MSI Big Bang-XPower II X79 Review – A World of Novelty Heatsinks
by Ian Cutress on February 25, 2012 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- MSI
- X79
3D Movement Algorithm Test
The algorithms in 3DPM employ both uniform random number generation or normal distribution random number generation, and vary in various amounts of trigonometric operations, conditional statements, generation and rejection, fused operations, etc. The benchmark runs through six algorithms for a specified number of particles and steps, and calculates the speed of each algorithm, then sums them all for a final score. This is an example of a real world situation that a computational scientist may find themselves in, rather than a pure synthetic benchmark. The benchmark is also parallel between particles simulated, and we test the single thread performance as well as the multi-threaded performance.
Both single and multi-threaded performance is in the top half of the table, however almost all boards are within statistical variance on both tests.
WinRAR x64 3.93 - link
With 64-bit WinRAR, we compress the set of files used in the USB speed tests. WinRAR x64 3.93 attempts to use multithreading when possible.
Impressively the BBXP2 does well on our WinRAR test, coming in at under the golden three minute mark.
FastStone Image Viewer 4.2 - link
FastStone Image Viewer is a free piece of software I have been using for quite a few years now. It allows quick viewing of flat images, as well as resizing, changing color depth, adding simple text or simple filters. It also has a bulk image conversion tool, which we use here. The software currently operates only in single-thread mode, which should change in later versions of the software. For this test, we convert a series of 170 files, of various resolutions, dimensions and types (of a total size of 163MB), all to the .gif format of 640x480 dimensions.
For our FastStone test, the BBXP2 joins a group of boards near the top in at 56 seconds.
Sorenson Squeeze 6.0 - link
Sorenson Squeeze is a professional video encoder, complete with a vast array of options. For this test, we convert 32 HD videos, each a minute long and approximately 42 MB in size, to WMV 512KBps format. Squeeze can encode multiple videos at once, one for each thread.
In our Squeeze test, the board is about average compared to others we have tested.
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Sabresiberian - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
Are you kidding me?If you don't want to read a real review, I suggest you stop reading at Anandtech.com. There are plenty of sites that offer popcorn reviews for people like you.
Not everything can be said in a sound bite.
Keep up the good work, Ian!
;)
Iketh - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
What are you talking about? You're way off subject.mschira - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
So what is the maximum amount of working memory this supports?64 Gb? (8x8) or "only 32 (8x4)
Cheers
M.
earthrace57 - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Most likely 64 GB unless they limited it somehow.I'm pretty sure its just how many GB or ram you can put in 1 stick at the time of making x number of slots...I don't think there really is a limitation.
Someone got 48 GB stable on a X58 motherboard, which is bound to 24 GB supposedly...
Zolcos - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Odd that on such an expensive mobo with dual LAN and both kinds of spdif, they included firewire of all things but left out eSATA from the main cluster? It seems like a 'core' enough feature that it shouldn't require an expansion plate like this one does imo.bigboxes - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
This mobo has USB 3.0 so the need for eSATA will be minimal. However, if you still want it they provide a powered dual-eSATA bracket for the back. What more do you want?DanNeely - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
In addition because XL-ATX cases have room for 10 expansion slots you could mount the bracket between the main cluster and top GPU; so you it won't cut into your expansion like it would on a standard ATX system.iamkyle - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Surprised the Marvell or Realtek mafia didn't come after MSI. FINALLY a reputable networking solution. Why can't every mainboard manufacturer do this?Iketh - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Asus ROG motherboards have Intel also, along with X-Fi sound. The GENE-Z/GEN3 is only $180. I hope this is selling like hotcakes for them so it sends a message through the industry.Sabresiberian - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
The sound solution on Asus' otherwise excellent boards is really not significantly better than what other manufacturers offer without requiring a daughter card to take up the space of another slot.If you want more than what mainboards offer, then a discreet sound solution is still the only way to go. (I might suggest Asus' own products there.)
For my purposes onboard sound is a waste of money in the kind of build I want, I would rather there be no sound components at all built in the MB and the price be a little lower.
;)