Gigabyte EX58-UD5 X58 Motherboard
Packaging & Contents
Published: 5th January 2009 | Source: Gigabyte | Price: £218.49 |
Packaging & Contents
Although not picked up in the photos very well, the white exterior sleeving features a sparkling prism effect, refracting light. Pleasing to the eye, much more than the flat packaging of previous generation boards, the package has that premium feel to it rather than the 'stack it high, sell it cheap' tactic some manufacturers seem to take.
The front of the box has the UD3 emblem in prime position explaining the details of this feature with the rear of the box goes into much more depth. The remaining hardware and software features of the EX58-UD5 are explained in full on the rear of the package with the specifications labelled on the side of the box.
The I/O shield should be familiar to anyone who has owned a Gigabyte board of recent generations, being well laid out and clearly labelled with both text and colour coding. Below we see the manual which is very well written and has clear yet concise diagrams which will help both novice and expert alike.
Although not picked up in the photos very well, the white exterior sleeving features a sparkling prism effect, refracting light. Pleasing to the eye, much more than the flat packaging of previous generation boards, the package has that premium feel to it rather than the 'stack it high, sell it cheap' tactic some manufacturers seem to take.
The front of the box has the UD3 emblem in prime position explaining the details of this feature with the rear of the box goes into much more depth. The remaining hardware and software features of the EX58-UD5 are explained in full on the rear of the package with the specifications labelled on the side of the box.
Removing the outer sleeve we come to a plain inner box containing the both the accessories and motherboard itself. While not excessive the accessories are complete enough to get your rig up and running with the minimum of hassle. 4 SATA cables, an IDE and floppy cable as well as an eSATA cable and bracket make up the storage accessories.
The I/O shield should be familiar to anyone who has owned a Gigabyte board of recent generations, being well laid out and clearly labelled with both text and colour coding. Below we see the manual which is very well written and has clear yet concise diagrams which will help both novice and expert alike.
Gigabyte have very thoughtfully included both an SLI and TRI SLI bridge for the EX58-UD5 which is in contrast to the other boards we have tested recently. However, even though most ATI cards come with a Crossfire bridge, it would have been nice for Gigabyte to also include at least one for those who do not have a bridge for their cards. Not a criticism I can really aim at the Gigabyte as the other SLI board on test, the Asus P6T Deluxe comes with neither SLI or Crossfire bridge, but I feel that this is an opportunity missed nonetheless. A strange inclusion is an extra PCI bracket that doesn't appear to have any use other than for extra ventilation.
Let's move on and take a look at the motherboard itself...
Most Recent Comments
We got performance figures of these vS 775 setups ? I can'`t remember.
Either way, £218 is still taking the pish imo. These are the emerging mobos that will see revisions l8r in the year, and to charge over even £200 for them is beyond.
They figuring they can price match Foxconn or summit ?
Tis a shame, cos it does appear a great mobo from the review, but I have to be honest, being as i7 doesn`t do leaps and bounds over a 775, I for one aint gonna pay over the odds to get them.Quote
Either way, £218 is still taking the pish imo. These are the emerging mobos that will see revisions l8r in the year, and to charge over even £200 for them is beyond.
They figuring they can price match Foxconn or summit ?
Tis a shame, cos it does appear a great mobo from the review, but I have to be honest, being as i7 doesn`t do leaps and bounds over a 775, I for one aint gonna pay over the odds to get them.Quote
Nice review webbo. I'm really liking the look of this board and the price/colour scheme may now see me acquire one in the future.Quote
Rasta, I totally agree with you and I refuse to pay that kind of money for a motherboard. Anyhoo, don't know how many of you know but there are some P55 motherboards coming out some time this year which hopefully will be around normal prices. I expect they will be similar like the P35 and the X38 for pricing strategies?Quote
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Originally Posted by name='monkey7'
Oh and one question: how did you save the bios? |
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Personally the only bug I've found is the CPU multiplier in the F3 bios: I couldn't lower the CPU multiplier.
Oh and one question: how did you save the bios?