Normally when a new chipset hits the market we like to try and get a motherboard from one of the major companies for use in our reviews and initial testing. This goes for any new CPU regardless of if it is AMD or Intel. The reasons are pretty simple; the first is that realistically not that many people but Intel reference products. You get some that will, but the majority are going to buy from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI or one of the other players. This is not saying that Intel boards are not good products; it is just that most consumers have their favorite brands. However we wanted to try things a little differently with the launch of the X79 chipset. We have decided to take a first look at Intel’s reference motherboard and see how well it performs. As with everything we do there are multiple reasons for this. One is we want to see how Intel’s implementation of three-way SLI using the CPU for all PCIe lanes works and we also wanted to see what the overclocking envelope turns out to be. This will give us a great baseline for the reviews of other X79 motherboards in the weeks ahead. So with all that out of the way lets dive into Intel’s X79SI Siler (insert Heroes Reference here).
The Layout -The layout of any motherboard is important. Even simple mistakes in component placement or the signal traces can cause major issued in performance and stability. With the ATX form factor we find that this is even truer; the devices we drop onto them demand more and cleaner power while the signal speeds push faster and faster. The Intel X79 motherboard is a pretty cool looking motherboard with its black PCB (printed Circuit Board) and black PCIe sots. The combination of the Intel Blue and black give it an appealing look. However, we all know that looks are not everything and indeed amount to nothing if a product is poorly designed or built. So now let’s take a real look at the X79SI and see how Intel has chosen to build their reference board. The first thing that will catch your eye is the dual sets up RAM slots on either side of the board for a total of eight RAM slots. As we told you in the Core i7 3960X review, Intel has moved their new flagship CPU to quad channel memory. Now when we had triple channel manufacturers could just throw all of the RAM slots on one side of the CPU. However, now that the configuration has become more complicated most manufacturers are going to opt for a “dual, Dual-Channel” setup which not only keeps the board clean but also keeps the traces clean and less complicated. If this was an E-ATX or server board there would be more room and this type of configuration would not be needed, but here it is. Because of having the RAM slots on either side of the CPU socket the power regulation has been moved to the upper edge of the board. This may have more than one benefit though. Here the heat can rise and be vented out the top of a properly equipped case rather than someone trying to push it out of the back of a case right over the I/O ports.
On the consumer side you might run into issues with your choice of cooler (especially if you are opting for higher end air cooling). The other side of this is related to setup, but if the board makers keep their documentation up there should not be any problems.
The next thing that will stand out is the much larger CPU socket. The new Core i7 CPUs will be using an LGA 2011 socket. This is just what it sounds like; there are indeed 2011 pins inside the socket that matchup to the 2011 lands under the CPU. With the size of this new CPU Intel changed up the hold-down clamp a little. Instead of a single latch to hold things in place you now have two. Moving away from the socket for a minute we find my favorite thing to complain about on ATX motherboards. This is the awkward placement of the 8-pin aux power connector. As you can see it is always at the upper edge of the board (again to keep tracing efficient) which can make connecting it after it is installed in a case annoying and sometimes painful. We also get a glimpse of the Renesas USB 3.0 controller that has taken over from the NEC one that was once the standard (due to price). These controllers have been known to have a few issues including connectivity problems and driver enumeration issues so we are not sure if using this controller is such a good idea (for anyone). Another oddly place item is the CPU fan header. Putting it between the RAM and the back edge of the board can make it a little rough to reach depending on the height of your RAM. Moving down to the bottom we find three PCIe slots. Now as you have probably already read in our coverage of the 3960X all three of these are run from the CPU. If you have only one card you get full x16, two cards give you dual x16 three runs 2 at x16 and one at x8. This is very impressive considering that any P55, P67, or Z68 will need to run some sort of bridge chip to get you this level of graphics performance. There are a few other cool things along the bottom of the board like a pair of diagnostic LEDs and a full USB 3.0 header (which is becoming the standard). As usual Intel has loaded up this board with more USB ports than you could probably ever use. You have four headers along the bottom of the board alone and more than that in other places, plus the ones on the I/O panel. That is quite simply a lot of USB.The X79 MCP is in this region of the board as well. Intel has covered it with a nice looking heatsink that ties back into the heat pipe cooling system on the rest of the board. The X79SI also offers two SATA 3.0 ports right next to the SATA 2 ports. Unlike many other boards you do not get 6 and two but four and two. This is probably a good idea even if it will leave some people thinking they are getting slighted (especially when there is an open spot on the board for more SATA ports.
Flipping the X79SI around we get a look at the I/O ports. As we said Intel likes to stack up the USB ports. As such there are no PS/2 ports at all on their boards (and have not been for some time). The rest is pretty standard stuff, two 1GBe network ports, 8-channel audio and of course two more USB 3.0 ports. Overall the layout of the new X79SI is pretty clean maybe a little too clean for the market that is looking for more and more to be stuffed into their boards.
