Gigabyte X79 UD3 Help

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JJ1217

JJ1217

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Jun 1, 2012
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Hey there, I was looking to upgrade from my Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 coupled with an i5 3550 to a X79 UD3. My only issue is, do I have to buy a new CPU? Since it uses a 2011 Socket, what CPU should I use? The only reason I want this board is the 4 way Xfire/SLI possibility.

I can easily sell my i5 3550 and my Z77 to one of my friends or my father for like $300, and I could make up the next $200 to upgrade to a bigger board and a better CPU.

What do you guys think?

The motherboard costs $225 AU for me, and the CPU I think I might get is an i7 3820.. CPU's aren't something I would like to upgrade too often, I would rather upgrade my GPU every two years, so this isn't really for future proofing, but its just something I would not like to purchase again for like 3 or 4 years, since I would probably have to buy a new motherboard, CPU and maybe Ram.
 
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Both of those fall under the "quad GPU compatible" category I mentioned above. They have 3 16x slots but the bottom one does not come from the CPU, it comes from the Southbridge and cannot/should not be used with a GPU. If you want to use 3 or 4 GPUs on those motheboards you will have to buy at least one dual-GPU card. You could run:

2x HD 6970 for 2-way CrossfireX

1x HD 6990 for 2-way CrossfireX

1x HD 6970 and 1x HD 6990 for 3-way CrossfireX

2x HD 6990 for 4-way CrossfireX...
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Pinhedd

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Aug 7, 2007
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As far as X79 motherboards go, the only vendor worth even considering is Asus. There are simply far too many problems with other motherboards. The prices are attractive but you get what you pay for, and the LGA2011 CPUs are very demanding. I run a Rampage IV Extreme and love it.

There's also no reason to go with 3/4 way GPUs. The synthetic benchmarks are impressive but the drivers are buggy as hell. Even so, if you can afford 3 or 4 GPUs, you had best invest in a quality motherboard and Gigabyte is not a quality OEM.

Lastly, the 3820 is having a bit of an identity crisis. The only advantage that it has over a 2700k is a bit more L3 cache and the added PCIe/DDR3 lanes. While these help with 3/4 way GPU configurations, those configurations have a hard time justifying themselves. You're far better off getting the 3930k and enjoying the extra cores/cache.
 
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JJ1217

JJ1217

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Jun 1, 2012
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Pinhedd

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The P9X79 series are amazing. Since you're just a gamer though I would recommend getting an Intel 7 series chipset to go with your existing Ivy Bridge CPU. When a 7 series chipset is used with an IvyBridge processor the PCIe lane configurations are expanded to include the 3-way 8/4/4 configuration in addition to the existing 16 and 8/8 configurations. Some motherboard manufacturers even include PCIe bus multiplexers which turn a 16x 3.0 lane into two 16x 2.0 lanes. The Asus Maximus V Extreme supports 4 way SLI as well as Crossfire (no indication on the wayness, would have to look that up separately), and the Asus Maximus V Formula supports 3 way CrossfireX as well as SLI (no indication on the wayness here).
 
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JJ1217

JJ1217

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I'm going for a maximum of $250 for the board, can you use the website that I just linked and find that board you were talking about, or something? I'm not the best with motherboards.. Thanks for the help!
 
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Pinhedd

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You won't be able to find one from Asus that cheap. They start around $350 for this one

http://www.mwave.com.au/sku-28023765-ASUS_Maximus_V_Formula_Motherboard_Intel_LGA1155_Socket_Intel_Z77_Chipset_4x_DDR

A lot of motherboards are marketed as "quad GPU compatible" but in reality they only have 2 PCIe slots pulled from the CPU. If a dual GPU solution such as the Radeon HD 6990 or GeForce GTX 690 are used in each slot, that's 4 GPUs. This is not the same as having 3 or 4 individual cards installed.

As far as I know, the only Asus Z77 motherboards that support 3/4 individual GPUs are the Maximus V series. You could go with an older Maximus IV motherboard but I wouldn't recommend it as it would be a step backward.
 
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Pinhedd

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Both of those fall under the "quad GPU compatible" category I mentioned above. They have 3 16x slots but the bottom one does not come from the CPU, it comes from the Southbridge and cannot/should not be used with a GPU. If you want to use 3 or 4 GPUs on those motheboards you will have to buy at least one dual-GPU card. You could run:

2x HD 6970 for 2-way CrossfireX

1x HD 6990 for 2-way CrossfireX

1x HD 6970 and 1x HD 6990 for 3-way CrossfireX

2x HD 6990 for 4-way CrossfireX

What you cannot do though is run 3x HD 6970 for 3-way CrossfireX. If you want to do something like that, you need a Maximus V motherboard.

Same thing applies for NVidia cards.

What exactly did you have in mind in terms of GPUs?
 
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JJ1217

JJ1217

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Maybe 3 8870's or 2 8970's

Now that I think about it, two 8970's should be enough when they come out for me.

Probably shouldn't upgrade now, especially when its really expensive to get 3 GPU Motherboard.

Thanks
 
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Pinhedd

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Two 8970s would be you best bet. 3 way CrossfireX/SLI is riddled with bugs and always has been. I have to turn off Crossfire quite often even with two 7970s. Two top end cards will outperform two upper-midrange cards any day.

I think you're right though, no need to upgrade right now though.
 
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