EVGA Lifts Cover From X79 E779 Classified Motherboard

By Douglas Perry
published

EVGA has caused quite some buzz when it displayed one of the first X79 motherboards at the GeForce LAN 6 party.

Gamers attending got a first peek at a prototype of its flagship X79 Classified board, which will be supporting Intel Sandy Bridge-E Core i7-3000 series processors. Besides the displayed E779 model, EVGA will also be offering the E775 (X79 SLI) and the E777 (X79 FTW).

According to pictures that are making the rounds on the Internet, the E779 will have four DDR3 slots, five PCIe x16 3.0 and one PCIe x1 3.0 interface, as well as two SATA 6 Gbps, four SATA 3 Gbps and two eSATA ports. EVGA integrates VIA's Superspeed USB controller and will offer eight USB 3.0 ports on the E779. Additionally, there are two USB 2.0 connectors as well as a Bluetooth radio.

Targeted at overclockers, EVGA told visitors that the board will pass the most stringent requirements for CPU tuning, including deep freezing. Last month, we ran a first review of Intel's upcoming X79 platform. Check out the review of Intel's Core i7-3960X here.

Douglas Perry
37 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Yargnit
    Only 4 RAM slots? I'd have expected 8 on the classified with it being quad channel and their top board. Otherwise looks awesome.
    Reply
  • DaFees
    YargnitOnly 4 RAM slots? I'd have expected 8 on the classified with it being quad channel and their top board. Otherwise looks awesome.
    Well I can live with the 4 ram slots if those ram slots support 8GB sticks (32GB of ram total).
    Reply
  • mikeangs2004
    RAM works better when ONE slot per channel is used.

    What form factor is this mobo?
    Reply
  • molo9000
    five PCIe x16 3.0

    Why so many?
    Reply
  • southernshark
    There is no reason to have more than 8gbs of ram for gaming. I've actually seen stats reporting decreased performance at figures over that, especially over 12.
    Reply
  • There is no reason to have more than 8gbs of ram for gaming. I've actually seen stats reporting decreased performance at figures over that, especially over 12.
    What? More RAM = less performance? Does not compute.
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    southernsharkThere is no reason to have more than 8gbs of ram for gaming. I've actually seen stats reporting decreased performance at figures over that, especially over 12.
    Exactly. Most games don't even benefit much more when going from 4GB to 8GB. Now if you are someone who runs a lot of tasks in the background while gaming, 8-12GB will be worth it.

    Otherwise, anything more than 8GB for a P/Z67 chipset or 12GB for X58 and you are pissing money down the toilet. Or as you referenced, even hindering performance. 12+GB RAM aree for servers, not desktop rigs.
    Reply
  • southernsharkThere is no reason to have more than 8gbs of ram for gaming. I've actually seen stats reporting decreased performance at figures over that, especially over 12.I have 12gb of ram and use it to the full potential. I'll commonly have GTA IV loaded up, about 20 tabs in chrome, and multiple apps for homework running and I'll be using 8gb of ram or more easily. Also, I rarely shutdown my pc and prefer windows to keep as much stuff in memeroy as possible so I don't have to access files from my F3 500gb main system drive.

    I can live with 1-2fps decrease for being able to leave my apps open 24/7 and ready to run.
    Reply
  • drwho1
    the only 4 memory stick slots are a let down.
    But more of a let down is that I don't see an mSATA slot on the motherboard anywhere. My next motherboard must have an mSATA no exceptions.

    Also SATA II/ SATA III too few of them it should had at least 10.
    (even if there were only 2 or 4 SATA III) and the rest SATA II.
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    smufferoneWhat? More RAM = less performance? Does not compute.
    Actually I have seen those same benchmarks about a year or two ago. I believe it was Anandtech and they used an X58 chipset comparing an upgrade from 6GB to 12GB. A couple of benchmarks actually showed a slight decrease in frames. I'm trying to dig that article up (or one similar).
    Reply