Gigabyte motherboard ga-ex58-ud5

[petesrepairs]

Hey folks, anyone have any general ideas, comments etc on this motherboard??

cheers

 

[Shmee]

great board, I have one. Supports the 980x with Bios update. 10 sata ports, good layout, good support on website with bios updates etc.

Good bios control, great OC board, though vdroop is a bit large with my 980x. Good design all around though. Also supports up to 24 GB of memory I hear.

Also, good cooling design for chipset. If you are in the market for it, you may consider the newer revision, the ga-ex58a-ud5, which supports sata III and USB 3.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

the X58A-UD5 is a solid, polished, all-around smoothly functioning design.

 

[Blazer7]

Both mobos are solid designs. The only thing I don't like about them is that the mem slots are too close to the cpu socket. This makes it impossible to use all mem slots with some aftermarket coolers.

If you are looking for an aftermarket HSF for one of these boards you’d better take a look at Hardocp’s cooling section first. They are using the GA-X58-Extreme as their test bed and that’s almost the same as the UD5s.

http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/cooling/

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

the CPU/RAM layout is part of the Intel spec for socket 1366 I think. Mostly it depends on the height of the RAM heatsinks.

 

[Blazer7]

I respectfully disagree.

Intel's specs cover only the CPU socket layout/clearance and stock HSF characteristics. They don’t have anything to do with other components.

On page 48 of Intel’s thermal and mechanical design guide for LGA1366 you can find the mechanical drawing for the “keepout” zone of the cpu socket/HSF. There are no directives for component locations outside this zone hence every manufacturer can do what they please. It's obvious that the guys at GB decided to sacrifice clearance for lower mem latencies and they did so by placing the DIMM slots as close to the cpu socket as intel’s standards permitted, thus keeping mem traces from the memory controller to RAM as short as possible.

As for you remark regarding the height of RAM sinks you can see here, here and here, that with some aftermarket coolers even if the heatsinks of the Dominators were removed the 1st DIMM slot would still be unusable or worse (the fan clips on the Megahalems are loose). Besides, what’s the point of getting a high-end mobo/HSF and not being able to pair those with some high-end RAMs. High-end RAMs often come with higher heatsinks and in some cases with active cooling too.

GB's X58 UDx/Extreme boards were among my original candidates but the clearance issue is what made me stay away from them. Still, I consider them to be among the best boards there are but that doesn’t change the fact that with some high-end aftermarket coolers you are stuck with only 3 usuable mem slots. This may be ok for some but definitely not for all.

If ocing is what matters to the OP then he won’t have much of a problem deciding what to do as ocing with all 6 DIMM slots populated is harder and you can’t get as far as with only 3 DIMMs. OTOH sacrificing 3 DIMM slots kinda limits your options when it comes to mem upgrades.

The only way I can think of that you can get this board to the max without sacrificing the option of populating all 6 DIMM slots if needed, is water cooling.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Your argument is kind of invalid since if you buy s1366, you care about memory latency and so you want the traces to be as equal in length and close in proximity to the mem controller (on-CPU die). You can fit a D14 giant monstrosity of a heat sink on the X58A-UD5, but you might not be able to use one of the fans. Still, it would keep temps lower than my Noctua U9B I would bet.

In any case, the fun in PC building is building to your own specs and applications. So, buy what you want to buy and see how it works.

 

[Blazer7]

Invalid? How? Please point out which part of my reasoning is "invalid".

And no, if you go for s1366 you care about performance and that covers more things than just mem latency.

Regarding mem performance, when it comes to absolute numbers mem latency is a factor but it's not the only one nor it is the most important. Speed is what counts the most and in order to reach high speeds RAM manufacturers fit their high-end mems with taller heatsinks and add mem coolers on top.

So, if you really care about mem performance but you can't use high-end mems with taller heatsinks and add-on coolers but you have better latencies is that better? I don’t think so. At least not for a high-end system.

 

[CpuMonkey]

So, if you really care about mem performance but you can't use high-end mems with taller heatsinks and add-on coolers but you have better latencies is that better? I don’t think so. At least not for a high-end system.

I see your point, Blazer7, and the motherboard does have some issues with tight layout in certain circumstances. However, as you said, the ultimate solution is water cooling. It works GREAT.

To the OP:
I highly recommend the GA-X58A series mobos. I have a -UD3R and a -UD5. They have about every feature one could wish for. As has been posted many places, there are three primary issues with layout tightness that might drive you nuts:

1. The first PCIExpress-1 slot (PCIEX1_1) is jammed right up against the Intel X58A heatsink, and a number of PCIEx-1 cards won't fit in that slot. So, if you really want to use both PCIEx-1 slots, you'd best make sure your cards will fit before buying the motherboard.

2. As Blazer stated, the RAM DIMM slots are very close to the CPU, so if you want to put in a whopping big conventional cooler, and have fast RAM with tall heatsinks, you might be unhappy. If you want to do serious overclocking, and I agree with Blazer that often dictates RAM with tall 'sinks, you really need to go water cooled. Standard i7 series CPU coolers are just fine and plenty of clearance.

3. The SATA connectors are right angle and in even mid-tower cases, it can be a real pain to work with them. You need to match the case to this mobo with an eye to how the SATA connectors are going to work. As this mobo has the most SATA connectors on the market, I would assume others buy these boards as I did to stuff a lot of HDD in there, so the obvious choice is a roomy full tower with lots of drive bays.

I personally like the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced case with this mobo. With it, you can put the HDD's in with the connectors facing the right side of the case, and there conveniently are holes in the mobo support panel exactly where the mobo SATA connectors are so you can neatly and easily run the SATA cables around the back, through the holes, and easily plug into the connectors. This case rocks for a million other reasons too, but it just happens to fit the GA-X58A like a dream.

If you do get the motherboard, upgrade the BIOS immediately, and download the updated manual. The Rev 1.0 hardware printed manual I got with the mobo and the F1 BIOS didn't match up, and the RAID configuration information is badly wrong. It's probably worth waiting until the Rev 2.0 hardware is out, although there are deals on the UD5 rev 1.0 right now with them on sale plus a $20 rebate from Gigabyte (I assume to finish moving the stockpile of Rev 1.0 boards.) The rev 1.0 boards are fine, the rev 2.0 is just a little enhanced. It does, however, come with better BIOS and doco.

 

[zatch]

I have checked out the specs for both the GA-X58A-UD5(rev 1.0) and the GA-EX58A-UD5 on GB's site and they are very similar. Could any of you explain the subtle differences?

I just purchased the GA-X58A-UD5 and am pairing it with the $200 I7-930 and am excited to finish my project up.

Thanks in advance.

 

[vailr]

The later X58A-UD5/UD7 Rev 2 boards use the RTL8111E NIC chipset.

 

[ChaiBabbaChai]

Invalid? How? Please point out which part of my reasoning is "invalid".

And no, if you go for s1366 you care about performance and that covers more things than just mem latency.

Regarding mem performance, when it comes to absolute numbers mem latency is a factor but it's not the only one nor it is the most important. Speed is what counts the most and in order to reach high speeds RAM manufacturers fit their high-end mems with taller heatsinks and add mem coolers on top.

So, if you really care about mem performance but you can't use high-end mems with taller heatsinks and add-on coolers but you have better latencies is that better? I don’t think so. At least not for a high-end system.

That's not even true. Taller heat sinks = faster clock speeds???? Get a grip.

My point is lost on you and your microcosm of concern about space. The bandwidth available in a s1366 system is more than needed, even with my setup. What you're going off about is useless in the grand scheme of things, and THAT's what I said was invalid with you.

3. The SATA connectors are right angle and in even mid-tower cases, it can be a real pain to work with them. You need to match the case to this mobo with an eye to how the SATA connectors are going to work. As this mobo has the most SATA connectors on the market, I would assume others buy these boards as I did to stuff a lot of HDD in there, so the obvious choice is a roomy full tower with lots of drive bays.

I personally like the Cooler Master 690 II Advanced case with this mobo. With it, you can put the HDD's in with the connectors facing the right side of the case, and there conveniently are holes in the mobo support panel exactly where the mobo SATA connectors are so you can neatly and easily run the SATA cables around the back, through the holes, and easily plug into the connectors. This case rocks for a million other reasons too, but it just happens to fit the GA-X58A like a dream.

My ATCS 840 is the same, but if you have an SSD, it won't fit in the tool-less slide trays, so you're going to have a SATA cable there. Anybody know where to get an adapter for an SSD that fits the Cooler Master tool-less HDD trays? :awe: