NVIDIA SLI Breaks EVGA GTX 560 Ti 2Win and X79 Combinations

Subject: Graphics Cards | December 16, 2011 - 04:39 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: x79, sli, evga, GTX 560 Ti, 2win

Sometimes, the best intentions fumble out of the gates.  When we reviewed the EVGA GeForce GTX 560 Ti 2Win graphics card in November, I gave it a glowing review as a product that offered better performance than the GTX 580 while selling at a very similar price (currently just $20 more).  My test configuration at the time included an X58 motherboard based on the Nehalem architecture that has been tried and tested over the years.

For the forthcoming review of the Radeon HD 7970 graphics card, we decided to move our GPU test bed to the new X79-based Sandy Bridge-E platform since it was the new hotness and because it continued to be the best option for multi-GPU configurations going forward.  Or so we thought.

While preparing for our review, I was configuring our NVIDIA cards due for re-testing on this platform and brought the GTX 560 Ti 2Win out from the back room.  However, no matter which driver I used, I was unable to enable SLI on it and running a quick performance test confirmed we were running in a single GPU configuration.  We used driver versions from the 285.xx stack as well as the 290.xx stack - all with the same results.

Both GPUs were enabled and would show up in the Windows Device Manager AND inside the NVIDIA control panel.  However, the standard SLI configuration switch was nowhere to be found.  We only had the ability to select enabling PhysX on different the GPUs...

After a quick talk with both NVIDIA and EVGA we confirmed this to be a bug with the EVGA GTX 560 Ti 2Win and the X79 platform as a whole.  Why?  Apparanetly a driver fix is in the works - it is all simply a software issue.  A new version is "coming soon" though no specific dates were given.  If you have one of these cards and upgraded to an X79 motherboard, we apologize for you only being able to utilize half of your investment.

Which brings me back to my consistent stance - NVIDIA's SLI Technology would be better served as an openly available multi-GPU solution without the restrictions of licensing and software hacks.  Why?  The money that NVIDIA makes on the licensing is pretty minimal and the only goal is to uphold the "value" of the SLI brand.  Instead, everytime a hiccup like this occurs, more gamers decide that the benefits aren't worth the potential hassle owning multiple graphics cards may cause.  

CrossFireX doesn't have nearly the marketing push behind it that SLI does yet it continues to have legs without the rather outdated partner licensing restrictions.  Every multiple PCIe slot motherboard (essentially) will support CrossFireX - users that might want SLI configurations need to look for that damn logo on the box...

Puget Systems will build you a Sandy Bridge E system

Subject: Systems | December 6, 2011 - 05:37 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: x79, Sandy Bridge E, puget systems, i7-3960x, GTX580, sli

If you want to get your hands on a pre-built Sandy Bridge E system you could do worse than the Puget Systems Deluge.  You get the Core i7-3960X on an ASUS Sabertooth X79 with 32GB of 1500MHz Patriot Viper Xtreme DDR3, a pair of EVGA GTX580s and both an Intel 510 250GB SSD and a 2TB WD Caviar Black for storage.  The whole system is cooled with a custom watercooler with a 360mm radiator and will only cost $7,254.  The system does give you enough power to game in NVIDIA Surround with decent frame rates, but AnandTech is of the opinion that this system is perhaps a bit too powerful.  So much of the capability of this system is not utilized by even the most demanding of games, and what is needed can be duplicated with parts that have a much smaller price tag.  However if you need the bragging rights then this system is for you.

"It's been a little while since we've had a Puget Systems desktop in, and so far we haven't yet tested any of their big dog gaming machines. Everything else we've tested, we've liked, but what happens when the fine folks over at Puget Systems pull out all the stops and put together a high end gaming machine? The answer: the Deluge, an X79-based rig in a modified Antec P183, employing a custom liquid-cooling loop. It's big, powerful, and expensive. Did Puget Systems hit another custom out of the park, and is Sandy Bridge-E the enthusiast platform we were waiting for?"

Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:

Systems

• CyberPower Gamer Xtreme 1000 SE @ Bjorn3D
• Holiday 2011 Midrange System Buyer's Guide @ AnandTech
• Sony VAIO VPC-L231FX/W Review @ TechReviewSource
• Toshiba DX735 All-in-One: Notebooks Without Batteries @ AnandTech
• Pre-Built Desktop Buyer's Guide: Holiday 2011 Edition @ AnandTech

GSkill Heard You Like Memory…

Subject: Memory | December 6, 2011 - 11:35 AM | Josh Walrath
Tagged: x79, SB-E, Sandy Bridge E, Intel, gskill, DDR-3 2400, DDR-3, bulldozer, amd, am3+, 64 GB

So they are giving us as much, and as fast, as we could possibly handle.  GSkill has announced their latest Ripjaw-Z kits specifically aimed at the latest Intel Socket 2011 chips on the X79 platform.  These kits range from 4 x 8GB @ 2100 speeds with 1.5 v up to 8 x 8GB at 2400 speeds at 1.65 v.  For those wishing to push clock speeds up higher, they offer a 4 x 4GB kit at 2500 speeds at 1.65v as well.

Red is the new black.  This is what 32 GB of memory looks like now.

The past few months I have been using a few sets of GSkill memory with the latest Llano based chips from AMD.  These are 4 x 4 GB 1866 products that run at 1.5v, and they have been pretty phenomenal for me.  Now that we are moving into new CPU architectures from both manufacturers, memory speeds have become important again.  For quite some time people could easily get by with DDR-3 1333 modules and not experience any kind of performance bottleneck.  The reasons for this were due to CPU designs (quad core CPUs rarely required more than 12 GB/sec of bandwidth in most applications) as well as the non-integrated nature of graphics for the most part.

Read the full post here.

ECS and their no holds barred approach to the X79 chipset

Subject: Motherboards | November 30, 2011 - 05:29 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ECS, X79R-AX Extreme, x79

ECS put out the X79R-AX Extreme and it certainly deserves that moniker.  They went for 4 USB 3.0 ports instead of 2, they included a CLRTC button on the back panel, dual NIC s and Bluetooth and as well as WiFi with an external wire style antenna.  Internally there are 8 SATA 6Gb/s ports and 4 SATA 3Gb/s ports, a diagnostic LED which also displays current CPU temperature and 4 PCIe x16 slots and 2 PCIe x1 slots.  That list goes far beyond the other Extreme X79 boards on the market.  Guru3D warns that the BIOS is more than a little confusing when you overclock but at roughly $300 to pick up when it becomes available this is a sweet example of an X79 motherboard.

"Today we take a look at the new motherboard from ECS, the X79R-AX Extreme. We'll throw in a decent photo-shoot and a benchmark suite at the product and get an indication what performance is like with the Intel Core i7-3960X (Sandy Bridge-E).

Admittedly I was a little shocked when the motherboard arrived, as it is probably the most feature rich X79 motherboard we've had in our labs."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• X79 Express Performance Comparison @ Benchmark Reviews
• ASRock X79 Extreme4 X79 Motherboard Review @ eTeknix
• Gigabyte X79-UD3 Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
• ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Motherboard @ Bjorn3D
• ASUS Rampage IV Extreme @ Overclockers.com
• BIOS Option Of The Week - DBI Output for AGP Trans. @ TechARP
• Sapphire Pure Platinum A75 Motherboard Review @ Neoseeker

Gear Up with MSI: Win Intel Motherboards, GeForce Graphics Cards

Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Graphics Cards, Motherboards | November 30, 2011 - 11:13 AM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: z68, x79, sandy bridge-e, msi, GTX 580, GTX 560, giveaway, contest

This is a pretty big week here at PC Perspective as we released our highly anticipated review of the Intel Sandy Bridge-E and X79 platform.  If you haven't read that over, you need to do so, right away!!  But we also have some impressive gear to giveaway thanks to our friends at MSI and their "Gear Up with MSI" campaign!

What are the prizes?  I know that's what you want to know first...

• 1st Prize
  • MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Lightning
  • MSI Intel X79A-GD65 (8D) Motherboard

• 2nd Prize
  • MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Frozr II
  • MSI Intel Z68A-GD65 with PCIE 3.0 & 5 year warranty

Wow, these are some stellar prizes!  First prize basically gets the components required for one of the fastest gaming rigs on the planet while the 2nd prize will be able to play Batman: Arkham City with all the top settings! 

So what do you have to do to win these prizes?  The steps are simple:

1. Make a comment on this post thanking MSI for this kick ass contest!!  That's pretty simple right?  You don't have to register, though we would appreciate it!
2. Like MSI on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MSI.ComputerUS
   1. (Just a hint, they have a lot of Facebook-specific contests throughout the year!)
3. Like PC Perspective on Facebook: http://facebook.com/pcper
4. Follow PC Perspective on Twitter: http://twitter.com/pcper
5. Circle PC Perspective on Google+: http://gplus.to/pcper
   1. (Another hint, comments on our G+ post about this contest get another entry!)

We will pick random winners in our pool of entries on Wednesday, the 7th of December!  Sorry, US and Canada residents only for this one!  If you don't have a Facebook/Twitter/Google+ account commenting here will still enter you.

Oh, and if you haven't seen the other contest MSI is running around the release of Batman: Arkham City, you should check out this page on their site.  Posting a photo of yourself dressed up like Batman has never been so lucrative! 

The Grand Prize for MSI's Batman Photo Contest!!

Winners Announced!!  Sorry about the late update, but we did pick our winners!  The first prize went to use "Equinox2355" and the second prize went to "Deman".  Thanks to everyone for participating and we'll have more contests very soon!!!

Extreme overclocking potential from the new ASUS ROG Rampage IV Extreme

Subject: Motherboards | November 22, 2011 - 05:14 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: asus, ROG Rampage IV Extreme, socket 2011, x79, ROG

ASUS had the extreme overclocker in mind when they were building the Rampage III Extreme, not many people need two type-K Probe digital thermometers for operating below 0C nor 6 variable resistors, voltage sensors to monitor your GPUs exact current voltage nor an external device to monitor and tweak settings that doesn't need CPU cycles.  If you are more of a casual overclocker you should not let that scare you off as there is a solid BIOS for more casual tweaking which you can even access using an iPhone/iPad over Bluetooth.  It also sports what ASUS calls the X-Socket which will allow you to use an LGA1366 heatsink on this board.  It might cost almost $500 but once you are done reading Hardware Canucks review you might be trying to find ways to put this board in your next system.

"You saw them in our i7-3960X review; the much anticipated Sandy Bridge Extreme launch along with the X79 code name Patsburg chipsets. Not only do we have a brand new socket (2011) but motherboard manufacturers have have been quick on the uptake and ASUS is trying to lead the pack with their X79 Rampage IV Extreme."

Here are some more Motherboard articles from around the web:

Motherboards

• ASUS Sabertooth P67 Motherboard Review @ OCIA
• ASUS TUF Sabertooth X79 @ Guru of 3D
• GIGABYTE G1.Assassin 2 @ Tweaktown
• ASUS P9X79 Pro Motherboard Review @Hi Tech Legion
• ASUS P9X79 Deluxe @ Tweaktown
• MSI X79A-GD65 @ Tweaktown
• Intel DX79SI Review: The Default X79? @ AnandTech
• ASRock A55 Pro3 Review @ OCC
• ASRock A55 Pro3 FM1 Motherboard @ Pro-Clockers

Single malt, second opinion, triple checked and quad channel; one of these things is not like the other

Subject: Memory | November 21, 2011 - 06:02 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: quad channel, x79, Intel DX79SI, corsair CMGTX8, ddr3-1333

If one wanted to explore the actual benefit of the new quad channel memory feature on the X79 motherboard, the most logical way would be to use the same RAM and test it in single, dual, triple and quad channel.  That is exactly what Legit Reviews did using a quad channel kit of DDR3-1333 from Corsair and the Intel SX79SI motherboard, moving from single up to quad channel as well as upping the speed of the DIMMs.  As most may already know, on synthetic benchmarks you do see a relatively linear progression in theoretical bandwidth however the same cannot be said when looking at actual tasks like encoding.   Head on over to see the results.

"We started out running a single module at 1333MHz and then another module at a time to test dual channel, triple channel and finally quad channel. The Intel X79 chipet on the Intel SX79SI motherboard was able to properly run each memory configuration. The benchmark results in Sandra 2012 were very impressive in the sense that the benchmark results were nearly linear when moving from single channel to triple channel memory. Adding the fourth module for quad channel performance showed..."

Here are some more Memory articles from around the web:

Memory

• Patriot Viper Xtreme Series Division 4 Edition 32GB 1600MHz Quad Channel Memory Review @Hi Tech Legion
• G.Skill RipjawsZ PC3-17000 16GB @ Tweaktown
• GeIL EVO Corsa DIMM Kit 8GB PC3-14900U @ Hardwareoverclock
• Intel X79 Quad Channel and Z68 Dual Channel Memory Performance Analysis @ Tweaktown
• GeIL Enhance Corsa DDR3 1333MHz 16GB Quad Channel Memory Kit Review @ eTeknix
• Corsair Dominator GTX8 PC3-19200 Quad Channel 8GB Kit @ Tweaktown
• Apacer ARES PC3-17066 8GB Kit @ Tweaktown