article
mikelewis12
January 17, 2012 at 12:49am
Really like your blog content the way you put up the things…I’ve read the topic with great interest and definitely will stick your blog routinely for other great posts.
jsspauk
January 15, 2012 at 11:43am
Thanks for informative and helpful post, obviously in your blog everything is good.If you post informative comments on blogs there is always the chance that actual humans will click through.heathrow minicab
jsspauk
January 15, 2012 at 11:41am
I would be very thankful if you continue with quality what you are serving right now with your blog...I really enjoyed it...and i really appreciate to you for this....its always pleasure to read so....Thanks for sharing!!!I would be very thankful if you continue with quality what you are serving right now with your blog...I really enjoyed it...and i really appreciate to you for this....its always pleasure to read so....Thanks for sharing!!!mobile disco hire
microbiz
January 15, 2012 at 8:03am
This is highly informatics, crisp and clear. I think that Everything has been described in systematic manner so that reader could get maximum information and learn many things.
microbiz
January 15, 2012 at 8:01am
Great article. Well with your permission allow me to grab your rss feed to keep up to date with incoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the delightful work.
shanwarn
January 10, 2012 at 1:59am
There are some very great sources here and thank you for being so kind to post them here. So we can read them and give our opinion on subject. article about travel and tourism
microbiz
January 08, 2012 at 12:04pm
This is absolutely a commendable post indeed. You share splendid piece of information here. Thank you for attributing this informative post. Houston computer repair
microbiz
January 08, 2012 at 12:01pm
This blog contains a lot of informative data and news which i first time read from here. Thanks for writing about this important topic.asbestos testing
zunialopee
January 08, 2012 at 9:43pm
I just came across your blog and reading your beautiful words. I thought I would leave my first comment but I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
microbiz
January 06, 2012 at 8:47am
I am glad to visit your website.. This article gives the light in which we can observe the reality and it is very useful one and gives in depth information. thanks for this sharing this article. Flights to Pakistan
jackhope123
January 06, 2012 at 1:06pm
I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you have here on this post. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon
microbiz
January 06, 2012 at 8:44am
This is quite revealing i'm really surprise with the result of your benchmark, i used to think that asus was the best motherboard in the market but i guess msi and gigabyte is better! vehicle donation program
Janny
January 04, 2012 at 11:00am
Hello there I am so thrilled I found your webpage, I really found you by error, while I was researching on Digg for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say kudos for a incredible post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the awesome job.
pams
January 03, 2012 at 9:56am
It is important to choose right one since the first time. Thank you for the tips. Proper care will save money in long term Mortgage Quote
microbiz
January 01, 2012 at 6:16am
Not that I'm complaining, but slow loading instances times will sometimes affect your placement in google and can damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords leotards paypal
microbiz
January 01, 2012 at 6:14am
This is a fantastic website and I can not recommend you guys enough. Full of useful resource and great layout very easy on the eyes. Please do keep up this great work. dallas web design
erich34234
December 28, 2011 at 5:46pm
Those are some NEAT gadgets..probably super expensive though, eh? emt
kusum12
December 26, 2011 at 3:22am
I am very satisfied with the content that you mentioned. I wanted to thank you for this great article. I enjoyed every bit of his party and I'll be waiting for updates. US Debt Clock
Suyesh
December 23, 2011 at 10:49pm
I ran into this page mistakenly, surprisingly, this is a great website.The site owner has carried out a superb job of putting it together, the info here is really insightful. Article Publishing
amit12
December 23, 2011 at 4:01am
Awesome blog. I enjoyed reading your articles. This is truly a great read for me. I have bookmarked it and I am looking forward to reading new articles. Keep up the good work! Quotations
satish02
December 21, 2011 at 12:46am
I like this concept. I visited your blog for the first time and just been your fan. Keep posting as I am gonna come to read it everyday.
Pinienmoebel
microbiz
December 19, 2011 at 8:45am
Awesome photo Gordon! MaxPC has now got some of its mojo back now. I love it when there's a certain excitement and/or funniness when reading MaxPC.
sahilgarg
December 09, 2011 at 12:08am
Please keep on posting such articles as this is a rare thing to find these days. I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Looking forward to another great blog. Good luck to the author! all the best.surrogate mothers
sahilgarg
December 08, 2011 at 1:46am
A perfect information source about the motherboard and others hardwares.Thanks for taking the time to discuss this and giving this information, I feel happy about it and love learning more on this topic
microbiz
December 07, 2011 at 9:58am
I've never worked with an AMD board before and I noticed all the ones pictured have the CPU heatsink mounting brackets attached already while none of X58 boards do.
dermalogica
December 05, 2011 at 9:48pm
I have 3 computers, 2 with Asus and 1 with Gigabyte, never have any problems. ;) Thank you for your helpful review. - Dermalogica
Robertpeterson27
November 02, 2011 at 5:30am
I would like to say thank you for this informative and helpful post, obviously in your blog everything is good. If you post informative comments on blogs there is always the chance that actual humans will click through. OEM Manufacturers
sherylpotts
October 27, 2011 at 7:34pm
A challenge is a general term referring to things that are imbued with a sense of difficulty and victory. <a href="http://www.insurancebrokerillinois.com">health insurance Illinois</a>
1redone
October 20, 2011 at 3:11pm
Thanks for this great advice. I will definately keep this in mind for my next building project.
clutterm
October 15, 2011 at 7:05am
Article really fascinates the core of my interest. I admire the way you brought out the general essence of your topic. Thanks for this blog. Vitamins for anxiety
vernonlison
October 06, 2011 at 1:10am
i find your blog very interesting lots of good post and readable articles. Keep it up i will surely bookmark your site and visit it for future readings!
looniejames
October 05, 2011 at 4:06am
this is very informative it really helped me decide which motherboard i should use for my pc!
johndelsan
October 03, 2011 at 11:18pm
this is quite revealing i'm really surprise with the result of your benchmark, i used to think that asus was the best motherboard in the market but i guess msi and gigabyte is better!
John,
android spy phone
williamsjohnny114
September 25, 2011 at 2:55am
msi seems to be the winner but i have a bad history with them most of my MSI boards only last a year!
holly57
September 14, 2011 at 7:01am
GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global report on Machine Condition Monitoring Equipment market. With plant assets increasingly being perceived as ‘Working Capital’ of an organization. Thanks for sharing the information. Marmor versiegeln
pabilonabea
September 13, 2011 at 8:35pm
Such an expensive board but it only has 1 USB and 1 eSATA header (which are intended for the optional USB/eSATA PCI adapter). If your case (i.e. Coolermaster Sniper) has four front USB connectors and an eSATA connector then, you will need to purchase additional parts (i.e. NZXT Internal USB HUB) to utilize all the USBs. I didn't find the NZXT hub compatible with several USB devices.
Optional Northbridge thermal module not compatible with my Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler.
The Northbridge runs extremely hot (140F) with passive cooling.
I took the thermal module to the grinder (to mod it) so I could use the supplied fan and my Noctua cooler.Overall the board was easy to overclock and is extremely stable.
I think this board is a bit over priced.
linzejora
September 07, 2011 at 12:55am
I wanted to thank you for this great read! Definitely enjoying every bit of it I've bookmarked to check out new things to post many thanks for this great post! I've been looking for this for a long time..
DiniyaPeace
August 26, 2011 at 3:41am
Hi,
Any chance to get review on Asus P6T WS Professional Intel X58 or its latest MRP ? And can you pleasse review it for me.
My seniors sugegsting me to have a look over Asus P6T WS Professional Intel X58. is it worth buy ?
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E1 day 3 hours ago
- maximumpc: Fraps 3.5.2 fixes lots of bugs, so if your motto, like @PCGamer's, is "always be frapsing," you should pick it up http://t.co/3DW3WUI01 day 6 hours ago
- maximumpc: Google Chrome Becomes World's Most-Used Web Browser, Kinda http://t.co/Xqgscmrp1 day 23 hours ago
