GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7 i7-2600k Performance and GTX 570 SLI Performance = worse?

[El_Capitan]

Hello everyone, first Gigabyte forum post. :p

Anyways, I wrote an assessment of a couple of P67 motherboards over at OverclockersClub where I normally hang out: http://forums.overclockersclub.com/index.php?showtopic=184385&pid=1917716&st=0&#entry1917716

The overclocking performance on the GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7 is great, however, at the same CPU frequencies as the ASUS P8P67 Deluxe, it's slightly slower. This is comparing multple Cinebench 11.5 CPU benchmarks. Everything is the same, the only difference is the motherboard.

Another issue, while the GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7 has two PCIE2.0 x 16 lanes, benchmark performance is slower, and visual performance is slower, than an ASUS Sabertooth P67 with two PCI2.0 x 8 lanes (which costs $100 less). In Unigine Heaven v2.1 Fullscreen 1920 x 1080, 8xMSAA and 16xAF, tessellation normal and highest settings everything else...
GTX570 SLI 950/1900/2260 at 1150mV using ASUS Sabertooth P67:
FPS: 88.8

GTX570 SLI 950/1900/2260 at 1150mV using GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD7:
FPS: 80.6

Visually, I'm noticing every second or two a "lagging" effect. Is this normal due to the NF200 chipset latencies? Is there a BIOS update that will resolve this, or is this something that will have to be dealt with? I'm close to returning the motherboard for a refund...

I'm also very annoyed at the PCIE2.0x1 lane not being able to allow a sound card to be installed on it because of the size of the heatsink to the right of it.

Computer specs:
CPU: i7 2600K @ 4.5GHz - 4.8GHz
Memory: 4 x 4GB G.Skill RipJaws F3-12800CL9D @ 9-9-9-24-1T
Graphics: Dual SLI MSI / Palit GTX 570 @ 950/1900/2260 @ 1.150v Max 55C
SSD (OS/SQL/Visual Studio): Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe 240GB
HDD (Storage): RAID 10 4x1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3
PSU: CORSAIR Professional Series AX1200 Gold

I'm cooling everything with a 120.4 radiator and a Swiftech MCP655-B pump.

[digitalforce]

This is very curious info as I have a single ASUS GTX 570 OC right now and planning to go SLI GTX 570 very soon on a GA-P67A-UD4-B3...

[Dark Mantis]

I cannot commment on the actual figure involved but I have heard that the NF200 chip does bring in some latency problems. This of course is a trade off and I suppose that it can always be disabled if you really need the faster frame rates.

The heatsink issue has long been a bone of contention with the x1 slot that close.

[El_Capitan]

Is there a way to disable it? I haven't read anything about being able to do such a thing. That's a 11% FPS hit on a $100 more expensive motherboard.

Will moving the graphics cards to the x8 lanes bypass the NF200 and instead to the onboard controller?

[Dark Mantis]

I have just been trying to find out if it is indeed possible to disable this chip. No luck one way or the other so far. In theory it can be done without but I am not sure if the means to disable it are available. I will post back if or when I find the answer.