X79 Board with the best long term experience

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octoberasian

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Well, friend asked me a question earlier: What's the best X79 board at the moment?

(This is not the friend from Norway that I mentioned in another forum here.)

I have a friend who tasked me with the job to build him a new computer. He just recently came upon a $3000 bonus from work. (Yeah, I thought he was joking until he showed me the check. :p) Well, given that I have so much time on my hands, I decided to take him up on his offer to build him a new computer.

Anyway, he wants to upgrade his current computer which is an HP Pavillion with a Phenom II X4 and a Radeon 5770 in it. He'd like to have a computer that's as high end as possible and would last for a good long while. He's planning to go all out on the computer and is deciding between an SLI 780 (or 780 Ti) or a CrossfireX 290 or 290X.

I suggested he go with a Z77 or Z87-based board, but when I mentioned the X79, he'd like to go for that instead. I tried to talk him into waiting for Haswell-E but he has mind set on an X79 board, and Haswell-E won't be out until later in 2014 as well as DDR4 RAM.

I've looked into the following already, one with very good reviews from [H]:
  • ASUS X79 Deluxe
  • ASUS P9X79 and P9X79 Deluxe
  • ASUS X79 Sabertooth

Before I suggest them to him, what's the best X79 board you have had the best experience so far since the first 3930K or 4930K ever came out?

Thank you.
 
I'm using an x79 Deluxe right now, have been for about 3 weeks... Exceedingly easy to set up and use, full UEFI Compatibility with windows 8, so all of the fast boot features work flawlessly, and it was just a pleasure to overclock.

Good layout too, didn't have to reorganize my case much to make the wire management work well.
 
What [H] needs is an in-depth review of the horrid customer support/RMA support that ASUS currently has, and has for quite a while now.

The ASUS boards may be nice, but know that you are basically buying a board with no manufacturer warranty.
 
I will say that my x58 Sabertooth has great support years in.

If I had that kind of cash I would get the P9X79-E WS.
 
I'm kind of partial to the MSI Big Bang Xpower II, mostly because it's the only XL-ATX 2011 board out there.

Frankly, in terms of features and stability, it seems Asus is the only one that has been consistent. MSI is behind somewhat. EVGA just goofed when it came to X79. And Gigabyte has quite a few quirks of its own, though the C606 chipset in the X79S-UP5 is very nice. ASRock also seems to be decent in the X79 front.
 
"XL-ATX 2011"

You should qualify that with the term "single processor"
 
Tsumi said:
I'm kind of partial to the MSI Big Bang Xpower II, mostly because it's the only XL-ATX 2011 board out there.
Click to expand...

There were a couple of other XL-ATX boards:

  • Gigabyte GA-X79-UD7
  • EVGA X79 Classified

@octoberasian, I'd also recommend the X79 Deluxe. I think ASUS is the only manufacturer rocking solid X79 boards. EVGA has issues with its BIOS, MSI with memory, Gigabyte with just about everything, ASRock with their overheating VRMs. Intel, Biostar, & ECS don't offer anything remotely competitive.
 
I agree with solid on this one, Asus seems to rock the mobo scene this time around. I have sworn off their gpu's though.
 
I think about a year on my setup... so far couldn't be happier, super easy OC.
 
SolidBladez said:
There were a couple of other XL-ATX boards:

  • Gigabyte GA-X79-UD7
  • EVGA X79 Classified

@octoberasian, I'd also recommend the X79 Deluxe. I think ASUS is the only manufacturer rocking solid X79 boards. EVGA has issues with its BIOS, MSI with memory, Gigabyte with just about everything, ASRock with their overheating VRMs. Intel, Biostar, & ECS don't offer anything remotely competitive.
Click to expand...

Forgot about those, probably because they didn't have 8 RAM slots, lol.
 
I really like my Big Bang never had a single issue with it. My only complaint is that it's huge, but that's kinda a duh thing.
Also I know someone mentioned the "Black Edition" Rampage IV Extreme would be another high end board.
 
My friend decided to go with the ASUS X79 Deluxe since it seems to be the newest X79 board out there besides the Rampage IV Black Edition. And, the RIV BE is a bit overkill for him.

I'm curious though: Why are the Deluxe Edition of the P8/P9 series of Z77 and X79 boards stop being manufactured or sold?

It seems I can find brand new ones on Amazon and eBay well over the original MSRP. Possible replacements for them, or OEMs waiting for Haswell-E/X99 platform?
 
I'm using the Rampage IV Formula right now, but I've had two RIVE and one P9X79 Pro die on me. I've had great success with the MSI boards, particularly the GD-45 Plus. The Gigabyte UD7 was a pain in the ass.
 
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