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Gigabyte GA X79 UD3
The GA X79 UD3 is the first product we have reviewed from Gigabyte with the new ‘3D Bios' feature. This has clearly been designed to help inexperienced users feel more at home, as they can simply click on a 3D representation to adjust various options via sliders. In reality I can't say I warmed to it that much, preferring the old style text based user interface. It certainly isn't a bad idea, but I am apparently very stuck in my views and just wanted it out of the way as soon as possible. The younger audience might find it more appealing than I did.
The GA X79 UD3 is a ‘budget' oriented X79 product and as such loses half the memory slots, which will not really cause much of an issue for an enthusiast gamer. This audience will assuredly use 8GB or 16GB memory kits which will be widely available, and affordable at launch. On the other hand, those in the professional sector who need a system for 3D rendering or high definition video encoding may want to look at a more expensive motherboard with the full 8 memory slots. In this case configuring 32GB would only cost £165 via 8 x 4GB sticks. The GA X79 UD3 will need 4 x 8GB sticks, which right now will cost around £500.
In other areas the GA X79 UD3 does not disappoint … with a fully loaded I/O back panel and support for USB 3.0 devices and 6 GB/s drives. The latest SandForce 2281 solid state drives delivered excellent performance results from the Gigabyte board.
We have no concerns with the stability of the board, although when compared against the more expensive Asus products we reviewed today it does seem to need a little more ‘bios tweaking' to get total stability above 4.3ghz. We would assume this is because of early bios issues with the board, but had nothing newer before launch day to test further. We also noticed a few glitches with core voltage being ‘reset' from time to time.
If you are looking for an affordable X79 motherboard we have no hesitation recommending the GA X79 UD3, because at £199 inc vat it is affordable, yet powerful. Additionally, the G. Skill 2,133mhz memory worked without a hitch too, delivering a whopping 45GB/s of memory bandwidth.
Pros:
- Competitive price point.
- high level of connectivity.
- impressive SATA performance.
- 2,133mhz Quad Channel memory worked without any effort.
- Good PCB layout.
Cons:
- Only 4 memory slots, not the full 8.
- 3D Bios feature didn't appeal to me at all.
Kitguru says: At £199 its a X79 ‘bargain' winner.
Intel Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition Processor
I use the X58 platform on a regular basis, between multi monitor work based environments and for bursts of gaming …. on the rare occasion that I manage to get some downtime that is. Intel's 970, 980X and 990X have been personal favourites of mine now for some time, but X58 was long overdue a refresh. We can safely say that the Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition has rewritten the performance charts, even before we get to overclocking.
Intel are promoting the new X79 platform as a ‘master of all trades', and we fail to find a valid argument against this. It can not only outperform any system on the market when it comes to gaming prowess, but for more serious duties such as 3D rendering and video encoding it is without question, in a class of its own.
While the Core architecture is both efficient and brutally powerful on a clock per core basis, the quad channel memory architecture is responsible for further enhancing the overall system performance. SiSoft Sandra gives an indication of over 45 GB/s of bandwidth available from this 2,133 mhz Quad channel configuration, which is over double the performance of the previous generation.
Overclocking the Core i7 3960X EE is relatively easy, although when paired up with the Gigabyte GA X79 UD3 it needed substantial fine tuning and tweaking in the power areas of the bios, to achieve total stability above 4.6ghz. The Asus P9X79 Deluxe and Rampage IV Extreme make for a more appealing partner if very high clock speeds are a primary prerequisite. Just be prepared to pay a lot more money.
AMD have unfortunately not released a solution to target this ultra high end enthusiast sector and we are left with the FX 8150 Black Edition, which in reality fails to even outclass Intel's ‘mainstream high end' Core i7 2600k or 2700k. That said, we were also surprised to see that the FX 8150 could actually demand more watts at the socket than this i7 3960X EE, depending on the settings.
UK pricing has not yet been confirmed for the i7 3960X Extreme Edition, but as we said earlier in the review, we would make an educated guess around £800 inc vat. Sure its expensive, but like the last generation 970, 980X and 990X this new chip redefines the ultra high end sector. A selection of the enthusiast audience will be willing to pay for this.
Pros:
- Sets a new performance level.
- Great overclocking capabilities, only limited by the cooling solution.
- Quad Channel memory architecture is a significant new technology.
- Ideal for 3D Rendering and video encoding.
- Power consumption demands are relatively modest at reference settings.
Cons:
- It is a significant financial investment.
Kitguru says: If performance is your primary concern then the Core i7 3960X EE should be right at the top of your shortlist.
G.Skill Ripjaws Z 2133mhz Memory.
We really had great experiences with the G.Skill Ripjaws Z 2133mhz memory. It worked ‘out of the box' without any user intervention when paired up with the Gigabyte GA X79 UD3 motherboard, delivering a whopping 45 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This is over twice the performance of the previous generation and it also noticeably helps to improve overall system performance, recordable with tools such as Cinebench R11.5 and when performing real world 3D rendering and video encoding duties.
We have no pricing information yet for this kit, but G Skill have always proven to be very competitive with their product range.
Pros:
- Very fast – delivers around 45 GB/s of memory bandwidth.
- 16gb 2,133mhz strikes a great balance between 32GB 1,600 mhz and 8GB 2,400 mhz configurations.
- small heatspreader.
Cons:
- None.
Kitguru says: Another quality product from G.Skill and ideal for a variety of tasks.
