Welcome, its a bit after NDA, and if you've decided on Sandy Bridge-E as your next platform, or your just interested in the new boards, today I have a good bit in store for you.
X79-OC... OOPS I meant UD7 Review.
To introduce the X79 platform, we must start with the CPU, for starters Intel will be launching their 3960X and 3930K, the 3 in the first digit is for 3rd Generation Core i7 Processor, so the 3960 is like a 960, compare it to Bloomfield, with 960 and 930, so these processors will have predecessors. So let's start with the CPU, on die we have a PCI-E controller much like Sandy Bridge, but with 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes. 6-Cores along with cache and a system agent with an IMC. The IMC is quad channel, but also supports dual or triple channel. So as long as you put more than 1 stick of memory in there, it will optimize the memory channels. You can even mix two different sets of memory, and set their timings and voltages independently.
This platform is really feature packed, and it seems like most board makers are bringing out their A game, so let's see what GIGABYTE has to offer for X79. Can they produce another X58A-OC or even something better?
Box + Accessories:
Nice white box, like an Apple product, personally I don't like Apple, but GIGABYTE did a nice job with the packaging.
Now if you're thinking, "That is a lot of accessories" you and I would be thinking the same thing.
Here is a close up of the Wifi/BT module:
The board:
The backpanel:
That two color button is for the BIOS switch, you can select whether you want to use the main or backup BIOS, also the small black button is for ClearCMOS.
Board and Layout
Yea the socket is really huge, but you can also see that the DIMMs are close as well, this is to reduce trace length. That is why we see DIMMs on either side of the board. On boards with more than 4 DIMMs its recommended to OC with the first 2 on either side.
You can also see that the socket has holes built into its bracket, these are standard sized, so you can screw things down into them. I was able to get my Antec Kuhler 920 and Hyper 212+ to fit without issue, I haven't tried other heatsinks, but most should fit.
Now here is something I found out when I took off the bracket, you can actually puncture a piece of plastic and make a through-hole:
Here is the bottom half:
Now you can see that there is good spacing between the bottom of the memory slots and top of the first PCI-E 16x slot, this allows for overclockers to insulate the GPUs easily, and leave room for the memory, and changing memory out. It does also make this board ATX-XL, but as i am told not the full XL length.
A lot of you are wondering about the area with the buttons:
OK so we have a whole OC area over here, infact other than the backpanel with the ClearCMOS, and the dualBIOS switch, you can just handle everything from right here. We have two sets of +/- buttons, the ones to the left are for the multiplier and the ones on the right are for BLCK. The "Gear" button allows for the BLCK steps to be changed from 1mhz to 0.1mhz. We also have a Port80H LED POST Code display with codes in the back of the manual. Power and reset buttons are located here as are the voltage read points. Some connectors for the voltage read points are included, enough for every connector to be read at the same time. Also note that there are pads if you only have one DMM. You can also see a USB 3.0 connector, located north of the PCH to be closer to a USB 3.0 front panel bay, like the one included. That SATA power receptacle is for extra PCI-E power, and there is one more too a bit south.
Moving down south we have a lot of SATA connectors, but you see 4 missing, those were SAS ports for SATA6G, and Intel removed it from the PCH before launch.
The four gray are Marvell SATA6G, the 4 black are Intel SATA3G, and the 2 white are Intel SATA6G. You can also see a nice PCH heatsink, it actually says GIGABYTE OC on there, so maybe it really is an X79-OC?
Located right above the front panel connectors is a 2-pin ClearCMOS jumper, just short these two pins out and accomplish what the backpanel button does without having to actually reach back there.
We see some good spacing between slots here, but what is most odd is lack of PCI slots. As they are not native to the PCH X79, and haven't been for a while, manufacturers have to add PCI on there own if they want. A lot of users actually welcome to move to make PCI obsolete, personally I don't mind having PCI.
Ok now we take that heatsink off!
Here are the heatsinks:
Digital PWM and the new VRM:
So GIGABYTE switched to Digital, so what does that mean? It means that the Intersil Analog VRD 12 PWM has been changed to an International Rectifier Digital VRD12 PWM. Well the move to digital has two very big differences, first of all Digital PWMs offer much more control over every aspect of the voltage regulator, from the phase control to the LLC, the PWM even has built in NVM to store profiles. Settings can be changed real-time through software, and updated through the BIOS as well. Now this is the new 8-Phase IR PWM:
IRF3567
The second big difference is that the error feedback loop is digitalized, and this means much higher precision.
Its 8 phases is 6+2, on this board all its 8 phases are used for just the CPU cores, but on the Assassin 2 its 4 phases for CPU cores and 1 of those +2 phases for the QPI/VTT VR. For comparison, the 8-Phase Chil PWM used on the Maximus 4 Extreme was 7+1 phases, on the Extreme all phases were used for the CPU Cores, but on the Gene the extra 1 phase was used for the iGPU, and 4 phases for the CPU Cores. There is a lot in common between ASUS and GIGABYTE PWMs right now, as International Rectifier bought Chil Semiconductor recently, and has since been putting out Digital PWMs with Chil technology, basically the same product under a different name. So now we have to look to the Rampage 4 Extreme and look to see what its VRM looks like without a heatsink, as the PWMs are basically the same.
X79-OC... OOPS I meant UD7 Review.
To introduce the X79 platform, we must start with the CPU, for starters Intel will be launching their 3960X and 3930K, the 3 in the first digit is for 3rd Generation Core i7 Processor, so the 3960 is like a 960, compare it to Bloomfield, with 960 and 930, so these processors will have predecessors. So let's start with the CPU, on die we have a PCI-E controller much like Sandy Bridge, but with 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes. 6-Cores along with cache and a system agent with an IMC. The IMC is quad channel, but also supports dual or triple channel. So as long as you put more than 1 stick of memory in there, it will optimize the memory channels. You can even mix two different sets of memory, and set their timings and voltages independently.
This platform is really feature packed, and it seems like most board makers are bringing out their A game, so let's see what GIGABYTE has to offer for X79. Can they produce another X58A-OC or even something better?
- Box + Acessories
- Board and Layout
- Digital PWM with a new VRM
- A Closer Look at the ICs
- BIOS
- Included Software
- Test Setup and the Board in Action
- Benchmarks
- Conclusion
Box + Accessories:
Nice white box, like an Apple product, personally I don't like Apple, but GIGABYTE did a nice job with the packaging.
Now if you're thinking, "That is a lot of accessories" you and I would be thinking the same thing.
Here is a close up of the Wifi/BT module:
The board:
The backpanel:
That two color button is for the BIOS switch, you can select whether you want to use the main or backup BIOS, also the small black button is for ClearCMOS.
Board and Layout
Yea the socket is really huge, but you can also see that the DIMMs are close as well, this is to reduce trace length. That is why we see DIMMs on either side of the board. On boards with more than 4 DIMMs its recommended to OC with the first 2 on either side.
You can also see that the socket has holes built into its bracket, these are standard sized, so you can screw things down into them. I was able to get my Antec Kuhler 920 and Hyper 212+ to fit without issue, I haven't tried other heatsinks, but most should fit.
Now here is something I found out when I took off the bracket, you can actually puncture a piece of plastic and make a through-hole:
Here is the bottom half:
Now you can see that there is good spacing between the bottom of the memory slots and top of the first PCI-E 16x slot, this allows for overclockers to insulate the GPUs easily, and leave room for the memory, and changing memory out. It does also make this board ATX-XL, but as i am told not the full XL length.
A lot of you are wondering about the area with the buttons:
OK so we have a whole OC area over here, infact other than the backpanel with the ClearCMOS, and the dualBIOS switch, you can just handle everything from right here. We have two sets of +/- buttons, the ones to the left are for the multiplier and the ones on the right are for BLCK. The "Gear" button allows for the BLCK steps to be changed from 1mhz to 0.1mhz. We also have a Port80H LED POST Code display with codes in the back of the manual. Power and reset buttons are located here as are the voltage read points. Some connectors for the voltage read points are included, enough for every connector to be read at the same time. Also note that there are pads if you only have one DMM. You can also see a USB 3.0 connector, located north of the PCH to be closer to a USB 3.0 front panel bay, like the one included. That SATA power receptacle is for extra PCI-E power, and there is one more too a bit south.
Moving down south we have a lot of SATA connectors, but you see 4 missing, those were SAS ports for SATA6G, and Intel removed it from the PCH before launch.
The four gray are Marvell SATA6G, the 4 black are Intel SATA3G, and the 2 white are Intel SATA6G. You can also see a nice PCH heatsink, it actually says GIGABYTE OC on there, so maybe it really is an X79-OC?
Located right above the front panel connectors is a 2-pin ClearCMOS jumper, just short these two pins out and accomplish what the backpanel button does without having to actually reach back there.
We see some good spacing between slots here, but what is most odd is lack of PCI slots. As they are not native to the PCH X79, and haven't been for a while, manufacturers have to add PCI on there own if they want. A lot of users actually welcome to move to make PCI obsolete, personally I don't mind having PCI.
Ok now we take that heatsink off!
Here are the heatsinks:
Digital PWM and the new VRM:
So GIGABYTE switched to Digital, so what does that mean? It means that the Intersil Analog VRD 12 PWM has been changed to an International Rectifier Digital VRD12 PWM. Well the move to digital has two very big differences, first of all Digital PWMs offer much more control over every aspect of the voltage regulator, from the phase control to the LLC, the PWM even has built in NVM to store profiles. Settings can be changed real-time through software, and updated through the BIOS as well. Now this is the new 8-Phase IR PWM:
IRF3567
The second big difference is that the error feedback loop is digitalized, and this means much higher precision.
Its 8 phases is 6+2, on this board all its 8 phases are used for just the CPU cores, but on the Assassin 2 its 4 phases for CPU cores and 1 of those +2 phases for the QPI/VTT VR. For comparison, the 8-Phase Chil PWM used on the Maximus 4 Extreme was 7+1 phases, on the Extreme all phases were used for the CPU Cores, but on the Gene the extra 1 phase was used for the iGPU, and 4 phases for the CPU Cores. There is a lot in common between ASUS and GIGABYTE PWMs right now, as International Rectifier bought Chil Semiconductor recently, and has since been putting out Digital PWMs with Chil technology, basically the same product under a different name. So now we have to look to the Rampage 4 Extreme and look to see what its VRM looks like without a heatsink, as the PWMs are basically the same.
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