ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition

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If you are looking for a LGA 2011 motherboard for your next PC build, you might want to check out this ASUS Rampage IV Black Edition review at Bjorn3D today.

ASUS seems to reserve its “Black Edition” moniker for very special models as im sure some of you saw back when we got a chance to check out the Rampage III Black edition board based on the X58 chipset. That thing was a flat out beast and from looking at the specs on paper the Rampage IV Black edition is no different.
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I'm going to be looking at replacing my ageing X58 system. I currently run a ASUS P6T Deluxe with a i7 920 @ 3.6GHz, I use to run 4.0GHz but my CF 6970s get too hot and cause hefty games to freeze the system. 3.6Ghz offers no real noticeable loss in performance for what I do. I run 12GB of RAM at 1443MHz.

Now what I've been looking at doesn't seem to be that much of a upgrade really. I'd appreciate some advice.

I could go with this MB and a 4930k or an ASUS Maximus VI Formula and a 4770K for about half the price. I haven't decided if it is worth getting 32GB or just 16GB of RAM, I'd probably get Corsair Platinum 2400Mhz. I'd be sticking with my 6970's for at least until the next gen of cards come out.

I don't know if I'd really be getting my monies worth on either of those upgrades. I don't really need to upgrade and this just shows how much ahead of its time X58 was. I've been using this for 5 years and have never used any other core components that long. I am not sure going to Ivy-E or Haswell is worth it. Maybe waiting until the next Intel launch would be worth it?

Thoughts?
 
I would say wait for to see what comes out the next 2-3 months. Its amazing how long that platform has lasted.
 
I have been debating x58 to x79 as well. Honestly, I am thinking it is not enough of a jump for the price right now. Now when x99 shows up, I will probably pick up some x79 gear on the cheap.
 
I made the jump to X79 for one computer... and the performance gains were not that spectacular going from an an i7-930 to a 3930k.

If you do switch, you would be much better served by going with Asus and a board like this over Intel's boards.

Haswell-E with a new socket, 2011-3, is supposed to be due sometime around Q3 of this year.
 
Teenyman45 said:
I made the jump to X79 for one computer... and the performance gains were not that spectacular going from an an i7-930 to a 3930k.

If you do switch, you would be much better served by going with Asus and a board like this over Intel's boards.

Haswell-E with a new socket, 2011-3, is supposed to be due sometime around Q3 of this year.
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Not that spectacular?? LOL wut?? What are you still gaming at 1080P? The i7 930 is such a dated platform it's not even funny. Combine it with the fast quad channel memory, upgraded IMC in the 4930: Ivy bridge E, on this board and it's insanely fast.
 
I had a Rampage III Formula(X58,Ci7 930) and the Rampage IV Formula(X79 Ci7 3930K) at the same time, side by side.

The X79 is noticeably faster. In gamimg I'm not sure, and I think it depends more on the GPUs.
I still use the X79, no reason not to.
I replaced the X58 system with a Haswell....ASUS Maximus VI Formula, it's quick, but runs a little warmer, even watercooled identically.

I don't think you can go wrong either way.:D
 
Sprayingmango said:
Not that spectacular?? LOL wut?? What are you still gaming at 1080P? The i7 930 is such a dated platform it's not even funny. Combine it with the fast quad channel memory, upgraded IMC in the 4930: Ivy bridge E, on this board and it's insanely fast.
Click to expand...

1600p (a ZR30W) w/ swiftech komodo blocked 7970s in trifire, running at nearly 1.3GHz, looped with with 2 NexXxos Monsta 480s and a full copper 1x120.

The 3930K is under a swiftech HD block and clocked at 4.7 and in the same loop as the gpus. 4x8GB of 2133 patriot viper III ram. This is on an Intel DX79SR board in my Caselabs TH10 case (reverse mounted cause my computer is to my left) and the airflow comes from a lot of Noctua and Scythe fans.

2x Samsung 840 pros in RAID 0 reduce load times.

The Intel board is by far the weakest link... well that and the IMC on my warranty replaced 3930K is subpar. Having only 8 SATA ports is another problem. I went Intel because I did not want to deal with Asus customer service is a Rampage IV blew up on me and really hated the buzzy fan. If this black edition board had been available at the time I would have spent the extra ~$250 and bought it.

Gaming did not get that much of a boost in the CPU change. My synthetic benchmarks are much faster however.
 
The best innovation in overclocking (made easy)...

oc panel

Almost exactly like M6E exept no need for ROG connect Plus to be installed



Slow mode switch will reduce your multiplier cpu in windows, usable for cold cpu operation

Pause switch will stop all operation in windows. It helps when benching with air or h20 and push cpu / gpu to highest temp. and voltages limit.
It will give a break to cpu / gpu and return to normal idle temp. before continuing to bench load temp.

HDD led will help to check if system hang occur, it helps when benching Super pi or 3Ds



For temp. monitoring













 
Is this board over the 64 gb problem? I have the gskill ares memory.
 
Pdwe said:
Is this board over the 64 gb problem? I have the gskill ares memory.
Click to expand...

Is that a single kit or a few kits combined? 64GB at speeds over DDR3-1600 can need manual tuning on any board depending upon how good the IMC is. Some IMCs will run that density fine, while others need VCCSA and timing adjustments to hit rated speeds.

-Raja
 
Then you may need to adjust things as the XMP and SPD will have been programmed by the memory kit vendor taking a single kit into account. If there is not much overhead in the kits, they can be tricky to get stable when you combine them this way. SIngle kits at the rated density are always easier to work with if you have a preference for plug-and-play (IMC variance withstanding).
 
Is this board a bad idea for anyone not OCing anything? How would the Gskill Ripjaw 8x8 64 GB (10-10-10 -30) they are one kit.

Or would you suggest only using 1 4x8 32 GB kit ares 10-10-10 instead
 
If you don't need 64GB, then no need for it unless you want to use that memory for a RAM disc or something. The Rampage boards are for enthusiasts - covers overclocking and just guys that like to have the best board we make. There are other options if you don't need all the extras - Pro or Deluxe perhaps Sabertooth etc...

With DRAM one can never 100% say it will work but certainly the closer you are to stock supported speeds the better chance you have of plug-and-play.

-Raja
 
Well I bought this board because it was the newest of the x79 lineup.

I have

CPU: 4820
Mem: gskill ares 2 4x8 for 64 GB
HSF: CM 212 evo
 
You may need to put some manual work into getting the memory stable (combined kit issues I cited above). VCCSA may need adjustment, as may some of the second and third tier of timings (sometimes the primaries may need relaxing over the spec values as well).

-Raja
 
One question:

Why Black Edition have 8 + 4 power configuration? As you can see the Exteme have one extra 6 next to the PCI-E. This sounds better for me?
 
z0ne said:
One question:

Why Black Edition have 8 + 4 power configuration? As you can see the Exteme have one extra 6 next to the PCI-E. This sounds better for me?
Click to expand...

8+4 is for CPU.

The PCIe connector on the Extreme is for the PCIe slots aux power (not CPU).

The Black Edition has a Molex connector at the bottom of the board for PCIe aux power. :) Molex is preferred by most people as some PSUs don't hae enough PCIe power connectors spare when running multi-GPU.

Basically, there is no better or worse with either setup. The board has all the power connectors it needs to work.
 
Because it has so many PCIe slots... ;) The math is simple more slots = need more connectors to stay within specification of the power needed.


8X8 is not needed and won't help higher OC on CPU. Neither SNB-E or Ivy-E pull enough current when oc'd to saturate more than 8+4 ;) Let's not be silly about this part :)
 
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Great looking board, tons of features. Lots of things that are new and can go wrong. Then its ASUS tech support and RMA, so no thanks. If ASUS had great tech support I would consider dropping the $500 bucks on this for my next build, but no way I am going to stick that much into a board that IF I have problems with I'm pretty much screwed.

This is the most frustrating thing about ASUS, they have awesome stuff. But I don't trust them at all.
 
Direfox said:
Great looking board, tons of features. Lots of things that are new and can go wrong. Then its ASUS tech support and RMA, so no thanks. If ASUS had great tech support I would consider dropping the $500 bucks on this for my next build, but no way I am going to stick that much into a board that IF I have problems with I'm pretty much screwed.

This is the most frustrating thing about ASUS, they have awesome stuff. But I don't trust them at all.
Click to expand...
This board designed for overclocking and its bios sometimes can be overwhelming for some, it will take time to learn it.

There are other X79 Ivy Bridge-E boards from Asus with lower price retail
 
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