Intel Nehalem Boards Compared - Gigabyte
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One of Asus's primary rivals in the mainboard market, Gigabyte's initial foray into the world of Nehalem is with the GA-EX58 series. In general, these boards are significantly less expensive than the Asus range. Like the Asus boards, the EX58s are quad-core boards based on the X58 chipset. The higher-specified versions also offer both SLI and CrossFire support, although the most basic version, the DS4, supports just CrossFire.
Otherwise, the specs across the range are broadly similar: six DIMM slots supporting up to 24GB of RAM, support for up to eight SATA 3GBs and two IDE devices, five PCI Express and two PCI slots, and support for dual BIOS configuration. The GA-EX58 also looks amazing. With its vivid pink and green DIMM slots, classy blue base board and curvaceous styling, it's almost a shame to hide it away in an ATX case.
The GA-EX58 series offers an extensive range of features. Power management is handled by Gigabyte's new Dynamic Energy Saver (DES) Advanced technology, using Dynamic 6-gear switching at the hardware level. DES results in dramatic power efficiency thanks to the complex algorithms at the heart of the system. Advanced Multi-Phase VRM is provided for improved cooling efficiency. This is designed to lengthen the life of chipset and memory components and allow for higher overclocking.
The boards are equipped with a range of visual indicators for overclocking, temperature and overvoltage, reducing the risk of component damage. Extensive tweaking control is provided by the EasyTune 6 application, which allows even overclocking newbies to push system performance to its limits with little risk of damage. Overall, the GA-EX58 boards are strong performers with an impressive feature set from a reputable manufacturer.
MSI
Another Taiwanese manufacturer, MSI, has also made an early entry into the Nehalem marketplace. To date it has introduced two boards based on the X58 chipset: the Platinum and the Eclipse.
X58 Platinum: Despite being the entry-level board intended for the mainstream rather than specialist user, the Platinum is well equipped with a selection of powerful features. The board is available in two versions, one supporting Crossfire and the other, SLI. Other than that there's no difference between the two models, with each including support for up to 24GB of RAM, the usual array of connectivity options, and most notably, MSI's DrMOS power saving and management technology. This is designed to reduce system operating temperature under demanding loads, increase system stability at higher speeds and optimize power consumption. They have managed to do all this at a very attractive price of around $230, making entry to Core i7 computing widely affordable.
X58 Eclipse: The Eclipse is the Platinum's big brother, aimed at enthusiasts and power users. MSI have given the board a number of advanced features including dual support for SLI and CrossFire, and MSI's DrMOS and Active Phase Switching advanced power saving technologies. Active Phase Switching works alongside DrMOS to manage the power requirements of system components such as the CPU and memory. The inclusion of solid capacitors and a boot diagnostics detector complete an attractive all-around package.
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