Is a i7-4930k and X79 motherboard obsolete?

[Dave3000]

I noticed that there has not been a BIOS update for my motherboard since July 2014 and that's just a beta BIOS. No newer BIOS versions after that point. I understand that my i7-4930k has the Specturm/Meltdown issue that requires a BIOS update from the motherboard manufacturer to get around the issue, not just the Windows updates. My motherboard is an Asus P9X79 Pro. Is this a sign that my CPU and motherboard is obsolete? Is it too risky to continue using the internet using this PC since my motherboard does not have a BIOS update for Spectrum/Meltdown issues?

 

[UsandThem]

They still might release a BIOS update for your board, but they are starting with the newer boards, and working backwards.

I still use my PC for everything, and I haven't installed the BIOS update for my PC yet as I want them to work out all the kinks before doing it. As long as you use common sense, and don't go to shady sights, you'll be fine. Microsoft has really mitigated the issue with software updates, so it's not as if you were using a Windows XP system on the internet.

If after a little bit more time Asus does not release a BIOS update, you can always upgrade at that point if you still feel uneasy about the exploit.

 

[SPBHM]

my understanding is that Microsoft already offers the updated microcode for Spectre via Windows update for Skylake and newer, and is likely to include Sandy/ivy-bridge and Haswell in the future (since the updated microcodes exist), so a bios updated might not be required....

with an updated anti virus and web browser I think the risk is greatly reduced anyway.

 

[Markfw]

Well, yes, I think X79 is dead. Even X99 is all but dead. Intel has no platforms that are ready for future chips that I know of.

Hence, why I am upgrading my boxes to Ryzens/threadrippers. Until something good from Intel comes down the pike.

 

[Shmee]

4930k should be fine, especially with a good OC. Though the platform is a bit dated, you should be fine for the most part depending on OS / antivirus used. Of course safe browsing and being careful are the best protections.

 

[LTC8K6]

I noticed that there has not been a BIOS update for my motherboard since July 2014 and that's just a beta BIOS. No newer BIOS versions after that point. I understand that my i7-4930k has the Specturm/Meltdown issue that requires a BIOS update from the motherboard manufacturer to get around the issue, not just the Windows updates. My motherboard is an Asus P9X79 Pro. Is this a sign that my CPU and motherboard is obsolete? Is it too risky to continue using the internet using this PC since my motherboard does not have a BIOS update for Spectrum/Meltdown issues?

No, it's still a decent system. Inspectre will probably show only a Spectre vulnerability, which you really don't need to worry about.

Keep in mind that no actual exploits using these vulnerabilities have occurred.

See what Inspectre says about your system.

https://www.grc.com/inspectre.htm

X99 is far from dead as well.

 

[Topweasel]

Performance wise, No.
Support wise, A little.
Replacement part wise, Yes.

As a X79 owner even 2 years ago when looking for replacement boards as I was never a fan of the one I had I saw how quickly the market had disappeared for the boards. Then you add how much the market has moved to DDR4. To top it off CPU movement in the last year has destroyed the value of keeping an older system up and running. It would be a no brainier to get a 1600x or better Ryzen, or 8400 or better Core i series than it would be to do any thing that costs money on X79, if it weren't for Memory prices. But even then it's a wash and you end up with a much better platform. On Ryzen it would even give you one with update options till 2020 at least.

But as for performance alone even my 3930k can still hold up well. If this is about Spectre protection or even if Meltdown wasn't getting patched, I would wait out actual exploits before even giving a damn and honestly while the problem is pretty huge, the actual danger to a regular user is rather small. The larger problems are to cloud servers that both get hit the hardest in performance by the issue and would also be the primary target for those attacks (as the data that can be accessed is most useful on those systems).

 

[Markfw]

No, it's still a decent system. Inspectre will probably show only a Spectre vulnerability, which you really don't need to worry about.

Keep in mind that no actual exploits using these vulnerabilities have occurred.

See what Inspectre says about your system.

https://www.grc.com/inspectre.htm

X99 is far from dead as well.

The latest processor I could find (not great at research) is a E5-2697V4 launched in Q1 2016, and I know of nothing in the works. 2 years with nothing new sounds dead to me. (or in the process of dying). I did just find the 6950X from Q2 16, still 2 years old.

 

[LTC8K6]

X99 still performs very well.

Will Ryzen chips be too slow soon? They are 1 year old already.

 

[Markfw]

X99 still performs very well.

Will Ryzen chips be too slow soon? They are 1 year old already.

I said nothing about performance. dead socket means no more chips getting produced that are newer and/or faster. Thats a dead-end socket.

Socket AM4 has at least 2 more years on it.

 

[LTC8K6]

I said nothing about performance. dead socket means no more chips getting produced that are newer and/or faster. Thats a dead-end socket.

Socket AM4 has at least 2 more years on it.

Lots of people keep computers for many years, as you well know.
It's no secret that Intel changes sockets often.

I have an FX-6300 as a second office computer.
It's absolutely fine for that duty, and it will continue to be absolutely fine for that duty for the foreseeable future.

 

[Markfw]

Lots of people keep computers for many years, as you well know.
It's no secret that Intel changes sockets often.

I have an FX-6300 as a second office computer.
It's absolutely fine for that duty, and it will continue to be absolutely fine for that duty for the foreseeable future.

And none of that has anything to do with X99 being a dead socket. Its IS a dead socket.

 

[LTC8K6]

And none of that has anything to do with X99 being a dead socket. Its IS a dead socket.

Fine, you think an X99 system is dead, and I don't.

What now?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I just exchanged an Intel Q6600 Kentsfield, ASUS Striker Extreme [NVidia] 680i motherboard with 8GB of DDR2 -- for an Ivy Bridge i5-3470 with 16GB -- for use as my server. Up to this minute I never thought the Kentsfield system to be slow and crippled, but the disks were dated and running on SATA -II ports, through a 4-port Marvell Sata-III card with RAID 0,1,10 and JBOD or auto-AHCI.with the Windows native driver. The 680i / q6600 is 11-year-old technology; the IB rig is hardware was released maybe seven years ago. But with a Z68 Gen3 motherboard and Ivy versus Sandy, you get PCIE v.3.0.

As a server, it is overpowered with the i5-3470. The disk and storage capabilities are enough to totally saturate gigabit Ethernet, especially for file and folder duplication levels that assure greater consistent speed. If I only need about 2GB of remaining available RAM to avoid paging out, then I can allocate 8GB of RAM to cache the drives. While that may suffice as a RAM cache, I could add either an SATA or NVME disk cache for a pool of hard disks.

Back to the main point of it all -- I was getting ready to disassemble the WHS-2011 Striker Extreme box. Then it occurred to me that I could use it as a sort of backup server to the Win Server 2012 R2 Essentials. And it could be in hibernation for most of a week.

And more at the thought on this thread -- you can keep well-configured old hardware for specific purposes if you have a place to put them and you still can discipline your electric power household consumption.

Anyone hear of a server plug-in called "Lights Out?"

 

[B-Riz]

I just exchanged an Intel Q6600 Kentsfield, ASUS Striker Extreme [NVidia] 680i motherboard with 8GB of DDR2 -- for an Ivy Bridge i5-3470 with 16GB -- for use as my server. Up to this minute I never thought the Kentsfield system to be slow and crippled, but the disks were dated and running on SATA -II ports, through a 4-port Marvell Sata-III card with RAID 0,1,10 and JBOD or auto-AHCI.with the Windows native driver. The 680i / q6600 is 11-year-old technology; the IB rig is hardware was released maybe seven years ago. But with a Z68 Gen3 motherboard and Ivy versus Sandy, you get PCIE v.3.0.

As a server, it is overpowered with the i5-3470. The disk and storage capabilities are enough to totally saturate gigabit Ethernet, especially for file and folder duplication levels that assure greater consistent speed. If I only need about 2GB of remaining available RAM to avoid paging out, then I can allocate 8GB of RAM to cache the drives. While that may suffice as a RAM cache, I could add either an SATA or NVME disk cache for a pool of hard disks.

Back to the main point of it all -- I was getting ready to disassemble the WHS-2011 Striker Extreme box. Then it occurred to me that I could use it as a sort of backup server to the Win Server 2012 R2 Essentials. And it could be in hibernation for most of a week.

And more at the thought on this thread -- you can keep well-configured old hardware for specific purposes if you have a place to put them and you still can discipline your electric power household consumption.

Anyone hear of a server plug-in called "Lights Out?"

I too have gotten to the point of keeping an old system as is. I can afford to now I guess, and still use them for something.

 

[whm1974]

A large SSD would likely be a better upgrade if you don't have one already.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

A large SSD would likely be a better upgrade if you don't have one already.

I now have a couple SSDs of 1TB or 2TB. I'm retiring hard disks of 500GB or less, except that I can deploy one or two effectively as hot-swap backup drives for OS-system-boot disks of capacity < 250GB with total used space by files of around 60GB.

 

[Malogeek]

I updated my wife's 4770k Z97 system tonight. ASRock had a BIOS update for microcode added a month ago. The previous BIOS update listed was from mid-2016.

 

[Ratman6161]

I said nothing about performance. dead socket means no more chips getting produced that are newer and/or faster. Thats a dead-end socket.

Socket AM4 has at least 2 more years on it.

By that definition even socket 1151 wordsmith 1c.f. Or 2c.f. Chipsets are dead. Just the way Intel does business. Two generations of CPU and its dead.

 

[Hi-Fi Man]

And none of that has anything to do with X99 being a dead socket. Its IS a dead socket.

Everytime one of these "dead" sockets is mentioned around here you seem to just go into this kind of rant mode. It's a bit strange is all.

It's okay that you think a dead socket/platform is one that won't get new CPUs anymore but I'd wager most of us on here think something is dead when it no longer recieves any sort of updates at all and when it no longer performs as needed.

 

[whm1974]

Everytime one of these "dead" sockets is mentioned around here you seem to just go into this kind of rant mode. It's a bit strange is all.

It's okay that you think a dead socket/platform is one that won't get new CPUs anymore but I'd wager most of us on here think something is dead when it no longer recieves any sort of updates at all and when it no longer performs as needed.

And given what Intel's X99 platform and HEDT CPUs cost then, I wouldn't be inclined to replace any 6c/12t or 8c/16t HEDT I built then anytime soon.

 

[epsilon84]

Every Intel platform is virtually 'obsolete' or 'dead' if the yardstick is having future compability with upcoming CPUs, given how often Intel releases new chipsets. Heck, maybe my 8700K and Z370 are on its death bed since I'm not sure if 8 core CFL will be compatible...

To the OP, personally I think a 4930K and X79 is still relevant from a performance standpoint. It's honestly not that much slower than modern 6C/12T CPUs, sure the 8700K will clock higher and have a bit higher IPC, but Ryzen doesn't really clock higher, in fact, I'm pretty sure most 4930Ks can exceed 4.2GHz with good cooling.

So from a performance POV, it's still relevant, and definitely not obsolete. Will you get future CPUs for it? No. But it's not that far off modern CPUs anyway, so unless it's actually too slow for your needs, just hang on to it until AMD 7nm or Intel 10nm...