Drop me some advice on X79 set up

wolvers · 6 Mar 2013 at 22:15

OK, so I'm bored again and looking for some new hardware to play with.

New GPUs aren't coming any time soon, and Titan doesn't interest me, ssoooo I'm thinking about getting an X79 set up to play with. The other thing that interests me about going X79 is that later on I can drop in an IB-E so my plan is to start off with an 3820. It'll be water cooled so I'll be OCing it as much as I can.

The two areas of input I'm after is RAM and motherboard but i'm posting this in CPUs because I'll be using this as an OCing thread. I was thinking of carrying my Samsung 30nm 8GB kit over to begin with and then maybe upgrade that a little later. Any problems with that? It runs at 2133mhz currently. Can I run it in dual channel for the time being or should I get another pair?

On the motherboard side I was looking at the Saber. I really like the 990fx one I've got at the mo but........the x79 one has a couple of little fans on it and I'd prefer something passive as I like quiet systems and I've already got four fans blowing directly at the board. So I'm thinking the RIVF looks the next best option. Any shouts for a Gigabyte board? Anyone have the x79 Saber and want to defend it?

Obviously I could look this stuff up but I prefer to chew the fat here.

smelly_legend · 6 Mar 2013 at 22:23

Can't really fault the RIVE board, as well as the 3820. The Samsung green is a good choice 'tho, if that's the RAM you are referring to. All overclock very very well.

stulid · 6 Mar 2013 at 23:06

Heres a shout for a board - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18477560

Boomstick777 · 7 Mar 2013 at 01:20

wolvers said:
The other thing that interests me about going X79 is that later on I can drop in an IB-E

Latest rumour is that Intel will release one more Sandy-E Chip the '3980x' 8 core CPU. Then will move onto Haswell-E and Ivybridge-E will get skipped. It kind of does make sense, Haswell being released for mainstream and then last years Ivybridge being released for high end doesn't seem right. Haswell and Haswell-E launching in the same year seems more logical. Guess we won't know until later in the year, I wouldn't base a purchase of X79 on being able to use an Ivybrigde-E CPU that's what I'm trying to say, it may not happen..

If I was doing a new build, I would be inclined to wait for Haswell in a couple months...

ubersonic · 7 Mar 2013 at 08:08

Boomstick777 said:
Latest rumour is that Intel will release one more Sandy-E Chip the '3980x' 8 core CPU. Then will move onto Haswell-E and Ivybridge-E will get skipped.

Maybe but its just a rumor at this stage, Intel's current roadmap calls for the 3980X, a 3930K successor and a 3820 successor in Q2 then IB-E in Q3/4.

Boomstick777 said:
It kind of does make sense, Haswell being released for mainstream and then last years Ivybridge being released for high end doesn't seem right.

Why? SB-E was released after IB.

Doomedspeed · 7 Mar 2013 at 08:44

stulid said:
Heres a shout for a board - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18477560

I read that reveiw, like I do all of stulids

. It looks a very good board, worth considering.

Boomstick777 said:
Latest rumour is that Intel will release one more Sandy-E Chip the '3980x' 8 core CPU. Then will move onto Haswell-E and Ivybridge-E will get skipped. It kind of does make sense, Haswell being released for mainstream and then last years Ivybridge being released for high end doesn't seem right. Haswell and Haswell-E launching in the same year seems more logical. Guess we won't know until later in the year, I wouldn't base a purchase of X79 on being able to use an Ivybrigde-E CPU that's what I'm trying to say, it may not happen..

If I was doing a new build, I would be inclined to wait for Haswell in a couple months...

You know the 1155 and 2011 CPUs are seperate right? They share the name of thier mainstream counter part as its built on the same architechture.

Boomstick777 · 7 Mar 2013 at 12:39

Doomedspeed said:
You know the 1155 and 2011 CPUs are seperate right?

Was that meant to be a joke? Not sure what you meant. Did you read my comment? Lol.

1155 is current midrange, 2011 is current high end
1150 is new upcoming midrange, we are not sure what will be high end this year yet? It could be a drop in 2011 Ivy-E chip or it could be a Haswell-E variant and need a new mobo...

I would be careful buying a X79 setup on the basis that it may get an Ivybridge-E part in the future, Intel haven't confirmed anything. We do know that Haswell (Mainstream) will launch in a couple of months, I would be inclined to wait for that and start my build there...

wolvers · 7 Mar 2013 at 12:39

smelly_legend said:
Can't really fault the RIVE board, as well as the 3820. The Samsung green is a good choice 'tho, if that's the RAM you are referring to. All overclock very very well.

Yes m8, the sammy greens. Great RAM.

stulid said:
Heres a shout for a board - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18477560

That is a good shout. Cheers for that, I'll have a look into it.

Edit; hang on. Seems a bit cheap, what's the catch?

Boomstick777 said:
Latest rumour is that Intel will release one more Sandy-E Chip the '3980x' 8 core CPU. Then will move onto Haswell-E and Ivybridge-E will get skipped. It kind of does make sense, Haswell being released for mainstream and then last years Ivybridge being released for high end doesn't seem right. Haswell and Haswell-E launching in the same year seems more logical. Guess we won't know until later in the year, I wouldn't base a purchase of X79 on being able to use an Ivybrigde-E CPU that's what I'm trying to say, it may not happen..

If I was doing a new build, I would be inclined to wait for Haswell in a couple months...

I'm not really interested in Haswell, if it's anything like IB it won't be an enthusiasts platform.

Even if they do skip IB-E I can still look out for a 3930k in the MM, or change to Haswell-E if/when it appears. I'm not adversed to switching platforms.

Oldrevox · 7 Mar 2013 at 12:47

I did a new 2011 build at the beginning of this year, with an Asus Sabertooth X79, 3930K and 32Gb of G.Skill [ RipjawsZ ] F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL (4Gx8), all from Overclockers UK.

There is no audible whine from the two onboard MB fans when the system is running and I am very critical of high frequency noise. The 'Thermal Radar' software that comes with the MB is very useful at monitoring fans, temps, etc..
The system is built into a Nanoxia Deep Silent 1 case (3x 120mm fans) and I chose an aircooler, Noctua NH-D14-2011.

Hope this is useful.

wolvers · 7 Mar 2013 at 13:01

Oldrevox said:
I did a new 2011 build at the beginning of this year, with an Asus Sabertooth X79, 3930K and 32Gb of G.Skill [ RipjawsZ ] F3-12800CL9Q2-32GBZL (4Gx8), all from Overclockers UK.

There is no audible whine from the two onboard MB fans when the system is running and I am very critical of high frequency noise. The 'Thermal Radar' software that comes with the MB is very useful at monitoring fans, temps, etc..
The system is built into a Nanoxia Deep Silent 1 case (3x 120mm fans) and I chose an aircooler, Noctua NH-D14-2011.

Hope this is useful.

That is useful, thanks. Fan header control is one of the main things I'm looking for.

Oldrevox · 7 Mar 2013 at 17:40

Thermal Radar also allows you to customise all the fan speed settings, either on the MB or those attached via headers. Either by using existing software profiles, or your own configurations.

Boomstick777 · 7 Mar 2013 at 19:47

wolvers said:
I'm not really interested in Haswell, if it's anything like IB it won't be an enthusiasts platform.

Even if they do skip IB-E I can still look out for a 3930k in the MM, or change to Haswell-E if/when it appears. I'm not adversed to switching platforms.

In that case X79 sounds ideal for you

wolvers · 7 Mar 2013 at 20:43

Oldrevox said:
Thermal Radar also allows you to customise all the fan speed settings, either on the MB or those attached via headers. Either by using existing software profiles, or your own configurations.

I've got a Sabertooth 990fx at the moment, so I'm using Thermal Radar with that and is why I'm checking on the fan control options of the x79 boards.

Boomstick777 said:
In that case X79 sounds ideal for you

Well I've picked up a 3820 in the MM, and ordered a UP4 and some more 30nm RAM so I'll find out soon enough if you're right.

I think I spotted one of your posts on OC.net, did you have a 3820 at some point?

Mr. May · 7 Mar 2013 at 23:08

Do not buy any x79 gigbyte boards there voltage regulators on the old ones are pants I've had ud3 and a ud5 both were usless compared to my now cheaper asrock extreme 4 :confused:

wolvers · 8 Mar 2013 at 10:48

Yeah, it's going back. I just ordered an RIVF.

It's not because of the VRM thing, I'm fairly sure that GB have sorted that problem with these boards, but mostly because all of the reviews say it's not a great clocker. Even in the vortez review they only get 4.6ghz out of a chip they know will do 5ghz, and stil give it an award! :confused:

Odd. I found quite a few users reports last night backing that up too, particularly with an 3820.

The other reason is that the RIV boards have an option to use socket 1366 blocks on them and so I don't need to buy a new CPU block. Bonus.

Then there's the other OCing focused features like voltage measuring points that appeal to me, and the fan control stuff is better and familiar to me because of the Saber that I have now.

stulid · 8 Mar 2013 at 12:35

Well the UP range have nothing in common with the UD range.

The UP range use the IR3550 powerstages.

I havent looked, but did the Vortez review of the UP4 use an earlier BIOS which had poor Vdroop? I noticed a big difference between the early ones and the later BetaBIOS'es.

wolvers · 8 Mar 2013 at 12:45

stulid said:
Well the UP range have nothing in common with the UD range.

Err, they must do as they're labelled as UD5 boards!

stulid said:
I havent looked, but did the Vortez review of the UP4 use an earlier BIOS which had poor Vdroop? I noticed a big difference between the early ones and the later BetaBIOS'es.

They don't say. That would possibly explain why all off the reviews get poor clocks from it.

The trouble is, I can't find anybody that has reported getting anywhere near as good a clock from a 3820 as with an RIV board.

stulid · 8 Mar 2013 at 12:53

wolvers said:
Err, they must do as they're labelled as UD5 boards!

Dont confuse Ultra Durable 5 as found on all the UP range of boards with Ultra Durable 4 as found on the others including the UD range of boards,

X79-UD3
X79-UD5
Etc.

wolvers · 8 Mar 2013 at 12:55

Well what's the difference then?

stulid · 8 Mar 2013 at 12:59

wolvers said:
Well what's the difference then?

Google is your friend

- http://www.gigabyte.com/press-center/news-page.aspx?nid=1128

The biigest difference is the IR3550.