Asus P6X58D-E

Performance: 9/10
Features: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

If you're looking to build a powerful Core i7 PC without taking out a second mortgage then this board is the best choice.

Pros
- Updated features compared to original X58 boards including True USB 3 and SATA 6Gb/s
- Gulftown ready
- Excellent price

Cons
- None

Plus

• Sensible price
• Great performance
• Feature-rich
• Excellent all-rounder

Minus

• Not quite as fast as the ROG boards

Pros:
+ Full-featured motherboard for value-enthusiasts
+ SuperSpeed USB-3.0 offers 5Gbps transfer speed
+ 16+2 Xtreme Phase Power VRD reduces power costs
+ Supports ATI CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI dual and triple video card sets
+ Supports 24GB of dual-channel DDR3 up to 2000MHz
+ BIOS offers infinite enthusiast overclocking options
+ Japanese-manufactured surface mount all-solid capacitors
+ Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Full-rate audio with DTS connect
+ Marvell 88SE9128 SATA 6Gb/s controller adds forward compatibility
+ 6 Intel ICH10R SATA ports deliver RAID 0/1/5/JBOD
+ NEC-D720200F1 SuperSpeed USB 3.0 controller
+ MemOK! ensures memory boot compatibility
+ Express Gate allows system/web access without O/S

Cons:
- High priced 'enthusiast' motherboard solution
- BIOS options can be complicated for some users
- Lacks hardware-based encryption features
- SATA6G/USB3 borrow from PCI-E link lanes

• Performance: 9.50
• Appearance: 9.00
• Construction: 9.25
• Functionality: 9.00
• Value: 8.25

Recommended Award

Price: 9
Performance: 8
Presentation: 8

Gold Seal of Approval

Pros:

• Very easy 200 BCLK overclock
• Good operating temperatures even when overclocked
• Decent accessory pack
• Good looks and layout
• 32nm CPU, USB 3.0, SATA 6Gb/s RAID support

Cons:

• Factory BIOS had some memory issues

Overall, this motherboard had everything I would look for in most LGA 1366 motherboards; it can handle triple card configurations, has eight SATA slots, all six memory slots unlike some boards with three, clean open CPU socket, solid chipset cooling, and a matching color scheme with no random orange or green pieces anywhere. The price is a lot lower than the Premium version, which apparently doesn't support RAID on the SATA 6Gb/s ports, and is only really missing one LAN port and a reset button otherwise. To be able to hit the settings that would allow 4GHz on the first try is a good indication of how well this motherboard can overclock too! Another nice feature is that it is 32nm CPU ready so consumers won't have to deal with trying to flash the BIOS to enable support.The only major cons were that it threw a fit while trying to use the XMP profile of the memory. When I manually updated the BIOS the board was well on its way to overclocking with the proper timings. The other problem was the buggy TurboV software that caused a BSOD at the first attempt to use it to overclock and then it didn't work at all until the uninstalling and swapping to the latest released version, which worked perfectly and allowed for several settings to be changed in Windows rather than the BIOS.This motherboard provided good, clean, and reliable service. It was easy to overclock and went past 205 BCLK with minimal effort. Temperatures were always good on all the heatsinks, and performance was normal for a motherboard. The price is right and the performance was great!