Looking for a high end X58 board that can push your shiny new I7 to it's limit? Today webbo takes a look at the DFI X58 T3eH8 Ultra to see if it checks all the boxes.

http://www.overclock3d.net/gfx/artic...164612695s.jpg

Take a look too see how it fairs here.

It's nice to know some things never change.

Amazing layout? Check.

Bulletproof? Check.

Incomprehensible BIOS options? Must be a DFI

Some great clocks coming out of that. Agree that the current high-end X58s are way too steep. Although the high-end 775 stuff was eye-watering too.

Thanks for the review.

Just spotted a typo:

while at first appearance appears very thick is that that daunting once you realise it is a multi language manual.

Probably wanna replace one of the "thats" with "not". Made for an awesome read though- day I can afford kit like this is the day I win the lottery lol.

Sounds like he was overcome by the 'Chinglish' manual.

its an amazing mobo, it looks pretty good, it has a lot of good points but i still dont know its price, also the asus / msi board results were as good as the DFI mobo, and sometimes even better and i expected more from it afterall DFI is pretty famous, but still its a great mobo

Although the results showed the boards to be fairly even (they are afterall all based on the same chipset and run at the same settings), when scoring the boards there are many more points to consider.

The DFI board is not a board to run at stock settings, it isn't designed to do that, anyone who buys this board for that is only after e-peen glory and not using the board for what it was intended for - overclocking. In this area it excels. Therefore DFI have completed what they set out to do. The price they charge reflects the niche market they are aiming for. After all Lamborghinis arn't exactly in the same marketplace or have the same customer in mind as Diatsu.

If you want a board that covers all bases then the Gigabyte board, for me at least, is the better board.

For hassle free 'it just works', reliability then look no further than the Asus P6T.

The MSI, while not a bad board by any stretch of the imagination, offers nothing over the others for the price they are asking.

DFI's X58 review! Gonna take my time reading this one. But yes, I love the flexibility the DFI bios offers, however sometimes, most of their settings seem rather redundant, or unnecessary.

But hey, the more there is to tweak, the double the fun.

-HypoG

Don't like it tbh. May sound outrageous, and I do respect the DFI history a great deal.

From the stats, I don't see a separation for any of these mobos. One will show a meager % over another, then on the next line-up it's beaten by one of the other mobos in another respect.

To this end, u could base a decision on price and ease of use. The bios is what it is, does it need to be overly expressive with the apparent limitations in what u can and can't do - probably not. w3bbo's above post iterates what for what.

The challenge I guess would be to get 4g+ from each of the mobos... that being done, which was the easiest (in terms of getting into the bios and changing things easily, getting out, and being stable equally easily) - if more than 2 of them can do that.. do u need the other features today ?

Bottom line for me, the big-arse sink out of the rear is a no-no, and £287 - no thanks.

Great review btw.

i understand, but then, the review could be updated someday when you have time, with some "basic" overclock settings and compared with the asus /gigabite if possible, because at stock like you said, it just runs like any other , its hard to get a good opinion of it by the stock, if i understand right, but anyways good review man

I think it's vital to test things at stock. That's what the public are buying.

Sexy. But sexyness comes with a chunky price tag too.

Yea...have to sell my entire c2d rig now in order to buy this mb.

Anyway this would be nice to have it in a next contest...

Yea...have to sell my entire c2d rig now in order to buy this mb.

Anyway this would be nice to have it in a next contest...

Taking this point up with Mr VonBlade. At the same time as agreeing that testing stock is vital, OC3D does have it's roots in an enthusiasts approach to hardware, whilst regular reviews may be found all over the 'net, I don't think I'm alone in wanting the testers to hammer the hardware if possible.

Then again, u may expect that after the dust settles, a shoot-out between mobos may be reviewed.

EDIT: Seen the MSI X58 Platinum for £226 today, it's a bit of a difference.

or the Boistar Tpower X58 for £218.49

I agree with both sides of the arguement TBH

I deffinately want to see "the testers hammer the hardware"

but a quick look at base settings performance would not do any harm as some people only overclock to game and/or bench, leaving things at or close to base settings for a large percentage of the time.