Previews - Gigabyte's X58A-UD9 under the spotlight. Seven PCIe slots for starters

[HEXUS]

We take a peek at the most extreme motherboard Gigabyte has ever released.

Read more.

[TAKTAK]

Seven single slot GFX cards = 1 mental F@H rig

[TooNice]

£300

Does this match/exceed the cost of dual-socket motherboard 10 years ago?

(Don't hear often about those since the advent of multi-core CPU)

[jim]

£300

Does this match/exceed the cost of dual-socket motherboard 10 years ago?

(Don't hear often about those since the advent of multi-core CPU)

I take it you haven't heard of the EVGA W555 then?

[miniyazz]

I'm curious - why might non-watercoolers like to remove the waterblock? I rather assumed it would increase heat dissipation due to its greater surface area, but apparently not?

Edit: And wow, only 16 cases supported apparently. 12 of which are Thermaltake ones.. it doesn't fit in the Obsidian range I take it then?

[D-mon Taurus]

This is one hell of a board. I so would like one.
Edit: still having a little problems with the baby blue though

@miniyazz: It doesn't add any more cooling when liquid cooling your rig. You want your liquid to only cool your chips and not the air as well for better results. But that is just a guess. So you just leave it of.

And for the 16 rigs. You need 10 slots to have this baby in your case (corsair only has 7). Even though the top 2 won't be used unless you use the superpipe.

[miniyazz]

This is one hell of a board. I so would like one.
Edit: still having a little problems with the baby blue though

@miniyazz: It doesn't add any more cooling when liquid cooling your rig. You want your liquid to only cool your chips and not the air as well for better results. But that is just a guess. So you just leave it of.

And for the 16 rigs. You need 10 slots to have this baby in your case (corsair only has 7). Even though the top 2 won't be used unless you use the superpipe.

Indeed (although it's unlikely your liquid cooling would be sub-ambient, in which case it may be better to leave the SilentPipe thing on as well) but when you aren't watercooling, why remove the waterblock?

Shame the number of cases supporting it is so minimal, though I understand why

[HW_90]

I'm curious - why might non-watercoolers like to remove the waterblock? I rather assumed it would increase heat dissipation due to its greater surface area, but apparently not?

Edit: And wow, only 16 cases supported apparently. 12 of which are Thermaltake ones.. it doesn't fit in the Obsidian range I take it then?

well most people who do WC won't cool it anyway because it's just another thing which adds heat to the loop and you don't really need to water cool the NB until you just don't care how many volts you use with the cpu

[miniyazz]

Granted, most people won't use the waterblock. But why bother removing it?

[jim]

Granted, most people won't use the waterblock. But why bother removing it?

Waterblocks without water in them are rubbish at transferring energy to the atmosphere.

No heatpipes, no fins, just a big block of metal with very little surface area.

Depends how hot it's likely to get. If it gets very hot, then the waterblock in a non-watercooled system will probably cause it to overheat. If it doesn't get very hot, there shouldn't be a waterblock on it in the first place.

[Fraz]

Gigabyte really need to sort out their chipset coolers. That is just one almighty waste of metal. Why have a waterblock that is attached to the northbridge via some skinny metal fins?! IT MAKES NO SENSE GIGABYTE!

[miniyazz]

Waterblocks without water in them are rubbish at transferring energy to the atmosphere.

No heatpipes, no fins, just a big block of metal with very little surface area.

Depends how hot it's likely to get. If it gets very hot, then the waterblock in a non-watercooled system will probably cause it to overheat. If it doesn't get very hot, there shouldn't be a waterblock on it in the first place.

I agree with what you're saying. But given that the SilentPipe heatsink will also be attached (and it does get hot), the unused waterblock will not in itself cause it to overheat. My question is why Hexus recommends removal of the waterblock when not in use - as surely, low surface area though it may be, it has a higher surface area than the plain metal heatsink it attaches to?

Sorry if I'm not making myself clear!

[Tarinder]

I agree with what you're saying. But given that the SilentPipe heatsink will also be attached (and it does get hot), the unused waterblock will not in itself cause it to overheat. My question is why Hexus recommends removal of the waterblock when not in use - as surely, low surface area though it may be, it has a higher surface area than the plain metal heatsink it attaches to?

Sorry if I'm not making myself clear!

We don't recommend that users remove the block per se, but it can be removed if not going down the watercooling route. Having both the SilentPipe 2 heatsink and block in place makes it look rather ungainly with no pipes attached, in our opinion.

[jim]

Surely, low surface area though it may be, it has a higher surface area than the plain metal heatsink it attaches to?

Oh I see... I'd missed the heatsink underneath part. No, it's not going to improve anything - even with some water in it looks like it would completely and utterly useless!

I'd take it off and sell it as scrap to recoup some of the money I just hurled at the motherboard

[D-mon Taurus]

We reckon it will cost well over £300 when it makes an appearance at etailers' listings. Worth it? Wait for the review next week.

At moment here it is listed for a staggering €499 - Do believe it is pre-order - with an average rate that would come close to a £350 - £400 if i am not mistaken.

And the review, could it be you would compare it also against, let us say the MSI xpower and
EVGA 4way SLI? since they all promote the 4 way Crossfire and SLI.

Edit: Just read that the suggested retail price would be US$649. (source is Fudzilla)

[borandi]

Edit: nm