ND40oz: I have a Mountain Mods Pinnacle-18.. price is definitely a premium with MM cases but I really like it and have no buyers remorse from spending the cash. Mountain Mods has XL-ATX motherboard trays for Pinnacles, UFO, and Ascension models.
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One pic says it all...
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It's a halo product in the sense that it will become EVGA's top motherboard offering and in the Classified line.
I would describe Skulltrail in pretty much the same way. The EVGA board has many enthusiast features. Overclocking ability aside, all those 16X PCI-E slots and the ability to run different CPU specs is unheard of. We don't know its entire feature set yet but I wager this is more than a workstation board with a few extra capabilities thrown in. In any case, I'm glad a manufacturer stepped up to the plate and designed a board like this, I just hope it's a far better execution than Skulltrail.
Well, if this is in the same price range it would be a better buy no question about that, assuming the quality is there and it actually performs as touted. I just have a lingering bad taste after my debacle with Skulltrail and leery from that experience.
You mean for the processors? I don't have any case with the standoffs and find they aren't really necessary, but everyone is different about their builds and could understand your reservations well.
If you're talking just EVGA, then yeah, I guess, but it's going to have to be pretty darn good to be considered top Tylersburg offering.
The D5400XS was definitely Intels top Enthusiast offering, definitely not a top workstation board. With support for only 4 fb-dimms and lacking PCIe 2.0 slots, it fell far short of most workstation offerings.
As for the different CPU specs, I'd wager that since we now have turbo mode and dynamic clocking with processors and cores already running at different speeds due to load, it wouldn't be hard to support different multipliers. As for running at different BCLKs and QPI, that would be interesting.
If it doesn't perform, then they'll likely be competitors out there from other more established manufacturers. The D5400XS and Z7S WS paved the way for these types of boards, hopefully will see more in the future.
All of the 1366 boards seem to use backplates, so I'm not to concerned with the SSI mounting spec that you needed for 603/604/771. I'm concerned about what you need to do to actually screw the board to the tray. The XL-ATX form factors bottom row doesn't line up with any other specification (EATX or SSI) from what I can tell, unless SSI-MEB uses the same mounting points.
lelliott731
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Those pictures make me happy 
The_Heretic
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It looks yummy, but I had hoped we'd left they days of fans on the MB's chipsets.
NF200 chips run really hot and require active cooling.
Well considering that the only way your going to get 7 GPUs into that board that have any real kick to 'em is to use water cooling on them, the above statement isn't that crazy......
The 2nd mortgage that you will have to take out to afford it is.
They don't require it, but it is helpful.
One could conceivably install 7 single-slot GTX 260s but I'd hate to think how well that would work due to all the heat buildup that couldn't exhaust externally. With an appropriate case, 4 dual slot cards with high-end GPUs should be a better solution. With this board's slot layout, the configuration possibilities are endless..
Mr. Pedantic
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If there weren't any problems with the BIOS recognizing the GPUs, you could conceivably put in 7 Co-op GTX295s and watercool the lot of them. You'd probably have to hack off the extra expansion slot vent off the end though.
Hi, new to the forum (though have lurked here on and off for quite a while), and have some basic questions. This board does look interesting, esp. if it's going to be used as a multi GPU rig for running something like BOINC or folding. You guys did bring up a few things that made me think about the timing of purchasing it, a few pages up in the comments, when you started talking about the Octo cores, and the LGA1567 socket that is coming. I've been building PC's since the days of the early 486's, and know all too well the inexorible grind of progress, but am trying to figure out when it's time to jump back on the merry go round. My current best board is an ASUS P6T6 WS Revolution, running a i720, but as I'm getting sucked into SETI more and more, I could just imagine what all those cores, and it loaded up with high end GPUs could do...
Any idea as to when the LGA1567 Beckton will be released? I know intel has a roadmap, I found one that supposedly shows the one for 2010-2011, http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/img/pcw/docs/302/074/html/kaigai1.jpg.html but didn't see Beckton on it. And then there is the cost, anyone willing to do a SWAG on it? This seems to be the bomb diggity, but then, one can always wait for the next big thing that is going to be even better, for about the same $ or possibly even less...
It's always tough to throw your chips on the table when you know that is going to happen, but then if you follow that logic all the way to it's conclusion, you'd never buy a new one. Based upon what I've read, it seems that it will be quite a leap in performance, but is it worth the wait? This board seems to have all the candy, and it appears that others like it are going to be released soon as well. Anyone have an opinion on this?
Any idea as to when the LGA1567 Beckton will be released? I know intel has a roadmap, I found one that supposedly shows the one for 2010-2011, http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/img/pcw/docs/302/074/html/kaigai1.jpg.html but didn't see Beckton on it. And then there is the cost, anyone willing to do a SWAG on it? This seems to be the bomb diggity, but then, one can always wait for the next big thing that is going to be even better, for about the same $ or possibly even less...
It's always tough to throw your chips on the table when you know that is going to happen, but then if you follow that logic all the way to it's conclusion, you'd never buy a new one. Based upon what I've read, it seems that it will be quite a leap in performance, but is it worth the wait? This board seems to have all the candy, and it appears that others like it are going to be released soon as well. Anyone have an opinion on this?
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My opinion, get this and load it how you want. Of course you could wait for the anouncement of the next socket which (should) lower the prices a bit on these but it could go both ways
I'm sure someone will say it so I'll say it first.
1. You can never beat the system, the next best thing is always gonna come out right after you pull the trigger
2. Knowing that, most people would say buy what you can now with atleast some future proofing in mind.
This board fits that bill, because you could always drop in 6 core units for a 24 (HT) core rig, which will still give you some hella good numbers. As for now, it seems like a solid choice if you've got the money to blow, but I would wait a few days/weeks for some good reviews to get out on the net. It's a powerful board right now (on paper) and it should be somewhat future proof (as much as you'll get in this hobby) with the addition of new multi core CPUs and a bunch of PCIx slots
Do as you will, but if money is no issue, then I'd say go
EDIT
o ya, dont lurk so much, stay a while,. have a beer, there's snacks around here some where...
I'm sure someone will say it so I'll say it first.
1. You can never beat the system, the next best thing is always gonna come out right after you pull the trigger
2. Knowing that, most people would say buy what you can now with atleast some future proofing in mind.
This board fits that bill, because you could always drop in 6 core units for a 24 (HT) core rig, which will still give you some hella good numbers. As for now, it seems like a solid choice if you've got the money to blow, but I would wait a few days/weeks for some good reviews to get out on the net. It's a powerful board right now (on paper) and it should be somewhat future proof (as much as you'll get in this hobby) with the addition of new multi core CPUs and a bunch of PCIx slots
Do as you will, but if money is no issue, then I'd say go
EDIT
o ya, dont lurk so much, stay a while,. have a beer, there's snacks around here some where...
^ I totally agree with Vaulter's post above. He summarizes what most of us here would advise. There's always something shiny and new just around the corner tempting one to wait. You have to decide to build one day though, and it might as well be sooner rather than later. The more you delay, the less production you'll be seeing before your build is actually running. What you believe you're going to gain as advantage in performance or production with new generation hardware, you will likely lose by waiting all that time especially if forthcoming architecture is for some reason delayed (this happens quite often). It's a trade-off.
Another thing to take into consideration is Beckton could turn out to be extremely expensive since it is designed to replace Dunnington (7400-series) after all, making this EVGA 'platform' much more compelling from an enthusiast's and folder's standpoint. We don't know for certain if dual S-1567 motherboards are going to be released (I hope so), so Beckton (7500-series) might be confined to quad socket servers and higher were it to follow Dunnington's lead. If you have the resources then that may not be an issue, but in all other respects it might not be worth the wait in regards to folding for the reasons I mentioned.
Glad you're no longer lurking. If you have any questions, post a thread and we'll be there to answer.
Another thing to take into consideration is Beckton could turn out to be extremely expensive since it is designed to replace Dunnington (7400-series) after all, making this EVGA 'platform' much more compelling from an enthusiast's and folder's standpoint. We don't know for certain if dual S-1567 motherboards are going to be released (I hope so), so Beckton (7500-series) might be confined to quad socket servers and higher were it to follow Dunnington's lead. If you have the resources then that may not be an issue, but in all other respects it might not be worth the wait in regards to folding for the reasons I mentioned.
Glad you're no longer lurking. If you have any questions, post a thread and we'll be there to answer.
The_Heretic
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vladthebad
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Depends on video card length (for bottom ram slot, and top PCIe slot.... on Supermicro X8DTH-6F)
Linky to MONSTER pic of PCIe area of board:
http://testing.gah.com/pics/3.jpg
Pardon the monster pic.
(Supermicro SC743TQ-865B chassis), video card is EVGA 8600GT.... fits fine. Longer video card would have issues.....
With both NF200 chips on the EVGA board, when running quad-SLI.... slot config is going to end up effectively being x8/x8/x8/x8 due to shared bandwidth from NF chips..... Might as well go dual IOH and alternate slots between IOH1 and IOH2. (SLI is restricted to same IOH as far as I understand..)
That would still give you x8/x8/x8/x8 but without all the extra latency of the NF200 chips. The other advantage would be you'd still have the other IOH for physx if you were using single slot cards.....
and using lane switching, you could have two dual width cards at x16, and phyx on other IOH at x16... Another advantage to going dual IOH is less heat. (22w max TDP for second IOH..... ~20w for each NF200) AND the fact that you'd have two x4 gen2 ports available for onboard USB3, 6Gb/s SATA, a badass NIC, SAS.... etc Plus the x4 from southbridge.... plus the extra x8 gen2 from the other IOH (if you didn't use it to make the slot config default something like: x8,x16,x8,x8,x8,x8,x8..... OR just add an 8th slot. I mean, why not..... not like changing form factor really matters at that point.
Linky to MONSTER pic of PCIe area of board:
http://testing.gah.com/pics/3.jpg
Pardon the monster pic.
(Supermicro SC743TQ-865B chassis), video card is EVGA 8600GT.... fits fine. Longer video card would have issues.....
With both NF200 chips on the EVGA board, when running quad-SLI.... slot config is going to end up effectively being x8/x8/x8/x8 due to shared bandwidth from NF chips..... Might as well go dual IOH and alternate slots between IOH1 and IOH2. (SLI is restricted to same IOH as far as I understand..)
That would still give you x8/x8/x8/x8 but without all the extra latency of the NF200 chips. The other advantage would be you'd still have the other IOH for physx if you were using single slot cards.....
and using lane switching, you could have two dual width cards at x16, and phyx on other IOH at x16... Another advantage to going dual IOH is less heat. (22w max TDP for second IOH..... ~20w for each NF200) AND the fact that you'd have two x4 gen2 ports available for onboard USB3, 6Gb/s SATA, a badass NIC, SAS.... etc Plus the x4 from southbridge.... plus the extra x8 gen2 from the other IOH (if you didn't use it to make the slot config default something like: x8,x16,x8,x8,x8,x8,x8..... OR just add an 8th slot. I mean, why not..... not like changing form factor really matters at that point.
vlad: unfortunately, the Supermicro boards have little interest here due to lack of overclocking. Some of us, especially me, want the EVGA board for the overclocking potential more than the x16 slots. I can't afford a Supermicro board and 3.2GHz Xeons but I will likely be able to afford an EVGA board and cheap 2.2 GHz Xeons that I can overclock to 3.2GHz. I also like how I will be able to mix and match different speed Xeons where Supermicro is still living in the past wanting me to use matched pairs. Lastly, I will not be forced to use ECC memory only. The EVGA board will be able to use both non-ECC and ECC. I can live with the NF200's for all of the CPU potential the EVGA board will allow. Speculation has it that the EVGA board will have a maximum price that is $50 cheaper than the X8DTH-6F but, this is speculation on the price, who knows.
I also like how I will be able to mix and match different speed Xeons where Supermicro is still living in the past wanting me to use matched pairs. Lastly, I will not be forced to use ECC memory only. The EVGA board will be able to use both non-ECC and ECC. I can live with the NF200's for all of the CPU potential the EVGA board will allow. Speculation has it that the EVGA board will have a maximum price that is $50 cheaper than the X8DTH-6F but, this is speculation on the price, who knows.vlad: unfortunately, the Supermicro boards have little interest here due to lack of overclocking. Some of us, especially me, want the EVGA board for the overclocking potential more than the x16 slots. I can't afford a Supermicro board and 3.2GHz Xeons but I will likely be able to afford an EVGA board and cheap 2.2 GHz Xeons that I can overclock to 3.2GHz.
The dual Xeon board that I have on order (and many others) will use non ECC.
However this board is going to be $250 more than the Asus I picked up. You just have to figure that in.
But, does the Z8NA-D6C support overclocking? I didn't think it did so I'd still have to buy more expensive Xeons with faster clocks. I think I didn't the math on this already assuming the Z8NA-D6C can't OC.
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Personally i am waiting for EVGA board.
I was going to buy that xDTH6-F, but its $600 and doesnt support OC.
I figure if the EVGA is close to that price i will bite, and then save money by buying lower clocked xeons.
I was going to buy that xDTH6-F, but its $600 and doesnt support OC.
I figure if the EVGA is close to that price i will bite, and then save money by buying lower clocked xeons.
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have missed a few pages but any ideas on ETA?
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Originally speculated as March/April but nothing firm. Board design is pretty much finalized and all that is left to do is BIOS tuning.
In regards to Supermicro boards and OC, I have several older gen S-771 boards and they're all OC'd using software. I also have a Skulltrail board which was more expensive than my Supermicros even though it was discounted a couple of hundred dollars. The Skulltrail has a host of BIOS OC features whereas the SM boards have none except multiplier adjustment, but that only functions if you install ES processors. The software tool I use can adjust the FSB and nothing else, so it is rather limited, yet the SM boards can still approach the Skulltrail in OC ability despite the latter being designed with OC in mind from the ground up.
Moreover, it is far easier to OC through Windows than going into the BIOS. Having OC'd boards since the mid-90s when we used jumpers and then switched to BIOS adjustment, the latter seems unnecessarily awkward these days. On top of that, my Skulltrail has horrible performance. I don't know what it is but I get a huge performance drop when using identical processors in my Supermicro boards. Maybe it's just defective or that is the way it was designed by Intel, IDK, but it bears mentioning. I'm getting 12-minute TPF with A2 WUs clocked @2.6GHz running 8 threads! The same processors will do 4 or less minute TPF on my SM boards.
Now, no one get me wrong, I'm in no way shape or form comparing an unreleased EVGA board to either Skulltrail or any of my SM boards, but my experience should illustrate that it is possible to OC 'enterprise' motherboards providing there is support for their clock generator chips within the various software OC tools available. In my case, I just got lucky that there was one for my S-771 boards. Earlier in mid-decade, I also lucked out with my dual Opteron board. This round with dual S-1366 boards there might not be the same luck, and can't comment about it yet. I hope so, otherwise it would leave us with far fewer choices.
Moreover, it is far easier to OC through Windows than going into the BIOS. Having OC'd boards since the mid-90s when we used jumpers and then switched to BIOS adjustment, the latter seems unnecessarily awkward these days. On top of that, my Skulltrail has horrible performance. I don't know what it is but I get a huge performance drop when using identical processors in my Supermicro boards. Maybe it's just defective or that is the way it was designed by Intel, IDK, but it bears mentioning. I'm getting 12-minute TPF with A2 WUs clocked @2.6GHz running 8 threads! The same processors will do 4 or less minute TPF on my SM boards.
Now, no one get me wrong, I'm in no way shape or form comparing an unreleased EVGA board to either Skulltrail or any of my SM boards, but my experience should illustrate that it is possible to OC 'enterprise' motherboards providing there is support for their clock generator chips within the various software OC tools available. In my case, I just got lucky that there was one for my S-771 boards. Earlier in mid-decade, I also lucked out with my dual Opteron board. This round with dual S-1366 boards there might not be the same luck, and can't comment about it yet. I hope so, otherwise it would leave us with far fewer choices.
Good point, if one is running Windows, Apollo. Like you said, there are software overclocking tools available. However, those of us who run Linux natively aren't so fortunate. There are some software overclocking tools available but success is very hit or miss. On something like a a dual socket 1366 board, I'd really like to run Linux natively than to buy another Windows license along with a vmware license to support 16 cores. Running two 8 core VM's would be free but I'd rather have full access to all 16 cores. However, like I said, you make a good point for those who choose to run Windows.
vladthebad
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I agree on the overclocking side....
But your wrong about mixing CPU's. Its an intel requirement that they're the same TDP leading letter (AKA: E for 80w TDP, L for 60w TDP, etc...)
AND that they're the same clock speed... and the same series. So Both 5500 series, or both 5600 series.
While this MIGHT just be a requirement for supported systems, I've never heard of anyone with any board getting around the limitation........ and I doubt EVGA is going to be any different.
But your wrong about mixing CPU's. Its an intel requirement that they're the same TDP leading letter (AKA: E for 80w TDP, L for 60w TDP, etc...)
AND that they're the same clock speed... and the same series. So Both 5500 series, or both 5600 series.
While this MIGHT just be a requirement for supported systems, I've never heard of anyone with any board getting around the limitation........ and I doubt EVGA is going to be any different.
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