Thoughts on the GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD3R?

[blurry]

Been using my P4 2.6C setup for an amazing 4 years now. It's about as fast as it'll go (raptors, ram,...). Time for Core i7.

I think I'll probably be keeping this soon-to-be setup for an equally long time (or until I can't play ultra high definition movies smoothly).

First of all, I've been out of the scene for a while but I've been hearing good things about Gigabyte motherboards, so..

• in terms of the layout on this board - why are the PCIe x1 slots right by the heatsink? Will any cards fit into that?
• Should I be concerned about the number of PWM phases on this board if I am planning to run stock or with just a mild OC?
• Will this board last at least 4 years without problems?

The only gripes I can see right off the bat is no eSATA, but that isn't a huge deal if this Gigabyte board is reliable.

 

[IOS&M]

as for your first question - it's the same with almost all the X58 mobo's - with most of
them you can't use the PCI-E X1 slots, but I think at least one of them can be used in
this motherboard, and the first one maybe with a very very small card - if there's any ...

as for Mild OC - no problem at all with this motherboard - it will be fine.

as for 4 years - well ... it depends on you and how anxious you are for upgrades ...

 

[Badbonji]

I believe on the Extreme the heatsink may not be needed if water cooled, not tested this though as I use both. Also, note that dual slot gpu's will block off the corresponding PCI below it, one under PCI-e slot #1 and another at #2. Can be annoying if you have an older sound card using PCI, but onboard sounds decent still.

 

[blurry]

The Extreme is nice, but way too pricey for me (and I thought I spent a lot on, what was the top-of-the-line 875P motherboard...). I'm not yet a believer in integrated audio, and I think the x1 slots wouldn't be a huge problem if I were. Does it look like a decent soundcard would fit inbetween the x1 #2 and x16 #1 slots? Also, if I am only running one video card, must it be used in the #1 slot?

 

[IOS&M]

you don't have to use the 1st pci slot - that's what im planning to do actually with
my X58-Extreme ...

 

[blurry]

So I've been doing some more reading around. I think I'll be going with the UD4P at the minimum because it comes with a nifty eSATA bracket (and more...). But between that and the UD5 (which has dual-GigE - which I've always wanted to try out) is an extra $39 by Newegg pricing.

Between the UD5 and the EXTREME, is another $30. Possibilities: watercooling experiment since I have the spacious Rocketfish case.

 

[blurry]

UD4P ordered! Hope I made the right choice.

 

[TimoneX]

Make with the results already!

 

[Badbonji]

I got the extreme over others as I saved alot of money on the cpu, so could spend that extra for the motherboard

 

[mdamda]

Slightly off topic. I find the integrated audio to suffice on my X38 board.

 

[blurry]

Before going into overclocking - since I built the system, I have been experiencing an odd, faint beeping sound that I hear sporadically while using the computer. Speakers are off and I have the latest drivers installed. I've only ever encountered this beeping sound on a HP laptop. Please don't tell me I have to disassemble everything for a motherboard RMA..

 

[Badbonji]

Post/contact Gigabyte and see waht they say. Have you got the newest BIOS? Maybe that will fix it.

 

[cowbalt]

Before going into overclocking - since I built the system, I have been experiencing an odd, faint beeping sound that I hear sporadically while using the computer. Speakers are off and I have the latest drivers installed. I've only ever encountered this beeping sound on a HP laptop. Please don't tell me I have to disassemble everything for a motherboard RMA..

Hey blurry...

I have the same motherboard, and i'm experiencing the same issue. Really strange beeping sound, some kind of glassy singing sound...(don't really know how to describe it differently).
Can you let me know if you resolved it?

I'm using the latest Bios btw (6a)

Cheers,
Cowbalt

 

[blurry]

Hmm, the forums never sent me an email notification of replies to this thread..

Gigabyte, with all my specs and description of the problem pretty much told me to send it back to them to test. I asked if it could be electrical interference and their side suggested testing the motherboard outside of the case - which I haven't done yet because I have no time for that or a spare computer.

I'm not sure what BIOS you (cowbalt) have, but the BIOS versions are designated by F# only (i.e. F5).

 

[cowbalt]

Hi blurry,

Thanks for the reply. The Bios version that I use, is the very latest from GigaByte themselves. It's a pre-release of version F6.

I'm kind of able to reproduce this sound...
It always occures when I hover my mouse on something that gives you a "pop-up", so it might well be something to do with the Videocard or the PCI slot, not sure though...

Can you confirm this?

Cheers,
Cowbalt.

 

[blurry]

Can't say I was able to reproduce your particular scenario, if by pop-ups you meant tooltips. I get the sound without doing any specific repetitive actions most of the time. One action I did catch that consistently made the sound was by scrolling a longer than average web page with the cursor up and down.

I am not using anything in my PCI slots besides the eSATA bracket that came with the motherboard.

 

[cowbalt]

Indeed I meant tooltips there . We have a tool for NewsGroups called FTD (dutch app), and when you hover your mouse on a link, it gives you a tooltip, which causes the beeping sound, and is 100% reproducable.
And didn't mean the PCI, but PCI-E of course, my excuses ...Which Video card do you have there, mine is a Asus 9800GTX+

Same issue occurs with me on the large pages... So definitely the same issue we talk about.

I've opened a case a week ago with GigaByte, but they're not really responsive at the moment.

Cheers,
Cowbalt.

 

[blurry]

Another way I can replicate the sound is through resizing of an open window. I currently have a XFX 7600GT.

Gigabyte hasn't sent me any further responses after suggesting I test it outside of the case.

 

[Nipa]

older sound card using PCI,

I use both. Also, note that dual slot gpu's will block off the corresponding PCI below it, one under PCI-e slot #1 and another at #2. Can be annoying if you have an older sound card using PCI, but onboard sounds decent still.

 

[cowbalt]

blurry, unfortunately ....

This is what I got back from GigaByte support:

"Hello,

Please be advised you still heard noise coming from the MB while the system not OCed, I suggest contact with your dealer for checking and repairing."

seems they really don't know or too stubborn to admit this issue

Cheers,
Cowbalt