Asus Releases P9X79-E WS Motherboard, Supports 4-Way SLI

[N.Broekhuijsen]

Asus is releasing a new high-end workstation motherboard, this one the P9X79-E WS.

Asus Releases P9X79-E WS Motherboard, Supports 4-Way SLI : Read more

 

[COLGeek]

That is a beast of a mobo. With proper power and cooling, you could build a rendering/folding monster, and a great space heater!

 

[bentonsl_2010]

[citation][nom]COLGeek[/nom]and a great space heater![/citation]

I lol'd

 

[nukemaster]

I would have hoped for some more USB 3 or even thunderbolt at the back. Still looks interestingly overkill

 

[COLGeek]

Remember, Thunderbolt requires integrated video and that is not supported on Socket 2011 CPUs. Still, by now, one would expect to see the feature offered via a stand alone adapter or integrated "chipset" to enable the capability.

 

[DrShocker com]

Hummm ... Would this be a worthwhile replacement for my Rampage IV Extreme ? or could they possibly come out with a Rampage V Extreme when Ivy Bridge E is released ... I love the IV but more PCI lanes would be wonderful

 

[DrShocker com]

[citation][nom]DrShocker com[/nom]Hummm ... Would this be a worthwhile replacement for my Rampage IV Extreme ? or could they possibly come out with a Rampage V Extreme when Ivy Bridge E is released ... I love the IV but more PCI lanes would be wonderful[/citation]

Rampage VI Extreme I should say ... Forgot about the Z77

 

[mapesdhs]

I have a standard P9X79 WS, which is already a very good board. If they've updated the hw
to support SLI/CF in x16/x16/x16/x16 then that's very cool, as the existing WS is limited to
x8/x8/x8/x8 in these modes. The slot layout is similar, though the current WS doesn't have
the 2nd PCIe slot closest to the CPU. Must admit I did find this slightly annoying as I could
certainly have made use of an extra slot (primary card is a 1-slot Quadro 4000), so adding
a slot there is good.

I'm surprised though that the new version only has 6 SATA3 ports. I would prefer to have
at least 10, with none of them driven by an awful Marvell controller.

Apart from that though, the WS is an excellent board. Ludicrously easy to oc a 3930K,
even with the max 64GB RAM.

For reference, the current version normally costs about 300 UKP, so I'd expect the
new one to be much the same.

NB: the board uses the CEB form factor, so if anyone's thinking of buying one,
remember to ensure your selected case is big enough (I chose a Coolermaster HAF 932).

Ian.

 

[cah027]

I wonder what the fastest single slot card is and what the scaling would be like with 7 of them? Toms, how about you do it and bench it ?

 

[cah027]

Single slot card.. I meant to type..

 

[nukemaster]

You can edit your post by clicking the little

icons

But you have to come to the forums first.

Click me

I fixed it for you

 

[hetneo]

[citation][nom]DrShocker com[/nom]Hummm ... Would this be a worthwhile replacement for my Rampage IV Extreme ? or could they possibly come out with a Rampage V Extreme when Ivy Bridge E is released ... I love the IV but more PCI lanes would be wonderful[/citation]
Sixteen PCIe 3.0 lanes don't get fully saturated by 3 HD 7970, so having one 8x slot per card in 4way set up is hardly going to come anywhere near it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/turbobox-na255a-pci-express,3430-6.html

 

[damianrobertjones]

[citation][nom]nukemaster[/nom]I would have hoped for some more USB 3 or even thunderbolt at the back. Still looks interestingly overkill[/citation]

I recall all the buzz behind USB back in the day what with daisy-chaining multiple peripherals together in a line. What happened to that? Oh yeah... not a lot. You can hardly buy a stable USB 3 hub these days.

Thunderbolt... Just another mild advance that makes you spend more money for the same crap you already own.

 

[lp231]

It would be nice if this such of a motherboard has 2x front USB 3 headers.
So far I see with 2x front USB 3 headers from Asus are Rampage IV Extreme and P8Z77-V Pro

 

[nukemaster]

[citation][nom]nukemaster[/nom]I would have hoped for some more USB 3 or even thunderbolt at the back. Still looks interestingly overkill[/citation]

I recall all the buzz behind USB back in the day what with daisy-chaining multiple peripherals together in a line. What happened to that? Oh yeah... not a lot. You can hardly buy a stable USB 3 hub these days.

Thunderbolt... Just another mild advance that makes you spend more money for the same crap you already own.

I have just seen FAR to many USB 3 issues such as posts about hard drives disconnecting while transferring, cables not being stable, front ports not working right. I have even had the joy of seeing this first hand.

For instance.
-My first USB 3 board(X58A UD5) is ROCK solid. I have gone as far as 11-12 feet with a cable and it NEVER disconnects. This made me like USB 3.0 it was fast and stable.
-Enter my media center board(H55N-USB3). Anything over 6 feet drops it to USB 2.0 speeds. Again, its stable and that is what counts.
-My Maximus IV Gene-Z will actually disconnect and reconnect over and over on ANY cable over 6 feet and extension of any kind can also cause it(not all extensions either). The front ports are actually a LOST cause(I have got 2 replacement cables from Silverstone[+ the one that came with the case]) and tried some cables from CoolerMaster as well. Asus is 100% behind the board and WILL replace it on a moments notice, but I know the ports work because a super short no-name(ngear) brand 20 pin -> female USB port adapter DOES work(with both my flash drive and external drive on a 3 foot cable.).

Many users say it is cheap cables, bad controllers ect.

Thunerbolts ACTIVE cables should eliminate cable issues like this and are faster(PCI-E also makes for some interesting external video card options for notebook users.). Do I want to spent 2 x the price for a drive enclosure? NO. Do i want a stable connection? YES.

This is just what I had seen on top of countless posts about USB 3.0. I also see all kinds of reviews about hard drives being "BAD"(avoid brand XXX the drives disconnect) and even capture cards disconnecting.

I am 100% sure this will become a problem of the past in a short time as even USB 2.0 had problems when it was first released(but USB 3.0 has been out for a while).

Again, I personally and willing to pay a bit more is it means a more stable device. If Intel can get Thunderbolt to go mainstream, the price will drop.

 

[NyxSlayer]

Oh my God.... guess I will never be able to fill all those slots xD