Gigabyte EX58-UD4P Motherboard

Part Number	EX58-UD4P
Manufacturer	Gigabyte
Chipset	Intel X58
North Bridge	X58
Socket	LGA-1366
Processor Types	Core i7
Number of CPUs	1
Base Clock	1333MHz
Memory Type	DDR3
Memory Channels	Triple
Maximum Memory	24GB
External Graphics	PCI Express x16 x2 PCI Express x8
IGP	N/A
South Bridge	ICH10R
Audio	8-channel
IDE	133/100/66/33
SCSI	None
SATA	3.0 GB/s
RAID	0, 1, 5, 10
LAN	10/100/1000
Firewire	None
USB	USB 2.0
BIOS	Award
Form Factor	ATX

The board is designed to work with the latest Intel Core i7 processors. With the launch of the Core i7 975 CPU, the board needs new BIOS to support the new CPU. The board supports up to a 6.4GT/s Quick Path Interconnect. The QPI provides up to 25.6GB/second of transfer rate double that of the 1600MHz FSB of earlier Intel CPUs.

With the release of the Intel Core i7 CPUs the memory controller has been moved to the CPU instead of the Southbridge as on earlier CPUs. The new CPUs support triple channel memory compared to dual channel memory on earlier Intel CPUs. The EX58-UD4P supports up to 24GB of DDR3-2100MHz memory with XMP eXtended Memory Profile.

The X58 chipset is the first to support SLI and Crossfire on the same board natively. SLI works by having two of the same NVIDIA based video cards or three in the same motherboard. It improves application performance by up to 3x (with three cards). ATI’s equivalent is called CrossfireX. CrossfireX can have up to four ATI cards working together to improve performance. The EX58-UD4P supports 3-way Crossfire or SLI.

Ultra Durable 3 lowers system temperatures by delivering more efficient spreading of heat from critical areas of the motherboard. The board features 2 ounces of copper for both the Power and Ground layers which enhances durability improves energy efficiency and has greater margins of overclocking. Gigabyte uses solid capacitors with a 50000 hour lifespan to provide stable reliable and long lasting motherboards.

Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced provides better energy saving capabilities and enhanced system performance using the built in energy saving capabilities of the VRD 11.1 CPUs to save the maximum amount of energy over other solutions that do not support these features. DES has been retooled to work even when the user overclocks the system providing ultra stable ultra smooth overclocking performance. Gigabyte offers DualBIOS protection, allowing the user to safely update the BIOS.

The EX58-UD4P offers a Hardware OverVoltage Control IC which offers a higher range of voltage control options than other solutions. The OV controller also provides hardware linear real-time voltage control which means that there is no delay compared to the GPIO in past implementations. The OV ICs also allow for much finer voltage control allowing users to adjust the voltage by as little as 20mV allowing for better overclocking. The board has an OV Alert LED, an OC Alert LED, two sets of temperature LEDs, and onboard Power, Reset and Clear CMOS switches to make overclocking easier.

MSI 790GX-G65 Motherboard

Part Number	790GX-G65
Manufacturer	MSI
Chipset	AMD 790GX
North Bridge	790GX
Socket	Socket AM2+, Socket AM3
Memory speed	1066/800/667/533
Processor Types	Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core/Athlon 64/ Sempron/Phenom/Phenom II
Number of CPUs	1
HT Speed	Up to 5200MT/second
Memory Type	DDR3
Memory Channels	Double
Maximum Memory	16GB
External Graphics	PCI Express x16 x2
IGP	ATI 790GX
South Bridge	SB750
Audio	8-channel
IDE	133/100/66
SCSI	None
SATA	3.0 GB/s
RAID	0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10
LAN	10/100/1000 4 LAN Ports
Firewire	IEEE 1394a
USB	USB 2.0
BIOS	AMI
Form Factor	ATX

The MSI board is based upon AMD's 790GX chipset. There are three things that this chipset has support for AM3 CPUs, DDR3 memory and integrated graphics. The Socket AM3 is a 938-pin package designed to support the latest AM3 CPUs. The memory controller is on the processor, meaning that the AM3 CPUs support DDR3 memory and this board supports it as well. Integrated HD 3300 graphics are the top of the heap in terms of performance for integrated graphics solutions.

AMD has launched several AM3 CPUs including the 810 we are using in this review, the 720 X3 and 710 X3 CPUs and more to come later this month. Due to the nature of the interface, AM3 CPUs will work on AM2+ boards, but AM2+ CPUs will not work on AM3 boards due to the missing pins and the use of DDR3 memory for system memory that is not supported by the AM2+ CPU.

APS stands for Active Phase Switching. APS uses the lower power modes of the CPU, memory and Chipset PWM when the system is not under load. Power savings of up to 27.6% are observed with APS enabled compared to a motherboard without APS. Auto Max FSB allows the overclocker to overclock quickly and automatically.

M-Flash allows the user to update the BIOS simply by using a USB drive. You can also sboot from a USB drive by using M-Flash if the BIOS crashes. MSI uses all Solid capacitors as is the custom with most motherboard manufacturers. Solid capacitors have a longer lifespan than regular capacitors and are much less likely to leak than the older capacitors. Chokes are inductors responsible for storing power and regulating current. Shielded chokes reduce core power loss and offer lower EMI emissions.

The integrated graphics core on the board is the HD 3300 from ATI. The HD 3300 has a core clock speed of 700MHz compared to the 500MHz core clock speed found on the HD 3200 on the earlier 780GX motherboard chipsets. The HD 3300 supports all features of DirectX 10.0 and in fact is a HD 2400XT modified for the motherboard with 40 SPs. MSI outfits their 790GX-G65 with 1 Gigabit for SidePort memory. SidePort memory works with your system memory to provide integrated graphics and can improve performance 15% over using the system memory alone.