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MSI X58 Pro-E Review
[Abstract]
Searching for a Mainstream Intel X58Not to sound like a broken record here but the high cost of Intel's high-end CPU microarchitecture, the Core i7, remains a considerable barrier to entry. Alm...
[Content] PCDigitalMobileGame
Conclusion
With the mainstream variants of the Core i7 microarchitecture expected during the third quarter of the year, those looking for an advanced platform at this moment (and not the technological dead end that's the Core 2 series) will have no choice but gun for the Core i7 processor and select from one of the many Intel X58 motherboards available to support it. As we have mentioned earlier, the problem with that is the substantial cost of these motherboards, which are generally above US$200 from a respectable vendor.
In fact, it wouldn't be wrong to state that some of these motherboards are more expensive than the entry-level processor itself. For instance, the Core i7-920 goes for US$280.
Bringing the price of an Intel X58 motherboard down below the US$200 mark, the MSI X58 Pro-E impressed with its features and layout. |
Hence, it's a welcome move by MSI to change this situation with its more affordable X58 Pro-E that's going for around US$189. While we have seen other brands that offer similarly priced motherboards below the US$200 mark, only few are major top tier brands in this field. Hopefully, the MSI X58 Pro-E will be followed by the other big vendors as the Core i7 definitely needs more quality motherboard choices at close to mainstream prices to get the Core i7 steaming along with higher adoption rates.
Fortunately, the competitive price has not affected the quality of this MSI board. Our benchmarks found it to be mostly on par with even the more elite models, though it was a little off the mark for the SYSmark 2007 benchmark. Besides that, the MSI X58 Pro-E performed decently, with power consumption numbers that bettered the competition. It certainly showed that MSI's active phasing switching technology was doing its job properly but we have to temper the praise with our temperature findings, which seemed warmer than expected.
Finally, we were pleased with the board's layout and features. There are sufficient features onboard to bring it close to the top enthusiast X58 boards, while the layout was almost perfect. This was unlike some other X58 boards which could match the price after making compromises on the features. Only the inevitable limitations of the PCB meant that some of the components were placed too close to each other. And of course, that very ugly brown that MSI has chosen for the PCB. It's not the best color to look at but given its attractive price, strong features and competitive performance, we are more than willing to overlook it.
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