X58 Mobo?

[RMSe17]

I am thinking of upgrading to i7, and since at some point I would like to have 2 video cards, I am guessing I should go for X58. Since the initial review of X58 motherboards, a lot more motherboards are out there. I am also guessing that the biggest difference between those motherboards at this point is in the makers of custom components, such as onboard audio, lan, additonal ide/sata ports. Is there some website that lists the makers of those components, because I don't even see that info on the mobo manufacturer sites.
From what I read, I should avoid realtek?

Let me know what you think,
RMSe17

 

[Jd007]

Actually if all you plan is to have a max of 2 video cards, P55 and X58 are both fine. It's with 3-way GPU setups that P55 takes a big performance hit.

Here are a few good, new, high end X58 motherboards (with USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps):
Gigabyte X58A-UD7
ASUS P6X58D Premium

Here are a few good high end X58 motherboards (without USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps):
Gigabyte EX58-UD5 (I'm running on this board)
ASUS P6T Deluxe V2
EVGA E758-A1

Here are a few good budget X58 motherboards:
Gigabyte EX58-UD3R
ASRock X58 Extreme
ASUS P6T SE

As far as on-board audio is concerned, I think most motherboards have RealTek chips, so there's really no difference (some do bundle with PCI-E add-on cards though). In terms of LAN ports, most of the high end boards offer two Gigabit LAN ports, while mid to budget level boards have just one (you don't really need more than one). As for additional SATA ports, the Gigabyte X58A-UD7 and EX58-UD5 are unbeatable with 10.

Don't put too much effort researching the on-board chips used. Focus on board layout and features. Look at this post for what makes a good motherboard in general.

 

[lopri]

How about P6TD Deluxe? It looks like Mr. Loyd had a good experience with it over others.

http://anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=3694&p=4

 

[MyLeftNut]

You might want to look at the Gigabute X58A-UD3R. No real point in getting the older Gigabyte X58 series anymore with the X58A already out with UD3R, UD5, and UD7.

 

[imaxcpu]

How about P6TD Deluxe? It looks like Mr. Loyd had a good experience with it over others.

http://anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=3694&p=4

Mr.Loyd's experience was more about software hiccups than anything, he should have repaired his OS install or maybe even looked at his PSU if anything as he later concedes in the comments section. Realizing it could have saved him a heck of a lot of trouble as well as inexcusably blaming the hardware and then having it reposted on here, well requires this correction.

I have talked to probably more than two dozen people that have that P6X58D board and though some of us have issues with it not supporting raid for the 6G/s Sata, the board has been superb.

Presently I am running a 920-DO @ 4.2 GHz with HT=on while pumping 12 GB of 1600 at 7-7-7-20 on just 1.55v, without even batting an eye when I turned HT off, It was able to go to 4.48 all on quiet air and at low voltage. It runs Autodesk 3DS, Photoshop, Audition, and FSX very well. It has two keyboards (don’t ask), two mice, a Wacom drawing tablet, Logitech joystick, and two external hardrives. No bugs, plain and simply a great solid X58 board. If you need a new X58 board and the layout suits you - Buy it! It is that good.

However there are other great boards, MSI have a smoking little micro-ATX X58 board and for low bucks to boot…