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Question

Choice between EVGA Classified and MSI Eclipse X58 motherboa

by Oct 16, 2013 6:11AM PDT

I currently am setting up a server for my personal use based on an Intel Core i7 920 CPU. This is a 1st generation Core i7 2.66GHZ processor. I happen to have ONE CPU and TWO motherboards available so I am trying to choose the best motherboard for my needs. Both appear to serve my needs just fine but I am trying to determine the best one for the purpose. I plan to use a low-end graphics card so SLI and Crossfire are not a big deal.

The first motherboard I have is an MSI Eclipse that supports triple CrossFire. I always thought of MSI as a budget brand but haven't really ever been disappointed by anything they make. This is obviously one of their more premium units as it uses the solid capacitors and other things found on higher-end units. The CPU is currently installed on this board with a heatsink so it would be a little less work to leave it as is and just use this one. On the other hand, if I decide to sell one, I have all the boxes and manuals, etc. that belong to this one, which will make it more marketable. This one has 3x full PCIe slots and two short PCIe slots as well as two standard PCI slots.

The second board is an EVG Classified X58 with 4x full length PCIe slots, a single short PCIe slot, and a single PCI slot. I have none of the accessories (besides the backplane adapter) that go along with this one so resale value would be hurt. I am tempted to use it as it is also a nice board with high-end features.

My requirements for this system are 2x mid or full length PCIe slots for RAID controllers. I also have two video cards to pick from here. One is a PCIe 1x Radeon HD 5450 1GB card while the other is a Radeon X600 128MB card which is VERY LOW END. The PCIe 1x 5450 is actually a much better card overall but I really don't care for this application. I also have a PCIe 1x USB 3.0 controller as well as a separate audio card that is not integrated on the motherboard. Either board will work for my purposes and the basic specs are similar. They have the same chipset, both have SATA 2 support, both have USB 2.0 support.

Please provide arguments in favor of one board over the other to help make my decision. These are both nice boards but want to hear what others have to say.

Discussion is locked

3 Posts
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Answer
1. Inspect the boards for BAD CAPS.
by Forum moderator Oct 16, 2013 12:33PM PDT

The criteria is PERFECTION.

2. It's a server. I can't guess why anyone would worry about crosfire.

3. It's a server. The 5450 gets my nod here as it delivers fair performance with low Watts. Just what a server needs.
Bob

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Caps looks good on both!
by cwatkin Oct 16, 2013 2:38PM PDT

The caps look good on both. None are bulging or popped on either board and all the critical ones are the solid variety which last much longer than standard electrolytic. This isn't going to be a mission critical server. It is going to be something for home use to serve movies, music, and serve as a data backup for my other PCs.

My main concern is has anyone come across bugs or flakiness in either board? I know many complain about the X58 crashing coming out of sleep or hibernation but that won't be a concern as I will have it set to not do either.

I agree that the 5450 is a better card all around and it can take up one of the less valuable PCIe 1x slots. I really only need two of the full lengths for RAID cards which will leave me an extra available. The Radeon X600 may actually be a lower power card but I am not sure. It is definitely lower performance, even being a full PCIe 16x card. I benchmarked it and it is worse than even some of the most basic onboard graphics setups!

I am trying to make the best decision with the available hardware on hand. Unfortunately I do not have a spare SSD for the boot drive. I have become spoiled with these modern marvels!

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Odd
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 16, 2013 6:43PM PDT

I've caught the 5450 on sale for 20 bucks. You found the x600 for less?

As to coming out of sleep, for years I've found machines with bum Windows installs, outdated BIOS and more. I'm sure there is some issue here as you noted but look at the mess that is Windows during install. For a time I thought the makers were making progress but the last few years seems to be as if we are going back to 2000.
Bob

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