Motherboards help ... GA-X58A series

shALKE · Jul 18, 2010, 04:04 PM

So I bought a i7 920 D0 and I wanna buy a GA-X58A series but I don't understand one thing about the MB. GA-X58A-UD5, UD7 and UD9 .. what are the difference from each other ? I can't really tell :s Thx,

***Veridian3*** · Jul 18, 2010, 04:35 PM

The difference is the slot layout (how many PCI/PCIe and what type) and the chipset cooler.

Sihastru · Jul 19, 2010, 08:55 AM

I own the GA-X58A-UD7 REV.1. There is now a REV.2. Most GA-X58A-XXX motherboards now have two revisions. The differences are at first glance the ones Veridian3 told you about, but also in the CPU area you can see a different number of phases. I DO NOT recommend the UD7/UD9, the NB cooler is very badly implemented, and the "Extreme" add-on slot cooler doesn't add much to the cooling potential.

If I would recommend one of them, it would be the GA-X58A-UD3R (8 CPU phases) if you're not an avid overclocker, or the GA-X58A-UD5 REV.2 if you are. The UD5 REV.2 has 16 CPU phases while the REV.1 has only 12. The UD5 is the best all rounder.

The UD9 is the only one with a different slot layout, all of them being PCIe 16x (but only physical 16x, electrical it gets complicated). All the boards have USB 3.0 and two SATA 6Gb. The 8 remaining SATA are 3Gb.

In theory the more phases you have the more stable the voltage is and you can achieve better overclocks. But that's in theory. On my 24 (ZOMFGBBQ!!!) CPU phases UD7, I can only clock my i7 930 to 3.8 (with very low stable voltage, with Intel spec vdroop allowed) because above that it overheats (my Noctua NH-U12P SE2 sucks at cooling apparently).

shALKE · Jul 19, 2010, 09:35 PM

Thx alot mates

Jul 18, 2010, 04:04 PM	#1
shALKE HH Panther Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Romania, Bucharest Posts: 203 Rep Power: 29 System Specs	Motherboards help ... GA-X58A series So I bought a i7 920 D0 and I wanna buy a GA-X58A series but I don't understand one thing about the MB. GA-X58A-UD5, UD7 and UD9 .. what are the difference from each other ? I can't really tell :s Thx, Last edited by shALKE; Jul 18, 2010 at 04:14 PM.

Jul 18, 2010, 04:35 PM	#2
*Veridian3* Administrator Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Cloaked Posts: 5,028 Rep Power: 181	Re: Motherboards help ... GA-X58A series The difference is the slot layout (how many PCI/PCIe and what type) and the chipset cooler.

Jul 19, 2010, 08:55 AM	#3
Sihastru Never been clicked Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 433 Rep Power: 45 System Specs	Re: Motherboards help ... GA-X58A series I own the GA-X58A-UD7 REV.1. There is now a REV.2. Most GA-X58A-XXX motherboards now have two revisions. The differences are at first glance the ones Veridian3 told you about, but also in the CPU area you can see a different number of phases. I DO NOT recommend the UD7/UD9, the NB cooler is very badly implemented, and the "Extreme" add-on slot cooler doesn't add much to the cooling potential. If I would recommend one of them, it would be the GA-X58A-UD3R (8 CPU phases) if you're not an avid overclocker, or the GA-X58A-UD5 REV.2 if you are. The UD5 REV.2 has 16 CPU phases while the REV.1 has only 12. The UD5 is the best all rounder. The UD9 is the only one with a different slot layout, all of them being PCIe 16x (but only physical 16x, electrical it gets complicated). All the boards have USB 3.0 and two SATA 6Gb. The 8 remaining SATA are 3Gb. In theory the more phases you have the more stable the voltage is and you can achieve better overclocks. But that's in theory. On my 24 (ZOMFGBBQ!!!) CPU phases UD7, I can only clock my i7 930 to 3.8 (with very low stable voltage, with Intel spec vdroop allowed) because above that it overheats (my Noctua NH-U12P SE2 sucks at cooling apparently). __________________ There are more things in heaven and earth then are dreamt of in your philosophy. Intel Core i7 3820 \| Corsair H80 \| Asus P9X79 \| Kingston HyperX T1 Black 32GB DDR3 \| Gigabyte 8800 GTS 512 \| 2xIntel X25-M 160GB RAID0 + 2xWD 1TB Green RAID1 \| Asus Xonar DX \| Asus ES2-750 \| Sony OptiArc DVD+/-RW \| Corsair AX850 Gold \| Fractal Design Define R3 Titanium \| Dell 3007WFP-HC2 30" 2560x1600 \| Corsair SP2500 \| Logitech UltraX Premium \| CM Storm Advance \| Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64bit

Jul 19, 2010, 09:35 PM	Thread Starter #4
shALKE HH Panther Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Romania, Bucharest Posts: 203 Rep Power: 29 System Specs	Re: Motherboards help ... GA-X58A series Thx alot mates