ASUS P9X79-E WS Review: Xeon meets PLX for 7x
by Ian Cutress on January 10, 2014 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Asus
- Workstation
- X79
- Prosumer
Any highly priced motherboard should come with almost everything supplied in the box, and ones labeled ‘Workstation’ I should imagine have everything that a prosumer might need. This includes GPU bridges, SATA cables and anything else a user might need (Molex to SATA, 12V extension cables?). In the P9X79-E WS box we get the following:
Driver CD
User Guide
Rear IO Panel
10 SATA Cables
Flexi SLI Bridge
Rigid 3-way SLI Bridge
Rigid 4-way SLI Bridge
COM Rear Bracket
USB and IEEE1394 Rear Bracket
Molex to 2x SATA power cable
Well, I was right about the full complement of SATA cables, even additional power cables, SLI bridges and it is good to see the rear brackets for the less commonly used ports on board, which may be an important facet of a prosumer build.
ASUS P9X79-E WS Overclocking
Experience with ASUS P9X79-E WS
The P9X79-E WS is a workstation board, and often any overclocking features are a secondary thought – given that the purpose of such a product is the prosumer Xeon market, the fact that it supports the regular consumer level CPUs is more a bonus than anything else. But rather than use a server chipset and work down, ASUS have used the consumer chipset and worked up to include Xeons over the consumer level. As we are using a consumer CPU for this test, all the overclocking options were available, albeit limited.
For automatic overclocks, the AI Suite software offers Fast and Extreme modes, whereby the Fast mode is mirrored in the OC Tuner option in the BIOS and by the switch on the motherboard. The fast mode implements a set overclock whereas the extreme mode uses the preset as a starting point to probe the system for faster speeds. Unfortunately due to our lackluster CPU sample, both these settings returned almost the same result.
For manual overclocking, all the options that most regular overclockers are familiar with are here, and compared to the Rampage IV Extreme we actually had some success in beating BIOS set voltages to hit certain frequencies. Nonetheless, the big extended heatsink on the motherboard does play a part and we saw 90C at the limit of our CPU.
Methodology:
Our standard overclocking methodology is as follows. We select the automatic overclock options and test for stability with PovRay and OCCT to simulate high-end workloads. These stability tests aim to catch any immediate causes for memory or CPU errors.
For manual overclocks, based on the information gathered from previous testing, starts off at a nominal voltage and CPU multiplier, and the multiplier is increased until the stability tests are failed. The CPU voltage is increased gradually until the stability tests are passed, and the process repeated until the motherboard reduces the multiplier automatically (due to safety protocol) or the CPU temperature reaches a stupidly high level (100ºC+). Our test bed is not in a case, which should push overclocks higher with fresher (cooler) air.
Automatic Overclock:
The automatic overclock options are fond in the TurboV EVO section of AI Suite, and offer one button selections. Our results are as follows:
On the ‘Fast’ setting, the system changed the CPU strap from 100 MHz to 125 MHz, as well as adjusting the CPU to 33x base turbo with 36x full turbo. This gave a MHz range of 4125 MHz to 4500 MHz, with the CPU set at 1.300 volts and Load Line Calibration on Auto. At this setting the CPU scored 2210.71 in PovRay, a peak temperature of 74C in OCCT and a load voltage of 1.288 volts on the CPU.
On the ‘Extreme’ setting, the system rebooted to the ‘Fast’ mode speed and then attempted to stress test the CPU, first by incrementing the multiplier and then the BCLK. Unfortuantely there was an issue with the software when upping the multiplier, causing the system to loop the same screen animation. If the system is reset at that point, the software tries again but with BCLK. On this setting, the system ended up with the same multiplier range as the ‘Fast’ setting, but at 125.50 MHz, a small 0.50 MHz difference – the CPU voltage and LLC were set the same as the Fast mode. With this setting, PovRay scored 2235.18, OCCT peak temperature was 74C and the system reported a load voltage of 1.288 volts.
Manual Overclock:
For our manual overclock, we start at the 40x multiplier, set load line calibration to Ultra High, the CPU voltage to 1.100 volts and start testing. If the system is stable (PovRay and OCCT test), the multiplier is increased; if unstable, the voltage is increased. Here are our results:
At 4.5 GHz the OCCT test was moving above 90C, so we decided to stop there in our testing. It was interesting to see such a level voltage up to 4.2 GHz.
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g00ey - Saturday, January 11, 2014 - link
When I looked at the user reviews on Newegg and forums, I saw that there are a lot of issues with this motherboard. So I went with the P9X79 WS motherboard instead that have less negative reviews.Perhaps there are a few issues with these PLX chips that needs to be addressed before it becomes stable...
Ian Cutress - Saturday, January 11, 2014 - link
I saw some of those reviews, mainly being linked to upgrading to Ivy-E, or buying one when they first come out and then upgrading to the CAP BIOS system. My review sample (as the ones on sale should be) was already in CAP, so I just put in the latest BIOS and it worked fine. The PLX chips are tried and tested in many other boards, so no issues there on the chip itself.g00ey - Saturday, January 11, 2014 - link
A motherboard that refuses to post because of a too modern CPU makes things very hard if you don't happen to have an "old" LGA2011 CPU lying around, and most people don't.But the PLX chips tend to give me the heebie jeebies when considering virtualized configurations that use PCI passthrough (IOMMU through Intel VT-d). It is a 'workstation grade' motherboard after all so such usage scenarios should be considered. It would be interesting to know how PLX switch chips affect the PCI passthrough capabilities.
Otherwise, a motherboard with 7 full-lane PCIe slots is really attractive but I guess a dual CPU motherboard is needed for that.
Ian Cutress - Saturday, January 11, 2014 - link
This is why these motherboards support USB BIOS Flashback: the ability to flash a BIOS onto the motherboard without a CPU, DRAM or a VGA installed. It requires renaming the BIOS file, putting it onto a suitable memory stick and following ASUS' instructions. I've used it a couple of times before, and as long as you follow the instructions it is ok: people get frustrated when it doesn't seem to work and there is no feedback (file misnamed, USB not suitable, BIOS not copied properly, BIOS still in old mode requires old BIOS not CAP BIOS).mazzy80 - Sunday, January 12, 2014 - link
Hi,I find the benches useless on Mobo review, all the Mobo perform the same of course +-1/2%, so nobody cares.
in this case the only useful Bench is to measure the impact of PLX of graphic performance in games. it's look like a minimal impact and this it' good, but you can see that x16@PCE3 Vs x8@PCIE3 is at moment of no use.
IMHO the Mobo review should be around stability, quirks, measuring features performance.
in this case :
performances of Marvel 930 and Asmedia SATA3 controllers Vs intel.
Performance of ASmedia USB3 Vs Intel z87.
Stability with 64GB RAM and 3-SLI.
I've this board for few days with E5-1650v2.
I don't like :
You can't run the cpu at Stock Intel Spec. If you enable the Turbo, you get all the core always at the turbo speed with Vcore ramp up. this is no good for a WS board. Why ? there's no option to disable Multicore option.
Fewer Sensor voltages to monitor that board at this price level.
The IB-E support isn't that great still. The default voltage are not correct for CPU PLL (1.8 instead 1.7) VTTIO (1.05 vs 1.00)
there's no way to respect Intel VID of the CPU, there're the manual fixed or the ASUS adaptive.
Like:
64GB rock solid at Intel Specs for VSSA (0.95V)
Stable so far.
mapesdhs - Sunday, January 12, 2014 - link
If you want to run everything at their baseline defaults, I don't see the relevance
of a board like this in the first place. The whole point of this WS board is that it
pairs the oc'ing features of the ROG series with the kind of workstation features
normally found on pro boards. It's an excellent middleground. You'd really want
to run 64GB at minimal speed, etc.? I have 64GB @ 2133 just fine. Plus, in
reality the various voltages you refer to vary from one chip to another wrt their
ideal baseline values; there are no absolutes.
If you want to run stuff at 'stock intel spec', then buy a boring ordinary XEON board,
not one like this which is intended to allow one to do sooo much more.
Ian.
mazzy80 - Monday, January 13, 2014 - link
well I dont' agree.I'd have prefer the options to run all at the specs and the options to 'switch' the gear with overclock. this is not a RIVE dressed in WS... and it'd not to be.
If you want to overclock to the hell the ROG extreme lines is for you.
If you want a stable classic workstation Mobo, with a Xeon, with the option to tweak it, if you wish, well this is what I think the WS lines should be, not a hybrid.
it lacks additional power for CPU for example... only one ordinary 8-pin and nothing else. I find it strange.
even Z87 boards have additional power input, and the Haswell top at 89W TDP from the start... E5-2687Wv2 is a 150W part at 3.4Ghz.... turbo @4GHz is over 200W..
If you buy a I7 why select this board ? there's the Deluxe for you, 2-3SLI to gamming ? RIVE/MF is for you.
This board is for Xeon, ECC memory first, so why force the cpu to run overclocked on stock settings?
mapesdhs - Wednesday, January 15, 2014 - link
The ROG boards are for gamers. I didn't buy one for gaming, so your logic is flawed
from the outset. I built a system for AE and wanted RAID card compatibility, among
other things. Plus, the only ROG board I felt was any good was a lot more expensive.
Whatever you might think the WS should be doesn't matter. It is what it is, a blend of
workstation and top-end gamer board features, the best of both IMO. I don't understand
your concerns; afterall, you don't *have* to oc on _any_ board. Leave everything at their
defaults and it'll be fine as-is. Me, I wanted 64GB RAM @ 2133 and a 6-core @ 4.7+,
with the ability to run four GPUs for CUDA, and RAID card support. The WS is perfect
for this. As for the CPU power issue, I don't see it as even being an issue. Where's your
evidence the WS in any way suffers from not having an extra power connector? The WS
will handle a 3930K @ 5.0 no problem.
Basically, your assumptions are wrong, and thus your conclusions are wrong. The Deluxe
was definitely not for me. The WS supports XEONs just as it supports i7s; saying it's "for"
one chip type or the other doesn't make sense.
For those who _are_ looking for a gaming board though then you do have a point, except
that the PCIe structure is better on the WS-E IMO.
Ian.
PS. And btw, how many CPU-Z submissions have you seen which have a ROG board
with a 3930K @ 4.7+ and max RAM at 2133+ with four GPUs? I've never seen one.
What I wanted to build is in a different league to gaming setups. Games tax just parts
of a system and often not much at that; AE hammers everything at times, gobbling 40GB
RAM no problem, hence the SSD for cache, etc.
viper131 - Sunday, January 12, 2014 - link
Question on the Dr. Power feature. Does this application show you the wattage usage on each separate PCI lane ? Also , did your GPU have a power feed direct from the PSU ?thanks,
luwalo - Tuesday, January 14, 2014 - link
Does a purchase like this make sense in early 2014 when Haswell-E/X99 is coming out later this year? A $500 mobo, plus $500 CPU, plus another few hundred for RAM and you are spending a lot on a part that will be replaced in < a year with something better. I just feel at this time, that this platform is a bit long in the tooth no native USB3 for instance.I'm currently using SB/Z68 (:<) and I'm pretty comfortable waiting for Haswell-E/X99 at this point. It's only been in the last 6 months I've come to desire the X79 feature set.