High-end Z77 vs Low/Medium-end X79

Hardware Build a PC
#1

Okay, so I have been historically recommending a medium-end X79 setup over a high-end Z77 setup, such as an Asrock Extreme6 X79 with a 3820 over a Maximus V Formula and a 3770k. However,  I feel like this should be fleshed out a bit.

Now, my reasoning, generally, is future expansion. An X79 board is going offer future CPU expansion, whereas an 1155 board, that has a 3770k, has no real upgrade path, except for some of the 1155 Xeons, which really aren't worth the price. If you start with a 3820, which is a little bit cheaper than the 3770k, you have the 3930k, 3960X, and 3970X to upgrade to, including many more (and much more expensive) Xeons. The CPU power is not the only reason I argue for 2011, though; you have 40 PCIe lanes. If you build a medium-end rig, you're probably only getting a single graphics card. If you plan on getting two lower-end cards instead of a single higher-end card, that is a different argument. On Z77, unless you have a high-end motherboard, like the Maximus V Extreme, Gigabyte UD7, etc., with PLX chips, then after 2-way SLI/CF, you will be using 4x PCIe lanes on two cards, at least. This is going to cause serious bottlenecks in the graphics performance, unless you're running low-end cards. Sure, a PLX chip can synthesize PCIe x16 slots, but the latency isn't worth it when you can get a cheaper motherboard for X79 and have native support for 2-way PCIe CF/SLI, 3-way x8 x8 x16, or 4-way x8 x8 x8 x8. This bandwidth can be a huge help for people who have ridiculous setups, such as quad Titans, which need the bandwidth of X79's PCIe lanes for full performance.

GPU and CPU aside, you may also be running servers, VMs, or doing serious rendering/editing. A Z77 setup could work just fine for all of these, but, under serious loads, especially running VMs, you are going to exceed the 32GB of RAM that Z77 limits you to. X79 offers support for  up to 128GB of RAM (if you use 16GB sticks), notably on the MSI Big Bang II X79, but more commonly, 64GB on most ATX or eATX boards. Even the mATX boards support 32GB of memory (some Z77 ones do, as well.) And while, sadly, there are no non-OEM mITX X79 boards, you still have a lot more power in a small space using mATX X79 vs mATX Z77.

If I have left anything out, and/or you have arguments for or against a certain direction, please, by all means, post. I'm not here to impose, and if I got something wrong, please mention it.

#2

So what kind of motherboard are we going to need for Haswell, and will you still be recommending the 3820 over that?

#3

You'll need a Z87 socket 1150 motherboard. Haswell will have superior single/per-core perforance to Sandy Bridge-E, but SBE will have more PCIe lanes, and a non-integrated VRM, so temps will benoticably lower. At release, it will be really overpriced, as well, so I'll stick with X79.

#4

Could you recommend me an X79 motherboard and a processor?

#5

That is rather vague; what is your budget?

#6

Not really sure, Its kind of like a $2000 gaming pc, but theres nothing set in stone. This is without peripherals. Its like I have the money, but I can't bring myself to spend an overkill amount if you know what I mean. I was thinking the 3770k with the MSI Mpower but I think you've convinced me otherwise.

#7

A 3770k and Mpower will be great, but a 3820 and Gigabyte X79 UP4 or Asrock Extreme6 will be just as good, and a lot better for multi-GPU setups. At that budget, you could easily fit in two, maybe even three 7950s, so the PCIe lanes of X79/2011 will help. However, if you go with a superior single-card setup, like a 780, then there is no reason not to get a 3770k.

#8

3970X is a BEAST

#9

Yeah, I was thinking a 780, but it just seems like the 2011 and X79 would allow me to sli down the road and still have great features.

#10

it all depending on youre needs realy, if you  just looking for a gaming rig, just to play games and so on, with a single gpu configuration, i could also recommend just to look on a AMD Fx8350 build. it performs in between the i5 and the i7. but its cheaper.So comparred to  intels Z77 platform, the AMD is an intressting thing to look at. but if you need a high end system for a lot more tasks then only gaming, if you want a  triple or quad cf/sli, then go  with a x79  3930k. about the x79 3820 cpu, to me its a hard to give a position to that cpu, the 40 pci-e lanes and the quad channel memory support is the big adventage of that cpu, but  thats all of it... wenn it comes to perfomance, it just performs in between the i5-3570k and the i7-3770k if im right.

pls correct me, if i see something completly wrong ☺

#11

The thing is, I have a microcenter near me, so the 3770k is only $230.