Is the new chipset x99 worth it?

[sebastian869]

Is x99 chipset a lot better bet then z97. I know its updated haswell-e but the real question for me is I plan to buy more GPUs after some time and prices drop and get at least 2 or 3 total and it would be nice to go x16/x16/x16. The million dollar question is there a big speed difference between x16/x8 than x16/x16. I know that haswell costs more but if you really get more speed then I think it's worth it but if all you really get is 2% then its obviously a waste.

 

[Blain]

Is the new chipset x99 worth it?

What processor are you planning on building around?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Don't you mean "is the X99 platform worthwhile?". The chipset itself is pretty much identical to the H97/Z97 in most respects. The difference in that respect between LGA-1150 (Haswell-DT) and LGA-2011 (Haswell-E) is how many PCIe lines are coming of the CPU itself, not from the chipset.

It depends completely on what you're planning to use it for. We'll require a few more details before we can give a satisfactory answer...

 

[biostud]

The extra cores on Haswell-E will probably have more effect than the number PCIe lanes.

 

[VirtualLarry]

From what I've seen of motherboard previews, it appears that the X99 chipset supports 10 SATA6G ports. Could be useful to some people, that need a lot of HDDs. (I recommend the Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra case, it supports 10 internal 3.5" HDDs.)

 

[sebastian869]

What processor are you planning on building around?

would of probably use a 5930, the real issue for me is lanes and how every thing in the x97 robs them and my concern is x16. I read there is not much speed difference between x16/x8 but x8/x8 there is (all in higher res) and there are so few boards that support x16/x16 just a 2 card setup.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

would of probably use a 5930, the real issue for me is lanes and how every thing in the x97 robs them and my concern is x16. I read there is not much speed difference between x16/x8 but x8/x8 there is (all in higher res) and there are so few boards that support x16/x16 just a 2 card setup.

Well, if you want a native 16x/16x setup, you've got no choice but the AM3+, X79 and X99 platforms. The first two of which are not recommended.

LGA-1150/55/56 only have 16 PCIe 3.0 lanes from the CPU + 4 2.0 lanes for the DMI link to the southbridge. LGA-1151 (Skylake) should be a bit better as the PCH will apparently feature PCIe 3.0, but that platform almost a year away.

 

[sebastian869]

yeah seems like 1150 are very lane challenged, seem enough on paper but as seen as u use an m2 gpu pcie usb 3.0 or 2.0 and im sure list goes on you run into picking one over the other or sometimes can have pcie 3.0 and usb 3.0 but you loose most of the point of having and using nice and shiny pcie 3.0 or m2 at 10 bgps at the "sticker" speeds down into a clunker.

 

[Heloperator]

It's still going to be a while before they're "worth it" pending on how much they cost and for which processors.

 

[Railgun]

From what I've seen of motherboard previews, it appears that the X99 chipset supports 10 SATA6G ports.

I really hope some mobos skip those ports and use the BW for something else, especially for those that are using dedicated controllers.

 

[coffeejunkee]

I plan to buy more GPUs after some time and prices drop and get at least 2 or 3 total and it would be nice to go x16/x16/x16.

It's a flawed strategy anyways. It's way better to just buy the new faster single card.

 

[sebastian869]

It's a flawed strategy anyways. It's way better to just buy the new faster single card.

what do you mean coffee?

 

[bradly1101]

mmmmmm Quad-Channel DDR4 and it looks like this board has m.2. I'm sure it's at least x4.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

what do you mean coffee?

You should not buy into SLI/Crossfire, unless you plan on doing it at once. For each generation the fastest single GPU card is close to 2 of the previous generation GPU in SLI/Crossfire, without the SLI/Crossfire "issues". While running cooler and quieter then an SLI setup, and consuming less power too. Its not an absolute "rule", there have been exemptions, but its a good rule of thumb...

Unless you absolutely need a new system right now, it could be worth it to wait for the next generation cards, like the GTX870/880 and see what they bring to the table.

 

[coffeejunkee]

what do you mean coffee?

What Insert said. Although I must admit that gpu progression is a bit slower nowadays. Still, to buy a pretty expensive cpu (you can't get the cheapest HW-E since it has less pci-e lanes), a pretty expensive mobo and pretty expensive ddr-4 ram (obviously you want quad channel too), all to maybe prevent losing a few % performance from insufficient pci-e lanes...it seems not the best course of action to me.

 

[RussianSensation]

Only purchase the X99 system if you are going to be seriously overclocking it. Unless you are buying an M.2 drive with at least 2 GPUs, extra performance of 16x/16x will not provide more than a 2-3% boost over a Z97 8x/8x setup. Again, if you won't overclock the CPU, you'll end up with a slower system than i7 4790k and dual 880s. If you plan on buying 3x 880s, need to start thinking about a monitor setup which needs that kind of power.

I think for your first system, you should get 4790K and 870s. Since you aren't that familiar with PC parts, as a first time PC buyer you'll have a large inclination to overspend on everything since you'll feel if it's not close to the best, it's not good enough. Just buy the 4790K and learn the basics of overclocking on a $40 Thermalright True Spirit 140. Then you can upgrade at least 2 more times on your GPU side. In 2 years you can always resell these parts and get Skylake/SK-E and GM200 or Pascal/ R9 400s.

Also, 5820/5930K overclocking is an unknown right now. Without having that data on hand, it's impossible to say if it could even reach 4790Ks mild 4.6-4.7 OC.

 

[twinto23]

I will not compare x99 and z97 together
one is most for high-end gaming/server or workstation, and the other is just for the regular home use.

but I will build one for sure, just because the msi new x99s sli plus! nice black pcb!

 

[sebastian869]

Only purchase the X99 system if you are going to be seriously overclocking it. Unless you are buying an M.2 drive with at least 2 GPUs, extra performance of 16x/16x will not provide more than a 2-3% boost over a Z97 8x/8x setup. Again, if you won't overclock the CPU, you'll end up with a slower system than i7 4790k and dual 880s. If you plan on buying 3x 880s, need to start thinking about a monitor setup which needs that kind of power.

I think for your first system, you should get 4790K and 870s. Since you aren't that familiar with PC parts, as a first time PC buyer you'll have a large inclination to overspend on everything since you'll feel if it's not close to the best, it's not good enough. Just buy the 4790K and learn the basics of overclocking on a $40 Thermalright True Spirit 140. Then you can upgrade at least 2 more times on your GPU side. In 2 years you can always resell these parts and get Skylake/SK-E and GM200 or Pascal/ R9 400s.

Also, 5820/5930K overclocking is an unknown right now. Without having that data on hand, it's impossible to say if it could even reach 4790Ks mild 4.6-4.7 OC.

Its actually my 4 or so build. The thing is that like on this one i have i7-920 and 285 sli but its last me 5 yrs and now need an upgrade. The thing is i only lookup whats going on with hardware and new tech when i do a build after im done i dont follow new stuff much since i dont want to keep seeing what i missed out on it only stressed me out only exception would be look at tech to see if there any market moving technologies like smartphone or ex.

BTW, can i get your input re memory for extreme 6 mobo. Do you think its better to buy mem and fill in all slots for ex 16gb. is it better to get 2x8GB chips or 4x4GB. what do you think of [TridentX] F3-2133C9D-16GTX?

DDR3-2133 (PC3-17000)
16GB (8GBx2)
CL9-11-11-31
1.6 Volt

 

[sebastian869]

What Insert said. Although I must admit that gpu progression is a bit slower nowadays. Still, to buy a pretty expensive cpu (you can't get the cheapest HW-E since it has less pci-e lanes), a pretty expensive mobo and pretty expensive ddr-4 ram (obviously you want quad channel too), all to maybe prevent losing a few % performance from insufficient pci-e lanes...it seems not the best course of action to me.

Yeah got you. I was going to go sli but prob one 2 card as you dont diminishing improvement more over the space/heating issues as im going air cooled. Really with 1150 had more lanes if you use any "feature" on the mobo your taking away from another dont get why its such a poor design as were its not like were talking about $50 mobos

 

[VirtualLarry]

Really with 1150 had more lanes if you use any "feature" on the mobo your taking away from another dont get why its such a poor design as were its not like were talking about $50 mobos

Yeah, the ancient X38/X48 chipset had like 40 lanes of PCI-E 2.0 (the newest standard at the time). Current Intel mainstream CPUs / chipsets are actually a step backwards as far as PCI-E connectivity goes. Even AMD's AM3 / AM3+ 990FX chipset has at least 32 lanes of PCI-E 2.0, if not 40.

 

[Shmee]

Haswell-E will at least be soldered, which may help for OC-ability. I am very interested in their clocking abilities though, and the choice between the 5960x and the 5930k could be very tough depending on it.

 

[guskline]

Haswell-E will at least be soldered, which may help for OC-ability. I am very interested in their clocking abilities though, and the choice between the 5960x and the 5930k could be very tough depending on it.

Both Sandy E and Ivy E are soldered. From preliminary reads, the 5960X will OC fairly well BUT throw off a lot of heat. However, with 8C/16T I would expect as much.

I enjoy gaming on my 3930k @4.6Ghz but my 3770k @ 4.5 Ghz plays as well if not better.


DDR4 memory sounds like the big question.

 

[UaVaj]

current offering on newegg are mostly 2133 cl15.

unless there is some ipc magic with ddr4.
ddr3 1866 cl9 (9.7ns) is faster than ddr4 2133 cl15 (14.1ns).

 

[Insert_Nickname]

unless there is some ipc magic with ddr4.
ddr3 1866 cl9 (9.7ns) is faster than ddr4 2133 cl15 (14.1ns).

There isn't. Though you do get a quad channel implementation with Haswell-E, which gives a colossal memory bandwidth of 68256MB/s.

What's more that is only the tip of the iceberg. We will eventually (read: soon) see DDR4 at 4266MHz and faster, something I doubt DDR3 can do reliably...

 

[UaVaj]

opps. wrong comparison.
was comparing x79 (ddr3 1866 cl9) to x99 (ddr4 2133 cl15).
so that comparison is moot.



here is the correct comparison.
z97 (ddr3 1600 cl8) to x99 (ddr4 2133 cl15)

ddr3 1600 cl8 (10.0ns) is still faster than ddr4 2133 cl15 (14.1ns).
which means for everyday typical performance. ddr3 will out perform ddr4.
as for heavy heavy heavy memory application. perhaps ddr4 will shine.



as for overclocking results. your mileage will vary.