Before we take a look at what this new board from Asus brings to the table let’s first have a look at the features that are specific to Intel’s latest chipset. This chipset replaces Intel’s previous enthusiast level chipset, the X58. So now let’s have a look at this new chipset and what it has to offer.
Of course the main feature of this new chipset is that it features support for Intel’s latest 2011 socket processors. These will be replacing Intel’s 1366 socket and it currently features their 3960x for the enthusiast, and the 3930k for the mainstream. Pricing for these is starting around 1050 dollars for the 3960x and the 3930k going for about 600 or so. Both of these processors are x6 and feature an additional 6 threads for a total of 12. Both also feature Intel’s 32nm SOI and 130 watts of thermal power. These have proven to be dramatically improved chips over their previous 1366 line of processors and our benchmarks are able to demonstrate this. Intel has basically produced a consumer level processor with server level performance.
This new chipset is geared for performance. Immediately you can see the difference when you first get a look at these boards. Intel has introduced a new addressing architecture for memory and this is called quad channel. What this essentially does is create an extra pathway for the processor to access system memory for all of your applications. In theory this should produce better performance because the processor will be able to access memory a little bit easier. Our benchmarks will show if this actually pays off. There is a potential downside to this feature. With ram slots now being located on either side of the CPU socket there could be clearance issues with taller ram and CPU heat sinks. We didn’t have this issue since we were using Intel’s included all-in-one water cooling unit. With this new memory architecture you will now have the ability to install up to 64 gigs of DDR3 memory at speeds up to 2400MHz with overclocking.
Intel has also added their Platform Controller Hub technology onto this new chipset. Many of you know that this concept isn’t entirely new but it does give Intel an advantage over their competition. With AMD still needing to use a dual chipset architecture Intel is able to potentially reduce power consumption and heat generation since they only need a single chip with the X79. During our testing none of the heat sinks on either the MOSFETs or the chipset became hot to the touch. This is not only a sign that these boards have really improved the thermal reduction aspects over the last chipset but these will also last longer because they don’t generate as much heat. This aspect of this chipset should also be beneficial for overclocking as well. Increasing voltages across a circuit has the potential to produce overheating of your hardware. If the hardware has a better thermal design it should allow for higher voltages and therefore higher and more stable overclocks. This new chipset also brings up to 40 PCI express 2.0 lanes for graphics and peripheral expansion and 8 additional lanes for PCI express 3.0. PCI express 3.0 is the new expansion architecture that so far only Intel has implemented.
Asus has given this board a very unique look with their improved Thermal Armor design. This feature basically provides for better heat dissipation and cooling of the hottest areas on this board. It also features a dedicated fan to cool the X79 Express Platform Controller Hub. With this aggressive looking thermal design this board is bound to be one of the first boards that enthusiasts are going to be looking at to get in on this new chipset.
Both SLI and Crossfire X are fully supported on this board. There are dual x16 PCI e and a single x8 lane to meet all of your graphical expansion needs. This board may not be capable of true 4 Way Crossfire X or SLI but for the vast majority of users this board offers plenty of PCI e 3.0 lanes for expansion and future upgrades. Quad SLI and Crossfire X are supported by this board as long as you’re using cards that feature a multi-GPU configuration on the PCB.
These boards also feature Asus’ ESD Guards technology to prevent damage caused by an electrostatic discharge. ESD damage can be disastrous and to combat this hazard Asus has developed an exclusive Anti-Static chip and circuit design along with an improved design for the I/O shield. You’ll notice that the I/O shield doesn’t use any conductive materials at all and is actually incorporated into the motherboard and MOSFET heat sink. This not only helps to reduce ESD damage but it also serves to provide a better thermal environment for the motherboard as well. Personally I also think it looks pretty cool. No pun intended.
When Intel develops a chipset and new platform, many of the companies vying for your money do not even put in any extra effort into the chipset or its development. Saying that I mean to imply that a lot of the motherboards we see on the shelf from lower tier partners are basically just rehash or remake not a truly self developed board other than packaging. Companies like ASUS on the other hand, as well as a few other to be fair, do not take this route and take the developmental stage a bit further by implementing their own R&D and then finally motherboards that has more robust features in both hardware and software.
When we speak about those types of boards we are talking about their own Special Features, or what sets a particular board apart from its counterparts in an industry filled with product to choose from. ASUS is well known for their Special Features and they go all out to make sure the enthusiast has a broad choice range to find the particular one that is just right for them. So now that we’ve had a look at the basic features of this chipset let’s have a look at what this board specifically brings to the table. Being that this board is in Asus’ TUF (The Ultimate Force) family of boards we can expect military grade components that are backed by a Certificate of Reliability.
This board features Asus’ 7th generation of their Digi-Power technology. This is a technology that was originally developed on their ROG platform but is now offered on all of their motherboards. This is also a technology that many other vendors are beginning to offer as well. This technology offers much tighter controls over voltages and is particularly beneficial when adjusting the CPU’s Load Line Calibration, power phase control and CPU voltage frequencies.
UEFI BIOS
Asus has been on the forefront of UEFI development and this board has one of the most fully featured and easiest to use UEFI BIOS that we’ve seen. One of the key features of this BIOS is that if you aren’t familiar with these yet and are trying to find a particular option all you need to do is hit the F3 key and you will get a table of contents menu. This menu will have all of the most used options laid out for you to select from. This will make your experience with this new interface really simple and easy.
This board produced some amazing scores for our benchmarks. The only other board so far that has been able to beat it is Gigabyte’s X79 UD7 OC. That board also costs a bit more than this one and is specifically aimed at the extreme enthusiast market. However, when we overclocked this board all of the ways that Gigabyte’s board managed to beat this one disappeared. This was also very easy to do by using Asus AI Suite II utility. This suite really made overclocking a breeze and allowed us to do it without having to use the BIOS at all. We did notice though that our CPU temperatures did increase by about 10 degrees Celsius with our increased clock speed.
There are some features that I would have liked to have seen implemented on this board but for the most part it has just about everything that the average to enthusiast user would want the most. It would have been nice if they had put a Post LED on this board to troubleshoot boot errors and I also would have liked to have had a Reset and Power button located directly on the board for testing purposes. These are just things that are a personal preference with regards to enthusiast level boards.
