4930K + Motherboard

[Kirihuna]

In the past I wanted to do an HTPC gaming machine, to play games via controller on the TV without having my desktop hooked up. Well, as much as I love the idea of Steam OS, it may or may not play nice with say Origin (BF3, Deadspace, etc). So I might not even install Steam OS.

 

Well, my girlfriend does a lot of photo and video editing (A LOT), and I do a lot of chemistry on my desktop. (Chem Draw Ultra 13.0 Suite) which runs slow with my current 3570K, even when I do overclock it. It's a demanding program sometimes. Even the workstation computers we use at university chug at the computation of it. 

 

So recently, I decided, I'll take my current rig and put it into an HTPC case and use it as an HTPC. And thought about getting a 4930K CPU. Would be better than the i7s and Xeons that my school uses. Would also work wonders for my girlfriend. 

 

I would be installing a hackintosh onto it too, as MKB did. It would run Windows 8 + Mac OS X. 

 

Now, I'm pretty set on the CPU. I personally think it would be good + it being 6 core, would no doubt last at least 5 years or more. I'm sure my 3570K could last a long time, but right now for some applications we use, it isn't. 

 

Anyways, I'll shut up about that. What is a great motherboard for 2011 socket? I know the Rampage is good. But what about other boards? Sabertooth? Or any other? It seems the defacto board is Rampage but I HATEEEEE Red and Black. Especially when this will go in my Overkill Build which will be blue and white themed like R2-D2.

 

Oh and this will be watercooled. The link in my sig doesn't have the watercool components, so the amount of fans isn't a mistake.

[CoolBeans]

MSI, Asus and Gigabyte are the only manufacturers that I would recommend so just pick whatever looks the best to you

[ericlee30]

Personally I love the motherboard I just bought. The ASUS X79 Deluxe motherboard. The only thing Im not sure about is the hackintosh. Gigabyte makes the best boards for hackintosh compatiblity but really on the X79 platform the best motherboards are made by ASUS.

[Glenwing]

The Gigabyte UP4 is a good all around board.

[Prince32780]

P9X79-LE is the only one I can recommend because it's what I have, and it works. And it's blue and white and cheaper than the rest.

[jacoblab1]

If you just hate red and black together, ASUS is supposed to be releasing the Rampage IV Black edition in the next month I think.

[Torand]

Something like the Asus P9X79 Pro?

 

Logan enjoys it, also its got blue/black and a bit of white?

 

One of the top in it's class and comes really highly recommended.

[Kirihuna]

I'm currently looking into the blue and white Asus MB's that are 2011.

 

There are like 5 with different price points, but they look all the same to me. I'll look and see what's so different deep down. 

[ericlee30]

The Gigabyte UP4 is a good all around board.

No offence Glen but really the UP4 is not very stable when overclocking, if not overclocking then yeah its an ok board ( personal experance) I own two X79 motherboards

, 1 the Gigabyte UP4 and the 2nd is the ASUS X79 deluxe, now I have only had the ASUS board for 6 days now, but right away you can tell it is so much more responsive and stable.

[ericlee30]

I'm currently looking into the blue and white Asus MB's that are 2011.

 

There are like 5 with different price points, but they look all the same to me. I'll look and see what's so different deep down. 

if you do not care for WIFI and don't need 10+ sata ports go with the ASUS X79 Pro

[Rekhyt]

You don't need the ROG one, the P9 lineup is where it's at.

 

I run a P9X79-E WS, which is a buffed version of the P9X79 Pro, so I recommend you that one (the Pro). You don't need the workstation features and the entire X79 lineup is aimed at the high end market so you can't go wrong there.

 

If you must install OS X, it can't hurt to search onlie to see if it plays nice with the mobo since gigabyte is usually the recomendation for hackintosh builds

[Kirihuna]

if you do not care for WIFI and don't need 10+ sata ports go with the ASUS X79 Pro

That's what I might go with.

 

I only need two SATA 6GB for my two OS drives. After that, I have like 4 more drives, but they can run off SATA 2 since three are HDDs.

 

Wi-Fi I'm not so sure about. While at university, I use wired all the time. At home, I use wi-fi.

 

Also, I should probably ask this since I'm in the memory forum here too. Would I notice a huge benefit when going from 32GB to 64GB of RAM or increasing the RAM from 1866 to something higher with this specific processor. 

 

edit: and does dual channel RAM work perfectly fine in a quad channel motherboard? Like if I bought two 2x16GB dual channel kits. 

[TheProfosist]

For that cpu the sabertooth will work frine though will require a bios update using bios flashback to work with that cpu

[TheProfosist]

Asus does have 2 board designed and updated to cater a bit better to ivy-e linus just unboxed the deluxe one there is also the new rog one, I believe he even mentions it in the video with the deluxe. Another great choice would be a evga x79 dark.

[ericlee30]

That's what I might go with.

 

I only need two SATA 6GB for my two OS drives. After that, I have like 4 more drives, but they can run off SATA 2 since three are HDDs.

 

Wi-Fi I'm not so sure about. While at university, I use wired all the time. At home, I use wi-fi.

 

Also, I should probably ask this since I'm in the memory forum here too. Would I notice a huge benefit when going from 32GB to 64GB of RAM or increasing the RAM from 1866 to something higher with this specific processor. 

I was looking at the ASUS PRO before i got the ASUS Deluxe. I really think for what features you get for the PRO board the price is really compditive. The two things that lead me to the Deluxe board is that, it is new and more up to date with the Z87 platrom Having 12 sata ports and 6 of them are 6GB per second, also for me I like wifi added on to the board just incase I ever have to use it. I also have mine wired network.

[hehehehhehehehe]

P9X79-LE is the only one I can recommend because it's what I have, and it works. And it's blue and white and cheaper than the rest.

I'm also using this as a temporary board until the Rampage 4 Black Edition comes out and I have to say it does do basically everything as well as you could want it too.. although like many others you may find you hit an overclocking wall at around 4.5-4.6GHz with all the Sandy Bridge-e 2011 boards until they have fine tuned the bios's for IVY-e a bit more.

You could also look at some of the new "IVY-e" optimized boards like the EVGA Dark and the new X79 Deluxe from Asus.

[Kirihuna]

I was looking at the ASUS PRO before i got the ASUS Deluxe. I really think for what features you get for the PRO board the price is really compditive. The two things that lead me to the Deluxe board is that, it is new and more up to date with the Z87 platrom Having 12 sata ports and 6 of them are 6GB per second, also for me I like wifi added on to the board just incase I ever have to use it. I also have mine wired network.

So even if I use the computer for video editing, photo editing, and computing, I don't need the full workstation board such as the one Linus just did here?

 

 

I'm just making sure I get the right thing for what I need before I pull the trigger lol.

[hehehehhehehehe]

Asus does have 2 board designed and updated to cater a bit better to ivy-e linus just unboxed the deluxe one there is also the new rog one, I believe he even mentions it in the video with the deluxe. Another great choice would be a evga x79 dark.

Yeah, that's the new Rampage 4 Black Edition.

[hehehehhehehehe]

So even if I use the computer for video editing, photo editing, and computing, I don't need the full workstation board such as the one Linus just did here?

 

 

I'm just making sure I get the right thing for what I need before I pull the trigger lol.

2011 Is an incredibly powerful platform regardless so if you can find something that fits your needs, budget and you like the look of you will be completely fine and at the end of it all you will have an amazing workstation PC.

[ericlee30]

So even if I use the computer for video editing, photo editing, and computing, I don't need the full workstation board such as the one Linus just did here?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jpxv3NR4tN8

 

I'm just making sure I get the right thing for what I need before I pull the trigger lol.

No, you do not need a full blown workstation motherboard to do Video and photo editing.I'm not quit sure but I think the main reason why Linus is so geety about the updated WS board is that it is Xeon compatible ( even though the old board also is compatible with Xeon CPU's) plus it is a revised version of the old WS board.I also think the new WS board has more SATA ports as well. Oh and the fact it can do 4 way SLI and crossfire with all lanes at 16X.

[hehehehhehehehe]

No, you do not need a full blown workstation motherboard to do Video and photo editing.I'm not quit sure but I think the main reason why Linus is so geety about the updated WS board is that it is Xeon compatible ( even though the old board also is compatible with Xeon CPU's) plus it is a revised version of the old WS board.I also think the new WS board has more SATA ports as well.

He was also loving the whole support for 'unusual' PCIE cards, things like his raid card and when he previously had his 10 gigabit network card.

[Raboo]

Anything gigabyte, msi, asus.

[Kirihuna]

I think I'm going to go with Asus 79 Pro. 

 

Does RAM speed / amount of memory matter as much past 32GB?

[Rekhyt]

I think I'm going to go with Asus 79 Pro. 

 

Does RAM speed / amount of memory matter as much past 32GB?

 

No, 32 gigs is plenty enough unless you go absolutely crazy on video editing or virtual machines and memory speed hardly matters past 1866 MHz for this kind of rig.

[Kirihuna]

No, 32 gigs is plenty enough unless you go absolutely crazy on video editing or virtual machines and memory speed hardly matters past 1866 MHz for this kind of rig.

Alright, thanks.