Budget i7 Core Motherboard options

[dabench]

I've narrowed down my motherboard choice to 4 options. Pleaes give feedback.

ASUS P6T SE
Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI
MSI X58 Pro LGA
MSI X58 Pro-E (What's the difference between this board and the one above?)

Thanks

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: dabench
I've narrowed down my motherboard choice to 4 options. Pleaes give feedback.

ASUS P6T SE
Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI
MSI X58 Pro LGA
MSI X58 Pro-E (What's the difference between this board and the one above?)

Thanks

Foxconn has 3 ram slots, doesn't support SLI, and uses the Intel ICH10 so it doesn't support raid. The ASUS does not have SLI. Pro-E has better heatsinks with screws so it should have better cooling than the Pro. All X58 MSI boards now support SLI.

 

[Shmee]

How about the gigabyte UD3R?

 

[arkcom]

The ASUS P6T SE will run sli, you just have to flash the bios.


http://www.overclock.net/intel...6t-se.html#post6151475

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: arkcom
The ASUS P6T SE will run sli, you just have to flash the bios.


http://www.overclock.net/intel...6t-se.html#post6151475

That doesn't count. The board with defaults to Crossfire only. I don't think he's taking mods into consideration.

 

[ZimZum]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: dabench
I've narrowed down my motherboard choice to 4 options. Pleaes give feedback.

ASUS P6T SE
Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI
MSI X58 Pro LGA
MSI X58 Pro-E (What's the difference between this board and the one above?)

Thanks

Foxconn has 3 ram slots, doesn't support SLI, and uses the Intel ICH10 so it doesn't support raid. The ASUS does not have SLI. Pro-E has better heatsinks with screws so it should have better cooling than the Pro. All X58 MSI boards now support SLI.

Whats your recommendation for an i7 mobo under or around $300? With performance/Overclocking being a chief concern.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: dabench
I've narrowed down my motherboard choice to 4 options. Pleaes give feedback.

ASUS P6T SE
Foxconn FlamingBlade GTI
MSI X58 Pro LGA
MSI X58 Pro-E (What's the difference between this board and the one above?)

Thanks

Foxconn has 3 ram slots, doesn't support SLI, and uses the Intel ICH10 so it doesn't support raid. The ASUS does not have SLI. Pro-E has better heatsinks with screws so it should have better cooling than the Pro. All X58 MSI boards now support SLI.

Whats your recommendation for an i7 mobo under or around $300? With performance/Overclocking being a chief concern.

I don't know. The ASUS P6T Deluxe looks good but I don't which is the best overclocking board because I don't overclock.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: arkcom
The ASUS P6T SE will run sli, you just have to flash the bios.


http://www.overclock.net/intel...6t-se.html#post6151475

That doesn't count. The board with defaults to Crossfire only. I don't think he's taking mods into consideration.

Interesting thing I'm noticed about some of the lower priced X58 boards is that they have added SLI compatibility since launch. The Gigiabyte GA-EX58-UD3R is an example of this. This board doesn't list SLI capability on Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128375 but if you go to the manufacturer's link it does: http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Su...oductID=2991#anchor_os It looks like SLI support was just added in a recent BIOS update.

edit: I thought the MSI board also added SLI, but it is actually the MSI X58 Pro-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813130226 (instead of just the Pro).

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Whats your recommendation for an i7 mobo under or around $300? With performance/Overclocking being a chief concern.

I wouldn't exactly call $300 a budget X58 board, but I think I'd go for the Asus P6T Deluxe V2 in that price range.

 

[SunSamurai]

I vote MSI X58 Pro-E

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: arkcom
The ASUS P6T SE will run sli, you just have to flash the bios.


http://www.overclock.net/intel...6t-se.html#post6151475

That doesn't count. The board with defaults to Crossfire only. I don't think he's taking mods into consideration.

Interesting thing I'm noticed about some of the lower priced X58 boards is that they have added SLI compatibility since launch. The Gigiabyte GA-EX58-UD3R is an example of this. This board doesn't list SLI capability on Newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813128375 but if you go to the manufacturer's link it does: http://www.gigabyte-usa.com/Su...oductID=2991#anchor_os It looks like SLI support was just added in a recent BIOS update.

edit: I thought the MSI board also added SLI, but it is actually the MSI X58 Pro-E http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813130226 (instead of just the Pro).

Originally posted by: ZimZum

Whats your recommendation for an i7 mobo under or around $300? With performance/Overclocking being a chief concern.

I wouldn't exactly call $300 a budget X58 board, but I think I'd go for the Asus P6T Deluxe V2 in that price range.

All MSI x58 boards now have SLI, even the Pro. NewEgg just didn't update it yet.

 

[Cannyone]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: arkcom
The ASUS P6T SE will run sli, you just have to flash the bios.


http://www.overclock.net/intel...6t-se.html#post6151475

That doesn't count. The board with defaults to Crossfire only. I don't think he's taking mods into consideration.

That's NOT a modification! It's a BIOS update, and with Asus boards updating the BIOS is extremely easy. All you need is to download the file. Unpack it to a thumb drive. Restart and enter BIOS, then go to the Tools Menu. There select the Asus EasyFlash 2 option, and find the file on the thumb drive. And in a few moments you'll be done.

Seriously! This feature is easy and safe. MSI wants you to update your BIOS over the Internet, which is completely messed up... And Foxconn couldn't Build a decent BIOS if their lives depended on it. (And yes! I have experience with both brands)

The catch is that IF you have a serious problem, Asus technical support is lacking. They are superior to Foxconn in that they might actually know what they're saying. But they aren't as helpful as MSI. (And yes! I have experience in this area as well - though my P6T vanilla has been completely trouble free.)

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: Cannyone

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

Originally posted by: arkcom
The ASUS P6T SE will run sli, you just have to flash the bios.


http://www.overclock.net/intel...6t-se.html#post6151475

That doesn't count. The board with defaults to Crossfire only. I don't think he's taking mods into consideration.

That's NOT a modification! It's a BIOS update, and with Asus boards updating the BIOS is extremely easy. All you need is to download the file. Unpack it to a thumb drive. Restart and enter BIOS, then go to the Tools Menu. There select the Asus EasyFlash 2 option, and find the file on the thumb drive. And in a few moments you'll be done.

Seriously! This feature is easy and safe. MSI wants you to update your BIOS over the Internet, which is completely messed up... And Foxconn couldn't Build a decent BIOS if their lives depended on it. (And yes! I have experience with both brands)

The catch is that IF you have a serious problem, Asus technical support is lacking. They are superior to Foxconn in that they might actually know what they're saying. But they aren't as helpful as MSI. (And yes! I have experience in this area as well - though my P6T vanilla has been completely trouble free.)

You can flash MSI boards in the bios with a flash drive too.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Cannyone
That's NOT a modification! It's a BIOS update, and with Asus boards updating the BIOS is extremely easy. All you need is to download the file. Unpack it to a thumb drive. Restart and enter BIOS, then go to the Tools Menu. There select the Asus EasyFlash 2 option, and find the file on the thumb drive. And in a few moments you'll be done.

Seriously! This feature is easy and safe. MSI wants you to update your BIOS over the Internet, which is completely messed up... And Foxconn couldn't Build a decent BIOS if their lives depended on it. (And yes! I have experience with both brands)

The catch is that IF you have a serious problem, Asus technical support is lacking. They are superior to Foxconn in that they might actually know what they're saying. But they aren't as helpful as MSI. (And yes! I have experience in this area as well - though my P6T vanilla has been completely trouble free.)

So, you can just flash a P6T SE with a P6T vanilla BIOS and get SLI? Is this actually proven beyond the claim made in the thread linked here? I looked for more info/confirmation on this, and I haven't actually seen anyone who has done it.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem

All MSI x58 boards now have SLI, even the Pro. NewEgg just didn't update it yet.

Good to know. http://www.msi.com/index.php?f...ncat_no=1&prod_no=1744

 

[arkcom]

As far as I know all x58 boards out now will do sli one way or another.

 

[SunSamurai]

Flashing boards that have not yet matured can get you 10 in the pen!

 

[nitromullet]

So, I've been looking into this SLI thing on the lower priced X58 boards, and it looks like the price different between the MSI and Gigabyte boards for non-SLI and SLI versions is about $10, which incidentally is roughly the going rate for an SLI bridge. So, it really comes out to about the same. The difference between the Asus P6T SE and P6T is about $40 though, so that is something else altogether.

My biggest issue with most X58 boards is the layout... Even boards with three physical PCIe X16 slots have the first two (with only a single space between them) as the primary slots. So, if you do decide to run SLI/Crossfire with cards using a dual slot cooler one of your cards is going to get suffocated. Then there is also the issue of blocking either (or both) PCI and PCIe X1 slots when using SLI/Crossfire. Ideally, I want a layout like the Asus P6T Deluxe http://www.newegg.com/Product/...therboard%20-%20Retail
This gives you the option to run dual card SLI/Crossfire, and still use your PCI and PCIe X1 slots for other things. This board has a bad layout for 3-way SLI or 3 card CrossfireX though.

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

You don't need a bridge for 2 way SLI on X58 boards.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
You don't need a bridge for 2 way SLI.

I knew that it wasn't required for some cards, but I wasn't aware that there wasn't a performance penalty for not using one even with high end cards. Why don't they just get rid of them entirely if they aren't needed or boost performance?

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

Originally posted by: nitromullet

Originally posted by: WaitingForNehalem
You don't need a bridge for 2 way SLI.

I knew that it wasn't required for some cards, but I wasn't aware that there wasn't a performance penalty for not using one even with high end cards. Why don't they just get rid of them entirely if they aren't needed or boost performance?

Sorry, meant to say you don't need a bridge for 2 way SLI on X58 boards.