Gigabyte Readies GA-EX58-Extreme2, Jumps the USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s Bandwagon

[btarunr]

The inclusion of USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s into the feature-sets of mid-thru-high end motherboards, have sparked off a mini wave of motherboard SKUs carved out on the basis of these features alone. Gigabyte, which recently unveiled its P55A family of socket LGA-1156 motherboards, has just done the same for its high-end socket LGA-1366 motherboard, with the introduction of the GA-EX58-Extreme2. Unlike other motherboards by the company that simply slipped in USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s while retaining essentially the same component layout, the GA-EX58-Extreme2 is a completely new design, that does not look similar to that of its predecessor, the GA-EX58-Extreme.

Gigabyte made use of not one, but two Marvell 88SE9123 2-port 6 Gb/s controllers, to give out four 6 Gb/s ports (color-coded white), all internal. Furthermore, two USB 3.0 controllers have been included to provide four ports. Unlike its predecessor, the GA-EX58-Extreme2 provides four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrical x16, NC, x16, NC; x16, NC, x8, x8; or x8, x8, x8, x8, depending on how they're populated.) The CPU is powered by a 24-phase circuit, and is wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots to support up to 24 GB of memory across a triple-channel interface. The chipset and VRM cooler supports water-cooling. The rest of its feature-set remains in tune with its predecessor: six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, dual gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel audio, and support for both ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI technologies. Gigabyte may include this into the wave of products it plans to launch ahead of the winter shopping season. A video preview can be watched at the source.



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[WarEagleAU]

Gigabyte whoops Asus in this department based on asthetics, number of ports, and water cooling.

 

[Zubasa]

Gigabyte whoops Asus in this department based on asthetics, number of ports, and water cooling.

This is just make of Win.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

Gigabyte whoops Asus in this department based on asthetics, number of ports, and water cooling.

Generally, excepting specialist boards (ROG, etc) Gigabyte pwns Asus

 

[Binge]

Generally, excepting specialist boards (ROG, etc) Gigabyte pwns Asus

Except when dealing with x58. The only rival for Gig is EVGA. ASUS has been average for some reason no matter what board.

 

[lemode]

The only rival for Gig is EVGA. ASUS has been average for some reason no matter what board.

i feel the same exact way

 

[wolf]

You guys are making me sad I have a P6T although it has'nt let me down yet

But I digress Giga are by far my ultimate choice in just about anything with a PCB, I only got the P6T because they did'nt have the UD5's in stock and I'm so damn impatient.

 

[BazookaJoe]

I was very proud of my P5WDH Deluxe.. But then I OWNED it for a year or two....

I'm pretty sure my next board will be a Gigabyte - Maybe even this very same one...

 

[Zubasa]

Except when dealing with x58. The only rival for Gig is EVGA. ASUS has been average for some reason no matter what board.

Asus is just plain overpriced in this part of the World, and EVGA is simply ridiculous. :shadedshu
Asus is like always 10%+ more expensive then the other brand for the exact same hardware. (The Asus 5870 is like woot!??)
Crazy enough there is only 1 store that sells EVGA in HK and it is also their only sales agent in HK.

 

[Binge]

Asus is just plain overpriced in this part of the World, and EVGA is simply ridiculous. :shadedshu
Asus is like always 10%+ more expensive then the other brand for the exact same hardware. (The Asus 5870 is like woot!??)
Crazy enough there is only 1 store that sells EVGA in HK and it is also their only sales agent in HK.

Trust me they're on par with Gig, no better. If it was that much cheaper I would glady use Gigabyte.

 

[Kovoet]

Damn I was going to get a P6T or a Rampage extreme now I don't know. You lot are confusing me.

 

[vaiopup]

Nice board.

Maybe it's about time to retire my trusty Ds3

 

[fochkoph]

Interesting slot layout.

 

[PaulieG]

After owning 7 different x58 boards, I can say that all three of the Gigabyte x58 boards are superior to any of the x58 boards from Asus, Biostar, DFI and Asrock. The only thing that matches the UD5 is the EVGA Classified, which is $100 more.

 

[qwerty_lesh]

I dunno, the classifieds are wicked nice, i just wish i had the IRL experience with one to have a better opinion.
If the reliability is the same between the two, then why such a large price difference? just the black pcb?

 

[Scrizz]

for me personally Gigabyte>ASUS
and my next board is definitely gonna be a GIGABYTE.

 

[Kantastic]

I should've gone with the EVGA mATX X58 board.. =[

 

[vivek90]

previously i was having an asus board MAx FOr or RAmp FOr
that was a great board .........but there pricing is not @ all good ???

& looking through all Ur comments ,i think i have done the right thing man ..........
Bcos im having an UD5 & Some of u r comparing it with evga x58 classified ..

I used to think why i have not bought an asus or msi MB....
But all ur comments have helped me out ,thanks

i will stick with GIGABYTE for years to come

about this board PCIE arrangement is not correctly done ,how can anyone go for 4 way sli or 3 way sli with physx,that big SB should have been removed to a smaller one

 

[SK-1]

Talk about "feature-richness". I just bought my first Gigabyte board, and look forward to installing this week.

 

[Soylent Joe]

I love motherboards with power and reset buttons on them. It's such a tiny thing, but it makes running it without a case so much easier.

 

[qwerty_lesh]

I my UD5

I'd sell a limb for an Extreme2 (ex58a?-extreme??)

 

[t77snapshot]

I used to be a fan of Asus up until yesterday when my board died. My next mobo will be a Gigabyte.

 

[Chicken Patty]

guys sorry for the retard question, but the NB, what is that on it, I never got around to asking or reading on it. Looks like nozzles for water cooling?

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

tis

 

[Chicken Patty]

tis