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Lga 2011

ASUS Officially Launches P9X79-E Workstation Motherboard With 4-Way SLI Support

Subject: Motherboards | April 2, 2013 - 11:27 PM |
Tagged: asus, p9x79-e, workstation, Sandy Bridge E, quad sli, quad crossfire, lga 2011

Earlier this year at CES, ASUS showed off a high-end workstation board called the P9X79-E WS. The board is meant for Sandy Bridge-E processors, but will likely be compatible with Ivy Bridge-E as well. Unlike Wolverine and Zeus, the P9X79-E WS is a motherboard that will actually see the light of day and has been officially launched. It will be available sometime in May at an as-yet-unannounced price.

ASUS P9X79-E WS.jpg

The P9X79-E hosts a single LGA 2011 processor, up to 64GB of 2400MHz DDR3, the Intel X79 PCH, and support for 4-Way SLI or CrossFire on four of its seven total PCI-E 3.0 slots. The workstation board uses a 10-layer PCB, ASUS DIGI+ with 10+2 power phases, DR Power PSU monitoring, ASUS SSD Caching II, solid capacitors, and fanless heatsinks connected via copper heatpipes.

Asus P9X79-E WS_Rear IO.jpg

Storage options include six SATA 6Gbps ports, four SATA II 3Gbps ports, and two eSATA ports coming from the front panel header. The rear IO has changed a bit since the board seen at CES, however. The now-official ASUS P9X79-E WS includes the following rear IO options:

  • 1 x PS/2 combo port
  • 10 x USB 2.0 ports (one can be used for BIOS flashing)
  • 2 x USB 3.0 ports
  • 2 x eSATA ports
  • 2 x Gigabit Ethernet ports backed by Intel i210 GbE controller
  • 6 x Analog audio ports
  • 1 x Optical S/PDIF port

The board can accommodate up to four dual slot graphics cards or seven single slot expansion cards (like PCI-E SSDs and RAID controllers). As a workstation board, it is likely to be pricey, but for those that need 4-way SLI and LGA 2011 (possibly for Ivy Bridge-E though its hard to say for sure if that will work yet) it is shaping up to be a good option. As mentioned above, the P9X79-E WS will reportedly be available for purchase in about a month. Sometime in early May or late April, according to Slash Gear.

Source: Asus

Intel Will Allegedly Release Three Ivy Bridge-E Processors Later This Year

Subject: General Tech | April 2, 2013 - 10:59 AM |
Tagged: lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-E, Intel, 22nm

Many enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting the next generation of Intel processors to use LGA 2011, which is supposed to be Ivy Bridge-E. Especially after seeing rumors of a 10 core Xeon E5-2600 V2  Ivy Bridge-EP CPU, I think many users expected at least an eight core Ivy Bridge-E part.

Unfortunately, if a slide posted by VR-Zone China is any indication, LGA 2011 users will not be getting an eight core processor any time soon. The slide suggests that Intel will release three new Ivy Bridge-E CPUs in the third quarter of this year (Q3'13). However, the top-end part is merely a six core CPU with slight improvements over the existing Sandy Bridge-E 3960X chip.

Ivy Bridge-E Lineup.jpg

Specifically, the slide alleges that the initial Intel release will include the Core i7 4820, Core i7 4930K, and the Core i7 4960X. An Ivy Bridge-E equivalent to the SB-E 3970X is noticeably absent from the lineup along with several of the other rumored (higher core count) chips.

Rumored Ivy Bridge-E chips:

  Clockspeed Core Count L3 Cache Manufacturing Process TDP
Core i7 4960X 3.6GHz (4GHz Turbo) 6 15MB 22nm 130W
Core i7 4930K 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) 6 12MB 22 130W
Core i7 4820K 3.7GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) 4 10MB 22 130W

Existing Sandy Bridge-E equivalents:

  Clockspeed Core Count L3 Cache Manufacturing Process TDP
Core i7 3960X 3.3GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) 6 15MB 32nm 130W
Core i7 3930K 3.2GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) 6 12MB 32nm 130W
Core i7 3820 3.6GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) 4 10MB 32nm 130W

All of the chips allegedly have 130W TDPs, 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes, support for quad-channel DDR3-1866 memory, and are built on Intel's 22nm manufacturing process. The low end i7 4820 is a quad core chip clocked at 3.7 GHz base and 3.9 GHz turbo with 10MB L3 cache. The i7 4930K is an unlocked six core part with 12MB L3 cache and clockspeeds of 3.4 GHz base and 3.9 GHz turbo. Finally, the Core i7 4960X is rumored to be the highest-end chip Intel will release (at least, initially). It is also a six core part clocked at 3.6 GHz base and 4 GHz turbo. It has 15MB of L3 cache. These chips are the Ivy Bridge-E equivalents to the 3820, 3930K, and 3960X chips respectively. The new processors feature higher clockspeeds, and are based on 22nm 3D transistor technology instead of SB-E's 32nm manufacturing process. It seems that Intel has extended unlocking to the lower-tier LGA 2011 chip, as it is listed as the Core i7 4820K. Having an unlocked multiplier is nice to see at the low end (the low end of the enthusiast platform, anyway). Curiously, the TDP ratings are the same, however. That suggests that the move to 22nm did not net Intel much TDP headroom, and the higher clocks are bringing them up to similar TDP numbers. At least the TDP ratings are not higher than SB-E, such that you motherboard and HSF should have no problems accepting an IVB-E CPU upgrade (with a BIOS update, of course).

It will be interesting to see how the new Ivy Bridge-E chips stack up, especially considering Intel may also be unveiling the consumer-grade Haswell processor this year. On one hand, Ivy Bridge-E offers up a CPU upgrade path for existing systems, but on the other hand pricing and the performance of Haswell (and lack of higher core count Ivy Bridge-E chips like previous rumors suggested) may see enthusiasts instead opt for a motherboard+CPU overhaul instead of simply recycling the LGA 2011/X79 motherboard. At this point, if this new slide holds true it appears that Ivy Bridge E/LGA 2011 will become even more of a niche solely for workstations that need the extra PCI-E lanes and quad channel memory. I say this as someone running a Lynnfield system who is itching for an upgrade and torn on going for the enthusiast platform or waiting for Haswell.

What do you think about the rumored Ivy Bridge-E chips, are they what you expected? Do you think they will be worth a CPU upgrade for your LGA 2011-based system or are you leaning towards Haswell?

Read more about Ivy Bride-E at PC Perspective, including: Ivy Bridge-E after Haswell: I think I've gone cross-eyed.

Source: VR-Zone China

Intel Planning 10-core Xeon E5-2600 V2 Ivy Bridge-EP CPU

Subject: Processors | October 17, 2012 - 06:48 AM |
Tagged: xeon E5-2600 v2, lga 2011, Ivy Bridge-EP, Intel, 22nm

A recently leaked slide reveals one of Intel’s upcoming Xeon-branded server chips coming in Q3 2013. The Xeon E5-2600 V2 is an Ivy Bridge-EP processor and will be compatible with motherboards featuring the LGA 2011 socket.

Intel-Ivy-Bridge-EP-Launch-Roadmap.jpg

The Xeon E5-2600 V2 in particular has a 70W TDP (thermal design power) rating while the highest-end Ivy Bridge-EP CPUs will have TDPs of up to 130W. The E5-2600 V2 has 10 physical cores, and with HyperThreading it can handle a maximum of 20 threads. Each physical core has access to 256KB L2 cache and the chip has a total of 30MB L3 cache. Further, this (and other) Ivy Bridge-EP processor will support up to 1866MHz DDR3 system RAM.

Interestingly, the Xeon E5-2600 V2 is merely the middle of the road part for Intel. The company will be releasing processors that are even higher-end than this one. They will have up to 12 physical cores which means up to 24 threads. And paired with Intel's 22nm manufacturing process and 3D transistors, these chips will fit right into workstations and server rooms.

Source: Guru 3D

ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Motherboard Review

Author:
Date: June 5, 2012
Subject: Motherboards, Chipsets
Manufacturer: ASUS
Tagged: x79, sandy bridge-e, Sabertooth, overclocking, motherboard, lga 2011, Intel, atx, asus

Introduction and Features

Introduction

icon1.jpg

Courtesy of ASUS

ASUS continues to optimize their hardware for the overclocking and PC gaming crowds, but they are also catering to a niche audience looking for ultra stable and durable PC components. ASUS's Sabertooth X79 motherboard is their one of their latest products to bear the TUF series label and sport customized hardware and thermal components as well as a desert camo color scheme to complete the military look. This $329 motherboard comes with a five-year warranty, digital power management system, rugged chokes, solid capacitors, and MOSFETs that have been certified through third party, military-grade testing.

 

icon3.jpg

Courtesy of ASUS

The Sabertooth X79 also comes with a host of other features to improve SSD caching and give users quad GPU support for CrossfireX and SLI graphics card configurations. This board also includes a unique UEFI BIOS and natively supports 2TB hard drives with 64-bit operating systems. The USB BIOS "Flashback" feature also helps new users update their motherboard BIOS without entering the BIOS. ASUS states that users can use any USB storage device with the latest BIOS, push the BIOS button located on the back I/O panel for three seconds, and the board will automatically update the BIOS using standby power. Very cool!

 

icon4.jpg

Courtesy of ASUS

The back I/O panel on the Sabertooth X79 is no slouch either as it gives users a healthy amount of USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and eSATA 6GB/s ports for greater performance and expandability options. They also added a small fan over the back I/O panel as part of their "TUF Thermal Armor" feature that will help cool and exhaust heat from ther motherboard out the back of the chassis. Let's move on to the rest of the Saberbooth X79's features where we will get our first out-of-the-box look at this motherboard.

Continue reading our review of the ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA2011 Motherboard!!

Sandy Bridge Xeons galore! Seventeen new E5s arrive

Subject: General Tech | May 15, 2012 - 02:17 PM |
Tagged: xeon, xeon e5, Sandy Bridge E, Sandy Bridge EN, Sandy Bridge EP, lga 1356, lga 2011

Today marks the arrival of the Xeon E3-1200 single socket processor with 17 more models coming soon for two, four, or even eight socket motherboards, though according to The Inquirer Intel has no plans to scale to 16 sockets.  They come in a bewildering array of models including the Sandy Bridge E we are used to, Sandy Bridge EN which uses LGA 1356 and is intended for dual CPU motherboards as it only has one QPI and the LGA 2011 Sandy Bridge EP which scales higher thanks to dual QPI.  No triple QPI but that may still be in store to reduce the number of hops in an 8+ socket board to 2 when used in symmetric multiprocessing in the future.

The E5-2400 (SB-EP) has eight cores and is targeted straight at AMD's lower price, lower power consumption chips as well as offering a noticeable improvement over the already launched E3s.  The E5-2600 family with its dual QPI is more suited for high powered applications that need several powerful processors working in tandem but not to the levels that the E7 series provides.  By offering such a wide variety of choices, especially a family of what for Intel are very low cost processors they are really putting a lot of pressure on AMD and the soon to be released Piledriver family.

Inq_intel_xeon_e5_4600_diagram.jpg

"If you were planning on buying new servers in the coming weeks and months, Intel just gave you a whole lot of homework. And if you work at Advanced Micro Devices, you're getting some homework, too."

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Source: The Inquirer

Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 LGA 2011 EATX Motherboard Review

Author:
Date: March 26, 2012
Subject: Motherboards, Chipsets
Manufacturer: Gigabyte
Tagged: x79, sandy bridge-e, motherboard, mobo, lga 2011, Intel, gigabyte, atx

Introduction and Features

Introduction

5300_big.jpg

Courtesy of Gigabyte

We are still making our way through an avalanche of X79 motherboards on our test bench that leverages the power of Sandy Bridge-E CPUs, but we didn't want to wait any longer on powering up Gigabyte's GA-X79-UD5 extended ATX motherboard. Gigabyte has really stepped up their game by offering optimized LGA 2011 for no-nonsense PC builders, hardware enthusiasts, serious overclockers, and even FPS/RPG PC gamers. Our review of the X79-UD5 is going to evaluate every aspect of the board's ability to handle automatic and manual overclocking, DX10/DX11 gaming, and other synthetic and real-world benchmarks.

 

5299_big.jpg

Courtesy of Gigabyte

The Gigabyte X79-UD5 motherboard takes full advantage of the new features available with the LGA 2011 platform and X79 Express chipset like the abiliy to use up to 64GBs of quad-channel memory via eight DIMMs and support for dual and triple AMD CrossfireX or NVIDIA SLI graphics card configurations for multi-monitor, high-definition gaming. These features should make ultra enthusiasts grin from ear to ear because they will probably be the ones who tandem this board with an Intel Core i7-3960X processor and dual NVIDIA GTX 680s graphics cards that were just released earlier this week. The $299 price tag on this board also places it right in the middle of the pack of LGA 2011 motherboards available on Newegg and other vendors.

Continue reading our review of the Gigabyte GA-X79-UD5 motherboard!

Fatal1ty's Asrock X79 Professional Motherboard

Subject: Motherboards | March 26, 2012 - 03:57 PM |
Tagged: fatal1ty, Asrock X79 Professional, lga 2011, x79

As the ASRock X79 Professional carries the Fatal1ty logo, you can be sure that it is designed for gamers.  That shows in the 4 PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots which can handle 16x, 8x, 16x or x16, x8, x8, x8 depending on if you want a three or four card setup.  Six SATA 6Gbps ports will ensure your SSDs have enough bandwidth to keep them happy, with another four SATA2 ports if you decide to go whole hog on storage.  Funky Kit's overclocking experiments were very impressive with this board especially since they kept the voltage to a relatively safe 1.45V.  If you are going with an X79 based system, this $280 board is worth a look.

FK_fatal.jpg

"If you are looking for a great overclocking board but do not want to spend a ton of money, this is your board. The X79 Professional easily exceeded my expectations for a board at this price. It easily gives boards that cost twice as much some real tough competition."

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Source: Funky Kit

Rawr, ASUS unleashed the X79 Sabertooth

Subject: Motherboards | February 1, 2012 - 05:16 PM |
Tagged: asus, Sabertooth, Patsburg, x79, lga 2011

ASUS Sabretooth TUF series has been growing, from the P67 version on the Intel side to the 990FX version for AMD users and now has an X79 model.  These boards all feature TUF Thermal Armor which not only gives a unique look but is also intended to provide enhanced cooling.  This is a high end family, which features ASUS' customized back panel and a five year warranty to help justify the price.  It sports three PCIe 3.0 slots, two at 16x and one at 8x as well as a pair of PCIe 2.0 1x slots and a legacy PCI slot.  For storage you four SATA 6Gbps ports and two 6Gbps eSATA ports split between three controllers as well as four 3Gbps ports.  You also enjoy a half dozen USB 3.0 ports and even Firewire.  Take a look at one of ASUS best offerings for LGA2011 processors at Hardware Canucks.

HWC_Intro.jpg

"In mid November we saw the launch of the enthusiast-based Sandy Bridge Extreme platform along with the X79 (code name Patsburg) chipsets and since then we have brought you reviews of the i7-3960X CPU and the Rampage IV Extreme motherboard. Today we continue our walk down the LGA2011 road and bring you another highly anticipated board from ASUS: the Sabertooth X79."

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Source: Hardware Canucks

Mixed results from Gigabyte's mid-range GA-X79-UD5

Subject: Motherboards | January 2, 2012 - 02:25 PM |
Tagged: x79, gigabyte, X79-UD5, lga 2011, Sandy Bridge E

A review of Gigabyte's mid-ranged X79-UD5 motherboard has appeared on [H]ard|OCP, though from the $340 price tag it is hard to call it mid-ranged.  It sports three PCIe 3.0 16x slots, though one runs at only 8x, as well as two PCIe 2.0 1x slots and even an old PCI slot.  For storage a half dozen SATA 6Gbps ports are bolstered by four SATA 3Gbps ports, four USB 3.0 ports and over a dozen USB 2.0 ports.  [H]'s experience with the board was mixed, while it was stable during their tests, Gigabyte recently release a statement which seems to imply some users were experiencing heat issues when overclocking that were bad enough to damage hardware.  As well they were unimpressed with Gigabyte's UEFI implementation and found it hard to navigate.  When those issues are combined with the high price, [H] didn't feel this was a board that they could recommend.

H_x79-ud5.jpg

"Gigabyte brings us another beautiful board in the form of the X79-UD5. Should this board be on your short list or is beauty only PCB deep? See how this LGA 2011 socket board stacks up with the Sandy Bridge E boards we have seen so far. This UD5 model is feature rich for a decent price, but, does it blend?"

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

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Source: [H]ard|OCP

ASUS ROG welcomes 2011 with the Rampage IV Extreme

Subject: Motherboards | December 19, 2011 - 02:30 PM |
Tagged: ROG, Rampage IV Extreme, lga 2011, asus

ASUS' Republic of Gamers family now has a Socket 2011 motherboard in the form of the Rampage IV Extreme.  The ROG boards are the highest end of ASUS' motherboard and the prices reflect this, the board [H]ard|OCP reviewed is $450.  For that you do get a lot, four PCIe 3.0 16x slots of which three can operate at 16x speeds, four SATA 3Gbps ports and four SATA 6Gbps ports, eight USB 3.0 ports and up to a full dozen USB 2.0 ports.  A large assortment of connectors and extras comes packaged with the board, as well as a new version of TurboV EVO, ASUS' monitoring and overclocking software.  Overclocking proved difficult, no matter which cooling solution they tried the CPU would slowly heat up until it began triggering alarms or simply crashed.  As this is an early version of the board you can expect the success rate to change somewhat; head to the review to see the long list of extras ASUS included with this impressive X79 motherboard.

H_ROGIVx.jpg

"ASUS expands its ROG line once again to include offerings based on Intel’s latest X79 chipset and support for the new Sandy Bridge-E processors. The ASUS Rampage IV Extreme comes from a long line of Rampage motherboards most of which have been excellent products. Our expectations are extremely high for this "Extreme" offering."

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Source: [H]ard|OCP

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