what would 8 pack use/recommend?

pgi947

pgi947

pgi947

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Hi 8 Pack!

In my never ending x79 build I've hit a bit of a crossroads on motherboards...

I currently have the xpower II, running nicely, clocks and tunes really well, though for what ever reason msi decided against giving decimal base control, which really annoyed me in your 4ghz challenge, as the next best x79 score only really trumped me due to the little extra on the base available (103 vs 103.6 or something).

I also have in my possession an x79 sabertooth, how does this compare to the rog boards?

Last on my options is the evga x79 dark due for release soon and looking really good.

Out of the three what would your choice be and why?

As much as a rive tempts me, the red and black theme has been done to death :p
 
The Sabretooth is a solid performer one i have owned myself and was happy with it in a 24/7 RIG but not a benching RIG. For that I use only RIVE on X79.

The EVGA is an interesting option I have never actually used one other than when on the GSKILL stand at Computex when benching with kingpin and it certainly did do very well then. Really stable in quad Xfire and pushing the CPU real hard, although the CPU is binned as the best of the best and this is where my issue with what looks a good board lies. What will it do with average X79 CPU. On that day we had my almost 5.7 and his almost 5.7.

The ROG I trust to be the best which leads me to say if you want X79 then RIVE is stil the top high end choice. The bios support and overclocking options are proven at all levels. memory support and tweaking etc etc make it the absolute best.
 
Thanks for your input :)

Looks like I may be going in for the dark or even reconsider a rive in that case. Good bios support is a must, msi updates have been few and far between.

Will you be having a play about with a dark once stock lands? Would like to see how you rate it against the rive as it's boasting a clocking feature set aimed directly at the rive's crown.

I should have said as well, end goal is probably ib-e hex and some highly clocked and tuned g.skills.
 
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I will have a go with the Dark yeah. It has the same hardware tweak as the ROG to get more from CPU. I am not sure whats going on with it though but can ask King Pin no problems.

I am also appearing on MSI's stand at Gamescon so I will need to learn the Big Bang for some 780 Lightening Firestrike X.
 
Good stuff :)

Let me know how you get on with the big bang and if msi somehow let you have better base control :)

I almost forgot about the 780 lightning, if we get blocks, sign me up for one...or two :D
 
Hahah I am, just need to disguise it from the Mrs!

Anyhow, let me know what you think of the big bang once you've gotten used to it, see if I'm missing some settings out that may make the board better. It handles droop really well and was quite surprised at how well it took to my 2133 cl9 ripjawsz. Managed 2440 10-12-12-21-88-1T on them so far!
 
In a slight twist I'm now considering a move to haswell, early reports suggest ib-e is going to be a measly 8% gain on sb-e, which could be lost with a poor clocker...

Now looking at mvie & the gigabyte oc boards. Any real hardware based reason the oc force being £300 more then the regular oc? Besides an integrated waterblock and full pci lane support I can't see much else?

Also have you had an experience with naked haswell on water?
 
8 Pack said:
Yes thanks!!! ;) Mine do 4.9-5ghz DDR2666+
Click to expand...

8 Pack said:
Ivy E will be class man!!! seriously quad channel DDR3000 woooooooooooooooow!!!!
Click to expand...

You see this is why I can't make a decision :p

On the one hand I'll get better Pi scores with HW, on the other I'll get better 3dmark physics scores with Ivy-e....I just can't win!

One things for sure, 7970's are out, 780 ltg/classys are in.
 
Off topic from my original question....

Apologies if this falls under an nda or something, but the date given for 780 lightnings of 07/08, is that an unveiling date or will I be able to order one on that date?
 
The correct decision for you is to build two platforms!!! Then you have the best of both worlds for benching!!! All other tasks are covered by both rigs. I am asking the head of VGA at MSI for those details and if I can share as I genuinely dont know. I only ever need to know when NDA expires.

I am doing 3 card FS and FSE at Games Con on Nvidia stand.
 
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