Hi folks, A weird question maybe but I'm looking to improve my feature set without 'ripping it up and starting again'. Or 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater', if you prefer. My rig is still fine with the demands of the latest games and software, largely down to me running at 1900x1200. Raw speed therefore isn't a consideration, but good layout, cooling, noise reduction and 'new' features like SATA 6GB/S and USB 3.0 would be good. Looking back a few years, what was the smallest, fastest and most feature-rich of the X58 boards, and where should I look to acquire a reliable one? For absolute clarity I'm currently running an Asus P6T SE and would like to keep things Asus if possible, though that's not imperative. I do however need to keep all the remaining conponents, and I don't particularly want to reinstall Windows 7 unless there's a requirement or huge benefit. Not much to ask then?! Many thanks in advance. Cleggy.
Looks like the Asus X58 Sabertooth if I want a full sized board, or the Asus Rampage III Gene for a smaller board. Both seem OK and reasonably easy to source through eBay though is there something better I should consider? Thanks again.
i dunno if it's worth putting major money into a PC that old SATA 6GB/s doesn't do anything for real-world performance, USB 3.0 can be achieved with an expansion card. noise reduction can be accomplished with new fans and dust removal
I'm with Docodine. If you are happy with your current board, get a PCIe SATA 6Gbps and a USB3 card and then a fan controller and some new fans (if they are the issue).
IIRC, X58 never came with native USB 3.0 or SATA 3 so they'll be third party controllers like the Marvell 91xx which was barely any faster than native SATA 2. I'm with the two well informed people above me. Stick with your current board and add in a USB 3.0 controller if you want to. I'd stick with native SATA 2 though.
Find a board that uses the Marvell 88SE9182 as it uses 2 x pci-e lanes instead of one like most other sata 3 controllers. Pretty rare tho.
Marvell 88SE9230 is a bit more recent controller, it actually has proper 6gbps throughput in the + 500MB/s range and supports trim unlike many others that came before it. They are usually labeled as hyperduo. There are some interesting versions of the card that have an msata slot plus 1 sata port, or that allow direct mount of a 2.5" ssd on the card in case you would like to free up drive bays. You can also set up hybrid ssd+hdd / caching solutions on it if you wish. For USB3 I like the Via VL800. It's one of the better USB3 chips and has proper UASP support and good drivers. I would pick up add on cards with those to add the capability instead of trying to find a different motherboard as well.
As much as I love X58 (and I really do... I'm still loyal ), I have to agree with the guys above. Motherboards on ebay are a complete rip-off at the moment, well over the £100 mark. Some decent X58 boards have sold here between £50-100, and I mean really good, high end motherboards, not entry or "mid" level enthusiast boards that you'll find on ebay. I've owned several X58 motherboards and really there's no difference unless you're overclocking at competition level. My current P.O.S. Gigabyte (read: Fisher Price) X58-USB3 board is taking everything my i7 980 and Dominator GT can throw at it, which has really - and pleasantly - surprised me. Why not upgrade with the money you'd spend on a mobo? £100-150 plus what you get for your existing components (£100+) could get you a nice combo.
I have to agree with everyone so far. I use my X58 Rig as my main go to rig at the moment. My Z77 rig is clearly faster and has more features, but it's not water cooled in the way my X58 rig is (nor does it need to be). I got myself a USB3 Pci-e add-in card to go on my Rampage 3 Extreme and it does everything I need it to do superbly. Also, it looks cool.
Thanks all for the informed responses. That's put me straight and I shall save my pennies for more rewarding projects! Good outcome, thanks again. Cleggy.
