How are you guys liking your X299 CPU's/systems?

  • Thread starter Deleted member 72990
  • Start date
D

Deleted member 72990

Guest
Putting mine together now and curious what the current consensus is. Any snags to keep an eye out for?
 
No complaints. Overclocks easy, no problems with fast memory, temps are better than expected (CPU and VRM), and performance is awesome.
 
Loving my 7820x. Upgraded from a 2600k. Getting more cores, higher clocks, and better IPC. Seemed like the best balance between more cores and good clocks+IPC vs. going 7700K or 1800X. You pay a bit more for that sweet spot, but it was worth it to me as I plan on keeping this system for 5-6 years, like I did my last system. Built for the long run. In time, 8 cores will be the baseline for game engines, as that's where the consoles are at now.

Overclocks like mad, too.
 
Loving my 7820x. Upgraded from a 2600k. Getting more cores, higher clocks, and better IPC. Seemed like the best balance between more cores and good clocks+IPC vs. going 7700K or 1800X. You pay a bit more for that sweet spot, but it was worth it to me as I plan on keeping this system for 5-6 years, like I did my last system. Built for the long run. In time, 8 cores will be the baseline for game engines, as that's where the consoles are at now.

Overclocks like mad, too.

Awesome, I'm coming from a 3770K @ 4.7. Still configuring my system, but so far have my 7800X at 5.0 GHz, Mesh at 3.0 GHz, and memory at 3600 MHz.

My 3770K was pretty beefy but this 7800X is way beyond it. Applications that would have my 3770K touching 100% using across all threads sit at about 50% on the 7800X. Lots of CPU headroom available nevermind the improved IPC.

I'm trying to get the memory up to the rated 4000 MHz but it looks to be a bit stressful on the memory controller. 3800 boots but is a little unstable and 4000 bricks the system and requires me to remove CMOS battery to reset BIOS. I may try to push my mesh a little more as well - what do you have yours set to?

Any recommendations on what I need to tweak to get memory more stable?
 
I'm trying to get the memory up to the rated 4000 MHz but it looks to be a bit stressful on the memory controller. 3800 boots but is a little unstable and 4000 bricks the system and requires me to remove CMOS battery to reset BIOS. I may try to push my mesh a little more as well - what do you have yours set to?

Any recommendations on what I need to tweak to get memory more stable?
I'm running my mesh at 3.0Ghz. I tried 3.2Ghz, but even applying more voltage it was unstable under heavy load. Also, in my benchmarking I found the mesh overclock from 2.4 to 3.0 to provide very little bump, only 0.5% - 2.0% in game benchmarks, so I'm not sweating it pushing it higher. Plus, pushing the mesh and voltage means blowing through more thermal budget you could potentially be applying to core multipliers, where it's better spent.

For RAM, I bought a quad set of G.Skill DDR4-3200 CL14 sticks and just set XMP and left it. Haven't tried overclocking them yet. What sort of improvement are you seeing bumping up to 3800, given you also have to be relaxing timings?
 
I'm running my mesh at 3.0Ghz. I tried 3.2Ghz, but even applying more voltage it was unstable under heavy load. Also, in my benchmarking I found the mesh overclock from 2.4 to 3.0 to provide very little bump, only 0.5% - 2.0% in game benchmarks, so I'm not sweating it pushing it higher. Plus, pushing the mesh and voltage means blowing through more thermal budget you could potentially be applying to core multipliers, where it's better spent.

For RAM, I bought a quad set of G.Skill DDR4-3200 CL14 sticks and just set XMP and left it. Haven't tried overclocking them yet. What sort of improvement are you seeing bumping up to 3800, given you also have to be relaxing timings?

Great input and thanks for letting me know about the mesh and "thermal budget". Since I have CPU and mesh where I wanted them, it will be nice if I can back off of voltage a touch to reduce heat. Hopefully I can get my RAM running the way I want to.

I have 4 kits of 2x4GB Dominator Platinum 4000 19-23-23-45. Looks like my board only advertises 3600 in quad channel model as being functional but they do have QVL certified kits up to 4233, I suppose that would be for dual channel. In hindsight maybe I should have bough the 3600 C16 kits! But seeing that it works decently at 3800 C19 I can probably tweak things to get it stable. Not sure yet about 4000 - kind of afraid to even try since it bricks my system. Maybe if I loosed up my timings one notch? Or do I need to increase VCCAIO or other voltages to get the memory controller stable?
 
I'm running my mesh at 3.0Ghz. I tried 3.2Ghz, but even applying more voltage it was unstable under heavy load.
How high of voltage did you try for the 3.2 mesh?

Great input and thanks for letting me know about the mesh and "thermal budget". Since I have CPU and mesh where I wanted them, it will be nice if I can back off of voltage a touch to reduce heat.
I am experimenting with that right now...
https://hardforum.com/threads/skyla...s-and-reviews.1933735/page-28#post-1043154832
 
How high of voltage did you try for the 3.2 mesh?
You know, this is strange. I had tried it before at 3.2 with auto voltage, wasn't stable, tried applying I think upwards of an additional +0.100V offset, still wasn't stable. But I just went to try it now and I'll be darned if it's not working totally stable at 3.2 with auto voltage, which is showing as 1.177V under load. At 3.0 and auto voltage, it was showing 1.090V.

I've updated the BIOS a few times since, and might also not have had LLC set before (I do now), so that might explain it. Heat is definitely up over 3.0 though. Prime95 is banging against thermal throttling now, where before it was right at 95C max.
 
You know, this is strange. I had tried it before at 3.2 with auto voltage, wasn't stable, tried applying I think upwards of an additional +0.100V offset, still wasn't stable. But I just went to try it now and I'll be darned if it's not working totally stable at 3.2 with auto voltage, which is showing as 1.177V under load. At 3.0 and auto voltage, it was showing 1.090V.

I've updated the BIOS a few times since, and might also not have had LLC set before (I do now), so that might explain it. Heat is definitely up over 3.0 though. Prime95 is banging against thermal throttling now, where before it was right at 95C max.
What clocks are you running for the core, and what voltage? AVX offset?
 
You know, this is strange. I had tried it before at 3.2 with auto voltage, wasn't stable, tried applying I think upwards of an additional +0.100V offset, still wasn't stable. But I just went to try it now and I'll be darned if it's not working totally stable at 3.2 with auto voltage, which is showing as 1.177V under load. At 3.0 and auto voltage, it was showing 1.090V.

I've updated the BIOS a few times since, and might also not have had LLC set before (I do now), so that might explain it. Heat is definitely up over 3.0 though. Prime95 is banging against thermal throttling now, where before it was right at 95C max.

just make sure you're using the old version of prime95, not the one that uses avx otherwise you'll just bounce off the thermal limit no matter what you do.
 
just make sure you're using the old version of prime95, not the one that uses avx otherwise you'll just bounce off the thermal limit no matter what you do.

Not true. 4.8Ghz with AVX offset -5. 1hr of Prime95 with AVX hits max temp 83c...Delidded under a H115i. Before delidding max temps were 93c in the same test. Definitely not hitting any thermal limits.

0rlUsBo.jpg
 
DDR4 4266 in quad channel doesn't work. Dual channel works fine though. Using a x299 Taichi here.
 
You know, this is strange. I had tried it before at 3.2 with auto voltage, wasn't stable, tried applying I think upwards of an additional +0.100V offset, still wasn't stable. But I just went to try it now and I'll be darned if it's not working totally stable at 3.2 with auto voltage, which is showing as 1.177V under load. At 3.0 and auto voltage, it was showing 1.090V.

I've updated the BIOS a few times since, and might also not have had LLC set before (I do now), so that might explain it. Heat is definitely up over 3.0 though. Prime95 is banging against thermal throttling now, where before it was right at 95C max.
Never mind. 3.2 mesh wasn't stable after 20 mins of BF1. Back to 3.0 on mesh for me. Just did 2 hours at 3.0 on mesh in BF1 and was fine.
 
Never mind. 3.2 mesh wasn't stable after 20 mins of BF1. Back to 3.0 on mesh for me. Just did 2 hours at 3.0 on mesh in BF1 and was fine.
I take it 3.2 mesh did not give anything worthwhile anyway?
Does not seem much of a loss to me from what I am reading from you guys.
Cheers
 
I take it 3.2 mesh did not give anything worthwhile anyway?
Does not seem much of a loss to me from what I am reading from you guys.
Cheers
Moving from 2.4 to 3.0 on the mesh I saw a 0.5% to 2.0% increase in benchmarks (Cinebench, 3DMark Firestrike, Time Spy, Haven Superposition). So, extrapolating from there, by not pushing it farther to 3.2 I'm leaving an additional 0.17% to 0.66% on the table. That's fine by me.
 
Anyone with a good suggestion for a cooler for the 7900x?

Put the PC in a freezer.

My delidded overclocked 7800x is pretty much at the thermal capacity of my H100iV2 with 3000 rpm Noctua fans. 7900X at stock would probably be okay, but if you're overcloking at all you will need to figure something else out.
 
I use a thermaltake riing 360mm aio on my 7820x. Cpu is currently at 4.7ghz at 1.26 volts, doesnt go above 86c. Skylake x is a beast to cool. Though 8 cores all running at 4.7ghz is a lot to cool off
 
Liking it more than my Ryzen system that I dismantled and re-purposed. Got mine (7800x) at 1.195v under a H80i in push/pull running OCCT it never goes above 85c @ 4.6Ghz with a mesh of 2.8Ghz. This was the max voltage I could get before temps would exceed 90c using a single 120 rad (albeit a thick one). Idles a bit high around 45-55c. Im trying to decide whether to go full custom loop (would be first time so a bit intimidated) or whether to go full fanless but waiting for real world reviews on the Calyos case with x299 before plopping down the $700+ on that. 1st world problems..

EDIT: I was actually a bit scared by the talk that its impossible to cool I was worried the H80 wouldnt be near enough but I havent had a huge issue. Maybe if you are trying for max stable OC but mine is not even de-lidded and I can keep temps in check by backing off voltage. Or maybe its because im using the lowly 6c vs the 8c and 10c.
 
Last edited:
Anyone with a good suggestion for a cooler for the 7900x?

Put the PC in a freezer.

My delidded overclocked 7800x is pretty much at the thermal capacity of my H100iV2 with 3000 rpm Noctua fans. 7900X at stock would probably be okay, but if you're overcloking at all you will need to figure something else out.
I am finding out that my 7900X is actually throttling at 4.6GHz although it is not showing it happening. Still trying to get a handle on this. Where I am now is finding benchmark metrics to show it happening over long periods of usage.
 
Decided to stop messing about with AIO coolers and dive headfirst into a custom watercooled rig. Have this on the way:

RWBJOes.png


27589dfb_ek-fb_ga_x299_gaming_pcb_coolant.jpeg


13060e62_EK-FC1080-Ti-TF6-Side-1.jpeg


c98e44b7_EK-FC1080-Ti-TF6-Side-2-1500x624.jpeg


Can't wait! Super excited. Also have 3 EKBW NVMe heatsinks on the way for my nvme SSD's.
 
Thinking about selling off my 5820k and going with a 7820x myself. Was just about set on going with a AMD threadripper 1920X, but then I'd need new memory as my current stuff likely is not compatible and I'd need a new cooler which would eat up price benefits of moving over to AMD. Plus X299 and X399 motherboard prices are pretty comparable in terms of cost. Still undecided but leaning 7820.
 
VRM problems that are talked about lately?

No...The VRM "problems" are blown completely out of proportion. All he has to do is raise max power limit to 450 Watts to avoid any throttling.

I'm at 73C on my VRM, 63C on the PCH, and motherboard is at 39C with the CPU at 4.7 GHz 1.25 volts and the MESH overclocked to 3GHz @ 1.15 volts with DDR4 3200MHz memory.

WN7jVbP.png
 
Raise the package power limit from 140 Watts to 400 Watts. What motherboard you using?
I do not have board on the bench right now. I am trying to find a way to document what I am seeing happen under loads still.
 
Maybe you should try the solutions posted in this thread before attempting to document an issue that has already been studied and solved.
I am trying to figure a way to document the symptom. This is what I have seen at 4.6GHz. At higher levels of CPULLC, the CPU will throttle due to VCCIN. This does not happen at lower levels of CPULLC. (at least on this particular board) So when this throttling is happening, the only way to tell is through a benchmark score. CPU loads/HWBot do not report this throttling in any way. If you look at all the load levels and multipliers, you would think the system is operating as it should. Now my issue here is for long term loading under high overclocks, how do I tell if it is throttling? I do not have any, let's say any 3 hour long benchmark to compare to. So I can easily remedy the issue, but I am having troubles proving that the throttling is not occurring over longer periods of time after the system has been loaded. None of the manufacturers I have talked to on this have been able to give me a solid solution on this.

Any insight you might like to share, I am all ears. Thanks for your guidance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Luca1
like this
I'm loving mine.

Upgraded from a Xeon 5670 OC'd @ 4.2Ghz to a 7820X with a quick dirty overclock to 4.6Ghz in about 5 minutes as a trial and:

To render a 10 minute highly edited video previously it took 1 hour 20 minutes. With my 7820X an Asus Tuff Mark 1 rendering the same video takes 32 minutes.

Ibt tests have gone from 45 seconds per pass down to 11 seconds per pass.

My VR setup works flawlessly now.

Idles about 30°c. Doesn't go above 75°c when rendering video but generally runs 55-65°c rendering. Sits around 70-80°c underunder IBT stress test, very rarely will spike for a brief moment to 90°c using IBT.

Thinking of delidding to get a no other 10°c out of it. Haven't even tweaked the overclock.. Should get tighter results easily at 4.8Ghz I reckon. Using a H100i V2 cooler and 16GB 3200 RAM.
 
c98e44b7_EK-FC1080-Ti-TF6-Side-2-1500x624.jpeg


Can't wait! Super excited. Also have 3 EKBW NVMe heatsinks on the way for my nvme SSD's.

You need another one.

I have 1 Asus Poseidon GTX 1080ti underwater right now and I am seriously thinking of adding a second card.

I game at 3440x1440 and some games at ultra settings are below 100 fps which is my LCD. Some games dipping in the 60's like Hellblade. Moving forward games are going to be more taxing on the top two high res's like 3440 and 4k. I am thinking, that the gamble of having two 1080ti's will be great on some games where it counts and on others, I will just have to eat crow knowing that the cards aren't scaling so well. What are your thoughts on this? I do not care about ePeen. I want functionality. I want to get at least 3 more years out of the GPU(s).
 
Thanks to all those that replied. Well I got my system up and running, and now with the latest BIOS updated and new nVidia SLI drivers everything is working great. 4000 MHz RAM, 3000 MHz mesh, and 5000 MHz 7800X. CPU runs a bit toasty but very stable. Extremely happy with this upgrade!
 
I have a new build in transit consisting of 7820X, Gigabyte Ultra Gaming MB, Samsung 960 EVO, Quad channel Gskill DDR 4 3200 RAM. So will be joining this club this week.

I got pretty much the same on the way as well. Went with the Asus strix mobo. Ordered today, hope the parts arrive before the weekend. :D
 
I wouldn't buy one without getting a R6 Apex. VRM issues solved and better ram overclocking. that being said your not going to do 4266 like 1151 can do on an Apex or other two slot 1151 board. when it comes to DDR4 performance there are two limiting factors at the moment, the CPU's IMC and in the case of most if not all Intel cpus its actually the motherboard and its design. AMD's IMCs are well behind intels so doesn't matter as much for them though they still do best with the best ram dies which is of course universal across platforms (samsung b-die)

for those wondering about ram expectations and capability this XOC guide for the R6A gives you a nice breakdown on ram related things with SKL-X and KBL-X

https://overclocking.guide/rog-rampage-vi-apex-overclocking-guide/
 
Last edited:
I'm looking forward to getting a Rampage VI Apex on my bench. If I decided to go with an i9 7900X as my next CPU, I think that will be the board I'll want to use. Although, I'm enjoying the Zenith Extreme and Threadripper. It's hard to justify it though as I'm a gamer more than anything else and though I like Threadripper, Intel rules the roost in absolute gaming performance.
 
I won't say it's a value option, but at 4.6GHz it's a better processor than the 6950X was. We never saw anything better than 4.3GHz on 6950X's and that was the absolute edge of what those CPU's could do. The previous CPU king, the 5960X clocked higher at 4.5GHz and though it lacked two cores, it was much cheaper and faster in games. Outside of gaming it may be harder to justify the 7900X to someone who already has a 6950X as the IPC improvement and clock increases may not make enough of a difference to justify the cost of it. This is especially true given that you have to replace your motherboard, although you might be able to reuse your memory modules. The motherboard platform offers little to nothing beyond DMI 3.0, which you won't notice outside of storage benchmarks.

As a gamer, I'm considering the 7900X because it offers a slight IPC advantage and the potential for a clock speed increase over my 4.5GHz Core i7 6950X along with two additional CPU cores. I can leverage the X299 platform for faster storage as well. Again, not a value proposition by any means, but something I'm considering. The 6950X was a non-starter for me because, athough it was a drop in upgrade, the stupid thing clocked worse and offered next to no IPC improvement. It didn't make sense since games couldn't leverage the additional cores. At $1,699, it was a pointless expense. The Core i9 7900X is $1,000 or around there at Microcenter so it's more attractive an upgrade path for me.
 
I won't say it's a value option, but at 4.6GHz it's a better processor than the 6950X was. We never saw anything better than 4.3GHz on 6950X's and that was the absolute edge of what those CPU's could do. The previous CPU king, the 5960X clocked higher at 4.5GHz and though it lacked two cores, it was much cheaper and faster in games. Outside of gaming it may be harder to justify the 7900X to someone who already has a 6950X as the IPC improvement and clock increases may not make enough of a difference to justify the cost of it. This is especially true given that you have to replace your motherboard, although you might be able to reuse your memory modules. The motherboard platform offers little to nothing beyond DMI 3.0, which you won't notice outside of storage benchmarks.

As a gamer, I'm considering the 7900X because it offers a slight IPC advantage and the potential for a clock speed increase over my 4.5GHz Core i7 6950X along with two additional CPU cores. I can leverage the X299 platform for faster storage as well. Again, not a value proposition by any means, but something I'm considering. The 6950X was a non-starter for me because, athough it was a drop in upgrade, the stupid thing clocked worse and offered next to no IPC improvement. It didn't make sense since games couldn't leverage the additional cores. At $1,699, it was a pointless expense. The Core i9 7900X is $1,000 or around there at Microcenter so it's more attractive an upgrade path for me.

Thanks, I'm considering my options right now. I bought the 6950X together with a Rampage V Edition 10 just about one year ago and it has been doing a great job every day so far. My biggest gripe with Skylake-X are not the CPU's but the X299 platform which like you said offers little to nothing over X99. I do like the new Rampage VI Extreme though and I'm looking forward to a possible X299-E WS from ASUS, not sure if they have one in the works.
 
I won't say it's a value option, but at 4.6GHz it's a better processor than the 6950X was. We never saw anything better than 4.3GHz on 6950X's and that was the absolute edge of what those CPU's could do. The previous CPU king, the 5960X clocked higher at 4.5GHz and though it lacked two cores, it was much cheaper and faster in games. Outside of gaming it may be harder to justify the 7900X to someone who already has a 6950X as the IPC improvement and clock increases may not make enough of a difference to justify the cost of it. This is especially true given that you have to replace your motherboard, although you might be able to reuse your memory modules. The motherboard platform offers little to nothing beyond DMI 3.0, which you won't notice outside of storage benchmarks.

As a gamer, I'm considering the 7900X because it offers a slight IPC advantage and the potential for a clock speed increase over my 4.5GHz Core i7 6950X along with two additional CPU cores. I can leverage the X299 platform for faster storage as well. Again, not a value proposition by any means, but something I'm considering. The 6950X was a non-starter for me because, athough it was a drop in upgrade, the stupid thing clocked worse and offered next to no IPC improvement. It didn't make sense since games couldn't leverage the additional cores. At $1,699, it was a pointless expense. The Core i9 7900X is $1,000 or around there at Microcenter so it's more attractive an upgrade path for me.

I would think the 1900x with 8 cores might be better than say a 1920 or 1950. Also, correct me if I am wrong but dont these HEDT cpus aka threadripper and i9's use MESH to connect the cores which would be slower than a RING setup that i7700 uses?
 
Back
Top