Gigabyte X58A UD3R V2 Review

AIDA64

AIDA64 uses different methodology to Sandra and it shows with some variance in our results. The CPU Hash benchmark, which is encryption based, follows the CPU speed pretty closely. zLib has slightly odder results giving nothing extra to the 4GHz UD3R result, but then the 4.4GHz overclock decimates the rest of the chart. PhotoWorxx gives the edge at stock to the Sabertooth and CPU Queen has everything back to normal.

Admittedly none of the differences are striking or even remotely large, but they are what they are.

PC Mark Vantage

PC Mark always tests the whole of the system and so can usually give a wider range of results on theoretically identical hardware. Running at stock the UD3R really takes the Sabertooth to task, beating it in all of our tests. Some of the improvements can be down to running the Catalyst 10.10c drivers on the UD3R tests instead of the 10.9s we ran on the Sabertooth, but the results cannot be denied.

Once overclocked we can again see how the i7-950 just adores a good overclock with the scores getting further apart the more you overclock it. Yes that might sound obvious, but if the different between 4GHz and 4.2GHz is worth 400 PC Marks then we'd expect the 4.4GHz UD3R v2 to get 10300, but it nearly cracks 11000. The gaming test is an ever starker demonstration of how the i7-950 starts to stretch its legs as you head towards 4.5GHz, and the improved power phases of the UD3R v2 can easily keep up.