Question 1

Okay, who out there has one of these motherboards and what power supply did you use? Getting closer to deciding the completion of my new build.

Accepted Answer

Hello! I'm running this motherboard on a corsair HX850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139011(I have a friend that runs it on a 1000 too) It's been pretty good so far (had it for about 3 months) Although I gotta warn you the motherboard was dead on arrival so I had to return it and wait another 2 weeks to get one that's working. One last thing, I have an intel 4930K hooked up to it and since it's a new CPU the MB didn't recognize it therefore I had to download the latest bios update and simply put it in an empty flash drive (with only the bios update in the drive) and update the MB first then put the CPU on it.

Question 2

Does this motherboard serve as a Server/Workstation-High End?

Accepted Answer

In my opinion, yes, with the caveat that if used as server it is highly dependent on workload. Some workloads just need two sockets, but if one socket is enough this motherboard will serve you well.

It has LGA2011 socket, which means it supports quad channel memory and with two memory banks it can run memory very very fast in quad channel / interleaved mode.

If you want to use it as a server, I'd recommend a 2.4ghz XEON with at least 6 cores / 12 mbytes of cache (I'm making a guestimate because I don't know what your workload is).

For workstation an i7-3930k will work wonderfully. I got the latter without overclocking because I care more about stability. I only run at 4Ghz with 64Gb of DDR3 2400 RAM (although it actually runs at about 23500). 2400 RAM vs. 1600 RAM makes little difference in bandwidth but a lot of difference in latency, so depending on workload, you may care or not.
Of all the motherboards/processors I've tried, it's the fastest Photoshop workstation.

For a server, I definitely recommend XEON as it supports ECC ram. I'd recommend 1600 DDR3 unbuffered ECC ram.

Of course in the ideal world I would have bought a 3ghz XEON and ECC ram for best stability, but a 3ghz XEON really hurts your wallet.

By the way, given you are going for workstation/server, don't mess with overclocking, it'll make the system very unstable and you'll be very unhappy. It will be a very fast machine regardless.

Also, unless you plan to do gaming, don't bother with expensive and fancy video cards. I have a ATI V4900, and for 2D workloads (photoshop, lightroom) it actually runs faster than gaming video cards at a fraction of the cost and power consumption. People who buy the V4900 and complain about its poor gaming performance don't understand that the V4900 is meant for 2D CAD / graphics use, not 3D gaming.

Good luck,

Question 3

Will this work with Intel Core i7-3930K by default or I need to update BIOS? I'm getting mixed answers and I want to be sure.

Accepted Answer

Yes, mine booted fine without any bios updates.  If a bios update is required; it is possible to do it without having to turn the computer on.  The manual has the whole procedure, but basically you download and copy the new bios file to a usb thumb drive.  Insert it into a specifically marked usb port on the mother board and press the bios flash button next to it.  The computer just needs to be plugged in, and the power supply turned on.  Don't even need the processor installed.

Question 4

Does this motherboard support my case? The Case - www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Accepted Answer

Hello,
     
The motherboard you are inquiring about is a standard ATX motherboard - as you can see in the title. The Antec case you are looking to combo with it is a mid-tower ATX case.
It can  be a little tricky, but on the Antec case product page, about halfway down, there are four tabs. One of them is "Specifications," if you click that tab and scroll down to "Motherboard Compatibility," you can see that your intended case supports standard ATX motherboards.

So long explanation simplified - your proposed computer case will support the P9X79 motherboard.

Happy building.

Question 5

Is this mobo compatible with the graphics card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121767 Asus GTX660 TI-DC2OC-3GD5 GeForce GTX 660 Ti Graphic Card - 1006 MHz Core - 3 GB GDDR5 SDRAM - PCI Express 3.0 Straight out of a box I have an issue. Please let me know asap. Thank you.

Accepted Answer

It shouldn't have any problems with that graphics card.  The motherboard ships with outdated BIOS though.  You may need to update the BIOS before anything works.  Updating the BIOS on this board takes a few steps.  First format a USB stick with a fat format, ntfs won't work, then 1 - install the asus cap converter (download from asus where the BIOS tools for your mobo are found).  2 - install the latest BIOS (download from asus and name the .cap file P9X79PRO.CAP).

Installing the BIOS on this motherboard can be done with the system powered down, but you do need a power supply connected.  Just plug your USB stick into the slot on the back that has a white background, then press and hold the flashback button for 3 seconds until the button starts flashing.  The light will go out when it is done.  If the button light stays solid then something went wrong.

Question 6

Hello everyone,

I am thinking about buying this board to go with a 4930k i7 Processor and I am wondering will I need to have a flash drive ready to flash the motherboard bios or will I not?

Also, it says it comes with the USB BIOS does this mean they are on a disk included in the box or does it mean it comes with a flash drive with the bios on it?

Thanks for your time!

Accepted Answer

yes you should have a flash drive ready and download the latest driver and bios renamer utility from their website..  (this preps the bios file for use with a flash drive and the USB ROG Connect updater port) There were 2 types of renamer utilities.. I can't recall the specifics any longer but it is explained in the utilities description on the website. There ARE bios files on the cd,  I realized in retrospect, so those may get you going as well. One thing I will say is that if you are looking to overclock,  the Asus Gene IV is MUCH easier and more solid an overclocker than this board.  4.6ghzOC is a snap on the GENE..  I've gotten one of my P9X79-Pros stable at 4.6 but my second board has been grumpy over 4.2.  (4930k and Raptor-Z ram)  
I bought 2 P7X79 PROs for the 64gb RAM, more int sata ports, and bluetooth..  but if i had to buy again I would probably get 2 more of the GENE IVs instead..

Question 7

Lastly, I wanna make sure I pick an adequate cpu fan/cooler without having to bump the sides or itself, anyone out there have this board?, if so, which cooling device are you happy with?

Accepted Answer

Similar to Jason, I'm running the Corsair H110 in the Corsair 500R case.  The radiator and fans sit above the MB, exhausting out due to my own preference, and there is plenty of room for the heat exchanger on the CPU with no space issues.  The top-most heat sink on the motherboard does contact the radiator in my setup, but there isn't any binding and is not an issue.

Question 8

Does this motherboard support triple channel memory? My current system has 24gb (4gb x 6, DDR3 1600) and was wondering if I could simply move to this one. Thanks.

Accepted Answer

Brian D is correct. I've built over 30 systems with this awesome motherboard. You can run single, dual, Triple, or Quad channel DDR3. Yes, your old memory will work just fine. To take the most advantage of the full memory bandwidth, you would want to get two more of the same memory for a total of 8, but I'm not sure you would really notice much real world speed improvement. This motherboard is really an awesome board. I've been putting the newest 4th Gen 4930k CPU in it too, which works fine after the latest bios update.

Question 9

What voltage of memory is supported? This seems to be the number 1 most difficult thing to find.

Accepted Answer

If you go to the ASUS P9X79 Support site, you can download the list of supported memory chips. Please keep in mind that the LGA 2011 has four channel memory, so as you use up more channels, memory access speed decreases. I went with the GSkill 16GB kit that employs two channels.

I also believe that you can custom configure CPU and memory voltages for overclocking. I have not had the time to research overclocking yet. But download and read through the manual. It is very impressive. Once I water cool my CPU, I am going to start playing around with the overclocking settings.

Right out of the box, I have been impressed with this MLB. I plugged in an Ivy Bridge 3.9Ghz processor and it screams!! I am able to play my favorite MMO online game, use teamspeak, run outlook, have a couple of Internet Explorers going and play iTunes music at the same time. WOW!! My world is perfect!

Question 10

I read all the negative (1 egg feedback) on this board and I would bet that most of the people that are claiming the board is DOA are using the new 4930k Ivy Bridge processor or newer with the older bios that comes with the motherboard and that is why it won't boot. I am considering buying 1 of these boards, but seeing 27 negative reviews, but I would expect that most of the negative reviews are user problems and not the board.

My question is: can I flash the bios with newer version of bios without having a processor or having a newer processor than what is supported by the board?

Accepted Answer

Yes! You can, this is exactly why they designed the "USB bios flashback" feature into the board. It's a little hard to understand from the manual, but there are tutorials online and it's pretty well explained on their site. You simply download the proper BIOS driver onto a flash drive from ASUS's website, rename it "P9X79PRO.CAP" plug it into the white USB port, then hold the BIOS button for a few seconds until it starts to blink. That's all there is to it. You can do this all without anything but a power supply connected.

Questions & Answers