eVGA X58 Classified 141-BL-E759-A1

Water Cooled Review

Introduction

EVGA, long known for their Nvidia based video card products, has been making some great strides over the past couple of years in the motherboard market. EVGA currently offers several X58 chipset motherboards, with their Classified series being the flagship offering.  There are two available Classified versions, one with the NF200 chipset and one without.  The only major difference between these two offerings is the E759 Model has the NF200 chpset onboard, allowing for a 3-way X16 SLI configuration, whereas the E760 version does not have the NF200 chipset meaning a 3-way SLI will be a X16-X16-X8 configuration.

This review will be on the higher end E759 version with a water cooling twist.  A full system water cooling setup was obtained for this review.  There are plenty of other reviews out there on this motherboard using the stock cooling, so it was decided to do something a little different this time around and review the board outfitted with a water cooling setup.  These Classified motherboards hit the market with a lot of fanfare, and great expectations.  Does the motherboard live up to the hype? Are they worth the premium price?  How effective is the water cooling?  These questions and more will be explored in this review.

Pricing

Pricing for the EVGA X58 Classified (E759) was $449.00US at the time of this review, with the E760 version availabe for $419.00US.   For our UK readers the E759 weighed in at around £329 Inc VAT, and the E760 around £310 Inc VAT.  Certainly not an inexpensive motherboard and geared toward the hardcore enthusiast at that price range.

Packaging

The art work on the front of the box gives the appearance of a military theme and proudly announces the X58 Classified logo.  The back of the box continues the same theme along with a description of the motherboard features and package contents.

Upon opening the box you are greeted with a host of accessories.  The list of included items is quite long and everything you could possibly need is included.  Here is a rundown of the included accessories.

• eVGA X58 Classified Motherboard 141-BL-E759-A1 (NF200)
• eVGA Driver Installation CD With eVGA E-LEET
• Rear Case I/O Shield
• 6 SATA Data Cables
• 3 SATA Power Cables
• 1 Rounded IDE Cable
• 3 SLI Bridges - Standard 2 way, 3 way, and extended 3 way
• 2 Port USB / 1394a Firewire Bracket
• Visual Installation Guide
• User Manual
• EPC Multi Function Unit

The following is a group of pictures showing the package contents as they are revealed.

Specifications