 | |||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
EVGA X58 SLI Sneak Peek November 17, 2008 |
|
 |
|
| |
Summary: With 8-phase power, 6 DIMM sockets, 3-Way SLI and CrossFireX support, and speeds up to 500MHz, EVGA's X58 SLI motherboard is designed for enthusiasts looking to push their Core i7 CPU to its limits. Our board just arrived off the truck for review, but before our benchmarks are done we figured we'd share this quick preview of the motherboard.
 EVGA X58 SLI Sneak Peek | Page:: ( 1 / 2 ) |
[image]
| <% print_image("01"); %> | <% print_image("02"); %> |
After years of building motherboards based exclusively on core-logic from NVIDIA, today EVGA is set to introduce their first motherboard relying on a non-NVIDIA chipset; EVGA’s aptly named X58 SLI based on the Intel X58 “Tylersburg” platform with ICH10R South Bridge.
We’re going to take you on a quick guided tour of the board as the motherboard just arrived and we’re still busy cranking away with our benchmarks of the board.
[image]
| <% print_image("03"); %> | <% print_image("04"); %> | <% print_image("05"); %> |
8-phase power
To power Intel’s Core i7 CPU EVGA has implemented a 8-phase power design. EVGA says they've designed the power subsystem to deliver up to 430W of power. Interestingly enough EVGA cools the power circuitry with a dual heatpipe cooler. Some of the preproduction board shots suggested that the heatpipes would be made from copper, but it seems like EVGA changed their plans for the final retail product, as the heatpipes are made from aluminum.
As you can see the cooling for the MOSFETs is independent of the North Bridge. EVGA cools the heatpipes with a stacked fin heatsink that’s a little over 1.5” tall. The cooling array is secured a little loosely, so we’d suggest care when working around it, as its height could make it vulnerable to accidents.
Chipset cooling
EVGA’s North Bridge cooling is similar to the coolers EVGA has implemented on their newer 790i SLI FTW boards. The cooler consists of a heatsink+fan unit that’s responsible for keeping the North Bridge of the chipset cool.
[image]
| <% print_image("06"); %> | <% print_image("07"); %> |
Those of you who have experienced chipset fans in the past may be a little squeamish at the thought of this, as chipset fans have a notorious reputation for running on the noisy side, but EVGA’s newest chipset fan runs considerably quieter than fans we’ve experienced on other motherboards.
EVGA uses a small heatsink to cool the ICH10R South Bridge. As you can see, the heatsink is adorned with over a dozen “e” logos. These are not only decorative, they also serve a real purpose, helping to ever so slightly increase the surface area of the heatsink itself and thus improve its cooling performance.
The CPU area
With so many large heatsinks located in close proximity to the CPU socket, some of you may have concerns about mounting large CPU coolers to EVGA’s X58 SLI motherboard. However we had no problems whatsoever mounting Thermalright’s Ultra-120 eXtreme RT cooler to the board.
[image]
| <% print_image("08"); %> | <% print_image("09"); %> | <% print_image("10"); %> |
| <% print_image("11"); %> | <% print_image("12"); %> |
As you can see in the pictures, the Ultra-120 is not a small CPU cooler, so we don’t think this will be an issue for most CPU heatsinks.
6 DIMMs and 3-Way SLI/CrossFire
The EVGA X58 SLI ships with 6 DIMM sockets with support for single, dual, and triple-channel memory configurations. In fact EVGA ships the board with a handy sticker that outlines how to properly install the memory modules for each memory mode, including those of you with 4 DDR3 DIMMs.
EVGA equips the X58 SLI motherboard with three PCI Express graphics slots, providing support for CrossFireX as well as 2-Way and 3-Way SLI.
[image]
| <% print_image("13"); %> | <% print_image("14"); %> |
Under dual graphics operation both PEG slots will run at x16 speeds, while 3-Way devotes 16 PCI Express lanes to the primary graphics slot, while the remaining two PEG slots get 8 PCIe lanes.
[image]
| <% print_image("15"); %> | <% print_image("16"); %> |
Finally, at the bottom of the motherboard EVGA provides onboard power and reset buttons with integrated LEDs for the power LED and HDD activity LEDs you’d use on your case. Next to the power and reset buttons is a handy button for clearing CMOS. This is a great feature to have when OC’ing, after an unsuccessful OC attempt merely press the button to clear CMOS and start over. EVGA also continues to provide a diagnostic LED display located just behind the SATA ports.
[image]
| <% print_image("17"); %> |
The motherboard’s back panel is nicely equipped. Next to the USB and keyboard ports EVGA provides a second button for clearing CMOS, so you won’t have to reach inside your case to reset your motherboard’s BIOS, while 8 USB 2.0 ports are provided total (an additional 4-port USB header also ships with the board’s packaging). EVGA also provides audio jacks for 8-channel audio, coax and optical SPDIF outputs, dual Gigabit Ethernet, and a FireWire and e-SATA port. We also should mention that Gigabyte ships the board with round IDE and floppy cables.
| BIOS Interface, E-LEET Utility | Page:: ( 2 / 2 ) |
X58 SLI BIOS
The X58 SLI BIOS is extremely robust. Bus speeds up to 500MHz are available for the base clock frequency in 1MHz increments, while three memory multipliers are selectable providing memory speeds up to 1333MHz at the default 133MHz base clock.
[image]
| <% print_image("18"); %> | <% print_image("19"); %> | <% print_image("20"); %> |
For users who aren’t familiar with OC’ing and would like the motherboard to do all the work for them, EVGA provides a “Dummy OC” BIOS setting. When enabled, this setting automatically ups the base clock speed to 150MHz, providing an OC of 11%. An extreme cooling feature is also provided for those of you with liquid nitrogen cooling who are running your CPU below 0 degrees Celsius.
[image]
| <% print_image("21"); %> | <% print_image("22"); %> | <% print_image("23"); %> |
In terms of voltages, CPU voltages up to 2.30V are available in BIOS in increments of 0.00625V. EVGA also provides voltage settings for CPU PLL and VTT voltage for even greater fine tuning, while DIMM voltages up to 3.075V in 0.025V increments are also selectable. For overvolting the QPI link, EVGA provides voltages up to 1.875V in increments of 0.025V while chipset voltages and PWM frequencies can also be adjusted, allowing you to choose between running the MOSFETs as cool as possible, or you can crank up the PWM frequency when overclocking.
[image]
| <% print_image("24"); %> | <% print_image("25"); %> |
All the voltages are color-coded, so in case you’re not sure how far you can push your system components, the colors provide a good general guideline, although you may not want to push your memory beyond 1.65V for extended periods of time. According to Intel, DDR3 voltages above 1.65V may shorten the lifespan of the processor.
E-LEET
One new feature EVGA also includes with the motherboard is their E-LEET motherboard tuner. If you’re confused by the myriad of options available within BIOS, E-LEET can be used to OC your system from within Windows. The software has most of the functionality you can find within BIOS, including a wealth of voltage options and settings for adjusting the base clock and PCIe speeds. E-LEET also has Turbo mode control functionality as well.
[image]
| <% print_image("26"); %> | <% print_image("27"); %> | <% print_image("28"); %> |
The utility does lack a few features that can be found within the EVGA BIOS though. For instance, memory multiplier adjustment isn’t available, nor are CPU multipliers.
[image]
| <% print_image("29"); %> | <% print_image("30"); %> | <% print_image("31"); %> |
E-LEET is incredibly easy to use though and it also has built-in panes for hardware monitoring as well as CPU-Z front-end. The hardcore crowd is probably going to want to stick with conventional BIOS overclocking though, especially if you have an Extreme CPU and would like to adjust the CPU clock multiplier (Turbo multiplier adjustment is limited to a max ratio of 30.0)
Conclusion
Our first impressions of EVGA’s X58 SLI are overwhelmingly positive. Hardware-wise the motherboard has all the features an enthusiast would want, including 3-Way SLI and CrossFireX support as well as 6 DIMMs, 10 SATA ports (1 e-SATA), and support for 12 USB ports total out-of-the-box. The motherboard’s BIOS also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to available settings.
The really sweet part about EVGA’s X58 SLI though is its lifetime warranty and Step-Up. These are two features EVGA’s graphics cards are famous for, so it’s nice to see them extend this to their X58 SLI motherboard as well.
The motherboard officially retails for an MSRP of $329.99 and should be hitting store shelves shortly.