World’s First Overclocking Motherboard : X58A-OC

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GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co., Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards and other computing hardware solutions today announced the launch of the world’s first motherboard designed from the ground up for extreme overclockers, the GIGABYTE GA-X58A-OC. Its overclocking specific performance design defines a whole new category of enthusiast focused motherboards that introduces never-seen-before tweaking and insulating features.

“The GIGABYTE X58A-OC introduces some really exciting and unique overclocking technologies like the PWM frequency switcher, a full range of onboard hardware OC buttons, onboard SATA power connectors for stable multiple graphics configurations, and DualBIOS™ switcher that up until now have just been ideas discussed in private OC forums and messages,” commented HiCookie, GIGABYTE In-house Overclocking Expert.
 
That looks like a pretty incredible motherboard. I'm loving those hardware overclocking buttons. It seems a shame though, that it is a X58 board when that chipset is on its way out the door.
 
I wont be leaving x58 for a while yet so I dont have a problem with continued development. In fact Imin the market for a new board to take advantage of 4gb modules. 4.2ghz on my H50 will do me till the next gen
 
Well, there goes the art of overclocking. Simply hit the 4ghz button. Thanks a lot gigashyte :(
 
While it looks impressive anyone ever heard of DFI? Not sure this really counts as a first.
 
THOMO said:
Well, there goes the art of overclocking. Simply hit the 4ghz button. Thanks a lot gigashyte :(
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That's okay, plenty of technology renders most things simple and uninspired. (Those poor Typesetters!)

I like the colors, curious what the price is gonna be.
 
THOMO said:
Well, there goes the art of overclocking. Simply hit the 4ghz button. Thanks a lot gigashyte :(
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Overly paradnoid doomsday forecasting are we? I'm not hearing the death bell tolling yet on OC'ing simply based on this. :rolleyes:
 
I'm so glad gigabyte could finally bring the "worlds first overclocking motherboard" to market a year after the Rampage III extreme...
 
ir0nw0lf said:
Overly paradnoid doomsday forecasting are we? I'm not hearing the death bell tolling yet on OC'ing simply based on this. :rolleyes:
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Oh no, virtually everyone will overclock once all boards sport these features. My point is who will be doing the actual overclocking? :(
 
THOMO said:
Well, there goes the art of overclocking. Simply hit the 4ghz button. Thanks a lot gigashyte :(
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well i feel you, but none the less, the real meaning of technology moving forward is to make things easier, of course the problems also becomes massive but still it's worth praising.
 
I remember when Abit made "Overclocking motherboards" for Pentium 3 computers with extra layers and thicker wires to handle more current.. So not the first by about a decade.
 
goodl said:
I wont be leaving x58 for a while yet so I dont have a problem with continued development. In fact Imin the market for a new board to take advantage of 4gb modules. 4.2ghz on my H50 will do me till the next gen
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I'd have to agree with LegendaryFrog. Looks like an awesome motherboard about 8 months ago. Maybe the right question is why would you pick X58 over P67? I'm asking only because seeing a 2600K trading blows with a 980X tells me there is no reason to pick X58 anymore.
 
Oh wow. The first overclocking motherboard. I've heard of this overclocking in the past, but I always avoided it because I didn't want to fabricate my own overclocking motherboard out of wire coat hangars and a piece of cardstock.
 
I for one welcome the idea that high performance PC's are becoming more accessible to more people. This is another way to put a higher performing rig into the hands of people who WANT more power, but don't feel comfortable with the risk that comes with toasting thier board/parts due to ONE misconfigured setting.

Think about it - the more people that have higher powered rigs, the BETTER that PC gaming can get. Haven't you had that frustration where you're wanting MORE from your game, only to read that there are numerous people trying to get the same performance as you, with almost HALF the hardware, because someone told them "This is all you need to game", or "its not worth buying this awesome hardware if you're not going to overclock it". I've seen that 2nd line too many times in the Core I7 930 threads where people have purchased a 930, only to run it stock. Who are we to tell them that they have wasted thier time/money by not overclocking it? Yes - mine are overclocked, but I was willing to put the hours into research at this site, and other recommended sites. I spent the money on the cooling and board that seemed to have the best overall general success. Lastly, I also put hours into testing, tuning, verifying, validating...in HOPES that it will work. Why not take that hassle OUT of overclocking and put this power into the hands of more gamers bringing the gaming community as a whole to a new higher level?

If this board can make overclocking a simple and SUPPORTED process, more people will have access to better gaming experiences.
 
Call me biased, but our (MSI) OC Genie has been making overclocking accessible for almost 2 years ;) The whole goal of the technology was to create that bridge and build a more enthusiast oriented market... making it accessible by making it EASY to use (button push).

However, we always went ahead to include other features like voltage checkpoints, overvolting switches, resistor knobs, etc. to cater to the most extreme user (or to transition beginners into more advanced ways).

With that said, it's pretty odd to call this the "World's First Overclocking Motherboard" when everyone has already made boards geared towards that market - including Gigabyte!

-Rajiv Kothari
MSI US PR Manager
 
THOMO said:
Well, there goes the art of overclocking. Simply hit the 4ghz button. Thanks a lot gigashyte :(
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The vast vast majority of people don't overclock because they like to, they do it because it gives them more performance for less money.
 
Willsonman said:
While it looks impressive anyone ever heard of DFI? Not sure this really counts as a first.
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Yeah they went under, before that, not until I moved to the US in '06, so internationally not well known, might be the reason they went under. Heck I knew who Soyo and Asrock were back in the UK, and they are obscure to non existent.

It's a refreshing change for Gigabyte, I'm sure people will still do the overclocking through the BIOS, than fudging around with buttons inside the case.
 
Well this just caters to the "instant gratification" people of today.

It's like R/C cars these days - when I was growing up racing you had to build your damn car now everything is pre assembled and RTR (ready to race) takes all the fun out of it. PCs and hardware are heading the same direction.
 
Derangel said:
Art of overclocking? Really? :rolleyes:
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Yup, it's an art. Until you really understand how to overclock to the point where you are fine-tuning voltages for most components of your board and fine-tuning RAM timings, you're a noob.
 
Until you really understand how to overclock to the point where you are fine-tuning voltages for most components of your board and fine-tuning RAM timings, you're a noob.
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Until you learn how to tell you've reached the point of diminishing returns and are wasting hours of your life to get that last little 1% improvement you're OCD.
 
First overclocking is not good.

I will tell you why, one it decreases the lifespan of parts. Two it throws power efficiency out the window.

Sure you get a faster system. Todays applications can not even use all the cores of the modern cpus. Almost all forget about how you can have a monster discrete graphics card which sits there idle when it could also be helping out.

Truth is there is not much of benefit to overclock your computer much anymore. While i do overclock its not back in the old days were overclocking your 300mhz cpu to 400mhz would actually provide a huge boost in performance. Overclocking is dying.

This board is made for one purpose, overclocking with Ln2 or phase change. The 980x and the new 990x are still intels flagship processors. Sure the Sandy bridge might be a bit faster in games due to the on die pci express controller, depending on the game. Application work loads that use 6 cores blow the Sandy Bridge away.

In all if i had a 980x or a 990x i would be getting this board to play with some Ln2 goodness. Ln2 is the only way to actually see a major boost in performance, but it also that much more of a hassle, not to mention that its gonna make the power meter on your house spin twice as fast.
 
ebduncan said:
First overclocking is not good.
I will tell you why, one it decreases the lifespan of parts. Two it throws power efficiency out the window.
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False. True.
ebduncan said:
The 980x and the new 990x are still intels flagship processors. Sure the Sandy bridge might be a bit faster in games due to the on die pci express controller, depending on the game. Application work loads that use 6 cores blow the Sandy Bridge away.
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I suggest you go read here: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/01/03/intel_sandy_bridge_2600k_2500k_processors_review/5

It gets beat, but not by much overclocked and is far cheaper. This is why I can't see buying X58 anymore.
 
Lol like overclocking to 4ghz is what this board is made for. They got an i7 990x to 7.1ghz on this, now get me a sandybridge that does that. Anyways its made for ln2 if you read about it(special amounts of space left around the cpu). Looks good for the extreme benchers.
 
Originally Posted by ebduncan
*snip*
You aren't a true [H]ard member. Get out. You don't belong here.
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why because i believe overclocking is almost useless these days?

I care about power efficiency, and performance per watt. I like my pc to be silent, or whisper quiet.

I brought my hexcore up from 2.8 ghz to 3.7 ghz at stock voltage, it consumes about 40 more watts of juice at full load.

Either way back on topic,this motherboard isn't for people with air cooling, its for people with LN2 and phase change cooling systems. They have hit over 7ghz on the 990x with this motherboard and ln2. No sandy bridge is going to make it to 7ghz i don't think. The 990x is Intels FASTEST processor. Yes SB comes close but its still slower.
 
So its your belief vs my results?

My systems both run more effective at 4.0+GHz than the 2.8GHz stock clocks.

You can argue placebo effect, or only seeing what I want to see. However, a test beyond that would be taking my GF's rig, and loading BIOS setting 2 (which is ALL default stock clocks) and not telling her.

Not 30 min later she's alt-tabbed out of her game loading the CCC, and RadeonPro.info clicking every option available. After 5 min of her playing around, I turn to her and ask what she's doing. She tells me "Something's broke. I'm trying to see if a setting changed on me"

Huh...whatta ya know. Someone who is NOT computer savvy, notices a performance reduction when setting her system to stock clocks. So, I tell her I will look into it. I load BIOS setting 1, which is her OC'd profile. Reboot, and she's gaming. The result? "Whatever you did, fixed it!"

Your interest in performance vs $$, versus my need for maximum available eyecandy isnt justification for telling people its "useless".
 
Derangel said:
Art of overclocking? Really? :rolleyes:
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Oh god thank you, didn't want to be the one to point this out....

Overclocking, while challenging and fun, is a sport if anything, not an art form. Art usually leaves a lasting, measurably influential medium bedhind, and is usually appreciated by more folks than those involved in said "art form".

Overclocking leaves a machine whose cycle is still doomed in 6 months, and a screenshot for bragging rights online. I'd also argue that buying extra expensive equipment just to accomplish this task is completely defeating that "art form" to begin with. Overclocking used to mean getting the most you can out of what you have to gain value, not ruin that perceived value with a 300 dollar water cooling setup. lol
 
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