BmR Home arrow BmR Reviews arrow Motherboards arrow Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME Core i7 Motherboard

RunCore Solid State Drive Products

Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME Core i7 Motherboard E-mail
Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards
Written by Olin Coles   
Friday, 12 December 2008
Article Index
Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME Core i7 Motherboard
Intel Core i7: Platform Information
Intel X58-Express Platform
Gigabyte X58 Features
Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced
GA-EX58-EXTREME Specifications
First Look: Gigabyte X58
Closer Look: Gigabyte X58
GA-EX58-EXTREME Detailed Features
Motherboard Testing Methodology
GA-EX58-EXTREME F4e BIOS
3DMark06 Benchmarks
PCMark Vantage Benchmarks
Crysis Benchmark Results
Devil May Cry 4 Benchmark
World in Conflict Tests
Intel X58-Express Final Thoughts
GA-EX58-EXTREME Conclusion
Page 6 of 18

EX58-EXTREME Specifications

The GA-EX58-EXTREME was designed from the ground up to unleash the awesome power of the new Intel Core i7 processors. With a significant communication bandwidth increase of 1600MHz between the processor and chipset, 50% memory bandwidth enhancement and featuring extensive overclocking capabilities, the GIGABYTE EXTREME overclocking motherboard delivers the highest level of performance computing you've been waiting for.

Just when you thought 2 PCI-E x16 was good enough, GIGABTYE delivers 3. The GIGABYTE GA-EX58-EXTREME motherboard features 3 PCIe x16 Gen2.0 slots with support for both 3 way ATI CrossFireX and 3 way NVIDIA SLI, enabling powerful graphics configurations for extreme multi-GPU gaming.

CPU
  1. Support for an Intel Core i7 series processor in the LGA 1366 package
    (Go to CPU Support List for the latest CPU support )
  2. L3 cache varies with CPU
QPI
  1. 4.8GT/s / 6.4GT/s
Chipset
  1. North Bridge: Intel X58 Express Chipset
  2. South Bridge: Intel ICH10R
Memory
  1. 6 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 24 GB of system memory (Note 1)
  2. Dual/3 channel memory architecture
  3. Support for DDR3 2100+/1333/1066/800 MHz memory modules
(Go to Memory Support List for the latest memory support list.)
Audio
  1. Realtek ALC889A codec
  2. High Definition Audio
  3. 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel
  4. Support for Dolby® Home Theater (Note 2)
  5. Support for S/PDIF In/Out
  6. Support for CD In
LAN
  1. 2 x Realtek 8111D chips (10/100/1000 Mbit)
  2. Support for Teaming
Expansion Slots
  1. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1/PCIEX16_2) (Note 3)
  2. 1 x PCI Express x8 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1) (Note 4)
    (The PCIEX16_1, PCIE16_2 and PCIEX8_1 slots support 2-Way/3-Way NVIDIA SLI/ATI CrossFireXTM technology and conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)
  3. 1 x PCI Express x4 slot
  4. 1 x PCI Express x1 slot
  5. 2 x PCI slots
Storage Interface South Bridge:
  1. 6 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2_0, SATA2_1, SATA2_2, SATA2_3, SATA2_4, SATA2_5) supporting up to 6 SATA 3Gb/s devices
  2. Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10
GIGABYTE SATA2 chip:
  1. 1 x IDE connector supporting ATA-133/100/66/33 and up to 2 IDE devices
  2. 2 x JMB322 chips (Smart Backup):
    • 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (GSATA2_0, GSATA2_1, GSATA2_2, GSATA2_3) supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices (Note 5)
    • Support for SATA RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD
iTE IT8720 chip:
  1. 1 x floppy disk drive connector supporting up to 1 floppy disk drive
IEEE 1394
  1. T.I. TSB43AB23 chip
  2. Up to 3 IEEE 1394a ports (1 on the back panel, 2 via the IEEE 1394a brackets connected to the internal IEEE 1394a headers)
USB
  1. Integrated in the South Bridge
  2. Up to 12 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 on the back panel, 4 via the USB brackets connected to the internal USB headers)
Internal I/O Connectors
  1. 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
  2. 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
  3. 1 x floppy disk drive connector
  4. 1 x IDE connector
  5. 10 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors
  6. 1 x CPU fan header
  7. 3 x system fan headers
  8. 1 x power fan header
  9. 1 x North Bridge fan header
  10. 1 x front panel header
  11. 1 x front panel audio header
  12. 1 x CD In connector
  13. 1 x S/PDIF In header
  14. 1 x S/PDIF Out header
  15. 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
  16. 2 x IEEE 1394a headers
  17. 1 x power LED header
  18. 1 x chassis intrusion header
  19. 1 x power switch
  20. 1 x reset switch
Back Panel Connectors
  1. 1 x PS/2 keyboard port
  2. 1 x PS/2 mouse port
  3. 1 x coaxial S/PDIF Out connector
  4. 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector
  5. 1 x IEEE 1394a port
  6. 1 x clearing CMOS switch
  7. 8 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
  8. 2 x RJ-45 ports
  9. 6 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out/Rear Speaker Out/Side Speaker Out/Line In/Line Out/Microphone)
I/O Controller
  1. iTE IT8720 chip
H/W Monitoring
  1. System voltage detection
  2. CPU/System/North Bridge temperature detection
  3. CPU/System/Power fan speed detection
  4. CPU overheating warning
  5. CPU/System/Power fan fail warning
  6. CPU/System fan speed control (Note 6)
BIOS
  1. 2 x 8 Mbit flash
  2. Use of licensed AWARD BIOS
  3. Support for DualBIOSTM
  4. PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.0, SM BIOS 2.4, ACPI 1.0b
Unique Features
  1. Support for @BIOS
  2. Support for Q-Flash
  3. Support for Dual BIOS
  4. Support for Download Center
  5. Support for Xpress Install
  6. Support for Xpress Recovery2
  7. Support for EasyTune (Note 7)
  8. Support for Dynamic Energy Saver Advanced
  9. Support for Time Repair
  10. Support for Q-Share
Bundle Software
  1. Norton Internet Security (OEM version)
Operating System
  1. Support for Microsoft® Windows® Vista/XP
Form Factor
  1. ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm



 

Comments 

 
# RE: Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME Core i7 Motherboard — faroos 2010-04-15 08:08
Thanks
Very usefull information
Reply
 
 
# Is the watercooling optional? — Joseph 2010-04-25 21:35
Hi!
I really enjoy your articles.
Concerning the hybrid silent pipe ,once you have installed it. Can you just run the motherboard on air cooling or is watercooling mandatory?
Reply
 
 
# Either or both — Olin Coles 2010-04-26 08:05
The motherboard's Northbridge is air cooled by default, and you can ADD water cooling into the mix at any time to enhance thermal performance. The waterblock acts as a heatsink, with or without water in it.
Reply
 
 
# Without the hybrid silent pipe? — Alphonsus 2010-07-22 01:43
I need to install the grass valley HDSpark video editing card & it gets in the way of the pci-e slot unless I dismantle the hybrid silent pipe. Will this damage the motherboard without the hybrid silent pipe?
Reply
 
 
# RE: Without the hybrid silent pipe? — Olin Coles 2010-07-22 06:53
The Hybrid Silent Pipe is an optional component, and it won't harm the motherboard is you choose not to use it.
Reply
 
 
# RE: Gigabyte GA-EX58-EXTREME Core i7 Motherboard — Suvasis 2010-07-28 05:22
What is water cooling, if clarify will be great.
Reply
 

Add Comment:


Security code
Refresh Code

Search Benchmark Reviews

BmR Newsletter




Follow Benchmark Reviews on FacebookPreview the new Benchmark Reviews 2.0 WebsiteReceive Tweets from Benchmark Reviews on Twitter