| Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 Motherboard |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Motherboards | |
| Written by Olin Coles | |
| Thursday, 25 February 2010 | |
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Page 9 of 17
Motherboard Testing MethodologyBenchmark results are only as good as their test methodology, and there are several different methods to compare product to one-another. Yet, even when you try to directly measure motherboard performance the features don't always stack up. Since processor compatibility changes across platforms, and firmware/driver updates change frequently, it's very difficult to compare motherboards in an "apples-to-apples" fashion. Still, we try. Unless otherwise noted, exclusive P55 vs X58 comparisons use system memory configured to operate at 1333MHz on X58/P55-Express systems, with CL 7-7-7-20 timings. These are the specified memory speeds supported by the chipset, according to Intel. Unless noted, no overclock was given to any of the hardware and BIOS settings were matched as closely as possible. At the start of all graphics tests, the previous display adapter driver is uninstalled and trace components are removed using Driver Cleaner Pro. We then restart the computer system to establish display adapter settings and define the monitor. Once the hardware is prepared, we begin our testing. To compare and contrast CPU- and GPU-dependency, Benchmark Reviews conducts testing at both the lowest- and highest-possible resolutions. Low display resolutions create a dependency on CPU performance, while high display resolutions place the load on GPU power. Each benchmark test program begins after a system restart, and the very first result for every test will be ignored since it often only caches the test. Each test is completed five times, with the highest and lowest scored removed. The average results of the three remaining tests are displayed in our article. Since all of the benchmarks we use for testing represent different game engine technology and graphic rendering processes, our battery of tests will provide a diverse range of results for you to gauge performance on your own computer system. Although many gamers and enthusiasts are still using Windows XP, Benchmark Reviews has made the switch to Microsoft Windows 7 as the Operating System of choice for our test platforms.
NOTICE: Because Award BIOS software is used on Gigabyte motherboards and American Megatrends is utilized by ASUS motherboard products, it's difficult to guarantee that processor and memory hardware configuration settings precisely match each other between manufacturers. Minor differences in clock speed rendering or deep-set advanced memory timing latency may account for performance differences within a small margin of error. ASUS P6X58D-Premium Test System
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 Test System
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD4P Test System
Benchmark Software
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Comments
Any clues anyone?
(2) Either way, will the respective SATA controller support Raid 0 for two SATA-II SSD storage devices ?
iaw. I can connect my hdd on SATA 0 and the DVD-rom on SATA 1? Won't make a difference, cause I also don't run any RAID configuration..
My i7-930 cpu is at 60*C temperature in idle with no OC and box cooler, what can i do ?
second - i didnt made my question exactly correct - yes i can read there its possible and 'no problem ' but i cant find any real time test with high end crossfire/sli configurations + sata 3 HDD ,thats why i asked
I have to tell you though, SSDs aren't HDDs. You don't need RAID-0, and you'll notice no real-world difference like you would with a HDD.
AHCI performance is, however, affected by the IRSD. You will get a noticable increase in performance with AHCI on AND using the updated IRSD. There is currently no way to make TRIM work with RAIDed drive members.
Would you really know the difference between 250 and 500 MB/sec when you're opening IE, Word, or any day-to-day application? Probably not. For applications that benefit from multiplication of throughput rates... yes, you would. Again, TRIM would be out the window in that configuration.
Main use: cpu-intensive, computational. memory or HDD i/o is not an issue.
My constraints:
1. cpu = i7 950
2. stable motherboard--no overclocking, no fancy features, must be reliable and durable with most kinks ironed out, good thermal features.
3. 6 memory slots: prefer to start with 12GB (3 x 4GB)--again speed is not a constraint--with a max of 24GB.
4. Summers are hot--45C
5. Prefer one eSATA port and USB 3.0 Do not care about SATA 3. Perhaps you can recommend one MB wihout eSATA, USB 3.0 being a constraint and one MB with eSATA and USB 3.0.
Thanks
My PC
Core I7 930 O.C. ar 3.4 ghz
Gigabyte X58 A UD7
Hitachi 250gb HDD
2x 250 GTS SLI
Gigabyte Odin Pro 550 PSU
I was very disappointed with this board. Stalls and makes allot of hard drive noise So i shut off paging helped a little
Then i shut off power saving features and it seems to really help
I think the default starves the CPU
If you have good cooling do it