EVGA X58 3X SLI Classified LGA 1366 Motherboard Review Comment Thread

[3oh6]

thanks guys, glad you are enjoying the read and finding the information helpful. as said, this board isn't going to be for everyone, the price puts it into a certain target market, and i think i stated that pretty clearly int he conclusion. i honestly wouldn't recommend this board over the standard EVGA X58 SLI for a lot of users...unless of course you were going for one of those builds where color scheme was more important than value, and there are those customers. there are also the guys with a specific liking to the layout, it fits a certain market there as well.

if, however, you are wanting the absolute best overclocking motherboard...the Classified IS it. naturally you won't fully recognize its potential unless you are running at sub-zero temperatures. again, a certain target market, but a rapidly growing one as the bench scene continues to expand. for myself, this is the board i will be benching with for a long time...i have 100% confidence in that. it handles load like never seen before and makes i7 processors feel like C2D do under cold. it really is a beast.

as for the NF200...i really wanted to do a section on it but i ran out of time with the second GTX295. it had to move on and i just didn't have time to do the proper comparison with the original board. perhaps i can wrangle up another GTX 295 or better yet, a handful of 4890s and see what effect the NF200 chip has. from the respected guys that have done comparisons, it is a 1%-3% performance hit from what they have seen. of course, EVGA also just listed the non-NF200 version of the Classified on their website (and upset a lot of the original Classified buyers) for a straight apples to apples comparison but to do it properly, it would be an article in itself. we'll see what we can cook up.

[shane_p]

seems like a pretty poor mobo, when u factor in the huge cost it comes with
and overclocking is not that great at all. Didn't like 200Bclk on Air???? come on
Man my Gigabyte X58 UD3R, which I am proud to say is the cheapest X58 mobo u can buy (can be found as low as $200) loves 200Bclk at 4.2Ghz, with an inferior i7 920 chip (on Air). I overclocked it to 200Bclk as soon as I built rig, then I installed Vista. And my results seem to be the norm for this mobo (which now has SLI support from Gigabyte's latest bios). Hhhmm buy 2 UD3R's and possibly overclock better on air, or buy 1 Classified. I guess though, if u got the bucks to burn, and got the need for Tri-SLI 285's it would be the way to go (I suppose if u have a 30" monitor).

btw
X58 UD3R with an i7 920 at 200Bclk is common:
Gigabyte X58 UD3R: Budget mobo that is not budget in OC - VR-Zone IT & Lifestyle Forum!

[3oh6]

Originally Posted by shane_p

seems like a pretty poor mobo, when u factor in the huge cost it comes with
and overclocking is not that great at all. Didn't like 200Bclk on Air????

the motherboard does 200BCLK blindfolded and the only reason it doesn't do more is the processor. the CPU, is what primarily determines BCLK up to a certain point. this 965 won't do more BCLK in the original X58 SLI, the DFI X58 or the REII Gene...trust me, it's the chip. i explained it clear as day in the review.

the board is the best there is...for a certain market. it is definitely more money than 95% of the market should be willing to pay, no one will dispute that.

[Digikid]

You should factor in the release of the NON NF200 model now.

A LOT of EVGA members are very angry at EVGA for releasing a Non NF200 version of the classified after EVGA told them that they would NOT release such a version. ( the NF200 is the source of the massive heat )

I hate to say though...in the review you mentioned that you liked the Thermal Grease job that EVGA did. Hate to tell you but it looks HORRIBLE to me. Way too much and could have been done a lot better IMHO. Many people have reported much better temps after reapplying nrew thermal grease to the cooling unit.

I also hate how EVGA did the control panel thingy. They should have of made a bezel for it.

Very through report though. Well done.

[Retro]

These Nvidia X58 boards may become collectors items if Intel wins it's lawsuit against Nvidia to prevent them from making them. Nvidia insists it's previous license is still valid, Intel says that it is not.
Personally, I hope Nvidia wins.
NVIDIA Responds To INTEL Court Filing

[magictorch]

Very thorough review, your mainboard reviews are about the best on the net and I enjoy taking my time picking through them. This is one hell of a board and as you stated is best suited to the "true" enthisiast.

Its ashame the subzero benching equipment is so hard to get right now. be nice to try it out on a lesser system for a bit of fun.

Originally Posted by 3oh6

thanks guys, glad you are enjoying the read and finding the information helpful. as said, this board isn't going to be for everyone, the price puts it into a certain target market, and i think i stated that pretty clearly int he conclusion. i honestly wouldn't recommend this board over the standard EVGA X58 SLI for a lot of users...unless of course you were going for one of those builds where color scheme was more important than value, and there are those customers. there are also the guys with a specific liking to the layout, it fits a certain market there as well.

if, however, you are wanting the absolute best overclocking motherboard...the Classified IS it. naturally you won't fully recognize its potential unless you are running at sub-zero temperatures. again, a certain target market, but a rapidly growing one as the bench scene continues to expand. for myself, this is the board i will be benching with for a long time...i have 100% confidence in that. it handles load like never seen before and makes i7 processors feel like C2D do under cold. it really is a beast.

[MpG]

Sweet board, from the looks of it. Kind of nice to see a premium-priced board actually pack more than a fancy joystick to justify it (here's looking at you, Asus).

If I missed the mention, I apologize, but did you try and see whether or not using the second ATX 8-pin changed Vdroop any (without LLC, naturally)?

Originally Posted by Retro

These Nvidia X58 boards may become collectors items if Intel wins it's lawsuit against Nvidia to prevent them from making them. Nvidia insists it's previous license is still valid, Intel says that it is not.
Personally, I hope Nvidia wins.
NVIDIA Responds To INTEL Court Filing

The NF200 chip isn't dependent on Nvidia's chipset license. It's just a stand-alone PCI-E psuedo lane splitter that Nvidia claims boosts performance, and that they (at one point), tried to claim SLI wouldn't work without. It can seriously go rot.

[Digikid]

I agree.

[Lithotech]

Great review! I'd love to see what it does with one of the new stepping 920s.

.

[rjbarker]

Hi thier 3 oh....great Review....happy to say my Step-up Classified is up n running with no issues thus far, although I'm still breaking in and have not done any OC'ing..yet :) Quick question...I have not at this point installed any Chipset Drivers, LAN or Audio as my previous Board was the Evga X58 vanilla....everything seems to be running alright (as I knock on wood), would you recomend installing the Chipset Drivers at the minimum?

Thanks as always!