EVGA X58 SLI - First Look

by Gary Key on 11/18/2008 12:00 PM EST
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  • Mr Roboto - Friday, November 21, 2008 - link

    I'm pretty sure all EVGA motherboards are reference designs so I wouldn't expect anything different in terms of performance from the other x58 reference chipsets.
  • aleek2die - Friday, November 21, 2008 - link

    Is this a possible configuration with the EVGA X58?

    2 GTX 280 in SLI 2 in furthest PCI-E slots
    1 8400 GS in Third in PCI-E Slot in middle
    1 X-Fi in PCI Slot in bewteen 2nd and 3rd PCI-E slots

    If possible, would this not make for best hardware accelarated 2 Way SLI configuration with Dedicated PhysX (8400GS)?
  • marsbound2024 - Thursday, November 20, 2008 - link

    Someone else talked about there seeming to be little difference in specs between this board and higher end boards. I am really curious why this board is at the $220 mark and others are around $300 or greater. Can anyone enlighten me on this? I am at a loss on which motherboard to purchase for an i7 setup. Though I may be waiting a month or two just to see where things settle.
  • CEO Ballmer - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    X56 is better!

    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com">http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com
  • Jedi2155 - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    I was debating moving to this the Core i7, from my eVGA 680i + E6600 @ 3.6 Ghz combo....mighty good and lasted me great for the past 2 years....but is it worth it?
  • Nfarce - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link

    "At this point, at least in motherboard testing, we prefer the NVIDIA GTX260/280 series on the X58 due to better driver support."

    For quite some time now that exact issue has kept me away from a Crossfire build. If Catalyst driver support still sucks when I build an i7 setup next spring, that trend will continue for me.
  • cyburzaki - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    AMD just released a Catalyst 8.11 hotfix for X58 platforms (although it's not encouraging that they've written "X85" for the chipset):

    http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?dep...">http://support.ati.com/ics/support/defa...mp;task=...
  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    We received those drivers early this morning. I am running the benchmarks now for the fourth time in two weeks. I tried to stick it out during testing of the X58s and allowed AMD to respond to our problems, but enough is enough. ;) Although I continue to love the 4870 and 4870X2 cards, NV is just better on the X58 at this point, especially with the 180.48 drivers.

    However, maybe my opinion will change later today, but so far, still seeing micro-stuttering in Far Cry 2 and Crysis Warhead still crashes at 2560x1600 unless I back off on the DDR3 memory timings, which are fine on the 260s. We are trying a new image right now, just in case.
  • Lord 666 - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link

    Wow, surprised on how low that is. My IN9-32max *supports* 32gig and most of the P45's support 16gig. Curious on why so low for a board that is supposed to pave the way for the next year or so.

    Maybe i7 really means iWait for me.
  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    The MSI Eclipse officially supports 24GB, the six slot boards from ASUS, Gigabyte, EVGA, Biostar, and DFI should support 24GB in the future, they have not qualified the new 4GB modules yet.
  • androticus - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link

    I think MSI is the only one I've seen so far that supports 24G -- and they are supporting it on the "budget" Platinum board too -- so you can get into the game for ~ $220 -- I frankly see little difference in the specs of the Platinum compared to all the other high-end boards.
  • DigitalFreak - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link

    For $329, I'd be expecting an Intel/Broadcom/Marvell ethernet chip, not Realtek junk.
  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    "For $329, I'd be expecting an Intel/Broadcom/Marvell ethernet chip, not Realtek junk." LOL... I wish the manufacturers would utilize the Intel solution for networking. Also, I get just as many anti-Marvell emails as I do Realtek. ;) I am not that happy with either one right now although the last Marvell driver updates actually made a difference in Vista.
  • LaughinAtYa - Friday, November 21, 2008 - link

    > I wish the manufacturers would utilize the
    > Intel solution for networking.

    Lordy, me too...but hardly any of them do. Why, oh why?!

    On low-end boards, if it's for penny-saving reasons, I'd
    understand it but on i975, x38, X48 & now X58 ??? - It's
    practically Intel mobos only...oh, and Supermicro, which
    are superb but about as overclockable as my cat.
  • FITCamaro - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    Isn't it sad that your CPU and GPU combined can cost less than your motherboard?
  • strikeback03 - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    Well, not on this motherboard at the moment, unless you can find a GPU for about $10.

    On LGA775 boards over $300, very possible.
  • ksherman - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link

    Hey, seems like you guys haven't made a Buy Guide update in a looooooooooong time. Would be nice for those of us that aren't able to follow all the news and reviews to get a good sense of the parts to buy. Though sometimes sorting on newegg by review count helps too :)
  • Gary Key - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    I have created a motherboard/memory/storage recommendation for i7, IGP, and midrange Intel/AMD platforms for one of several guides coming. Email me if you need a recommendation now. Wes, Eddie, and Jarred are working on finalizing two or three guides right now.
  • ashegam - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link

    ty for the review.

    did you mean to say X48 in your last paragraph when comparing it to the x58?
  • chowmanga - Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - link

    No, he's saying that you're going to get similar results with an X58 board regardless of manufacturer.
  • ashegam - Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - link

    make sense :)

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