Power Consumption and Conclusions
The MSI X58 Platinum experienced lower power consumption during load tests than its Gigabyte counterparts. We are not sure what caused this drop in power, but we will continue to test it and see if we can pin point the direct cause for the decrease in power. Overall, the numbers pretty much speak for themselves. The X58 boards are fairly efficient and seemed to manage power well at idle and load settings. With people worldwide trying to cut their energy bills, power management could be the next “big thing” to attract new consumers to purchase more “green” components for their PCs.
Performance
At stock settings, the GA-X58-UD5 didn’t stand out much from the other boards we compared it to. One test it did show a flare of individuality in was the PCMark Vantage benchmark. If the productivity and TV/Movie benchmark results have any validity, Gigabyte should consider marketing this board to working professionals and graphic designers instead of PC gamers and enthusiasts. But, to be fair, these “target audiences” sometimes blur when people want to use their PCs for multiple purposes. I have to admit I’m one of “those” people who use their rigs for a variety of different tasks including video editing, web design, graphic design, and gaming.
The area I thought the GA-X58-UD5 really started to warm up in was its ability to overclock the i7-920. While the OC numbers weren’t the highest I’ve seen, I think the BIOS features and configuration will really appeal to the masses. It seemed to be more intuitive and had less of learning curve than other BIOS I’ve used. Getting around in it was a breeze and every manual change I made seemed to work to perfection.
Features
Any motherboard equipped with an X58 chipset is going to have a ton of features to choose from. This board in particular sports 3-way SLI and CrossfireX as well as dual Gigabit LAN and two RAID controllers. It also has a unique wrap-around heat pipe design that should provide adequate cooling to the various components surrounding the CPU.
I think the main features that will attract consumers to the GA-X58-UD5 is the plethora of devices that can be connected to it. PC users can add a variety of parts ranging from Firewire 400 to USB 2.0 and e-SATA. The DDR3 possibilities also seem pretty endless for the amount of RAM you can install on this motherboard too. Most enthusiasts will want to take advantage of this board’s triple channel support as well as upgrading to 6GB (3x2GB) kits.
I also want to point out that there’s more than enough room around the CPU to install a high-end air or water cooling system, which would be very beneficial to those users who want to take the i7 to a whole new level in performance.
Pricing and Availability
The GA-X58-UD5 wasn’t the most expensive X58 board on the block at the time of this review, but it wasn’t one of the cheapest either. Most users would think spending $288 for a motherboard (also available at Newegg.com) would get you something in the range of a high-end, monster overclocking solution. But, in the X58 world, this dollar amount equates to being able to purchase a mid-range X58 with some high-end features with minimal accessories.
Final Thoughts
It seems the X58 chipset, as well as the Intel i7s, have really been refined since their release last year. Gigabyte harnessed a lot of different technologies when they built the GA-X58-UD5. While the board didn’t wow us against other comparable X58 boards on the market, it did show us flashes of brilliance that should entice its fair share of consumers. The Gigabyte brand itself is really pinning itself against ASUS for the top spot in the motherboard industry. I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2009 brings for i7s, X58s, and the tech industry as a whole.
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