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Intel X58 and ASUS P6T Deluxe

Author: Date: 21.12.2008

Along with the CPU Intel Core i7 920 (LGA1366; 2.66 GHz; Bloomfield core), we've got a motherboard ASUS P6T Deluxe (Intel X58) at our test lab. So, today we are reviewing its features and functionality. But before we go on, a few words on the chipset itself.

The Intel X58 chipset

These days, the Intel X58 chipset is the only product for LGA1366 systems. From the technical viewpoint, the "north bridge" X58 is much simpler than its predecessors (the bridges X48 and X38). The thing is, this chip offers no integrated memory controller, which is now integrated into LGA1366 processors. Instead of that, the QPI bus controller to communication with the CPU has been added to the X58. As regards support for the PCI Express v2.0, there are no radical changes at that: X58 supports 36 lanes and allows the configurations 2х16, 4х8, as well as some interim configurations. Like its predecessors, Intel X58 supports the AMD CrossFire. Besides, a long-awaited event has happened - some motherboards with X58 have acquired support for the NVIDIA SLI technology. In fact, it's not the merit of engineers at Intel because support for the SLI is implemented in NVIDIA's graphic drivers, and far back as a year ago some enthusiasts were already able starting SLI on the X48 chipset through use of modified drivers. As regards motherboards on the X58, part of them will offer support for the SLI officially.

The "north bridge" of X58 is equipped with the "south bridge" ICH10(R) with which it is linked over the DMI bus. Since the specifications of ICH10(R) are already well known, we are not dwelling on them in detail but briefly list the major options - support for six SerialATA II links, 12 USB 2.0 ports, support for Gigabit connection and the High Definition Audio subsystem. Besides, ICH10(R) supports six PCI Express lanes which can be used by developers arbitrarily.

ASUS P6T Deluxe Specifications

Package

The box with the ASUS P6T Deluxe board is pretty massive and has a handle to carry it around:

Inside the box, the buyer will find two compartments: one with the board, the other one with additional components:

Package bundle

• motherboard;
• User's Manual in English;
• 1x software & drivers DVD;
• one ATA133 cable, FDD cable;
• six SerialATA cables;
• 2x SAS cables;
• a bracket for 2 additional USB 2.0 ports and a Firewire port;
• ASUS corporate logo sticker;
• kit of additional connectors;
• a cap for the rear panel of the housing;
• SLI-bridge;
• additional fan;
• OC Palm module + USB cable.

Although the product is positioned as an undisputable high-end product, its retail price is high enough, and perhaps the buyer will have to purchase a number of extra components. First, brackets for additional four USB ports (or two, if there are two ports on the housing) may be needed.

Secondly, you may have to buy power adapters for SerialATA devices. The thing is, SAS cables in the package bundle is a great bonus for professional users, but in the assembly of a regular computer they don't facilitate plugging in storage devices much.

The SAS technology stands for the Serial Attached SCSI and is a transient interface from the parallel SCSI to the more convenient and powerful serial interface. The major distinction of SAS from SATA is about two independent links for data transmission, and SAS is backward-compatible to SATA. That means you can absolutely safely plug in SATA disks to the SAS controller. To verify that, we plugged in one SATA disk to the SAS controller with a SAS cable and found no issues. However, the SAS technology merits a separate review, and it is premature to talk about it without a matching disk. By the way, SAS disks stand out with a high rotational speed of the spindle (10 000-15 000 RPM), a relatively small capacity (under 100 GB), and a high retail price ($250-350). Conclusion: support for the SAS may be of interest to professional users only.

The package bundle includes a pair of special connectors (Quick Connection Kit) to which all the cables from the housing can be plugged in (the "Power", "Reset" buttons, a cable from the "HDD" indicator, etc.), and then plug them in to the board with a single motion.

The user's manual has nothing to complain about. The bundled DVD contains a complete kit of all the required drivers and ASUS' proprietary utilities (including the drivers for 32- and 64-bit Windows versions, drivers for Linux and MS Vista). Besides, the disk contains Norton Internet Security 2008 suite, Ulead Burn.Now, Corel MediaOne Starter, Ulead PhotoImpact 12 SE, CyberLink PowerBackup, and WinZip 11.

Note that the package bundle should also contain an additional fan for the "north bridge", but it was missing on the board in question. Finally, we note the OC Palm which is the already familiar ASUS ScreenDUO device which we reviewed in detail half a year ago.

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	Content:
	Page 1 - Specifications. Package bundle Page 2 - Exterior and design of ASUS P6T Deluxe Page 3 - Expansion options Page 4 - BIOS, system monitoring Page 5 - Overclocking and stability. Final Words Top Stories: MoBo: ECS X58B-A (Intel X58) ASUS Rampage II Extreme (Intel X58) MSI DKA790GX and ECS A780GM-A Ultra MSI P7NGM (NVIDIA GeForce 9300) Intel X58 and ASUS P6T Deluxe MSI P45 Neo2 (Intel P45) Foxconn A7GMX-K (AMD 780G) VGA Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 295 – a new leader in 3D graphics! ECS HYDRA GeForce 9800GTX+. Water-cooled and SLI "all-in-one" Radeon HD 4830 CrossFire - better than Radeon HD 4870! XFX GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition in the SLI mode Leadtek WinFast PX9500 GT DDR2 – better than GeForce 9500GT DDR-3 Palit Radeon HD 4870 Sonic: exclusive, with unusual features Palit HD 4850 Sonic: almost Radeon HD 4870, priced as HD 4850 CPU & Memory: GSkill high-capacity memory modules CPU Intel Core i7-920 (Bloomfield) DDR3 memory: late 2008 CPU AMD Phenom X3 8750 (Toliman) AMD Phenom X4 9850 – a top-end CPU at affordable price CPU Intel Atom 230 (Diamondville) Chaintech Apogee GT DDR3 1600