GIGABYTE X58A-UD7 is it worth buying?

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Also my other question to you is are you 100% set on going X58 ? Or would you be open to going P55, as you can get similar preformance, at a better value.

P.S. I saw your current specs, I still own / use a Athlon xp 2800+ (barton) on a ASUS A8N7-E Deluxe (nForce2), with 512 mb Mushkin DDR 400 and a Saphire ATI Radeon 9600 XT, it's running Linux, I use it for streaming Pandora to speakers in the garage.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

Also my other question to you is are you 100% set on going X58 ? Or would you be open to going P55, as you can get similar preformance, at a better value.

P.S. I saw your current specs, I still own / use a Athlon xp 2800+ (barton) on a ASUS A8N7-E Deluxe (nForce2), with 512 mb Mushkin DDR 400 and a Saphire ATI Radeon 9600 XT, it's running Linux, I use it for streaming Pandora to speakers in the garage.

yep that's what i'm set on getting ,i know the p55 systems will be cheaper, but when i make my mind up to get something it's usually what i go for

yes this old gals still going ,only thing i don't like about it is it doesn't support my sata dvd drive, i thinks it's because the board was made before sata cd/dvd drives were a common thing, well it's either that or my dvd drive is pooped

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

yep that's what i'm set on getting ,i know the p55 systems will be cheaper, but when i make my mind up to get something it's usually what i go for

yes this old gals still going ,only thing i don't like about it is it doesn't support my sata dvd drive, i thinks it's because the board was made before sata cd/dvd drives were a common thing, well it's either that or my dvd drive is pooped

They do make SATA to IDE conversion hardware, but not sure, that's really worth anything to you.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

They do make SATA to IDE conversion hardware, but not sure, that's really worth anything to you.

thanks this dvd/cd writer will be going into the new rig (once i make my mind up on all the components)

here's a small list of what i was thinking of getting

(psu)either a

Corsair HX 650W £ 94.99 or 153.38 US$
or a
Corsair HX 750W £ 117.99 or 190.53 US$

(cpu) Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping £ 209.98 or 339.075 US$

(memory) Corsair Dominator 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel (TR3X6G1600C8D) [TR3X6G1600C8D] £ 179.99 or 290.64 US$

(graphics card) Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 5870 £ 349.99 or 565.16 US$

(motherboard) Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 £268.99 or 434.36 US$

i'm realy not sure what case or cpu cooler i'm going for either

 

[willie_52]

I am putting together a similar system. I purchased an Antec 1200 case 159.99 US$. I am going to purchase a Noctua NH-U9B SE2 54.99 US$ on Monday. I hope this helps with your choices.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

ye the antec case is a good choice, only thing that put me off one was that it needs modding before i could put my psu in, i'e for air flow from the bottom of the case the noctua is also a good choice,and as i'm not planning on overclocking i beleive it should keep the room temps lower

 

[btarunr]

I think a GA-X58A-UD3R should suffice. It's laid out pretty well.

 

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

thanks this dvd/cd writer will be going into the new rig (once i make my mind up on all the components)

here's a small list of what i was thinking of getting

(psu)either a

Corsair HX 650W £ 94.99 or 153.38 US$
or a
Corsair HX 750W £ 117.99 or 190.53 US$

(cpu) Intel Core i7 920 D0 Stepping £ 209.98 or 339.075 US$

(memory) Corsair Dominator 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C8 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel (TR3X6G1600C8D) [TR3X6G1600C8D] £ 179.99 or 290.64 US$

(graphics card) Gigabyte ATI Radeon HD 5870 £ 349.99 or 565.16 US$

(motherboard) Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD7 £268.99 or 434.36 US$

i'm realy not sure what case or cpu cooler i'm going for either

I highly recommend the HAF 932 and 922, they push huge amounts of air, and are relitively quiet, as well as having sliding hard drive trays, tool-less 5.25 drive instillation, and room to upgrade to water cooling should you feel the need. Also the CM690 is a good choice, my kid brother just got one. As for Antec, I think they are just too much money for what you get (like Lan-Li) I own a Antec 300, and an Antec 900, and for what I got, the Antec 300 is more or less priced correct, I got it for $22.99 USD price at about 29-30 dollars, but if it was like 35+ dollars I would say it's over priced, but the Antec 900 cost me $98.00 USD, priced at about 90-100 dollars which is way over priced for what you get.

Also for your graphics card, I strongly recommend you go with XFX in stay of Gigabyte, as they have a double life time warranty, that is transferable, so should you feel the need to upgrade your video card to a 6xxx, or to an Nvidia card when they come out, you can sell the video card and transfer the warranty with it (stay away from Saphire they have horrible RMA, and have shipped cards with the wrong BIOS, and expect customers to flash the bios correctly, instead of honoring waranty's).

And with that set up, I would say perhaps you should step up to an 800, or 850 or more watt PSU, because, the best part about quality PSU's is you can re-use them over and over, it's worth the extra money if you can get 5+ years out of one. I have a ZALMAN ZM850-HP 850W, that's about 3 years old now, and I have used it in 3 different rigs.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

thanks btarunr, money isn't really a problem, although i don't want to go to over the top, i've got till the end of this poll to make my mind up although all recomendations are welcome


@[H]@RD5TUFF yes i will need a case with a good airflow i was thinking of a Lian Li Tyr PC-X1000 aluminum PC case about £ 265.64 or 425.66 US$ which makes the whole machine quite expensive if i do go for it ,but i'll give the others you've mentioned a good look

ye i could go mad with 2 or 3 graphics cards,but i have to consider the heat output ,as my room gets extremely hot in summer

i also get what you mean about the psu,but as i say i doubt i'll be going with anything newer in the future such as fermi(if it ever arrives) so i'm hoping to just use a 650 or 750w

well i've a laptop psu to fix so cheers for now

 

[btarunr]

thanks btarunr, money isn't really a problem, although i don't want to go to over the top, i've got till the end of this poll to make my mind up although all recomendations are welcome

I didn't look at it from a cost-cutting angle. It's just that you probably won't need the UD7. The X58A-UD3R gives you USB3/SATA6Gb/s, four PCI-E slots (with comfortable spacing for 3-way SLI) and also a PCI for any PCI card you may have.

Liquid-cooling X58+ICH10R is a little farcical (you won't be touching the chipset's voltages), unless there's a nForce 200 chip in there (which adds to the heat). So the UD3R's cooler does the job without being skimpy.

Then of course the UD3R costs 2/3 the UD7. Invest the money saved in more (or faster) RAM.

 

[mstenholm]

I am putting together a similar system. I purchased an Antec 1200 case 159.99 US$. I am going to purchase a Noctua NH-U9B SE2 54.99 US$ on Monday. I hope this helps with your choices.

The NH-U99B is a nice and silent cooler but not for a working i920. Of course depends on the work that you need to do. Go for a bigger one if you have the space in your case.

 

[mstenholm]

One reason going for the 7 could be that it will have a bios update for the new 6 cores (and it can handle Xeons).

I have it and it overclock nicely. I have no other X58 to hold it up against, but I'm very happy with it.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

one thing i will say about the ud7 is that has more regulators on it
i'e "Advanced 24+2+2 power phase design with VRD 11.1 support"
which is more than the other board has and does come at a premium
but if it makes it last longer i will be a happy man

 

[Pickles24]

The only way I could find to check temps on the NB is to use HWMonitor. I have found it runs around 38c passive, 32c with the Hybrid Silent Pipe and under 30c with the stock water block. Never getting over 50c full load.

 

[PaulieG]

I didn't look at it from a cost-cutting angle. It's just that you probably won't need the UD7. The X58A-UD3R gives you USB3/SATA6Gb/s, four PCI-E slots (with comfortable spacing for 3-way SLI) and also a PCI for any PCI card you may have.
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/mb_productimage_ga-x58a-ud3r_big.jpg

Liquid-cooling X58+ICH10R is a little farcical (you won't be touching the chipset's voltages), unless there's a nForce 200 chip in there (which adds to the heat). So the UD3R's cooler does the job without being skimpy.

Then of course the UD3R costs 2/3 the UD7. Invest the money saved in more (or faster) RAM.

I have to agree with BTA here. It has all of the features you need, without the "fluff", and from my fairly extensive experience with Gigabyte x58 and p55 boards, Gigabyte does NOT skimp on build quality despite the price point.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

thanks Paulieg just wondering is the corsair hx psu any good for a system like that?

 

[TIGR]

Great board, go for it.

 

[PaulieG]

thanks Paulieg just wondering is the corsair hx psu any good for a system like that?

Of course it will. A good psu like this will power this board, a 920, a good card (or 2), a couple of HDD's etc. No worries.

 

[Pickles24]

Just waiting for the big block to get here... this is what the stock looks like wet. 3/8" od on the Giga-block.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

Of course it will. A good psu like this will power this board, a 920, a good card (or 2), a couple of HDD's etc. No worries.

well the reason i ask is a few psu's don't say they are i7 compatible ,whereas some do

 

[ocnoob]

Great board, go for it.

Yes, it is. I've got it for my computer at home. No trouble yet, but almost no overclocking until now ;-) I'm still reading and learning ...

The Beta-Bios F3k will also flash your SATA-Bios, so expect about 10% more speed for your hdd, at least I've got with my ST32000641AS ATA Device ;-)

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

well as everyone knows i'm not really into overclocking i like things at default but i might tickle the processor just a little bit but not as much as some on here and hopefully it should last a long time

 

[GSquadron]

O my god what a beast! Looks like msi's upcoming big bang was born before by gigabyte.
Anyway what i see in this board are the tantalium phases near the cpu socket, but still it is not worth the whole money. And the pci e are so damn near . Hell no i wouldnt buy it.
But if you guys see these kind of phases in a motherboard prepare to pay a lot as the same with the upcoming big bang and the overclocking speed would be diabolic.

 

[dr emulator (madmax)]

i see what you mean about the pci e sockets being near ,it's making me wonder if i can get a 5870 and that pci slot cooler in close together, oh well on with the poll

 

[Pickles24]

1/2" clearance over my 8800 gts, and could fit a l.c. block in between/around. If you have the card wet, you should already have the NB as well. Or air there is no problem at all.