Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD5 X58 Motherboard Review

Hardware Installation

In the Hardware Installation section we examine how major components fit on the motherboard, and whether there are any serious issues that may affect installation and general functionality. Specifically, we are interested in determining whether the motherboard has adequate clearance levels in all critical areas.


As mentioned previously, the 8-pin CPU power connector can be somewhat difficult to access as your fingers are jammed in between the heatpipe and the back of an I/O module. Those with larger hands/fingers will find the procedure particularly problematic and borderline painful. This is obviously only relevant for those who are constantly swamping motherboards or power supplies in and out of their systems.


The Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme LGA-1366 easily clears all three heatsinks, regardless of which way the cooler is oriented. However, a wide heatsink will overhang the first DIMM slot when installed in the unusual East-West orientation. This does not prevent access to the affected memory module, but it does make the installation and removal process a bit more tricky than it otherwise should be. This is something that we have noticed on all six slot X58 motherboards, therefore it is not a Gigabyte-specific design flaw.


Clearly, there are no concerns about memory clips coming into contact with the back of any full-length add-in cards.There are no problems installing a full-length card in the orange PCI-E x4 slot, as long there aren't any extraneous components on the back of the card that would contact the northbridge cooler. If you plan to use the PCI-E x1 slot, the card must be exactly 3 inches or shorter.


Due to the fact that all ten SATA ports are placed on a 90-degree angle they are accessible at all times, regardless of what kind of graphics card(s) is installed.


When you install dual-slot graphics cards in the first and third PCI-E x16 slots, you can fit another dual-slot card in the second PCI-E x16 slot, but obviously the space is tight. As a result, we recommend that you direct one or two fans at the cards to increase airflow and improve cooling. A dual-slot graphics card installed in the third PCI-E x16 slot does overhang all the connectors and headers at the bottom of the motherboard, but they are all still usable.


There is nothing on the back of the motherboard that interferes with the Thermalright's backplate, and we see no reason to suspect compatibility issues with other brands and models.