The chaps over atb MasShrimps put seven feature rich X58 motherboards (Asrock X58 Supercomputer, Asus Rampage 2 Extreme, DFI Lanparty DK X58-T3eH6, Foxconn Bloodrage, Gigabyte X58-Extreme, Intel DX58SO, MSI X58 Eclipse SLI) for Intel's latest Core i7 CPU to the test. Comparing performance, overclocking scaling in a multitude of applications and games. Which one comes out on top?

In terms of raw performance, we see that most motherboards are delivering what they should do; only the Intel DX58SO is trailing a bit, but that's because the board was set to 150x24 in the 3.6GHz test setting with the memory divider set at x10, which means that the memory clock was in fact 100MHz slower than on the other boards. On stock settings, the Intel board is perfectly capable of giving equal amount of performance.

In terms of overclockability, we have two obvious winners: the Asus Rampage II Extreme and the Gigabyte X58-Extreme, both motherboards targeting the high-end enthusiast market. However, the reason why they're in the lead is because of the excellent BCLK overclocking results, which are, as already explained on the BCLK overclocking page, biased by the memory/cpu/voltage combination. As said before, nearly all boards (except for the Intel DX58SO) are capable of running 220MHz BCLK with the right cpu/memory/voltages: you can check the different overclocking forums for examples. If we take this into account and recalculate the scores using 220MHz BCLK for both DFI and Foxconn motherboard, we get the following results: DFI: 9905, Foxconn: 9931. That would make those two the best overclocking motherboards. Please take note of this when choosing your motherboard!
�

Asus Rampage 2 Extreme - The Rampage 2 Extreme has proven it's one of the better motherboards available in terms of performance and overclocking and, in addition, it comes with a extensive range of extra's. The main issue with this product is its price, though, which is in the USA by far the most expensive. However, if you want to have the ultimate X58 setup, the R2E is definitely one of the better choices. Note that for those who want a bare bone setup, there's also a mini version of the Rampage 2 Extreme: Rampage II GENE

+ Very, very complete package
+ Looks awesome
+ Amount of overclocking options in bios
+ Excellent overclocking results
+ Overclocking software
- Bios is a bit chaotic
- Price
�

Gigabyte X58-Extreme - The Gigabyte X58-Extreme is, next to the R2E, more than excellent in terms of performance and overclockability. There are a bit less extras or special features, but then again ... the price is lower as well, although still very high. If you have to decide between this motherboard and the R2E, this last argument may be decisive. All in all, makes for an excellent choice.

+ Overal performance results
+ Elaborate bios
+ Watercooling + extra heatpipe cooling system
+ Overclockability
+ Overclocking software
- Price