Displaying items by tag: Performance

With the apparent delay of Intel Ivy Bridge and of course the Z77 chipset that goes with it) we there is going to be a continued demand for the X79 chipset and the pretty much every flavor of the LGA2011 CPU. To be honest I think that even after Ivy Bridge there will be a demand as the replacement for the LGA 2011 CPUs will not hit the market until around Q4 2012 or even later. So with that in mind we are taking a look at what at first glance appears to be a low cost X79 motherboard from Gigabyte. However, once you take a look at it you just might begin to see the serious overclocking and GPU benchmarking potential that it has. Let’s take a look at the Quad-SLI/Crossfire capable X79-UD3 from Gigabyte.

Only a few weeks after we showed you the performance of the MAINGEAR Epic180 we have another product from MAINGEAR in the labs. This is their DIY thermal interface material called the MAINGEAR EPIC T1000 (yes it is a terminator reference). The EPIC T1000 is a phase change alloy that changes from a solid to a liquid when exposed to heat. This creates and flow that is capable of filling in any and all pores and lines in both the CPU heat spreader and the head of your cooler (whether it is water cooling, air or other). This, technically can beat even the smoothest thermal paste on the market in terms of fill and also should be able to outperform them in terms of thermal transfer as the head of your cooler and the CPU are almost soldered together for an even and continuous surface contact. So let’s take a look at what you get with this new DIY kit from MAINGEAR and also see if it really can improve performance.

After taking a look over the MSI X79A-GD65(8D) motherboard and some of MSI’s design choices (and the benefits they bring) we have dove into our performance testing. You may remember that we had concerns about the way the PCIe slots were segmented into Gen3 and Gen2. To check and see what effect (if any) this might have on performance we ran some of our tests with the GPU in the Gen2 slot and some in the Gen3 slot. We were more than a little surprised at what we found out. So let’s get into the performance half of our review of the MSI X79A-GD65(8D) and see what we found.

Not that long ago we talked to you about the features and design choices that Gigabyte made on the X79-UD5. This board is at the upper end of Gigabyte’s X79 lineup although it is not what you would consider an enthusiast board. Despite this Gigabyte has given it many of their enthusiast level features like their dual 3D BIOS, 3D power and some of the overclocking potential that we would expect from Gigabyte. Now it is time for us to dive into the usability and performance. So let’s see exactly  how the X79-UD5 performs.

The fourth X79 board we have in the lab is from MSI in the form of the X79A-GD65(8D). This board features the third generation of their Military Class of hardware as well as what MSI calls true Gen 3 PCIe The X79A-GD65(8D) has a price tag under $300 which makes these represents the lowest priced board we have tested so far. Now the question is; does the X79A-GD65(8D) have the same level of quality and performance as its more expensive peers, or will we find out that the old maxim “you get what you pay for” is true. We will take a look at both the performance and the design choices behind the X79A-GD65 and let you know. We will kick things off with the design and features.

Not all that long ago we talked to you about the MAINGEAR Epic180 water-cooling system. This self-contained unit was built by CoolIT to MAINGEAR’s specifications and intended for use inside their Shift systems (sorry you cannot get one of these unless you buy a MAINGEAR computer). The design of the product take a lot of factors into account and while some of the choices seem very simple, if you look at other products out on the market they might not be so obvious to everyone.

So the big news today is the release of AMD’s 7950 GPU. We are seeing a ton of reviews hit the internet covering everything from stock reference designs to stock cards with advanced cooling on them. The word so far is that the 7950 is a great card and can take on nVidia’s GTX 580 in most games. However, while everyone was busy reading up on AMD’s latest product to hit the gaming market someone at MSI let all of the details for AMD’s future GPU releases out to the press.

Intel is in full swing with the X79 and their Sandy Bridge-E CPUs. We have watched as they have broken and re-broken records for performance and in some cases overclocking. Behind all of this we have the X79 chipset with its quad-channel DDR3 configuration and some impressive power specifications. Intel has also brought back BCLK overclocking which has made things very interesting. We have a few X79 boards in the lab and are working on finding out just what they can do and how they actually work in the real world. One of these is also our second Gigabyte motherboard; the X79-UD5. This will also be our first video preview where we show you and talk about the design and features. So let’s dive in and see what the GA-X79-UD5 has to offer…

Asus’ Maximus series has always been a great line for the user than demands top notch performance. We have tested them going all the way back to the original Maximus and each one has brought new performance features to the table. As you have seen in our feature and design review the Maximus IV Extreme is no different. We have finished putting the Maximus IV Extreme through our test suite and are ready to let you know how well it works in our lab. So sit back and relax as we walk you through the performance of the Asus Maximus IV Extreme.

Intel is enjoying some of the most successful quarters of their life. They have launched what is arguably the fastest desktop CPU that you can buy and have coupled it with a chipset that is clearly set to perform. We have already shown you what the CPU is capable of on a reference design motherboard and are now ready to dive into what the, more creative, companies have in stock for the X79 and Core i7 3960 combo. Today we are going to dive into the features of the Gigabyte G1.Assassin2. This X79 based board is the follow up to the very popular G1.Assassin (hence the “2” at the end) It features quite a few intriguing new features as well as what you would expect from a G1.Killer motherboard. These include an onboard KillerNIC and also a full CreativeLabs Audio card built right onto the board. Other features include a new “3D” bios improved power management and Bluetooth 4.0. Will these combine to bring about the same level of gaming platform we saw in the G1.Assassin? Or will the youngest member of the G1 family be a disappointment and not get invited to holiday dinner? Let’s find out…