Intel DX58SO x58 1366 Thread

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jkeener71

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So I won an Intel contest so this is my new motherboard. I didn't see a thread for this mobo so here goes...

Features and benefits:
Form factor ATX (12.00 inches by 9.60 inches [304.80 millimeters by 243.84 millimeters])

Processor:
Support for a Intel® Core™ i7 processor in an LGA1366 socket

Memory:
Four 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets
Support for DDR3 1600 MHz, DDR3 1333 MHz, DDR3 1066 MHz
Support for up to 16 GB of system memory

Chipset:
Intel® X58 Express Chipset

Audio:
Intel® High Definition Audio subsystem in the following configuration:
10-channel (7.1) Dolby Home Theater* Audio subsystem with five analog audio outputs and two S/PDIF digital audio outputs (coaxial and optical) using the Realtek* ALC889 audio codec

Video:
Nvidia SLI* and ATI CrossFire* multi-GPU platform support enables two graphics cards to work together for ultimate 3D gaming performance and visual quality
Full support of next-generation ATI CrossFire* and Nvidia SLI*

LAN:
support Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) LAN subsystem

Peripheral interfaces:
Twelve USB 2.0 ports (8 external ports, 2 internal headers)
Six Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s ports, including 2 eSATA port with RAID support supplied by a Marvell* controller
Two IEEE-1394a ports (1 external port, 1 internal header)
Consumer IR receiver and emitter (via internal headers)

Expansion capabilities:
One PCI Conventional* bus add-in card connectors (SMBus routed to PCI Conventional bus add-in card connector)
One primary PCI Express* 2.0 x16 (electrical x16) bus add-in card connector
One secondary PCI Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x16) bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express* 1.0a x16 (electrical x4) bus add-in card connector

Some reviews:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/intel-x58-extreme-dx58so-motherboard-review/

http://www.motherboards.org/reviews/motherboards/1845_1.html

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/643/1

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=262&Itemid=69
 
The Good news, I won this:

Congratulations! Your name has been drawn as the winner of the Race To PAX Promotion. You have been drawn to win (1) gaming package.

This package includes one(1) gaming system and one (1) trip to the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA, September 4-6. Approximate retail value $10,000.00 USD.This prize consists of:

Gaming System
Antec* P series case
1200w Power Supply
Intel® DX58SO 1366 X58 ATX Motherboard
Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme Edition Quad-Core Processor
ZALMAN* CNPS9900LED 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Intel® X25-E Extreme 64GB Solid state disk (SSD)
2x 1.5TB of Hard Drive Space
6GB triple channel memory
Blu-ray* burner
(2x) GTX295* video cards in SLI
Logitech* 920-000914 Black 106 Normal Keys Wired Ultra-thin Illuminated Keyboard
Logitech* G9 Wired Laser Gaming Mouse
Logitech* Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker system
Plantronics GameCom 777* headset
Microsoft Windows Vista* Ultimate x64
The Sims 3*, Prototype*, and Half Life 2: Orange Box*
24" widescreen LCD monitor

PAX Trip
One (1) All-Access Pass to the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle for three (3) days
Pass allows admittance to all activities in the conference: exhibits, panels, and performances
Roundtrip airfare for one (1) to and from Seattle, WA for 2009 PAX
Economy/Coach class to/from the major airport nearest to the winner’s residence to SEA
Sponsor to determine airline and flight itinerary
Ground transportation between SEA and hotel included
Three (3) nights hotel accommodations in Seattle, WA for 2009 PAX
One (1) $500.00 gift card

The bad news:

I gotta pay taxes on it at the end of the year. The govt sucks! :(
 
Awesome system, I'm jealous. [sorry for the pointless post, but this is my [H]ard Gawd post :D]
 
I downloaded CPUz program and after I ran it, it was weird because the multiplier was changing on the fly! :eek:

But I'm sure that is how its supposed to be, right? :confused:
 
jkeener71 said:
I downloaded CPUz program and after I ran it, it was weird because the multiplier was changing on the fly! :eek:

But I'm sure that is how its supposed to be, right? :confused:
Click to expand...
yea it's normal it can be either speedstep, which lowers the multi to save power and to use less heat when the CPU isn't being used, or it could be turbo mode which highers the multi by one when only one core is being used.
 
They (Intel) built the system for me and shipped it to me, but I noticed that there was no SLI bridge connector connecting my 2 Geforce video cards. Also it was not included in the package.

Is it not required? Is it handled via the software?
 
jkeener71 said:
They (Intel) built the system for me and shipped it to me, but I noticed that there was no SLI bridge connector connecting my 2 Geforce video cards. Also it was not included in the package.

Is it not required? Is it handled via the software?
Click to expand...
its required AFAIK.
 
Hmm, well what do you know, see below:

The SLI bridge is not necessary on most modern day boards including the Intel DX58SO board used on this machine; SLI is already enabled. You will be able to verify by opening the Nvidia control panel (the SLI enabled box will be checked).

Please let me know if you need anything else.

Regards,

The Intel(R) Retail Edge Program team
 
jkeener71 said:
Hmm, well what do you know, see below:

The SLI bridge is not necessary on most modern day boards including the Intel DX58SO board used on this machine; SLI is already enabled. You will be able to verify by opening the Nvidia control panel (the SLI enabled box will be checked).

Please let me know if you need anything else.

Regards,

The Intel(R) Retail Edge Program team
Click to expand...
according to wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Link_Interface

its not needed/required for low to mid range cards that dont have as much bandwidth as the high end ones.

obviously your card is high end, well the highest to be exact, so id say they are needed as they are used for the cards to communicate with each other.

EDIT: just call up whoever makes your cards (assuming they arent OEM) and ask for a bridge, if not ask intel as they should have included it with your motherboard.
 
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I found the option for enabling the Quad Sli, but after a restart there was a taskbar notification that sli wasn't fully enabled and mentioned something about the bridge connector.
 
they are cheap, check out ebay or just go to nvidia site.. technically they aren't required but they are recommended.. I ran my gtx 285s without the connector for a while to try to diagnose a problem. you shouldn't technically NEED it I don't believe
 
JacobC1983 said:
they are cheap, check out ebay or just go to nvidia site.. technically they aren't required but they are recommended.. I ran my gtx 285s without the connector for a while to try to diagnose a problem. you shouldn't technically NEED it I don't believe
Click to expand...
they arent needed but you do lose some performance without it.
 
vertigomhs said:
they arent needed but you do lose some performance without it.
Click to expand...

Well I acquired an SLI connector today. Just for the fun of it, I'm going to run 3DMark without the SLI connector first. Then connect the Video cards via the SLI connector, restart my computer and re-run 3DMark and really see what (if any) difference it makes. :D
 
jkeener71 said:
Well I acquired an SLI connector today. Just for the fun of it, I'm going to run 3DMark without the SLI connector first. Then connect the Video cards via the SLI connector, restart my computer and re-run 3DMark and really see what (if any) difference it makes. :D
Click to expand...

Without SLI Bridge Connector
3DMark Score P31455
CPU Score 46647
GPU Score 28374

With SLI Bridge Connector
3DMark Score P34129
CPU Score 46166
GPU Score 31399

Guess it did make a difference.
 
jkeener71 said:
Without SLI Bridge Connector
3DMark Score P31455
CPU Score 46647
GPU Score 28374

With SLI Bridge Connector
3DMark Score P34129
CPU Score 46166
GPU Score 31399

Guess it did make a difference.
Click to expand...
told you :p

now go have fun with your new rig!
 
No doubt!

I got Guild Wars, Crysis, Fallout3, and Far Cry 2. And man does it look and play great. Oh my Goodness!!! :)
 
Running a DX58SO w/ i7 920 D0. Currently at 4ghz (200x20) @ 1.21v. Daily load temps max at 55c, LINX maxes at 69c :D Running water w/ GTZ, D5, 120.2 swiftech radiator.
 
jkeener71 said:
The Good news, I won this:

Congratulations! Your name has been drawn as the winner of the Race To PAX Promotion. You have been drawn to win (1) gaming package.

This package includes one(1) gaming system and one (1) trip to the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA, September 4-6. Approximate retail value $10,000.00 USD.This prize consists of:

Gaming System
Antec* P series case
1200w Power Supply
Intel® DX58SO 1366 X58 ATX Motherboard
Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme Edition Quad-Core Processor
ZALMAN* CNPS9900LED 120mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Intel® X25-E Extreme 64GB Solid state disk (SSD)
2x 1.5TB of Hard Drive Space
6GB triple channel memory
Blu-ray* burner
(2x) GTX295* video cards in SLI
Logitech* 920-000914 Black 106 Normal Keys Wired Ultra-thin Illuminated Keyboard
Logitech* G9 Wired Laser Gaming Mouse
Logitech* Z-5500 505 Watts 5.1 Speaker system
Plantronics GameCom 777* headset
Microsoft Windows Vista* Ultimate x64
The Sims 3*, Prototype*, and Half Life 2: Orange Box*
24" widescreen LCD monitor

PAX Trip
One (1) All-Access Pass to the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle for three (3) days
Pass allows admittance to all activities in the conference: exhibits, panels, and performances
Roundtrip airfare for one (1) to and from Seattle, WA for 2009 PAX
Economy/Coach class to/from the major airport nearest to the winner’s residence to SEA
Sponsor to determine airline and flight itinerary
Ground transportation between SEA and hotel included
Three (3) nights hotel accommodations in Seattle, WA for 2009 PAX
One (1) $500.00 gift card

The bad news:

I gotta pay taxes on it at the end of the year. The govt sucks! :(
Click to expand...
I'm sure I'm not the only one to offer to take the whole thing off your hands in return for paying the taxes on it. :p

Hopefully the SmackOver does better than the BoneTrails - more like the BadAxe. My BA2 is awesome, but my BT sucks donkey balls. I may be done with Intel mobos....

-bZj
 
Down8 said:
Hopefully the SmackOver does better than the BoneTrails - more like the BadAxe. My BA2 is awesome, but my BT sucks donkey balls. I may be done with Intel mobos....

-bZj
Click to expand...

After BA2 they dropped off a cliff, maybe the P55 boards may have some hope.
 
I really dont understand why everyone is so skeptical of this board. If you can score a deal on it (like on Ebay, or here), pick it up! I wouldnt buy it at retail prices, just because of the layout and there are other boards that could easily rival/beat it for cheaper, but if you get a deal like I did, there no reason not to..

This board can overclock just fine. Its rock stable as well. I havent had 1 issue with it. The only thing is, it POSTS slow, but that seems to be the trend on X58 (compared to the P45 I was running before).

4ghz @ 1.21v running no more than 55c daily now (lowered my QPI a bit, cooled it off some) with 24-25c ambient.
 
doz said:
I really dont understand why everyone is so skeptical of this board. If you can score a deal on it (like on Ebay, or here), pick it up! I wouldnt buy it at retail prices, just because of the layout and there are other boards that could easily rival/beat it for cheaper, but if you get a deal like I did, there no reason not to..

This board can overclock just fine. Its rock stable as well. I havent had 1 issue with it. The only thing is, it POSTS slow, but that seems to be the trend on X58 (compared to the P45 I was running before).

4ghz @ 1.21v running no more than 55c daily now (lowered my QPI a bit, cooled it off some) with 24-25c ambient.
Click to expand...

My EVGA Classified posts up even slower, I think.
 
Just as an update on this board. Figured out the 21x multi lock thanks to a fellow DX58SO user. Im now running 4.2ghz (21x200) @ 1.26 (still lowering, work in progress) with HT off.
 
I was just curious is the sound card built into this motherboard really that good? Or is it worth it to buy a sound card to replace it?

And if so any good recommendations? Best bang for the buck of course...

Thanks!
 
Hello, sorry to bump an old thread but I have a question regarding DX58SO

I have this motherboard with Patriot Viper Extremes (tall ram heatsinks) and I was wondering what options do I have other than watercooling for aftermarket heatsink? I'm not happy with the temperatures on my stock (48°C idle and 83°C full load). The 3rd ram slot gets in the way. Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.
 
I have had experience with this motherboard. Intel has released one buggy BIOS after another for this motherboard in recent months. There have been five BIOS versions out there for this mobo since this past December. The one that came out that month (4598) set the maximum turbo multiplier for an i7-920 to 25x instead of the normal 22x. The next released BIOS, 5020, set the default BCLK setting to 135MHz instead of the stock 133MHz, and attempting to manually reset the BCLK back to 133MHz would result in a hang or looping reset on POST (the only way to fix that would have been to unplug the system and remove the CMOS battery for a few minutes). All of the BIOS versions released since then use 135MHz as the default BCLK setting. The next two BIOS versions after 5020, 5112 and 5200, fixed the hang-on-POST issue at 133MHz BCLK while 5200 fixed the 25x turbo multiplier issue on the i7-920 (the maximum turbo multiplier on the 920 with 5200 reverted to the normal 22x). 5314 is the latest BIOS version for that board, which adds ECC memory support (though only the Xeon 3500 and 5500/5600 series CPUs support ECC memory).

At any rate, I knew I made a mistake in buying that mobo, especially since it was (and still is) expensive for what I got. For starters, it has no SATA III or USB 3.0 controller to begin with. It is also one of a decreasing number of so-called "premium" motherboards these days which still use electrolytic capacitors (along with some solid capacitors). Other brands of X58 mobos in this price range use all solid capacitors. Its onboard heatsinks are still of the old-fashioned variety whereas other mobos use bigger heatsinks with heatpipes. Third, for such an expensive X58 mobo it has only four DIMM slots; most other X58 mobos have six DIMM slots. And finally, the only way that the DX58SO can run triple graphics cards in CrossFire or SLI is in an imbalanced x16/x16/x4 mode; other brands of X58 mobos can run three graphics cards in an x16/x8/x8 mode (or four graphics cards all at x8). The inclusion of an onboard Intel NIC is one of the few pluses of this mobo; however, I could purchase a PCI-e Intel Gigabit NIC and the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R mobo and end up paying about the same amount of money as I did for the DX58SO by itself.

In spite of all the drawbacks I listed above, it is not a bad mobo per se; however, I wouldn't buy one today (especially since the mobo I purchased as its replacement, a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, costs less than the DX58SO and has more features and better components). There are better choices, both lower and higher in price than the DX58SO.
 
E4g1e said:
In spite of all the drawbacks I listed above, it is not a bad mobo per se; however, I wouldn't buy one today (especially since the mobo I purchased as its replacement, a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R, costs less than the DX58SO and has more features and better components). There are better choices, both lower and higher in price than the DX58SO.
Click to expand...

I have not had any issues with it. I believe my multiplier is 22x so I guess I have old BIOS revision, and I raised the overclock a little, maybe 137 or so, so 133 or 135 base wouldn't be a big deal to me.

However you have to consider when this board came out. SATA6G and USB 3.0 weren't even buzzwords yet. Only the very most expensive SSD's are pushing the limits of SATA3G, which none of them were around 4Q09. There were hardly any LGA1366 motherboards around at all and most of them cost more then this Intel branded board. I payed right around $200 for this mobo last year at Microcenter. All the other "big name" 1366 mobo's were $250-$300 at the time.

If you truly need 3(!) video cards in SLI mode, you probably don't want a "reference" board to begin with. The DX58SO is a great board for people who want a good quality board that has practical features. The only thing I don't care for is not having Coax S/PDIF (does have Toslink though, coax would just be better for me specifically). Actually my biggest "gripe" is how long the BIOS takes to get to actually booting the OS, but I am led to believe that this is all new chipsets and not an Intel board thing exclusively.

I mean you bring up valid points, but its kind of like saying that a 1995 Lexus was a rip off because it didn't have GPS or automatic parellel parking. You kind of have to take the product in the context of its enviornment.
 
westrock2000 said:
I have not had any issues with it. I believe my multiplier is 22x so I guess I have old BIOS revision, and I raised the overclock a little, maybe 137 or so, so 133 or 135 base wouldn't be a big deal to me.

However you have to consider when this board came out. SATA6G and USB 3.0 weren't even buzzwords yet. Only the very most expensive SSD's are pushing the limits of SATA3G, which none of them were around 4Q09. There were hardly any LGA1366 motherboards around at all and most of them cost more then this Intel branded board. I payed right around $200 for this mobo last year at Microcenter. All the other "big name" 1366 mobo's were $250-$300 at the time.

If you truly need 3(!) video cards in SLI mode, you probably don't want a "reference" board to begin with. The DX58SO is a great board for people who want a good quality board that has practical features. The only thing I don't care for is not having Coax S/PDIF (does have Toslink though, coax would just be better for me specifically).

I mean you bring up valid points, but its kind of like saying that a 1995 Lexus was a rip off because it didn't have GPS or automatic parellel parking. You kind of have to take the product in the context of its enviornment.
Click to expand...

In terms of when the board came out, it was competitive back then. But since it is still available new today, my comment stands.

By the way, I forgot to mention that all of the BIOSes for this mobo which support the new hex-cores all default to the 135MHz BCLK. BIOS version 5020 or higher is required for hex-core support.
 
fyi the new bios update the for dx58so limits your OC to 30% of the cpu's original speed.
apparently this was done on purpose, no idea where intel are going with this
 
dbase88 said:
fyi the new bios update the for dx58so limits your OC to 30% of the cpu's original speed.
apparently this was done on purpose, no idea where intel are going with this
Click to expand...

This was apparently done to hide (or more accurately reveal in its painful glory) the fact that the subcontractor Intel used for the manufacture of the DX58SO used a mixture of solid capacitors and conventional electrolytic capacitors rather than the all-solid capacitors used by the likes of Asus and Gigabyte (and the brand of conventional electrolytic capacitors that are used on my particular DX58SO, Samxon, is of good but not spectacular quality) and to hide the fact that the DX58SO does not use as robust of a power design as cheaper boards from Gigabyte (for example, the DX58SO uses a relatively crappy 4 + 2 phase power design versus the 8 + 2 phase power design used in the Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R). As a result, the newest BIOS version for the DX58SO, 5314, will not work with any BCLK settings above 160MHz. Otherwise, if a value greater than 160MHz is selected, it will get into a constant loop of reboots and POST failures - and the only way to fix that would be to unplug the system, remove the CMOS battery and let the system sit for a few minutes before reinstalling the battery and plug the system back in. (Some of the BIOS versions prior to 4598 also suffer from this problem.)
 
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This board was my first 1366 board and only had it 20 days before it died on me back in December 2008. I was able to overclock my i7 920 to 3.2ghz and was prime95 stable for 8hrs. I then increased the OC to 3.6ghz and restarted the computer. Upon restarting, I received a looooooon continous beep and nothing else. Computer didn't even make it to POST. Long beep usually means memory. I took out my RAM and installed in my friend's computer and tested it one by one. All sticks worked properly.
I was able to return the board since it was within the 30days moneyback and upgraded it to a Rampage II Extreme and haven't looked back.
Intel makes great chips but crappy motherboard.
 
JonassJoi said:
Intel makes great chips but crappy motherboard.
Click to expand...

Actually, Intel does not make any motherboards on its own. It merely designs the motherboards that it sells with its own name on them. As far as the capacitors are concerned, Intel merely tells its subcontractor(s) to use caps of a particular value in a given location; the choice of low-quality or high-quality caps or conventional electrolytic caps or solid caps is entirely up to the manufacturing subcontractor.
 
Did they ever fix the SATA connectors so they point out the side or do they still block video cards?
 
MaxBurn said:
Did they ever fix the SATA connectors so they point out the side or do they still block video cards?
Click to expand...

Depends on the board revision. Newer revisions now put the SATA connectors at the front edge of the board.
 
Got this thing today and the friggin thing won't boot. Well everything startups for 5 seconds, then stops completely, and then starts back up again, but there's no POST or anything on the monitor at all during all this.

Any suggestions? Tried all the common tricks like naked boots, other ram etc.
 
zeroARMY said:
Got this thing today and the friggin thing won't boot. Well everything startups for 5 seconds, then stops completely, and then starts back up again, but there's no POST or anything on the monitor at all during all this.

Any suggestions? Tried all the common tricks like naked boots, other ram etc.
Click to expand...

Which PSU were you using with that mobo?
 
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