ASUS ROG Rampage IV Extreme (X79) Review - Air Overclocking with Core i7-3960X

[siopao1984]

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Game Benchmark - Street Fighter 4

3960X Stock (3.3GHz)



3960X Overclocked (4.7GHz)



Comments: CPU frequency sensitive benchmark here.

[siopao1984]

Storage Benchmark - CrystalDiskMark

3960X Stock (3.3GHz)



3960X Overclocked (4.7GHz)



Comments: This time round, looks like the power saving C-States did not affect I/O Performance like in previous generation platforms.

[siopao1984]

Web Benchmark - Futuremark Peacekeeper



Peacekeeper - free universal browser test from Futuremark

We have always wondered how much extra cores and overclocking would help for web browsing. Seeing as nobody else does this, we used the latest stable build of Chrome 15.0.874.120 and did the tests:

3960X Stock (3.3GHz)



3960X Overclocked (4.7GHz)



2600K @ 4.7GHz



Comments: Seems that higher frequencies matter for web browsing but extra cores do not.

[siopao1984]

CPU Power Consumption Tests





Comments: Nothing surprising here - we expect the 3960X to use more power as it has a bigger die with more cores and cache.


DPC Latency (Motherboard)

"If any kernel-mode device driver in your Windows system is implemented improperly and causes excessive latencies of Deferred Procedure Calls (DPCs) then probably drop-outs will occur when you use real-time audio or video streaming applications"

More Background Information and Download: Link

Test Methodology: Open Windows Media Player to play an MP3 and then open Google Chrome load http://vr-zone.com

3960X Stock (3.3GHz)



3960X Overclocked (4.7GHz)



Comments: These are excellent results - the overclocked 3960X performed better as all the latency-inducing power saving options were turned off.

[siopao1984]

Conclusion for the Intel Core i7-3960X (6-cores/12-threads, Retail C1 stepping)



TLDR; version - Its a Sandy Bridge strapped with 50% more cores/threads and other tweaks to the cache subsystem.

There is almost no advantage over the regular 2500/2600K in GPU-limited scenarios or applications (usually games) that are optimized for only dual/quad cores. Overclocking Potential and Power Draw should improve with planned new steppings (we heard Q1 2012), just like the previous Intel chips of old.

People who would want to buy this (grossly overpriced US$990 in 1k quantities) chip would be graphics/video professionals where their applications can take advantage of the additional cores or extreme overclockers wanting to chase world performance records. For mere mortals and practical people wanting to get on the LGA 2011 bandwagon, we would recommend the significantly cheaper i7-3930K (US$550 in 1k quantities).



Conclusion for the ASUS ROG Rampage IV Extreme (x79)



Over the last month, we have previewed and evaluated top to bottom X79 motherboard offerings from the various AIBs, and we can categorically say that the Rampage IV Extreme is the best in most critical departments, especially in board layout, components and overclocking features. What we have demostrated today with air cooling is only the tip of the iceberg of what this board is capable of, and we will follow up soon with high-end water/LN2 analysis and results.

If we could use an analogy, this board is like the acclaimed Nissan GT-R sports car, which is a no-compromise engineering marvell that even top level connoisseurs will appreciate.

Retail Pricing: US$469.99 / SGD$668 (w/Battlefield 3)

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[libido]

Wow...grabe ug scores oi...ang naka nindot 64gb's og ram...grabe...Over na over kill na gyud...pero bro. as per toms, abot ug 8000k dollars ang iyang build..grabe sad ka mahal..hehehehe...

[bakwakkwak]

lisoda sa loop ani oi nabuwag ang rams hahahahaha tanaw lang ta ani

[jOnyx]

sipa-a ani nga board oie....

[akomao]

SIMPLY, AMAZING. haha

[amary_17]

nice au pwde ask tag pila diay ni siya na mobo?