Intel Smackover – DX58SO

Intel Smackover – DX58SO @ Bjorn3D

“The performance of the Smackover motherboard is simply put, ‘Mind Blowing’. Overclocking the Core i7 CPU with this motherboard is very easy compared to the Core 2 CPU’s. I better get on with the review before I get too carried away. I know, too late.”

ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition

ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition @ Neoseeker

“The Asus P6T Deluxe is a really nice motherboard – I became quite fond of the OC Palm device, and it consistently had the best stock clock speed results of the three X58 boards I’ve reviewed so far.”

MSI DKA790GX Platinum

MSI DKA790GX Platinum @ ViperLair

“From a performance standpoint, the MSI DKA790GX performed on par with the 790FX in a stock speed scenario. Overclocking tells a different tale as the 790GX was a very good overclocker. The new SB750 South Bridge is a lot more stable in this department and for those of you looking to squeeze more out of their CPU, you will want to think about this if you’re due for a motherboard upgrade.”

ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition

ASUS P6T Deluxe OC Palm Edition @ TweakTown

“Core i7 is here and Intel is going to be pushing this as the new enthusiast processor platform. We have already taken a look at two of their three models released to the market, the Core i7 920 and Core i7 965. Both have proven themselves to be a very impressive processor and are quite easily capable of taking over where Core 2 leaves off.”

ECS A790GXM-A Black

ECS A790GXM-A Black @ Motherboards.org

“ECS’s board performed well within the range of the other 790GX boards I’ve tested and has the features that you would want from a motherboard with this chipset including Side Port memory, HDMI port, and integrated graphics in the form of the HD 3300 which make it a compelling HTPC motherboard. One feature which is missing from this board is 1MHz CPU Clock frequency adjustment, meaning that you have to adjust the frequency by 5MHz at a time instead of 1MHz at a time.”

ASUS P5Q Pro

ASUS P5Q Pro @ OC Club

“There are no major problems with this product but I found a couple of issues that should be addressed. The internal SATA port placement should be redesigned to avoid possible issues with large videocards installed in the second PCI-E x16 slot. This is actually a common design flaw found in many boards and can be prevented by using right angled SATA ports.”

MSI X58 Eclipse

MSI X58 Eclipse @ Neoseeker

“The memory performance is excellent, and I really like the LED2 on the motherboard along with the switches for power, reset and LED information. The dip switches for overclocking did not turn out to be useful, but they don’t hurt in any case. The inclusion of a Creative Labs X-Fi sound card is in my opinion far superior to using a “standard” audio codec – the board just feels, looks and behaves like a quality board.”

Biostar TA790GX A2+

Biostar TA790GX A2+ @ Digit-Life

“Motherboard examination brings us to a trivial conclusion: engineers fully implemented chipset functionality, having avoided all widespread drawbacks. So we can criticize the motherboard only for the lack of interesting addons, which might have marked it among its competitors.”

MSI Eclipse SLI

MSI Eclipse SLI @ Au-Ja!

“When we did our review of the Intel Core i7 we said that this is a workstation plattform in desktop clothing. Now that we’ve tested our first motherboard for the Core i7, you should prepare yourself for a workstation class price tag. The MSI Eclipse SLI, a very fine and stable motherboard, which supports CrossFireX as well as SLI, is on sale for 320 Euros. Okay, you’ll get plenty but is the MSI Eclipse SLI really worth so much money?”

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P

Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P @ Hot hardware

“As its name suggests, this board is based on the current mainstream chipset offering from Intel, the P45 Express. Although we’ve covered this ground before, most recently with our look at two recent offerings from MSI, it’s helpful to remember that the P45 is closely related to the X48 Express with support for Core 2 Duo and Quad processors as well as DDR2 or DDR3 RAM.”