6x Core i7 boards in complete review

[OBR]

Hi, there are my complete reviews of Core i7 motherboards. All of them are in CZECH language, but pictures, graphs and results dont need a translation.



Mobos: MSI Eclipse, Gigabyte EX58-UD5, Gigabyte EX58-EXTREME, Asus P6T Deluxe OC Palm, Asus Rampage II Extreme, Intel DX58SO ...

CPU: Core i7 920 - C0, 940 - B0, 965 XE - C0 (ES)

MSI Eclipse



Complete view on board, box and BIOS:
http://pctuning.tyden.cz/index.php?o...1935&Itemid=43

Gigabyte EX58-UD5



Complete view on board, box and BIOS:
http://pctuning.tyden.cz/index.php?o...1947&Itemid=43

Asus P6T Deluxe OC palm



Complete view on board, box and BIOS:
http://pctuning.tyden.cz/index.php?o...1&limitstart=2

Asus Rampage II Extreme



Complete view on board, box and BIOS:
http://pctuning.tyden.cz/index.php?o...1&limitstart=6

Intel DX58SO



Complete view on board, box and BIOS:
http://pctuning.tyden.cz/index.php?o...1&limitstart=1

Performance



"Spotřeba idle" = Power consumption idle, "Spotřeba Crysis" = Power consumption in game

Overclocking

Click here for screens: http://pctuning.tyden.cz/index.php?o...1&limitstart=7

Last review of Gigabyte EX85-EXTREME is in progress now ... will be released in few days. I hope my test help you in chosing your new Core i7 mobo ... enjoy

[Slay0r]

Thanks for the sum up OBR

Just fyi, RE2's 3dvantage cpu score is wrong in the graph. Either that or it's absurdly good :P

[Okda]

Thanks for the review

is the performance table above made @ stock

[ownage]

Which board do you like best OBR? I heard you had some problems with a dead Eclipse?
No problems with immature biosses from the other boards?

[Hornet331]

so all scores are within 1-3%, which is within the margine of error.

Meaning -> at stock it doesn't matter what board to get.

Time for some oc testing.

[OBR]

Slay0r - you are right, its my mistake ... right score is 19842 (instead of 49842) ...

Performance is STOCK @ 965 XE - 3200MHz + 3x DDR3-1333MHz 24-8-8-8

I have no problem with all boards, BIOSes are great. Only MSI died after using M-Flash in BIOS. After diag-flash at MSI HQ boards is OK now again. Some OC Ln2 action will be this weekend ...

[ownage]

I have no problem with all boards, BIOSes are great. Only MSI died after using M-Flash in BIOS. After diag-flash at MSI HQ boards is OK now again. Some OC Ln2 action will be this weekend ...

Bring it on

[AuDioFreaK39]

EVGA X58?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

hmmmm the MSi wins the most tests... but I will still never buy an MSI board I think....

[ghost_one]

from what i can make out on the page you have managed the best overclock using the 920 with the P6T Deluxe is that correct ? i am waiting for the GB EXTREME review also , nice job
also , what cooler did you use ? (if it was air) and if u could give an aproximation of the idle and load average temps for the 920 OC that would be great (unless that is already written in the review and i can't read it )

[Glow9]

wicked looking forward to seeing Biostar and EVGA in the mix

[Bojamijams]

hmmmm the MSi wins the most tests... but I will still never buy an MSI board I think....

Ditto

[GAR]

I just picked up my kit, Asus P6T Deluxe, I7 920, and Patriot 6GB 1600, and got a 4870x2 to go along with i as well, hope this system will last me more than 1 year.

[dan7777]

for all that kit i wud think bit longer than that cost ??? £1500 or more....

[MotF Bane]

ASUS looks to be winning in overclocking there.

[Linchpin]

Looks pretty good considering this stuff just launched but I'll probably hold out till the second wave of i7 boards.

[Metroid]

Great work OBR,

There is a question that I want to ask you as this is an overclocking website community and by the looks nobody asked.

Which one of those motherboards has the maximum overclocking capability and minimum Vcore drop?

[Nicksterr]

If I upgrade in the near future It'll be the EX58-UD5 or a variant thereof. I just like the Gigabyte BIOS too much.

[tajoh111]

I have 4 of them and best stable with great performance is Asus P6T Deluxe, but is not good for OCing QPI ... higher QPI then 140MHz = freez, best mobo for OCing QPI is Gigabyte X58 UDP, MSI has many problems with compatibility of RAM and Ocing is impossible at all.

i965 Extreme + Asus best choice of Ocing with multiplier and super great performance, for i940 and i920 is best choice Gigabyte ... i am here stable at QPI 170MHz + Turbo mode = i920 @ 3,6GHz Prime stable.

You said this in another post.

So is this asus overclock not stable or have you changed your opinion.

I remember reading in another post of your that the max qpi bus speed you can get with the asus is 150 and with the gigabyte 180. Did you get a new bios or something that would vastly change the overclocking ability of the asus.

[GAR]

Got my setup put in, im having some trouble with the push pins making full contact, i wish intel would switch back to a clip system like the 478, it just doesnt make sense why they would use such a faulty system. Any advice from people who know how to mount a push pin system, since i never use them, always use aftermarket with backplate, any advice?? thanks

[Lestat]

Got my setup put in, im having some trouble with the push pins making full contact, i wish intel would switch back to a clip system like the 478, it just doesnt make sense why they would use such a faulty system. Any advice from people who know how to mount a push pin system, since i never use them, always use aftermarket with backplate, any advice?? thanks

remove the push pins and replace them with bolts and nuts.
EASY EASY thing to do.
just make sure you get a large enough washer because the hole where the push pin was isnt big but you need a washer to completely cover the hole.

get bolts about a couple inches long, 2-3 inches is more than long enough.
put a bolt and a plastic washer on the mobo and screw the bolt down so it stays in place.

mount hte heatsink and slide the washer over the bolt to cover the hole where the push pins were, then nut them down.

thats it pretty simple and you get much more pressure on the cpu with the heatsink.

whats even easier is if you have one of the mounting plates for the under belly of the mobo with threaded holes.
take that to your local hardware store and find 1-2 inch screws and some washers incase the bolt is too long and you need to fill up the space.

then you screw down the heatsink to the underbelly X shaped mounting plate.

thats what i have done on my mini tower

[eva2000]

awesome stuff OBR, very news worthy indeed!

where ya find the time for all that

[tiro_uspsss]

many thanks for the hard work!

[Nanometer]

so all scores are within 1-3%, which is within the margine of error.

Meaning -> at stock it doesn't matter what board to get.

Time for some oc testing.

I agree, I never saw a point really to those kinds of tests, unless one board was seriously lacking in base performance. We want overclocking results!

[T_Flight]

Very cool! Thankyou. I will read in detail later. I'll be buying the Rampage II Extreme later this week. I already have a Core i7 965 Extreme Retail Box CPU on the way. It's my first Extreme CPU, and i'm a little nevrvous about it, but I know it's gonna be awesome. I just nervous about the cost of it. I'll have to be real careful with that one.

Thankyou for all the work to bring us this. It is appreciated!