Best Motherboard for Quad SLI & 4960x Extreme... Rampage Black Edition, MSI

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kill8r

Limp Gawd
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Feb 27, 2014
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I am taking a 2 stage approach to my dream all water cooled Quad SLI build and could use some help as I am not as knowledgable as you all.

Stage 1: all components and temporary graphics card/s pushing a single 27" ROG Swift

Stage 2: add water cooled and next gen maxwell cards to push a big 4k screen or 3 x ROG Swifts

Here is my stage 1 build so far:

CPU - 4960x Extreme
RAM - Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400 2x8gb
GPUs - R9 290x (possibly 2)
HD - Samsung Pro series ssd 512gb
PSU - EVGA Super Nova 1300w gold
Case - Corsair 900D

May I ask what is considered the best motherboard available with good OC functionality? I was going to go with the Rampage Black Edition but I know there are other great ones out there like the MSI Big Bang and ASRock Extreme (quite a bit more expensive here in the UK).

May I also ask some advice on what is the best water cooling system that can also handle water cooled quad SLI down the line?

Thanks
 
The Haswell-e CPU looks impressive, but I note it uses a 2011-3 socket instead of 2011.I think I have answered my own question, but will the Haswell-e CPUs fit and be fully functional in a current Extended ATX boards like the Rampage Black Edition or MSI?

How big of an impact will the Haswell CPU have on quad SLI gaming compared to the the 4960x?


Thanks for all the help!
 
Haswell-E will not be compatible. On top of requiring a different socket, it uses DDR4 RAM, and won't be compatible with DDR3.

I'm partial towards the Big Bang Xpower II due to it being an XL-ATX board, but as far as I know, only recent MSI boards (Z87 generation) got the ability to overclock by offset voltage (X79, Z77 generation did not). This may or may not be important to you, depending on whether or not you want downclocking/lower power consumption during idle. Asus and ASRock appear to be the only companies that got X79 almost completely right. MSI is missing offset voltage overclocking. Gigabyte had various UEFI issues and was missing 8 RAM slots for their top boards. EVGA for the majority of X79 had quality issues and had no boards with 8 RAM slots for a long time. I would pick a motherboard that has waterblocks for it, even though watercooling motherboards for the most part is unnecessary in a case with good airflow.

With X79, you want sets of 4 sticks of RAM (4 or 8 sticks). Anything faster than 1600 mhz CAS 9 is not going to change your performance, this has been proven on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, and Ivy Bridge-E has even more bandwidth due to quad-channel.

With watercooling, the sky's the limit (well, really your budget, imagination, and needs). You want the absolute best regular watercooling? Build a loop for each component. Each GPU and CPU gets two D5 pumps (for redundancy), Frozen-Q reservoir (IMO the best looking reservoirs out there), and Phobya Xtreme Supernova 1260 with 9 140mm fans. So that's 10 pumps, 5 reservoirs, and 5 massive radiators with 45 fans. Oh, and let's not forget motherboard cooling as well, might as well right? Add another set to that list.

Do not get EK. Don't support that shoddy company that screws over its customers. My recommendations are Aquacomputer or Watercool, their blocks are top-notch. Swiftech is good too, though only their CPU blocks are exceptional. Their GPU blocks tend to be on the mediocre side.
 
Thank you for a detailed and very informative post!

As I have never built a water cooled system 10 pumps, 5 reservoirs... is probably out of my depth and will cost a hell of a lot.

Noted about Aquacomputer and watercool. I will definitely pass on EK.

May I ask:
Will the Haswell-E have a big difference in gaming compared to a 4960X? If not I can start my build.

As a novice using the 900D case, I wanted to build a basic and reliable liquid cooled system, based on 2 of the upcoming, top of the line Maxwell Cards (with the ability and capacity to add another 2 down the line). What cooling components would you suggest for basic, cost effective, good quality liquid cooling?

How are XSPC v3 radiators?

The 900D case has 5 radiator mounting points that I found on the Corsair Website:

Front: up to 360mm
Top: up to 480mm (4 x 120) or 420mm (3 x 140)
Bottom side one: up to 480mm (4 x 120) or 420mm (3 x 140)
Bottom side two (with PSU installed): up to 280mm (2 x 140) or 240mm (2 x 120)
Rear: 140mm or 120mm

So far I have identified:
Radiators:
Top: 1 x XSPC RX480V3
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/XSPC-RX480-Quad-Fan-Radiator-V3-Black_44239.html
or
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Watercool-HTSF2-4x120-LT-Radiator_33564.html

Bottom Side 1: 1 x XSPC RX480V3
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/XSPC-RX480-Quad-Fan-Radiator-V3-Black_44239.html
or
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Watercool-HTSF2-4x120-LT-Radiator_33564.html

Bottom Side 2:
1 x 240mm XSPC V3
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/XSPC-RX240-Dual-Fan-Radiator-V3-Black_44237.html
or
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/Watercool-HTSF2-2x120-LTX-Radiator_33558.html

Is this sufficient for Radiators?

Reservoirs:

1 x 400mm for GPUS
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/FrozenQ-Reactor-Core-400mm_20604.html
Is this enough for the enitre system including 4 GPUs down the line?
Will it fit in the case?

If not should I add another 250 or 160?

Pumps:
2 x 12V Alphacool Laing D5 Fixed Pump for redundance TPP644 - T12
http://www.watercoolinguk.co.uk/p/12V-Alphacool-Laing-D5-Fixed-Pump-TPP644-T12_1796.html
 
I highly doubt that there will be a large difference between Haswell-E and Ivy Bridge-E. Just look at performance comparisons between Haswell and Ivy Bridge (i7 4770k vs 3770k). Haswell-E is supposed to come as an 8-core as the $1000 X model, so if you want the two extra cores (which will help only in a very limited number of games), wait for Haswell-E. Otherwise, I would actually suggest going with the 4930k. The 4960x isn't that much higher in performance than the 4930k.

For a 900D case, I would suggest using either the Alphacool UT60 or the Alphacool Monsta radiators. Personally not a big fan of the 900D, I think it's overhyped, overrated, and overpriced. But that's just me. I don't know what's available to you, but MountainMods and Case Labs make some very nice high quality cases. Two 480s should be sufficient for cooling your proposed system.

For dual pumps, I would highly suggest getting a dual pump top.

Reservoir size doesn't matter. The only purpose of a reservoir is to make sure your pumps are always fed with water.
 
If you have the means you really can't go wrong with an ASUS Rampage IV Extreme Black Edition as the basis for a high end long term platform. With the vast majority of games still being developed for consoles first, the X79 will enjoy a lot of time at then near the top of the performance rankings due to games being primarily G.P.U. limited these days. There just isn't nearly as much of a push toward obsolescence these days are there once was. Check out this thread for an example of what I'm writing about:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1461359/...eon-l5639-benchmarks-inside-longest-post-ever

I'd also suggest switching your current case choice to a Lian Li PC-V2120X to match. :cool:
 
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