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7 Intel Core i7 X58 Motherboards Tested and Compared

Motherboards/Intel S1366 by massman @ 2009-02-25

We put seven feature rich X58 motherboards for Intel´s latest Core i7 CPU to the test. Comparing performance, overclocking scaling in a multitude of applications and games. Which one comes out on top? Read on to find out!

DFI Lanparty DK X58-T3eH6 - Pictures

Diamond Flowers International, in short DFI, is an international IT expert based in Taiwan, with headquarters in Hsi-Chih City. DFI was established in 1981 by Mr. Y.C. Lu. dedicated to serving customers with high technology, DFI has been earning a worldwide reputation for quality, owing much to the continuing support from our customers, suppliers and affiliates as well as our own efforts over the past twenty years. With more than 20 years of computer product development and manufacturing, our team of highly skilled engineers helps DFI position ourselves as the standard setter of price-performance solutions in the manufacturing and marketing of computer products. DFI offers a complete line-up of advanced motherboards as well as graphics solutions and Applied Computing Platforms, to meet the expanding needs of the IT market. DFI also co-develops with Intel and 3rd party developers for the latest technology on IT solution. These relationships lead customers to adopt DFI products with confidence. With our Headquarter in Taiwan and Regional Offices in the States, Europe, China and Japan, DFI has been stably growing from its start 20 years ago into a leader in the IT field today. Close relationships with Intel, AMD, VIA and SiS ensure that DFI products reach the market with leading timing. DFI products are built with Quality as the rock base.

Previous reviews containing DFI motherboards:

DFI LanParty DK 790GX-M2RS Motherboard Review

DFI X48-T3RS review - redefining the high end ?

DFI Lanparty DK P45-T2RS Plus Motherboard Review

DFI Lanparty LT X38-T2R S775 Motherboard Review

4-Way Intel P35 Motherboard Overclocking Roundup

DFI nForce 680i LT-T2R Overclocking Motherboard Review

DFI Lanparty UT NF590 SLI-M2RG AM2 Motherboard Review

KT400A vs nForce2 vs SiS746

BOX AND ACCESSOIRES

(Click for bigger version)

The Lanparty DK series contains motherboards that have pretty much the same technical features as its big brother from the Lanparty UT series, but often contains less accessories and gives less expansion possibilities to the user. In line with the UT light package, one pays less for the DK motherboard and in many cases the overclockability, for which DFI is known, is pretty much the same, as seen in other articles regarding an LP DK motherboard. In the spirit of cheapen things up a bit, the box isn't as fancy as the two we've seen already: small and thus only containing the necessary.

4 x SATA cable

1 x Pata HDD cable

1 x Floppy cable

1 x Crossfire link cable

1 x SLI cable

1 x Molex to 2 x SATA connector

1 x I/O back panel

1 x Set of jumpers

1 x User manual

1 x ABS installation guide

1 x Driver disk

MOTHERBOARD

(Click for bigger version)

For those thinking they've already seen this motherboard, yes ... you're correct. When I opened the box, it reminded me of the Lanparty UT P35 motherboard, which I've tested a year ago: the same green colored lay-out. The memory slots have been placed near the socket which creates the same problems as mentioned at the Asus R2E page: a large cooler in combination with big-heatsinked memories may be problematic. Next to that, there's the analogue PWM area, which has been replaced with a digital one on the UT variant. Not a big deal, although the digital version might be better in terms of overclocking (although we experienced no issues as you'll notice in the overclocking pages). The 90° angled SATA ports offer a decent solution for those who have a lengthy video card.

Below a list of all the features:

6 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports

1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 mouse port

1 x mini-DIN-6 PS/2 keyboard port

1 x optical S/PDIF-out port

1 x coaxial RCA S/PDIF-out port

1 x IEEE 1394 port

1 x RJ45 LAN port

1 x Center/subwoofer, rear R/L and side R/L jacks

1 x Line-in, line-out (front R/L) and mic-in jacks

3 x PCI Express (Gen 2) x16 slots - 2-way SLI or Quad CrossFireX configuration at x16/x16/x4 transfer rate lanes

1 x PCI Express x4 slot

2 x PCI slots

8 x Serial ATA connectors

6 x fan connectors

3 x connectors for 6 additional external USB 2.0 ports

2 x 4-pin 5V/12V power connectors (FDD type)

1 x connector for an external COM port

1 x connector for an external IEEE 1394 port

1 x front audio connector

1 x CD-in connector

1 x IrDA connector and 1 CIR connector

1 x 40-pin IDE connector and 1 floppy connector

1 x 24-pin ATX power connector

1 x 8-pin 12V power connector

1 x front panel connector

1 x download flash BIOS connector

1 x diagnostic LED

1 x EZ touch switches (power switch and reset switch)

Madshrimps (c)

Comment from Kougar @ 2009/02/26

I think this thread was meant to be in the Articles section?

Good review, nice to see almost all of the major boards together in one thorough review.

I like how the OC tests were split up and the specific areas focused upon.

I know it would have lengthened the time with testing/overclocking but I would have much preferred to see 5-10 minutes of IntelBurn for stability testing... SuperPi 4M or even 32M only proves the system won't BSOD at desktop randomly. As overclocking is one of my top factors in deciding which board to chose to buy, this is important to me as a future X58 buyer.

Testing all the boards with the same processor in a single review (after plenty of BIOS revisions have already been released) means this review is one of the best comparisons for showing which board overclocks the best... but SuperPi 4M means nothing in terms of stability so I can't really draw definitive conclusions from the OC tests.

The only other thing I could ask was maybe throwing some UD3 or UD4 and either vanilla or deluxe P6T results in to show how they compare with the flagship boards in the OC tests. Just wishing, anyway...

Comment from geoffrey @ 2009/02/26

Huge!!!

Comment from Massman @ 2009/02/26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kougar

I know it would have lengthened the time with testing/overclocking but I would have much preferred to see 5-10 minutes of IntelBurn for stability testing... SuperPi 4M or even 32M only proves the system won't BSOD at desktop randomly. As overclocking is one of my top factors in deciding which board to chose to buy, this is important to me as a future X58 buyer.

Testing all the boards with the same processor in a single review (after plenty of BIOS revisions have already been released) means this review is one of the best comparisons for showing which board overclocks the best... but SuperPi 4M means nothing in terms of stability so I can't really draw definitive conclusions from the OC tests.

I can't disagree: 4M is not really a good estimate for 24/7 overclocks, but for me it was the better choice in terms of stability testing and available time. Testing one motherboard's overclocking capabilities took me 1 full day, and that's only if everything went alright. Take into account the troubleshooting and you're off for a long journey :-).

The conclusions you draw are not supposed to be conlcusive in terms of absolute overclocking capabilities, but should be comparison ONLY. The overclocking process is being affected by more than just the motherboard (as you know): for instance, the memory overclocking results can be slightly better or worse depending on the quality of your memory chips. That's what the comments under the graphs are for, btw :-).

Next time, I'm going to change some things, though. I now already know that the maximum CPU-Z BCLK frequency will be replaced by maximum boot BCLK frequency. Actual stability tests are not an issue, as long as I have the time to do propper testing; with 7 motherboards on the testbed, that was kinda impossible. In stand-alone reviews, it shouldn't be a problem, though

Comment from Kougar @ 2009/02/27

Quote:

The conclusions you draw are not supposed to be conlcusive in terms of absolute overclocking capabilities, but should be comparison ONLY.

I just think having done this much, it would be worth doing that extra bit more to make it a comprehensive OC article. For all intents and purposes, I think I can safely say most X58 users will be overclockers.

Even 5 minutes of IntelBurn is not much longer than SuperPi 4M, and more simple to use than 4x1 instances of SuperPi. If time is that critical, perhaps you could set arbitrary CPU, VTT, QPI (etc) voltages/BCLK settings and just see what boards pass or fail at given settings? Just a thought, not sure if it was a good one.

Quote:

The overclocking process is being affected by more than just the motherboard (as you know): for instance, the memory overclocking results can be slightly better or worse depending on the quality of your memory chips.

Yes, of course. But for your review you used the same kit of memory. Just as everything else except the motherboard was kept identical. Which is why your overclocking results have the potential to be the most useful to readers than any other single-board review. Same CPU, memory, tests, OS, and same date that takes into account revised BIOS's. This review is as close to apples-to-apples OC comparisons as one can get.

Quote:

In stand-alone reviews, it shouldn't be a problem, though

That is partly my point. In a stand alone review often memory/CPUs and other hardware gets changed, more time elapses so BIOS's get updated and further refined, general OC knowledge for a new platform is improved, etc. All of those make it less of a direct comparison if doing ~ 7 individual reviews verses 1 large roundup. I know "ideal" is very often different from "practical", but still it would be "ideal" to have.

Comment from jmke @ 2009/03/01

those prefab voltage read out points are just awesome for the overclockers and testers out there, too cool

Comment from Massman @ 2009/03/01

Foxconn Bloodrage has them too.

There's quite an interesting story to tell about who 'invented' those pre-fab voltage read-outs, by the way

Comment from jmke @ 2009/03/01

where are they located on this board? Can't spot them in the pics at first sight

Comment from Massman @ 2009/03/01

Next to the DIMM sockets. In the article, they're not visible (at least, not if you don't know where they are). I only noticed them when I prepared the board for this OC session :-)

Comment from jmke @ 2009/03/01

pics!

Comment from Massman @ 2009/03/01

Comment from jmke @ 2009/03/01

thanks

added to article. Not as fancy as the Asus board it seems.

Comment from Massman @ 2009/03/01

No, but it does the job

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