GA-X58A-UD5 Revision 2.0 the MOST in Depth Review/ Analysis

[sin0822]

Now we are going to move on to the variety of various integrated circuits(IC) on the board. Let’s begin with the clock generators. ICS is a major manufacturer of clock generators which feed base blocks for various circuits, Asus, MSI, as well as many other motherboard manufactures use ICS for clock generators. The main clock generator for the base clock we generally deal with is the ICS9LPRS914EKLF, this is useful if you have SetFSB program used for general windows overclocking, and this exact chip is not there so you can use this one instead: “ICS9LPRS914EKL”. This board also has a clock generator for the PCI-E frequency and it’s the ICS9DB403DGLF. In the past many of the main clock gens look like the one used on this board for the PCI-E frequency, but please do not be confused, the main clock generator is the square one, not the rectangle and they are right next to each other.

CPU + PCI-E Clock Gen:


Let’s move over to some of the more specialized chips, let’s look at the iTE IT8720F Super I/O Controller. This chip provides very accurate voltage monitoring as well as fan control. The board’s CPU fan has a dual ability to be controlled the old fashion way by voltage (VR) 3rd pin, or the new temperature/frequency controlled (PWN) 4th pin fan connector, this allows you to use older style fans and still be able to control them by software. This chip also provides temperature and voltage readings through Easy Tune 6(ET6), gigabyte’s in OS system overclocking. This chip also provides floppy drive support and controllers the PS2 ports on the back panel for keyboard and. This chip runs on the boards LPC bus.