If you were to buy a X79 MB now....

[BarbaricSoul]

I just purchased a second 3930k CPU, and I'm starting to look for a MB for it. The system will mainly be used as a cruncher rig, with gaming and school work as a secondary use. I do plan to OC the CPU to at least 4.3ghz (seems to be the "sweet spot" for the 3930k). I don't have a really big preference in motherboard brands. I'm not interested in a mATX board. Money isn't a huge issue, so long as what I get is worth the cost.

So, if you were to buy a X79 motherboard to pair with a 3930k for what I mentioned above, which board would it be?

I currently considering getting a Sabertooth, but I'm curious if there may be a better choice.

 

[Vario]

X79?

budget?

maybe this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131798&cm_re=x79-_-13-131-798-_-Product
ASUS P9X79 WS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131798&cm_re=x79-_-13-131-798-_-Product

 

[X71200]

X79 WS. Had one and gave it to my friend when I got my 4770K.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

X79?

budget?

maybe this?
ASUS P9X79 WS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131798&cm_re=x79-_-13-131-798-_-Product

Yes, I meant X79. My bad.

As for budget-

Money isn't a huge issue, so long as what I get is worth the cost.

What does the WS have up on the Sabertooth or X79 Deluxe?

 

[X71200]

What does the WS have up on the Sabertooth or X79 Deluxe?

I had the Pro, the Sabertooth as well as the WS and my favourite one of all was the WS.

Well, it has heatsinks on memory VRM's, more PCI-E lines, better looks, better over all chipset cooling and it's a from WS line of boards so you'd, either way, get an excellent product. In fact I'd have suggested the X79-E WS but you have no need for such monstrous board.

 

[Vario]

Hmm the Deluxe has 20 power phase?
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/P9X79_Deluxe/

 

[Aquinus]

Well, I have the P9X79 Deluxe and it's a damn good board, however I would recommend going with the Black Edition Rampage IV. Cadaveca says skt2011 CPUs clock like crazy on this board, SB-E and IVB-E alike. You won't see great overclocks with the P9X79 Deluxe but it offers a lot and the VRMs can handle just about anything.

I also also note that the Deluxe added support for a lot of skt2011 Xeons as well as the i7 lineup a year ago-ish.

The Deluxe has also been discontinued iirc.. Just an FYI.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Yes, I meant X79. My bad.

As for budget-


What does the WS have up on the Sabertooth or X79 Deluxe?

You can change the thread title, if you want.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Hmm the Deluxe has 20 power phase?
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/P9X79_Deluxe/

That is the exact board I have in the 3930k system I have now(as opposed to this newer version-http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=) . Been pretty happy with it. No complaints. Wouldn't be against having another one.

You can change the thread title, if you want.

How? I tried, but didn't see any way to edit the title.

Well, I have the P9X79 Deluxe and it's a damn good board, however I would recommend going with the Black Edition Rampage IV. Cadaveca says skt2011 CPUs clock like crazy on this board, SB-E and IVB-E alike. You won't see great overclocks with the P9X79 Deluxe but it offers a lot and the VRMs can handle just about anything.

I also also note that the Deluxe added support for a lot of skt2011 Xeons as well as the i7 lineup a year ago-ish.

The Deluxe has also been discontinued iirc.. Just an FYI.

Eh, no doubt, that is a very nice board, but this system will be crunching 24/7, so heat will be a issue. 4.3-4.4ghz is about all that can be properly managed with high-end air cooling while crunching for days/months on end at 100% load from what I have experienced with my current 3930k. Not worth the +$500 price tag for what I'll be using it for IMO.

Oh, and you can get the Deluxe (newer version): http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-X79DELX&c=CJ

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Ok Dave, what board am I buying?

 

[thebluebumblebee]

Upper right hand corner, next to where you watch/unwatch a thread, there's a little drop down box that says thread tools.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Upper right hand corner, next to where you watch/unwatch a thread, there's a little drop down box that says thread tools.

got it

 

[Hood]

I just purchased a second 3930k CPU, and I'm starting to look for a MB for it. The system will mainly be used as a cruncher rig, with gaming and school work as a secondary use. I do plan to OC the CPU to at least 4.3ghz (seems to be the "sweet spot" for the 3930k). I don't have a really big preference in motherboard brands. I'm not interested in a mATX board. Money isn't a huge issue, so long as what I get is worth the cost.

So, if you were to buy a X79 motherboard to pair with a 3930k for what I mentioned above, which board would it be?

I currently considering getting a Sabertooth, but I'm curious if there may be a better choice.

When choosing a board for overclocking, the number and quality of power phases makes a big difference. Fortunately, there's a chart - http://www.sinhardware.com/images/vrmlist.png - that details all the VRM information for several generations of Intel boards by Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, etc. Great help in finding the true phase count (as opposed to the "marketing count", and the quality and number of all power components. Looks like the Rampage IV Black Edition is best, but it's almost $500 and hard to find.

 

[Aquinus]

If you need the PCI-E lanes for something, the P9X79-E WS uses PLX chip so this board has something like 72 PCI-E lanes if that is of any interest to you. It's also a huge board and a little overkill for just crunching.

 

[cadaveca]

I have two ASUS Rampage IV BLACK EDITION boards running, and one P9X79 Deluxe. It's just as Aquinus says.

The only other board I would feel safe recommending for hardcore long-term OC is the ASRock X79 Fatal1ty Champion.

I haven't tried EVGA X79 board.. they offered, but I didn't have any CPUs for the socket at the time. I had ES chips and had to send them back, so I ran an FX-8350 for a few months until Intel hooked me up thanks to our old CPU reviewer, FirekillerGR.

Most other boards I had in my hands at some point. The Sabertooth is pretty good, but limited on OC a bit. It does have some tasty build quality, too, just lacks in OC.

Nothing compares to the RIVBE in my eyes, but it's not made for you to throw the cheapest stuff into... choose your supporting parts wisely. At $500, it's not for noobs.

 

[lilhasselhoffer]

I've had a Gigabyte UD5, AsRock Extreme 6, and the ASUS Deluxe (the newest one). Only board that never needed add-on cards was the Deluxe. It overclocks well, and was worth the price IMO.

 

[Aquinus]

I've had a Gigabyte UD5, AsRock Extreme 6, and the ASUS Deluxe (the newest one). Only board that never needed add-on cards was the Deluxe. It overclocks well, and was worth the price IMO.

This! I felt the same way about the old varient although I really want a wifi adapter that supports 5GHZ and 802.11AC now though and I don't think it's upgradable. Also that wi-fi is shared with one of the PCI-E 1x slots which is covered by a GPU so adding a card would require mounting elsewhere in the chassis and using a PCI-E extension which is a turn-off but an interesting challenge nonetheless. I think I would rather run a couple CAT-6 cables though.

 

[BarbaricSoul]

as of right now, it's between the Sabertooth and Deluxe, with the Deluxe edging out on top unless someone make a suggestion of another board more appropriate for my intended uses. I just don't see the need for a $500 board for what I intend to use this computer for.

 

[Norton]

So, if you were to buy a X79 motherboard to pair with a 3930k for what I mentioned above, which board would it be?

I would choose the one with the best Xeon support* first (some support Xeon, some do not), longest warranty second

*always a chance of picking up a Xeon with more than 6c/12t for a good price a year or two from now

My $0.02

This one possibly:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157289

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/X79 Extreme6/?cat=CPU

 

[Aquinus]

I would choose the one with the best Xeon support* first (some support Xeon, some do not), longest warranty second

*always a chance of picking up a Xeon with more than 6c/12t for a good price a year or two from now

My $0.02

Yes, just keep in mind that all of those IVB-E Xeons will start getting cheaper when DDR4 servers based on Haswell-E start taking over the market. Assuming it does offer more cores than IVB-E did, we might see some *really* cheap 4c and 6c CPUs with dual CPU support, so it might not be an entirely bad idea to see if there are any dual-socket motherboards that would run the i7 alone but could run dual Xeons. I have no idea if this is possible, but it's worth the investigation. You lose the overclocking option here I think though.

Edit: This may not be an option. You may need a DP Xeon to even use a DP board. Oh well.

 

[cadaveca]

as of right now, it's between the Sabertooth and Deluxe, with the Deluxe edging out on top unless someone make a suggestion of another board more appropriate for my intended uses. I just don't see the need for a $500 board for what I intend to use this computer for.

Unless there's some sort of slot arrangement or feature you need from either, I don't think you'll see much difference in using either one of those. I'd take the Deluxe simply because the design is newer, and better refined.

 

[Norton]

This Gigabyte has pretty good Xeon support (up to 10c/20t 12c/24t) and a 5yr warranty:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128532