WPrime
Again, this benchmark is used heavily among the overclocking community. It is fully multicore capable and contains a range of work loads that measures CPU performance in decimal time tables. The lower the time, the better the score.
This benchmark was a little pickier on the stability of the CPU. After some simple tweaks, the results are very evidence that the OC board is much better tuned. Frequencies ramp up much quicker when working with the board.
Sisoft SANDRA – CPU Math & Media Benchmark
SANDRA is a huge synthetic benchmark used by some high end engineers. It will test just about everything within a computer or server right down to the network. We’re using the CPU benchmarks here to show you what higher frequencies offer.
Fast doesn’t quite say it when compared to another board alone. My once favorite X58A-UD5 just doesn’t have the heart and circuits of the X58A-OC. These are impressive scores to say the least.
Bad Company 2
Even though this is a crazy cool overclocking platform, it runs video games perfectly fine if not better. Frame rates are extremely smooth and down right fanatical even with the highest possible graphics and driver settings. One could easily game and get their clock rates on with the X58A-OC.
Power Consumption
Given the purpose of the motherboard, it seems a little moot to present you with the consumption observed in the lab. However, even with the highly tuned VRM and PWM components, the X58A-OC still doesn’t consume much more power. This is a testament to the detail put in to its design and implementation. The G1-Killer Assassin actually consumes more power to put a little more perspective on it. This is likely due to the extra bells and whistles like the Killer Networking and Creative audio solution.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
The GIGABYTE X58A-OC is an overclocking work of art. Its design, while not typical of GIGABYTE’s regular colour palette, is unique for a serious full sized ATX motherboard. This was likely the work of our overclocking friend, Hi Cookie. The VRM speaks volumes to the engineering and planning put into its construction. The HI-C caps and driver MOSFET circuitry are of the highest quality. They sit so low, it will be extremely easy for LN2 and Phase Change overclockers to prep the board for some fanatical high voltage, extreme frequency overclocking.
The X58A-OC is designed to make it super easy to use inside and especially outside any computer cases. There’s extra power ports to help offload any potential voltage burdens that might arise as you go searching for a world record. However, you may not find the IO sufficient if you need analog audio ports for day to day use. As a platform for users who want to game, you’ll want to add a decent audio card, maybe even gaming oriented networking, which steers you right toward’s GIGABYTE’s own G1-Killer series at around the same price point. More mainstream users may consider GIGABYTE’s X58A-UD7 motherboard which offers even a bit more headroom than our UD5.
Here’s the heart breaker. The X58A-OC has only been shipped in extremely limited quantities as GIGABYTE continues to scale back for future chipsets. If you happen to buy one of these rare gems from places like Amazon or Newegg, you’ll be shelling out close to $359 US/CA to own what is arguably the extreme overclocking standard. That’s why it earns our “High Performance Award” for an all out assault on overclocked performance.
Pros
- Engineering work of art
- Highly capable, stand alone overclocking platform
- Nearly unlimited tweakable BIOS settings
- Extremely overclockable
- Unquestionable high quality
Cons
- Extremely limited availability
- Limited audio ports for gamers
Overall Rating: 9.5 / 10.0
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