Intel DX58SO X58 Express Chipset Motherboard Review

As we look at the results, the first glance shows that these boards are very close together in performance. We do not expect to see great differences in results with motherboards that have the same chipset anymore. The big difference in boards these days will be in overclocking and the bundle that comes with them.In our Sandra and Everest testing we can see where the Core i7 platform shines. The DDR3 read and write speeds are just amazing! POV Real Time and Beta, and Cinebench 10 were also tests that were found to favor the higher DDR3 speeds on the Intel board. The three-second difference in Cinebench 10 may not be a whole lot, but it does show the difference that higher DDR3 speeds are making.

HDTach was a split between the two boards with the ASRock board doing better in the burst testing and the Intel board scoring better in the average test. The Intel board also rose above the ASRock in three of the four 3dMark 06 scores.

Our gaming tests all seemed to favor the ASRock board, and it outscored the Intel DX58SO considerably in the Lightsmark 2008 testing. It also scored better in the Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes testing. The two boards tied in F.E.A.R. and Vantage testing. Even with the difference in scores in testing, there will not be much, if any, noticeable difference in real-world use.

Both boards did very well in our testing, and let us see how well the Core i7 platform performs.