What makes GIGABYTE so extreme you ask? Well, this is a company that has been fighting valiantly to prove they are the number one producer of enthusiast and budget based motherboards. Let’s recall a few of their latest achievements. For one, they have repeatedly produced the fastest motherboards for AMD helping many overclocking teams set new world records reaching 6+ GHz. Their Intel chipset platforms have also done very well becoming the choice among Intel enthusiasts. Finally, they are highly dedicated to their community of users.
The EPIC battle to be the best continues on the Intel side of the field. Today, we have the GIGABYTE EX58-Extreme Ultra Durable 3 Motherboard built with their latest Ultra Durable 3 design. Based on the experience I had with it’s cousin, the EX58-UD3R, I have high hopes for this product as well.
Features & Specifications
Some of the features that make the Extreme so extreme are thicker 2 oz. copper PCB for improved signal variance, Hybrid (liquid/air cooled) Heat Pipe 2 design for better chipset cooling, advanced VRD 11.1 for 12+2+2 power phase circuitry, Dual BIOS for extra hardware protection in the event something goes wrong, and Triple Channel 2100 MHz memory support.
These features along with the improved IC voltage control are what allow the platform to reach far beyond its basic specs in terms of overclocking. Other bright spots include:
- Ferrite Core Chokes
- Low RDS Mosfets
- Up to 12GB DDR3 Memory
- 7.1 Channel HD Realtek Audio
- Dual GIGABIT Ethernet
- New GIGABYTE Theme
In order to take advantage of that extreme performance, this motherboard grants you the all powerful ability to utilize 3 way SLI or CrossfireX video cards. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re an ATI or nVidia fan or not. The platform offers the maximum support to enjoy 1920 x 1200 and higher resolutions in whatever game titles you can think up. At present, this board represents the pinnacle of performance in X58 based platforms.
Just in case you weren’t aware, GIGABYTE’s latest BIOS update also gives their CrossfireX only X58 motherboards nVidia SLI support. That’s great news for UD3R users who want to run two nVidia based video cards. But, if you want Triple SLI, you’ll have to pick up one of these magnificent EX58-Extremes.
What’s in the box?
The motherboard bundle is about as good as any these days. If you’re hoping for an included video game, those usually accompany video cards. Otherwise, the bundle includes 4 yellow 90-degree SATA, blue ATA, and FDD cables. There are also eSATA cables that accompany an eSATA PCI Bracket for extended storage.
And, of course, don’t forget the SLI and Triple-SLI bridges to take advantage of all those extra slots. The rest of the parts include the mucn needed manual, user guide, I/O shield for your case, and driver CD. Without this kind of bundle, all these features on an extreme platform would be for naught.
First Impressions of the GIGABYTE EX58-Extreme
GIGABYTE’s new look continues to improve and this board is no exception. There are no more pastel colored ports, slots, or connectors in their new hip style (save the single light orange PCI Express slot at the bottom). They haven’t quite made any moves to black, red, or white PCB, but they’re close. Rich colored PCBs are apparently more expensive to make, thus driving up the cost of the end product. At least the board’s theme is consistent.
The board is covered with some very aggressive heat pipe cooling. Gun metal gray heat sinks cover all the components that tend to get hot during “extreme operations” such as overclocking. That’s why there are two capped ports on the chipset heat sink which double as a “chipset water block” to help curb extreme temperatures. Fittngs are a standard 3/8 ID (internal dimension) barb so it’ll work with the most common water cooling systems.
GIGABYTE includes an optional Passive Heat Pipe Chipset Cooler that comes neatly packed. It’s designed to add some additional cooling to the chipset if you’re not up to speed on water cooling. Even though the heat pipe heat sink is massive, it’s still surprisingly light weight. Its design allows the base and heat pipes to seat on top the board mounted heat sink.
Installing the heat sink is far simpler than installing water cooling unless you’re already set up for it. Assuming you’re going with the heat pipe, all it takes is four screws that are included to mount the heat sink. And since it’s pretty light weight, the four screws do a great job of securing the heat sink.
Granted, water cooling tends to look extremely cool if configured correctly. But, as you can see, the heat sink doesn’t look bad at all. It’s just slim enough that it won’t encroach on the video card too much and it blends in with the theme very well. Personally, I just love a well thought out cooling concept that works.
Expansion Options Galore
Since this platform supports CrossfireX and nVidia SLI, we have the third orange colored PCI Express slot. The orange slot allows you to install a third video card if you want to run three nVidia based graphics cards in SLI. Naturally, the third card will pick up can pick up phsyics when enabled in the video driver. This seemingly passive platform transforms in to a game chewing, frame generating monster. And that’s partially why you want it, right?
Compared to its little brother, the EX58-UD3R, the motherboard offers a total of six memory slots colored white and light blue. When installing your Triple Channel memory modules, you basically want to install a memory module in matching color slots to benefit Triple Channel Mode. The platform supports a maximum 12GB DDR3 Memory with the latest JEDEC standard. That means, the kit’s voltage specs should not exceed 1.65 Volts.
The specs state the board will support memory frequencies up to 2100 MHz. While that’s an utterly insane frequency, it’s very unlikely that the platform will maintain those frequencies with all the memory slots filled. That can only be blamed on the CPU’s memory controller. Typically, overclocking is best achieved in basic Triple Channel Mode. If you need 12GB of memory, stick with good quality 1333 or 1600 MHz memory. Otherwise, snag three healthy Kingston 3GB or 6GB HyperX 2000 MHz Triple Channel Memory Kit and set this kit ablaze!
Looking at the back of the motherboard, you can see there are eight USB 2.0 ports available, not including the onboard USB headers. You have physical audio jacks as well as both optical and coaxial 7.1 Channel High Definition audio ports. Since Firewire isn’t a commonly needed feature, engineers opted to include the two extra 1394 ports as onboard headers that work in conjunction with the included Firewire PCI bracket. The physical one is tucked beside the four main USB ports in the middle.
These aren’t far from the ten horizontal SATA ports which are all completely accessible. The number of ports is intended to offer you some form of eSATA support if you need it. Simply attach the included eSATA PCI bracket when the system is complete and plug them in to anyone one of the white SATA ports. Again, it appears the GIGABYTE team has done a good job of considering your connectivity needs.
Other Sweet New Features
In case you have noticed, there are a few new buttons to make the journey to extreme performance more enjoyable. The EX58-Extreme offers auxillary Reset and Power buttons, but not in the regular places. These buttons are located by the memory slots. Normally, these buttons are found at the bottom of the board near the Front Panel headers. After a few minutes with the board, you’ll realize you can get your hand and/or fingers in this area far easier than at the bottom in most computer cases.
The back of the board’s I/O connectors is where the new CMOS Reset switch lives. This helps you out in the event you push something a little too far on the board and it will no longer boot properly. A simple press of the switch quickly clears the CMOS and restores the BIOS to its optimal state. Once you power the system back up, you’ll probably notice the Dual Bios resets the active chip. This means, no more dead boards!
And finally, the board gets an LED by the SATA ports that displays the board’s system initialization via the codes. All of these codes represent a component and/or function of the platform as it boots up. If the system hangs, chances are that the LED is displaying the very component that’s failing to initialize. This can also be a big help when Troubleshooting the platform if there are issues.
Some Installation Notes
I have to say that the horizontal SATA ports are a welcomed touch. All of the large video cards fit without obstructing any cables or blocking any ports. As far as I’m concerned,this should be considered the standard across the industry.
When finishing a new system build, or just installing new memory, you can save yourself some hassle by clearing the motherboard CMOS first before powering up. The issue here was similar to some forum posts where an EX85-Extreme build produced an “Enable L2 Cache” error message at the boot screen. Since swapping memory slots didn’t help, only 1 memory stick was installed as well as clearing the CMOS again. During the next boot, the system did a little configuring and booted up without the error. At that point, all three memory modules were installed successfully without errors.
The System Setup
Now that the system was up and ready, here are the specs in case you’d like to compare your own results. Obviously, everyone’s mileage will vary depending on your components. Testing was performed with dual and single video card configurations. The latest Sisoft SANDRA build was added to the benchmark list.
- Intel I7 965 3.2GHz Processor
- GIGABYTE EX58-Extreme
- 3 x 1GB Kingston HyperX 2000 MHz Triple Channel Memory
- 2 x Zotac GTX 295 AMP! Edition Videocards
- 2 x 250GB Seagate SATA II (7200 RPM) Hard Drives
- Standard Sony DVD/RW ROM Drive
- 26″ LG HD Monitor
- Test Software: SANDRA Professional, 3DMark Vantage, Farcry 2, and Call of Duty 4.
- BIOS F4 & F5 & Latest .INF Installed
First, the system was tested at stock configurations with only one video card to get a good, stock base line level of performance. This is also a good time to fully measure up the system for stability by doing a “burn in” of the components. Even after a couple good days of stress testing, the platform remained stable.
Faking It Till You Make It
Starting off the onslaught of tests, we check the EX58-Extreme in with the synthetic benchmarks. We’ve selected a number of benchmarks that are reproducible and that give you an overall comparative snapshot of how this system compares to others.
SiSoft SANDRA
Sisoft SANDRA is a great benchmark program. It helps you compare your own system’s performance to other comparable systems. In this case, we pitted the EX58-Extreme against it’s reference INTEL EX58 sibling.
CPU calculations are right on par compared to the Intel DX58SO Motherboard. The Extreme offers a little extra CPU performance across the spectrum. The platform’s more aggressive design has a lot to do with this.
Memory bandwidth helps support the bulk of the compiling and rendering operations that make the I7 processor so fast. Here, you can see that the board presents a capable platform worthy of supporting 27GB/s memory bandwidth according to SiSoft SANDRA.
HD Tach
Working with the latest drivers and BIOS seems to offer better results on the SATA II drives. The average improved a few Megabytes per second. It’s nothing like we’d expect from an aftermarket RAID controller. But, it’s more than enough for standard system operations.
3DMark Vantage
3DMark Vantage reveals just how well the Extreme platform handles graphic intensive data with one or more video cards.
Again, there’s a slight performance gain in favor of the Extreme due to the aggressive configuration. Also, the Extreme has the ability to operate three video cards versus just two when compared to its sibling, the GIGABYTE UD3R. nVidia’s drivers have improved a bit over the last couple weeks for more than just Vantage. On to the games!
Game Benchmarks
Without a doubt, many users buy a board like this to not only overclock, but to play games on. So if the board locks up and fails to load your favourites (which may not be the fault of the board entirely), then game over. We run through a number of popular titles that really stress the board to its limits.
CRYSIS
Crysis is still one serious first person shooter game with both graphics intensive scenes and action. This game typically brings any video card to its knees at resolutions above 1680 x 1050.
FarCry 2
Far Cry 2 has some beautiful scenery and a very immersive environment. It’s quite a game that probably utilizes the broadest graphical environment available. I’s mapping is quite massive and utilizes a lot of video memory.
World at War
World at War is a fast paced shooter that offers a bit of everything from mapping to more complex lighting. The fast paced environment can draw on a system’s graphical performance. If your frames come up short, you’re finished.
Naturally, the system takes a significant frame rate hit at high resolutions. However, the EX58-Extreme isn’t about to just give up whether in single or dual card mode with a capable video card. FarCry 2 and World at War aren’t quite the burden as Crysis, but when the action picks up on your screen, frame rates drop very fast. This kind of action will often cause the system to spring in to action.
It’s usually at this point any instabilities present themselves usually in the form of a game crash, lock ups, or restarts. The EX58-Extreme system proved to be very stable, especially where 3D performance is concerned.
Is the EX58-Exreme an Extreme Overclocker?
While stock performance is nothing short of “OMG, this system rocks!”, things get out right hectic when overclocked. The motherboard was easily too much for the poor I7 965 used in testing here.
Dropping the I7 965 multiplier allowed the UD3R to achieve a stable 200 MHz CPU Bus during overclocking with some voltage tweaking in the BIOS. The Extreme does a better job of controlling voltages and any erratic instabilities better than its sibling. A 210 MHz CPU Bus was achieved with the BIOS options mainly set to Auto which is great for novice overclockers and people who want a quick hit without all the tweaking.
Dropping the “Uncore Divider” seems to be the winning step to achieving a stable overclock. When left to Auto, it scales with the CPU Bus by default which was 210 MHz. With the Uncore Divider at 24, it would multiply by the 210 MHz putting the CPU frequency at 5 GHz which is too much for our CPU to take in this case.
Unfortunately, the heat got to be too much for my poor Thermaltake V1 Copper CPU Cooler. With a better CPU cooler or water cooling as well as some more aggressive voltage, the board should be able to pull a 220 MHz CPU Bus. It just comes down to just how far you’re willing to push your processor.
The platform did an excellent job of supporting the HyperX 2000 MHz Triple Channel memory. The processor’s memory controller just can’t seem to keep up with a CPU and really high memory overclock at the same time.
Even so, running the system at a modest overclock leaving the HyperX test memory at a stock 2000 MHz produces a great deal of memory bandwidth just breaking 30 GB/s which is about 3 GB/s more than stock. The extra bandwidth benefits multi-threaded apps far more than games (with the exception of some RTS titles that utilize both CPU and Memory bandwidth).
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
Obviously, the GIGABYTE EX58-Extreme makes for a fantastic gaming rig if given a proper video card (or two, or three). It does its best work when coupled with at least a GTX 260 (216 Core) or GTX 285 which are arguably the two best choices on a budget or not. While it can easily handle games over the next four plus years, it’s not all that the platform can do.
It provides a very stable platform for encoding and formatting your favorite media or software titles. That’s due to the new processor’s integrated memory controller. And none of this can happen without a reliable platform. This is especially true if you plan to overclock.
Overclocking is definitely one area you can expect the GIGABYTE EX58-Extreme Ultra Durable 3 Motherboard to excel. It’s rather perfect if you really want to get your money’s worth out your I7 920 or 940 processor. Those processors have a lot more head room for scaling while the 965 is pretty much near its max. It’ll push those processors to the extreme limits and beyond assuming you have capable cooling.
Even though this is a first revision chipset launch supporting the new Intel i7 Processor, you wouldn’t think so just by these great results. GIGABYTE’s engineers did a great job of designing the board from the BIOS to the button placements. It’s also apparent that the community that they’ve supported has given them hints in the right direction. Comparing the GIGABYTE EX58-Extreme to previous experiences, it’s my #1 enthusiast platform of choice…so far. I can’t wait to see what they do for an encore.
Pros
- Extreme water & optional Heat Pipe cooling
- Full triple CrossfireX and SLI support
- Good layout, configuration, and design
- Plenty of expansion
- Aggressive Dual BIOS & Recovery
- Excellent overclocking potential
- Power, reset, & CMOS clear buttons
- Premium performance
Cons
- Premium price for premium performance
- Theme would be great matching DIMM slots
Overall Rating: 9.5 / 10.0
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