Intel DX79SI X79 LGA2011 Motherboard Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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Intel DX79SI X79 LGA2011 Motherboard Review - Intel desktop processors are all but useless unless you have a motherboard to plug it into. Intel has been making its own model of enthusiast motherboards for quite some time now and honestly has very rarely hit the target. Today we are reviewing the Intel® Desktop Board DX79SI, LGA2011, Sandy Bridge E motherboard.
 
Thanks for the review. Really nice to see a good Intel board... don't remember the last time I saw an Intel board get an award :)
 
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The last Intel-branded board I had was a DP55WG. Lacked any overclocking options but was stable as a mother fucker. Never had a single issue coupled with a i3 540.

The other thing I liked about it was that Intel put the front panel connections (Power SW, Reset SW, HDD LED, etc.) near the top-right hand side of the board. Thus it didn't interfere with large video cards or things of that sort.

intel_dp55wg_top_right.jpg


I wish more boards would adopt that design. :(
 
I hate the skull shit... I think equally as much as I hate the bullet/ammo/mag/gun theme shit Gigabyte and MSI have going.

But just buy a few video cards and cover it up right :D
 
Thanks for the review. I saw that the DX79SI is the first LGA 2011 mobo that has received any type of award from the [H]ard|OCP (even if that award is the [H]'s Editors' Choice Silver Award), given their less-than-enthusiastic opinion of that platform's cost-worthiness (or performance per dollar). Too bad they have not yet reviewed the lower-priced Asus X79 mobos.
 
E4g1e said:
Thanks for the review. I saw that the DX79SI is the first LGA 2011 mobo that has received any type of award from the [H]ard|OCP (even if that award is the [H]'s Editors' Choice Silver Award), given their less-than-enthusiastic opinion of that platform's cost-worthiness (or performance per dollar). Too bad they have not yet reviewed the lower-priced Asus X79 mobos.
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I actualy like the LGA2011 platform. Though it's not a cost effective solution by any means. That doesn't bother me as much as it does Kyle. Still the Intel DX79SI is among the best LGA2011 boards I've worked with so far and the least problematic. While it's not perfect, it is still a really good board.
 
Dan_D said:
I actualy like the LGA2011 platform. Though it's not a cost effective solution by any means. That doesn't bother me as much as it does Kyle. Still the Intel DX79SI is among the best LGA2011 boards I've worked with so far and the least problematic. While it's not perfect, it is still a really good board.
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Thanks for clarifying this. If I were to build a not-so-ridiculously-expensive rig for video editing, the combination of the i7-3930K and the DX79SI board with 32GB of RAM and at least a GTX 560 Ti graphics card plus four identical hard drives (and an OS drive) will be all I need without busting a $2,500 total budget. (This also assumes that I get a good CPU cooler, a 750W+ good-quality PSU and a big roomy case.)
 
Stable, relatively lower CPU temps, easy overclocks and BIOS updates that address problematic issues! Man, this board sound almost to good to be true. The lack of SATA doesn't bother me in the least. Who really needs an OC storage server? The lack of E-sata can easily fixed with a SATA to e-SATA dongle. Intel hit the nail on the head with this mobo.
 
Nice review.. thanks! Any chance of adding OC abilities with the "partially unlocked" 3820 as well?
 
Evil Scooter said:
Nice review.. thanks! Any chance of adding OC abilities with the "partially unlocked" 3820 as well?
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Ultimately, that's up to Kyle. As for me, god I hope not. I really hate that CPU. I think it's almost completely pointless. Only professional workstations leveraging very specific software can take advantage of the increased memory bandwidth that X79/LGA2011 offers over P67 & Z68/LGA1155. Such applications are very likely to leverage 6c/12t as well. It seems short sighted to get the memory bandwidth and physical RAM and not the CPUto go along with it. The extra PCIe lanes aren't really necessary for multiGPU configurations as tests seem to confirm time and time again. X79 has a lot of PCIe bandwidth due to the Generation 3 PCI-Express bus. So the need for that many lanes drops off again. To leverage this feature you'll probably need SAS / RAID controllers, high end NICs and professional graphics cards or any combination of such things. Given the high cost of doing this, it seems silly not to spend a couple hundred dollars more for a Core i7 3930K over a core i7 3820.

I've seen people try and argue that the Core i7 3820 is a good thing. The fact is that coupled with it, X79 + Core i7 3820 is really no better than Z68 + Core i7 2600K 99% of the time. It's hard to justify such an expenisve platform just for what amounts to the same damned quad core CPUs you can get on Z68/LGA1155.

Get what you want of course, but if it were up to me, I'd never install a 3820 into an LGA2011 board for testing. I know many people are interested in seeing that, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.
 
Dan_D said:
Ultimately, that's up to Kyle. As for me, god I hope not. I really hate that CPU. I think it's almost completely pointless. Only professional workstations leveraging very specific software can take advantage of the increased memory bandwidth that X79/LGA2011 offers over P67 & Z68/LGA1155. Such applications are very likely to leverage 6c/12t as well. It seems short sighted to get the memory bandwidth and physical RAM and not the CPUto go along with it. The extra PCIe lanes aren't really necessary for multiGPU configurations as tests seem to confirm time and time again. X79 has a lot of PCIe bandwidth due to the Generation 3 PCI-Express bus. So the need for that many lanes drops off again. To leverage this feature you'll probably need SAS / RAID controllers, high end NICs and professional graphics cards or any combination of such things. Given the high cost of doing this, it seems silly not to spend a couple hundred dollars more for a Core i7 3930K over a core i7 3820.

I've seen people try and argue that the Core i7 3820 is a good thing. The fact is that coupled with it, X79 + Core i7 3820 is really no better than Z68 + Core i7 2600K 99% of the time. It's hard to justify such an expenisve platform just for what amounts to the same damned quad core CPUs you can get on Z68/LGA1155.

Get what you want of course, but if it were up to me, I'd never install a 3820 into an LGA2011 board for testing. I know many people are interested in seeing that, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.
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I agree with this: The only way that I'd even recommend the X79/3820 combo is if the 2600K or 2700K/Z68 platform were severely limited to begin with. Unfortunately for 3820 fans, that's not the case. As a result, the 3820/X79 is not worth the price. In fact, a 3820/X79 setup with only 16GB of RAM would cost about the same amount of money as a 2700K/Z68 combo with 32GB of RAM. As of right now the only price-worthy CPU for the X79 is the i7-3930K.
 
Even that isn't worth it... to me... all depends on what you are doing. For gaming you are just wasting your money or have money to waste if you build a x79 system. regardless of what CPU... a 2600k performs all the same as those $600+ CPUs and mobos and cost half as much.

This is all cost per performance and some people don't have to worry about it.

Some people argue that the 3820 is a good between CPU for those that are waiting for IV-E CPUs and still want to get into a X79 system that will still outperform the best in any game/basic apps.

I thought hard and long about a 3820 and I figured if I was to do it I would just get a 3930k and have a CPU that will last me a long time and be great for the high end things I do, other than gaming, folding etc.
 
That's a great review. As for acquiring one, maybe next year when its priced half of what it is now!
 
Gallager2014 said:
Once the BIOS flashing issues were resolved, how easy was it to flash from a thumb drive?
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I am not sure. I had the board at that point and the BIOS was the newest one available. So I didn't have to go through the flashing process.
 
Nice review guys, I was laughing quite a bit at Kyle's Thoughts on the board :)
 
I knew this would be a good Intel board. When I saw that "tuning plan" Intel was offering to let you warrant cpus you died from overclocking (only 1 per cpu), I realized Intel was starting to really get serious about supporting us, since it's the hardcore overclockers that actually spend the money on expensive hardware and keep the computer economy flowing. This definitely sounds like a board a diehard overclocker/gamer would want, who wants a nice shot in the arm, without having to worry about instability. Silver award well earned.
 
Just bought one of these on eBay. Stoked to say the least. Will post my OC here. Hoping to get to 4.6 is all.
 
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