Asus Rampage II Extreme
To run Asus?s $400 Rampage II Extreme board you?d have to be either
extreme or the world?s biggest poseur. How extreme would you have to
be? You?d have to be the type of person who boils liquid helium atop
his CPU to keep it cool. And because you can?t waste time overclocking
from within the OS, you?d want to reach your hands into the guts of
your case and use the board?s PCB-mounted controls that let you check
and change voltage, fan speeds, and temps on a tiny one-line LCD
external display. In fact, you?d be so damn hardcore, you wouldn?t even
fully trust those voltage readings from the board. Instead, you?d want
to hook your Fluke meter directly to the available ports on the board
to check the voltage of the CPU, the PCI Express lanes, and the north
bridge directly. That?s how badass you?d be. OK, but what if you?re
just a poseur? Don?t worry, you?re set, too. Just fire up the OS
applet, set your 3.2GHz Core i7-965 to ?i7-crazy-4.0,? and you?re good
to go. Now people will think you?re an extreme overclocker when all you
did was let the board do the work for you. Whether you?re a poseur or
an extremist, the Rampage II Extreme has everything you need, including
six DIMM slots, tri-SLI, and CrossFireX support, as well as licensed
Creative audio support that gives you up to EAX4. There are some
problems, however. Our biggest issue is that Asus still can?t seem to
get Turbo mode to work correctly. You should be able to set Turbo mode
based on the thread load on the CPU, but Asus only lets you overclock
all cores simultaneously. We also felt overwhelmed by the applets on
the board. Between the controls for AI Suite, TurboV, TweakIt, and
EPU-6, we couldn?t keep straight what each tool did, and ultimately
ignored them all. As we?ve noted in previous reviews, differences in
how motherboard vendors treat their BIOSes and Core i7 overclocking
options make it difficult for us to run an exact apples-to-apples
comparison among boards. For what it?s worth, though, the Rampage II
Extreme fell right into the middle of the pack in our benchmarks. With
BIOS updates for i7 boards arriving on a monthly schedule, it?s clear
that third-party boardmakers are still trying to get a handle on the
brave new world of Core i7. So, say you?re not that extreme nor do you
want to appear to be, well then, we think you?re probably better off
with a different, less expensive board.
MSI Eclipse SLI
An eclipse occurs when one celestial body obscures another. When MSI
stuck its X58 motherboard with that moniker, we wondered just what it
wanted to hide. Our guess is it?s the fact that the board supports
ATI?s CrossFire X. Despite the Eclipse?s support for CrossFire X, MSI
chose to change the name of the board at the last minute from simply
Eclipse to Eclipse SLI. Regardless, the Eclipse SLI is jam-packed with
features that would make any geek weep, including cross-platform GPU
support, Core i7, six-slot DDR3, and onboard soft X-Fi audio. We?ve now
tested three X58 boards, and the Eclipse SLI has an edge over its
closest competitor, the Asus P6T Deluxe, which we reviewed in January,
as well as the stock Intel DX58SO board that we used for most of our
Core i7 testing. The Eclipse SLI is technically able to run tri-SLI. We
say technically because though you might be able to jam a GTX 280 into
the third slot, you?ll probably have to saw off the end of the card to
make it fit in your case?the card has to be seated in the bottom slot
and hangs over the mobo by about an inch. We tested the Eclipse with a
pair of EVGA GTX 280 cards but were unable to test it in tri, as our
early board shipped without a bridge. MSI will include bridges with
retail boards. Right now, it?s difficult to compare the performance of
the three X58-based boards we?ve tested, as it?s challenging to make
sure the boards are all set to the same specs. We attribute most of the
performance differences we?ve seen to how each vendor sets up the CPU,
not to the performance differences with each board. One thing in the
Eclipse?s favor: There?s no need to activate the X-Fi drivers on the
board, which is necessary on the Asus boards that feature host-based
X-Fi drivers. So what board would we stick our Core i7 in? It?s hard to
say at this point, but if we were forced to choose, the Eclipse SLI
would just edge out the Asus P6T Deluxe. But to be honest, with BIOS
updates coming out in near real time for the new CPU and new chipset,
the answer to that question might be different next month. ?gordon mah
ung
Asus P6T Deluxe
Asus?s P6T Deluxe isn?t the most over-the-top Core i7 board we?ve
tested, but it certainly has a leg up on Intel?s bare-bones DX58SO. For
one thing, it finally brings us graphics reunification by supporting
both two-card SLI and CrossFire X configurations. And instead of the
gimpy four-slot DIMM setup of Intel?s DX58SO, the P6T Deluxe features
six DDR3 DIMM slots. The board, of course, supports all Core i7 CPUs.
Since Intel is the sole chipset provider for X58 and the memory
controller is in the CPU itself, most performance differences will be
the result of BIOS tweaks each manufacturer implements. We found Asus?s
BIOS to be far friendlier than the Intel board?s, which at first glance
seems designed for engineers. Truth be told, though, the Asus BIOS can
be just as daunting if you tread into the Advanced section. One thing
we did like about the Intel board?s BIOS was the ability to set the
individual Turbo mode settings. Asus forces you to adjust the settings
with the Asus TurboV utility, but we couldn?t set each core separately.
That made it difficult to compare performance between the P6T and the
DX58SO, as each board was configured slightly differently. To be frank,
performance judgments should be suspended since BIOS updates for both
boards are still rolling out twice a month. ? As expected, not all was
right with the P6T. On occasion, the board would not see our USB drive.
Documentation was also substandard, which left us pushing buttons in
the numerous applications until we blue-screened the board. Hey, Asus,
how about combining all the disparate apps into one utility?
Nevertheless, we did manage to bring our 3.2GHz Core i7 up to a fairly
stable 3.8GHz on the P6T Deluxe. There?s a lot to like here, including
an improved ExpressGate browser that lets you save files from the
preboot browser to a USB key, and a cool Palm display that lets you
both overclock the board and remotely monitor its vitals. There are
some rough spots still to be ironed out, but we?d definitely take the
P6T over Intel?s board at this point.
Gigabyte MA 790GP-DS4H
Pardon us, but crowing that your integrated graphics chip is better
than your competitor?s integrated graphics chip is a bit like bragging
that your D is better than your friend?s D-. As sad as that is, it?s
the tack AMD is taking with its 790GX chipset, which Gigabyte?s
MA790GP-DS4H mobo is based on. While the chipset features DirectX 10
support and indeed might be faster than other integrated graphics
solutions, it?s still slower than the ancient GeForce 7600 GS we
compared it to. The 790GX does support a hybrid mode, which allows you
to pair an equally weak Radeon HD 3400-class GPU with the board. By
adding the subpar performance of the Radeon to the integrated graphics,
you immediately realize you should have purchased a better videocard.
If that were the only story, we?d already be done with the 790GX.
What?s interesting is that AMD?s latest chipset scales from dirt-poor
integrated, to illogical hybrid support, all the way up to full
CrossFire support. The MA790GP-DS4H takes full advantage of the
CrossFire slots and lets you run two GPUs at full x16 PCI-E 2.0 data
rates. However, Gigabyte makes a faux pas by pointing the SATA ports
straight up. If you were to run two double-wide GPUs in the board,
several SATA ports would be cut off. The real news concerning the
Gigabyte board is the inclusion of AMD?s new SB750 south-bridge chip,
which adds RAID 5, additional SATA ports, and the ability to directly
overclock the CPU further than you could before, theoretically. Our
Phenom overclocks have been good but not stellar, and we didn?t seem to
get much further with the new SB750, so your mileage may vary. In our
benchmarks, the board?s performance was all over the map, with hard
drive scores particularly low. Only after installing a patch provided
to the media (with the warning that it could result in data loss) did
we see performance actually match that of boards based on the 790FX
chipset. We imagine that final drivers will include the patch, but it?s
obvious to us that the MA 790GP-DS4H?s drivers weren?t fully baked for
the release, so color us unimpressed.
Asus Maximus II Formula
It?s official: People who buy motherboards with mainstream chipsets
such as the P45 don?t want to pay for DDR3. At least, that?s what it
seems like to us. Asus?s impressive Maximus II Formula is the third
P45-based board we?ve tested, and not one of them sports DDR3 slots.
But that doesn?t take anything away from the MIIF, the coolest P45
board we?ve encountered. With its subdued heatsink, motherboard-based
X-Fi support, and oversized start and reset buttons, the Maximus II
Formula sports some slick features. It performs quite ably too. MSI?s
more garish P45 Platinum outpaces the MIIF by a small margin in some
benchmarks, but the MIIF led the MSI and a Gigabyte P45 board in RAM
speeds. So, we?ll call it a wash. In hardware features, it?s close, but
we give the edge to the MIIF, with its eight SATA ports and superior
audio. We also prefer its ADI-based codecs and drivers over Realtek?s.
We?ve been worried about ADI software support since the company quit
the PC audio business, but a spokesperson told us that ADI is not
quitting on driver support (let?s hope). Plus, there?s the MIIF?s X-Fi
support, which produces more satisfying gaming audio than Realtek?s
solution?despite the absence of promised EAX4 support.
Creative-licensed X-Fi drivers supposedly enable EAX4 on boards that
don?t even use Creative hardware. That?s cool, but we couldn?t get the
EAX4 support to work, and even the tools Creative gave us said the
feature wasn?t working. A cool-looking start button is one of nifty
features you get with Asus?s Maximus II Formula.?(click for full)
Creative officials insist that it?s there, but it?s not, at least not
with the drivers that come out of the box or the ones on Asus?s
website. If Creative and Asus are true to their word, the feature will
eventually pop up, making the audio experience even better. There?s a
catch to all this goodness: The MIIF has a $260 street price, while the
equally fast MSI P45 Platinum is about $75 less. But that extra $75
does get you a lot, including an English-language POST LCD box, X-Fi
EAX4 support (hopefully), and more SATA ports. It also gets you a
heatsink that doesn?t look like a bad art-school project.
Gigabyte GA-EP45-DQ6
If you don?t just like Gigabit ports?you love them? Gigabyte?s
GA-EP45-DQ6 is the motherboard for you. This mobo has four Gigabit
ports that can be teamed together for one seriously fat-ass network
connection. Elsewhere, the board is typical Gigabyte; it includes
surface-mounted buttons and the most clearly marked USB and FireWire
ports we?ve ever seen. So if you nuke your USB drive because you
plugged the USB connector into a FireWire header, it?s your own fault,
brother. Although it lagged behind in a few benchmarks, this is one of
the nicest P45 boards we?ve tested. The board, of course, is based on
Intel?s new P45 chipset and sports two physical x16 PCI-E 2.0 slots.
One runs at x16, the other at x8. Intel?s P45 doesn?t officially
support 1,600MHz front-side bus speeds, but Gigabyte says the board
will hit 1,600 without any issues. Since the GA-EP45-DQ6 is more of a
midrange board, Gigabyte went with DDR2 instead of DDR3, which is
understandable. Although it?s getting more affordable, DDR3 is still
expensive if you want modules that will hit overclocked speeds of
1,600MHz or 1,800MHz. We found no major layout gaffes with the board,
and, in fact, favor the GA-EP45-DQ6?s design over that of the MSI P45
Platinum we reviewed in September. While the P45 Platinum gives you
just two x1 slots, Gigabyte hands you two x4 slots and an x1 PCI-E, as
well as the standard dual x16 slots. The GA-EP45-DQ6 did lag behind the
MSI P45 Platinum in several benchmarks. Some consumers will be troubled
by this, but these performance hiccups are to be expected early in a
motherboard?s release, and BIOS updates usually solve them.So what?s
not to like? The GA-EP45-DQ6 is a bit pricey for a P45 board?about $70
more than the faster, but not as well spec?d, P45 Platinum. And its
price is within striking distance of X48-based boards, which are
superior for CrossFire applications. Still, if Gigabyte can correct the
performance kinks, this is a pretty nice board for someone who isn?t
running multi-GPU applications and, of course, just loves Gigabit
ports.
MSI P45 Platinum
We admit it, sexy chipsets such as Nvidia?s nForce 790i SLI Ultra and
Intel?s X48 get all the ink, but in reality, most of the world runs on
plain-vanilla chipsets such as Intel?s new P45. And the truth is, you
don?t necessarily give up performance or features when you choose a
middle-of-the-road board; in fact, the affordable MSI Platinum has just
about everything you?d want in a motherboard. It gets the job done, but
this is the weirdest heat pipe we've ever seen. Let?s start with the
chipset: Intel?s new P45 actually gives you far more features than
Intel?s X38 and X48 higher-end chipsets. The P45 Platinum adds PCI-E
2.0 to this mainstream chipset and is the first mobo to use the new
ICH10 south bridge, which lets you shut off individual USB or SATA
ports to prevent people from stealing your data. (The new south bridge
was rumored to add 10Gb Ethernet, but that?s not the case.) The P45
chipset supports 1,600MHz front-side-bus CPUs?albeit unofficially; it?s
a moot point, however, as we don?t expect to see a rash of 1,600 FSB
procs for desktop use. The chipset can utilize either DDR2 or DDR3; the
P45 Platinum uses DDR2. For most people that?s fine. And since DDR2 is
cheaper than dirt right now, it?s affordable to install the maximum
amount of RAM that MSI rates the board for, 16GB?twice what the P35
supports. But enough about the chipset, what about the board? We found
it to be a standard, no-nonsense MSI board without any major layout
problems?although the chipset heatsink is ridiculous. It?s not
particularly big, but it?s certainly strange looking. The P45 Platinum
runs in a dead heat with MSI?s P35 DDR2/DDR3 combo board (reviewed
August 2008), with the two boards swapping wins in our benchmark tests.
If we had to choose between the two, though, we?d take the P45 in a
heartbeat. It offers far more memory-tweaking options, higher RAM
capacity, and unofficial 2GHz front-side bus support.
MSI P35 Combo Platinum
You can change CPU sockets, dump PCI, and jettison legacy ports all day
long, but nothing, absolutely nothing, pisses people off like moving to
a new type of RAM. Luckily, there?s a fallback: dual-format RAM
motherboards such as MSI?s P35 Combo Platinum board. The P35 Combo
Platinum uses RAM cards to let it run either DDR2 or DDR3. Based on
Intel?s P35 chipset, the Combo Platinum will take up to four DDR2
modules or two DDR3 modules. But don?t think about running them
simultaneously?it?s impossible. You?ll also have to run a pair of funky
blank adapters to get the board running. The Combo Platinum performed
quite well (unlike most combo boards we?ve tested), with scores on par
with or slightly better than those of the Intel and Gigabyte X48 DDR3
boards we reviewed in the July issue. Why? We run our DDR3 board tests
with fairly relaxed RAM timings to eliminate stability issues. We?re
certain that the X48 boards would be faster if we pushed the RAM
timings a bit. Now for the big question: How do the DDR2 and DDR3 modes
compare? We tested the board at DDR2/800 and DDR3/1333 and saw DDR3
outperform DDR2 by about 4 percent in most benchmarks. That?s not bad.
Overclocking, however, was only fair. We pushed our Core 2 Quad Q9300
from its stock 333MHz front-side bus to about 450MHz but couldn?t break
the 500MHz mark, which we did easily with the Asus Striker Extreme II
board (July 2008). That board, however, costs more than $300. The Combo
Platinum?s biggest downside is SATA placement. A large GPU, such as a
GeForce 9800 GTX, will block two of the five ports. The mobo was also
finicky with our DDR2 modules and would not hit DDR2/1066 speeds. The
real question you should ask yourself is if purchasing this board makes
any sense. If you have a boatload of DDR2, you?re better off buying a
DDR2-only P35 board. Are you really going to throw away your existing
DDR2 RAM and buy DDR3 in 12 months? Probably not. Still, we understand
the appeal of the upgrade path, and warts aside, the board?s
performance is certainly respectable.
