# Advice: Haswell-E vs Skylake



## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

Hi,
So im a retard, 2 days ago I was asking about SLI GTX970 and yesterday i went and got another Asus Strix 970, ASSUMING that every MODERN mobo supports SLI.
well, we all know what happens when you assume too much, right?!

So my Gigabyte H97-Gaming 3 is Crossfire only 
So i went ahead and looked for solutions, and found here on these forums how to enable SLI on CF boards, and i managed to sort of do it, it was enabled in the driver setting but  I assume that PCIe v2.0 x4 is not enough for GTX970, and testing Witcher 3 i got 20FPS on SLI instead of my 55-60 without.
I played with it for a day, tried different drivers, nothing.
So I packed the second GPU till I get my new system.

And here is what I want to know, should I wait till August for i7-6700K and Z170 or should I grab i7-5820K right now?

Also please note that by waiting for Skylake ill save some major money by getting the DDR3 version, I have an 
excellent pair of x2 8Gb sticks of DDR3 RAM (Corsair Vengeance Pro 2133Mhz)
Also my birthday is in August  And Metal gear Solid comes right after in Spetember 

TL:TR
Well so which option is better (performance+money) the Broadwell-E i7-5820K 3.3Ghz or the Skylake i7-6700K 4.0Ghz with DDR3 2133Mhz that I already have.

Regards


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## LucidStrike (Jun 28, 2015)

In case it didn't occur to you, just because Skylake will be compatible with DDR3 or DDR4 doesn't mean its motherboards will, and many manufacturers probably won't bother to sell any Skylake boards with DDR3 slots.

As for Skylake or Haswell-E, it depends on the intended usage. The Skylake-K chips will be pretty competitive with 5820K in terms of instructions per clock and certain application, but not in everything. 5820K will probably be much better for rendering and heavy multitasking, for instance.


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## Delta6326 (Jun 28, 2015)

Well I'm in the same boat on what platform to go to, the things I've been thinking about is if you go with haswell-e it will probably  be a dead upgrade path for the socket (not 100% for sure). And if you go with skylake you should be able to go with the next gen after that also.

I have heard rumors some mb manufacture has a mb that can do ddr3/ddr4.


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## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

LucidStrike said:


> In case it didn't occur to you, just because Skylake will be compatible with DDR3 or DDR4 doesn't mean its motherboards will, and many manufacturers probably won't bother to sell any Skylake boards with DDR3 slots.



But if its compatible its logical that there will be boards with DDR3, Skylake is mainstream CPU so they need to ease upgrading.
also they have stocks of DDR3 that has to sell out, thats how it was back with DDR2/DDR3, first gen DDR3 CPU had DDR2 support and I remember using DDR2 until DDR3 became cheap and affordable.

P.S. Lets assume you right:  Skylake DDR4 + 4Ghz + USB 3.1 or Haswell-E DDR4 + 3.3Ghz/6Core + more PCIe lanes?


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## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

Delta6326 said:


> Well I'm in the same boat on what platform to go to, the things I've been thinking about is if you go with haswell-e it will probably  be a dead upgrade path for the socket (not 100% for sure). And if you go with skylake you should be able to go with the next gen after that also.
> 
> I have heard rumors some mb manufacture has a mb that can do ddr3/ddr4.



I was thinking that if Mainstream CPUs stay 4 cores then all new games will support maximum 4 cores, 6 cores is nice but 4 cores at higher speed is better.
Also I was reading that Skylake will be getting more PCIe Gen3 lanes to support new technologies (but still not as many as Haswell-E)


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## LucidStrike (Jun 28, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> But if its compatible its logical that there will be boards with DDR3, Skylake is mainstream CPU so they need to ease upgrading.
> also they have stocks of DDR3 that has to sell out, thats how it was back with DDR2/DDR3, first gen DDR3 CPU had DDR2 support and I remember using DDR2 until DDR3 became cheap and affordable.
> 
> P.S. Lets assume you right:  Skylake DDR4 + 4Ghz + USB 3.1 or Broadwell-E DDR4 + 3.3Ghz/6Core + more PCIe lanes?


I'm goin' for 5820K. For one thing, there are X99 motherboards with USB 3.1 ports already, such as those from MSI, and you could always throw in an add-in card for more. More importantly though, as I mentioned, the 5820K, having more cores and more threads, will handle certain tasks in particular and multitasking in general better than the Skylake, despite Skylake's more advanced architecture:


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## LucidStrike (Jun 28, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> I was thinking that if Mainstream CPUs stay 4 cores then all new games will support maximum 4 cores, 6 cores is nice but 4 cores at higher speed is better.
> Also I was reading that Skylake will be getting more PCIe Gen3 lanes to support new technologies (but still not as many as Broadwell-E)


Frankly, when DX12 games come around, CPU power will be even less of a factor in gaming than it is now. As it stands, you really won't even need an i7 Skylake for gaming. i5 will suffice (which you could replace with i7 if it comes to it).

If, however, you have uses for more power, such as video editing or other production work,  I'd stick with the enthusiast chips.


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## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

LucidStrike said:


> Frankly, when DX12 games come around, CPU power will be even less of a factor in gaming than it is now. As it stands, you really won't even need an i7 Skylake for gaming. i5 will suffice (which you could replace with i7 if it comes to it).
> 
> If, however, you have uses for more power, such as video editing or other production work,  I'd stick with the enthusiast chips.



No special uses, im just a hardware fanboy, I like to have good hardware, was replacing my PC once a year before, now that i dont have money to spend like before I want to get one for at least 2 maybe even 3 years (never heard for me)

well you right, im going to check how much its going to cost me the DDR4, with USB 3.1 mobo.
Actually I did Some goggling of 5820K  and its HIGHLY overclockable (based on peoples comments), people say you can easily get stable 4.2Ghz, IMHO 4 to 4.2-4.3 stable is enough for me


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## cadaveca (Jun 28, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> No special uses, im just a hardware fanboy, I like to have good hardware, was replacing my PC once a year before, now that i dont have money to spend like before I want to get one for at least 2 maybe even 3 years (never heard for me)
> 
> well you right, im going to check how much its going to cost me the DDR4, with USB 3.1 mobo.
> Actually I did Some goggling of 5820K  and its HIGHLY overclockable (based on peoples comments), people say you can easily get stable 4.2Ghz, IMHO 4 to 4.2-4.3 stable is enough for me




Since the next generation chips aren't out yet, it's hard to judge really what will be best, however. If the mainstream desktop chips with dual-channel DDR4 can scale the memory speeds higher, or have a higher default frequency on both cores and cache, then any performance advantage X99's added cache brings is lessened in a big way, never mind when you consider power usage and "cost of ownership".

With my analysis of Intel CPUs, optimal performance/power comes @ 4.6 GHz and 4.2 GHz cache. for most users, CPU speed isn't that important, but that cache speed very much is, and I don't see many overclocking guides focused on optimal system performance... they are more about "finding the max", which I feel can introduce unforeseen problems.

If you were buying today, yes, I'd recommend the 5820K for multi-GPU users. But thats only for multi GPU users. I'm much more likely to recommend the 4690K for a gamer that wants to OC with Z97, but the future Intel stuff.. ask me again after the launch. Nobody that can actually truly answer that question will, since Skylake has yet to hit the open market. 


Actual performance differences from one generation to the next are so incremental, while you might miss out on something, you are not going to miss out on much. Bit less power usage, bit more performance... but nothing earth-shattering. It doesn't make good business sense for anyone to really release a product such as that.


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## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

cadaveca said:


> Since the next generation chips aren't out yet, it's hard to judge really what will be best, however. If the mainstream desktop chips with dual-channel DDR4 can scale the memory speeds higher, or have a higher default frequency on both cores and cache, then any performance advantage X99's added cache brings is lessened in a big way, never mind when you consider power usage and "cost of ownership".
> 
> With my analysis of Intel CPUs, optimal performance/power comes @ 4.6 GHz and 4.2 GHz cache. for most users, CPU speed isn't that important, but that cache speed very much is, and I don't see many overclocking guides focused on optimal system performance... they are more about "finding the max", which I feel can introduce unforeseen problems.
> 
> If you were buying today, yes, I'd recommend the 5820K for multi-GPU users. But thats only for multi GPU users. I'm much more likely to recommend the 4690K for a gamer that wants to OC with Z97, but the future Intel stuff.. ask me again after the launch. Nobody that can actually truly answer that question will, since Skylake has yet to hit the open market.



I just purchased another GTX970 so going to be a multi GPU user 
Do we have a list of new technologies in the Skylake? I mean is there anything upcoming that worth waiting? Because you and the other guys above are right, I just given some tough on this and new gen Intel CPU these days are maximum 10% faster, so Clock for Clock the Skylake shouldn't be much faster then Broadwell-E, especially because Broadwell has 15Mb of Cache and 2 extra cores.
And if I make a list of Mobo, CPU, RAM and Water cooling and order on Amazon, plus International Shipping and Import tax, even then its going to be 30-40% cheaper then buying locally (see below)
I mean what kind of game has to come that 6 core broadwell at 4.2Ghz with GTZ970 SLI wont be enough in next 3  even 4 years? right? (Probably until next gen consoles come out PS5,X2 and such this setup will be more then enough). 


what bothers me with X99 platform is the high DDR4 memory prices.
especially because where I live we have high taxes, so you can take any US price, double it and thats what we pay, for example:

USD google converted.
i7-5820K = 511USD
i7-4790K = 456USD
Cheapest 16GB of 4 Channel DDR4 kit: G.Skill Ripjaws-4 4x4GB DDR4 2400Mhz PC4-19200 Kit CL15-15-15-35 = 340USD


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## Ikaruga (Jun 28, 2015)

Question: If you bought the unneeded hardwer two days ago, why don't you just return it asap, and spend the money on something else what you actually need/can use?


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## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

Ikaruga said:


> Question: If you bought the unneeded hardwer two days ago, why don't you just return it asap, and spend the money on something else what you actually need/can use?



Over here we have buyer protection laws, like real laws that every shop must abide by, but open box items are not covered (well unless its broken, and even in that case if they can exchange it, no money back)
So Its up to individual shop, but 99% of them wont take back any open box items. 

Also I wanted to upgrade, I did a mistake when i purchased this temporally system 8 months ago, I had plans to later buy a good long lasting gameing monster and keep this one as backup and DVD/BluRay burning station, but i dont need burning DVDs anymore and as backup system I decided to get a Chinese Windows 10 Atom x5 tablet when it comes (even the ones they have right now with Chery Trail atom have full functioning windows 8, you can do everything you can on your PC if yours need fixing, you cant do that on Ipad, I have a very not cheap iPad Air2 128Gb/3G but if my main PC breaks and ill need to download something, unpack and copy to usb flash ipad cant do it, but 99$ Windows Tablet can. So im waiting for the time when Chinese upgrade their to latest 14nm Haswell based Atom X5 x7 series (64bit, Gen 8 graphics) the GPU has twice as much cores, even current Atom Tablets, the 99$ ones can play Fallout 3 on medium settings, which is awesome)


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## Ikaruga (Jun 28, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> Over here we have buyer protection laws, like real laws that every shop must abide by, but open box items are not covered (well unless its broken, and even in that case if they can exchange it, no money back)
> So Its up to individual shop, but 99% of them wont take back any open box items.
> 
> Also I wanted to upgrade, I did a mistake when i purchased this temporally system 8 months ago, I had plans to later buy a good long lasting gameing monster and keep this one as backup and DVD/BluRay burning station, but i dont need burning DVDs anymore and as backup system I decided to get a Chinese Windows 10 Atom x5 tablet when it comes (even the ones they have right now with Chery Trail atom have full functioning windows 8, you can do everything you can on your PC if yours need fixing, you cant do that on Ipad, I have a very not cheap iPad Air2 128Gb/3G but if my main PC breaks and ill need to download something, unpack and copy to usb flash ipad cant do it, but 99$ Windows Tablet can. So im waiting for the time when Chinese upgrade their to latest 14nm Haswell based Atom X5 x7 series (64bit, Gen 8 graphics) the GPU has twice as much cores, even current Atom Tablets, the 99$ ones can play Fallout 3 on medium settings, which is awesome)


What kind of law is that, how do you know you don't need it if you don't open it and try it? Anyways, tell the seller you buy something else from her/him if she/he takes it back. A good business(wo)man won't let the customer leave unsatisfied.


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## Ebo (Jun 28, 2015)

As a happy I7-5820K owner, I can tell yo that upgrading to X99 platform costs a bit of money, but its worth while(at least for me).

I had this platform since xmas, gave it to myself without tell my wife and it rocks.

As of Skylake, nobody knows yet, but as usual intel will only go 4 core on that, its mainstream, end of story.

As of LGA 2011-v3 goes, that socket will support even next generation CPU's also according to Intels own slides for 2016 which will bring a new CPU for our socket, its just a matter of bios upgrade and into the hands of the vendor of your MB, so its a bit futureproof, if you need more power.

what ever you deside to do, well that your own call, I cant tell you. I can only say going I7-5820K isent the worst choice ive ever made.


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## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

Ebo said:


> As a happy I7-5820K owner, I can tell yo that upgrading to X99 platform costs a bit of money, but its worth while(at least for me).
> 
> I had this platform since xmas, gave it to myself without tell my wife and it rocks.
> 
> ...



Thanks, im already researching!
For how long do you plan to keep it?
Im thinking of getting ram on amazon, do you think its worth it to get 32Gb instead of 16Gb?

Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 3000Mhz
or
Crucial Ballistix Sport 32GB DDR4 2400Mhz?


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## the54thvoid (Jun 28, 2015)

Is there any confirmation Intel will do Broadwell-E?  That was the suggestion, giving 2011-3 an upgrade path due to compatible sockets?  There has been no mention at all of Skylake-E I believe.


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## Viruzz (Jun 28, 2015)

the54thvoid said:


> Is there any confirmation Intel will do Broadwell-E?  That was the suggestion, giving 2011-3 an upgrade path due to compatible sockets?  There has been no mention at all of Skylake-E I believe.



Oh, im sorry for teh confusion, if anywhere i said Broadwell-e, I meant to say Haswell-E.

I was asking if I should get 6 core Haswell-E now or wait for the mainstream 4 core Skylake K in August


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## cadaveca (Jun 28, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> Cheapest 16GB of 4 Channel DDR4 kit: G.Skill Ripjaws-4 4x4GB DDR4 2400Mhz PC4-19200 Kit CL15-15-15-35 = 340USD




You should be able to find blue G.SKill 300 MHz GRBB kits for just over $200 USD. I just finished a review on that kit, will be posted to the front page here soon. You do need the right board to make them work well, though.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 28, 2015)

Ever consider just upgrading your motherboard?  Example: MSI's Z97 XPower not only supports PCI Express 3.0 but also x16/x0/x0/x16/x0 by way of a PLX chip.  That's a very expensive board though so you might be able to find a cheaper one that does the same thing.

Beware: XPower is E-ATX form factor.  Make sure your case can fit it.


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## the54thvoid (Jun 28, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> Oh, im sorry for teh confusion, if anywhere i said Broadwell-e, I meant to say Haswell-E.
> 
> I was asking if I should get 6 core Haswell-E now or wait for the mainstream 4 core Skylake K in August



It's okay - I knew what you meant.  I'm looking at upgrading too - was waiting for W10.  But if I upgrade to Haswell-E, do i have an upgrade path on the 2011-3 platform?  In other words, what are the 6 core options post Haswell-E?


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 28, 2015)

Don't know at this point.  There are rumors Broadwell-E has been scrapped in favor of Skylake-E in Q3 2016.  It's possible Skylake-E won't run on X99.


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## Ebo (Jun 29, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> Thanks, im already researching!
> For how long do you plan to keep it?
> Im thinking of getting ram on amazon, do you think its worth it to get 32Gb instead of 16Gb?
> 
> ...



I dunno for how long, but at least 3 years from now.

Regarding 16 - 32 GB ram thats a bit tricky as I see it. It all comes down to if you're using very ram intensive programmes.
I use my machine for autocad 3D, videoediting and so on, so I have use for a lot of ram, to make things go as fast as possible.

If you look at my profile, it says i have 16GB of ram, but I have actually upgraded since, so I have now 24GB in my machine, that extra 8GB of ram has given me exactly nothing lol, it was just money out the window .


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## R-T-B (Jun 29, 2015)

Those Ballistix Sport modules will do well under their advertised latencies.  I'd go with them.  I wouldn't clock above 2400Mhz anyways, the memory controller gets funky on the CPU resulting in instability.


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## cadaveca (Jun 29, 2015)

R-T-B said:


> I wouldn't clock above 2400Mhz anyways, the memory controller gets funky on the CPU resulting in instability.


Only on some boards. There's a night and day difference from board to board, and these problems are why my memory reviews currently don't show OC results. Some boards can't boot 2666 MHz divider, some can boot all teh way up to 3400 MHz, without BCLK adjustments.

AS to 16 GB vs 32, yeah, 32 GB of the same speed is faster for sure.


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## R-T-B (Jun 29, 2015)

cadaveca said:


> Only on some boards. There's a night and day difference from board to board, and these problems are why my memory reviews currently don't show OC results. Some boards can't boot 2666 MHz divider, some can boot all teh way up to 3400 MHz, without BCLK adjustments.
> 
> AS to 16 GB vs 32, yeah, 32 GB of the same speed is faster for sure.



Interesting.  I take it the ASUS X99-A I am running is one of the poor ones then...


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## Ebo (Jun 29, 2015)

I only regret that I didnt buy G.Skill due to they have Hynix modules instead of Elpida(or whatever they are named) mabye its micron. They do not have same tollerrance to volts like Hynix do. Ive had problems running Crucial ram on my MB, and it took 2 bios upgrades to iron it out. Now I have no problems at all with it.

I will never again buy Crucial ram, thats for sure.


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## xkm1948 (Jun 29, 2015)

Also research on what chip is being used on the RAM module. A lot of RAM manufacturer use same chip source. As long as they are of the same batch their quality won't vary to much. I'm using DDR4-2800 I have no stability issue. My RAM module can easily overcook to 3GHz.

As of the original question. Haswell-E gets my vote. As for RAM capacity, bigger is always better. Go all the way to 64 GB if you can afford.


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## btarunr (Jun 29, 2015)

I recommend you wait it out till Core i7-6700K and a $150-ish Z170 board with DDR4 slots and SLI support hit the stores. Then see if you can find a 2x 8GB DDR4-2666 kit around the $110 mark (no more), and call it a day.


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## Viruzz (Jun 29, 2015)

the54thvoid said:


> It's okay - I knew what you meant.  I'm looking at upgrading too - was waiting for W10.  But if I upgrade to Haswell-E, do i have an upgrade path on the 2011-3 platform?  In other words, what are the 6 core options post Haswell-E?




Looks like the answer is positive:


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## Viruzz (Jun 29, 2015)

btarunr said:


> I recommend you wait it out till Core i7-6700K and a $150-ish Z170 board with DDR4 slots and SLI support hit the stores. Then see if you can find a 2x 8GB DDR4-2666 kit around the $110 mark (no more), and call it a day.




Thank you that sounds logical.

But if money wasn't a real serious issue, say i decided to get a PC for 3-4 years and im ready to spend on CPU, Mobo, RAM and water cooling

would you recommend getting i7-5820K with water cooling, 32Gb DDR4 ram and a compatible mobo ( I was thinking about Asus Sabertooth X99)?
Or you still recommend to wait and get everything top of the line just for Skylake?  i7-6700K + water cooling, 32GB DDR4 and Asus Deluxe mobo


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## Viruzz (Jun 29, 2015)

R-T-B said:


> Interesting.  I take it the ASUS X99-A I am running is one of the poor ones then...




The spec says that ASUS X99-A supports up to 3200Mhz, maybe you ned a bios update?


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## btarunr (Jun 29, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> Thank you that sounds logical.
> 
> But if money wasn't a real serious issue, say i decided to get a PC for 3-4 years and im ready to spend on CPU, Mobo, RAM and water cooling
> 
> ...



The HEDT platform is often a microarchitecture behind the mainline desktop. If you're buying Broadwell-E, you'll be doing so when Skylake-D is available. You could find yourself in a situation where a $250 "mainstream" processor with dual-channel memory is faster at playing games than your $500 HEDT chip with QCh memory. 

Also the i7-5820K restricts you to 2-way multi-GPU. i7-5930K is the best CPU choice for that platform.


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## xkm1948 (Jun 29, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> Thank you that sounds logical.
> 
> But if money wasn't a real serious issue, say i decided to get a PC for 3-4 years and im ready to spend on CPU, Mobo, RAM and water cooling
> 
> ...



That is the board I am using right now. Awesome quality. Check my build log in the project log section.


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## xkm1948 (Jun 29, 2015)

If you live near a Micro center, wait until Black Friday to get the 8 core 5960X, they usually have those on sale every year with heavy discount.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 29, 2015)

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Z97 have the same number (28) of PCI Express lanes as i7-5820K  with the X99 chipset?


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## R-T-B (Jun 29, 2015)

Viruzz said:


> The spec says that ASUS X99-A supports up to 3200Mhz, maybe you ned a bios update?



The board does.  The CPU refuses.


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## Viruzz (Jun 29, 2015)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Z97 have the same number (28) of PCI Express lanes as i7-5820K  with the X99 chipset?



Nope, its 4 on the chip set side and 16 on the CPU side.

right now i have H97 chipset and 4690CPU, it only allows one x16 GPU and another at x4 through the chipset (CF only)
Z97 can split it to x8/x8 and x4 from the chip set

Skylake supposed to have 20 Gen4 lanes, which in theory should be more then enough  for good Quad SLI

Imagine an all Gen4 setup, PCIe Gen4 at just x2 has the same speed as PCIe Gen2 x8 and based on benchmarks its more then enough, no speed degradation.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 29, 2015)

http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/z97-chipset-brief.pdf
16 x PCI Express 3.0 from CPU
8 x PCI Express 2.0 from chipset

So that's at least 24 lanes albeit not all the same performance.  The cheapest Haswell-E has 28 3.0 lanes.    What I'm getting at is that processor can only handle, at most, one x16 and one x8.  If the goal is two x16, you have to look at the $500 Haswell-E chip or a solution on X99 or Z97 that implements a PLX chip.


Z170 has 20 PCI Express 3.0 + whatever the processor provides (probably x16 PCI Express 3.0 like Broadwell).  36 lanes total or is it 20?


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## Viruzz (Jun 30, 2015)

FordGT90Concept said:


> http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-briefs/z97-chipset-brief.pdf
> 16 x PCI Express 3.0 from CPU
> 8 x PCI Express 2.0 from chipset
> 
> ...




yep, looks like Z170 going to be a monster, 16 Processor PCIe lanes Gen3 (Strange, i was reading somewhere that Skylake going to move to Gen4) + 20 Chipset PCIe gen 3.0 lanes, thats MUCH more then X99 only 8 Chipset Gen2
lanes.

Based on this, the Z170 is going to beat X99 in everything except minus 2 SATA ports.


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 30, 2015)

So Z170 does have 36 total lanes.  That's a big step up but the GPU is still limited to x16 or 2x8.  If you really want to get 2x16, it looks like the only option is X99 or PLX chip.  Upgrading the motherboard to one that has a PLX chip should take care of it if you don't feel like spending $1000+ right now.


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## Viruzz (Jun 30, 2015)

Look at this baby! This is what I want, just look at the bottom left corner, it has Creative Sound Blaster Z chip, no need to use my Sound blaster X-FI card anymore (I need one because I used headphones with SPDIF connector and I need Dolby Live encoding to encode everything into Dolby 5.1)

Guys just look at it, right its not ASUS which i prefer but as far as I know Gigabyte and ASUS its basically same thing, all it needs is a TPM connector and its almost perfect.

The only thing that can make it perfect is DDR3 version 

The Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming G1 is the company’s upcoming flagship gaming motherboard designed to support Intel’s 6th Generation Skylake Core processors. Some of its highlighted features include the following:


Dual Channel DDR4 with 4 DIMM slots
Intel USB 3.1 with USB Type-C support Power Delivery 2.0 for up to 35W
4-Way Graphics support with Exclusive Ultra Durable Metal Shielding over the PCIE Slots
PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 Connector with up to 32Gbps Data Transfer Speed (Supports both PCIe and SATA SSD)
3x SATA Express Connectors
HDMI 2.0 for 4K @ 60Hz and 21:9 aspect ratio
Creative certified Sound Blaster ZxRi 120+dB SNR
Killer DoubleShot Pro X3 for the best networking experience possible
LED Trace Path with 7 Color Choice
Water Cooling Ready heatsink design with G1/4 threaded fittings
Gigabyte UEFI DualBIOS with Q-Flash Plus USB port


























here are the cheaper editions: (all look awesome too)

*Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7 Motherboard*
Following the flagship motherboard is the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 7. It looks somewhat similar with the flagship motherboard but comes with slightly fewer features. For starters, the SATA ports are black and the audio component used is also different. It only has three PCIE slots, fewer SATA ports, and the fewer power-phase components.






*Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 5 Motherboard*
Next in the Gaming series is the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 5 motherboard. We don’t see the white shroud and heatsink anymore; instead the dominant color in this motherboard is black and red. The heatsink design looks simple as well.
The Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 5 features three PCIE x16 slots with Ultra Durable Metal Shielding, 4x PCIE x4 slots and even fewer SATA ports. However, it does have two M.2 PCIE slots, an AMP-UP audio component, and it looks like it has an 11 (or 12) phase power design.





*Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 Motherboard*
Finally, at the bottom of the Gaming series is the Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3. It still features a black and red color scheme, but the heatsink design is somewhat different compared to the Gaming 5’s heatsink. It’s more subtle and simple, and honestly I think it looks better compared to the heatsink design on the Gaming 5. The board only has 7 (or 8) power phase design and it doesn’t have any debug LED code or onboard power/reset buttons either.
Basically, what you get with the Z170X Gaming 3 is the just basic features of a gaming motherboard and should be enough specially if you are in a tight budget.

Expect that these new Gigabyte Z170X Gaming motherboards will be released as soon as Intel officially launches the Intel 10 series chipset together with the 6th Generation Intel Core Skylake processors.







Source: http://thepcenthusiast.com/gigabyte-z170x-gaming-g1-motherboard-revealed/


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## Viruzz (Jun 30, 2015)

FordGT90Concept said:


> So Z170 does have 36 total lanes.  That's a big step up but the GPU is still limited to x16 or 2x8.  If you really want to get 2x16, it looks like the only option is X99 or PLX chip.  Upgrading the motherboard to one that has a PLX chip should take care of it if you don't feel like spending $1000+ right now.



Nope, im OK either way. I always use a single GPU, this once I will be using x2 GTX970. So im ok with x2 Gen2 x8 PCIe ports, so x2 Gen3 x8 ports is the sweet spot and it wont make it any faster then x2 Gen x8 ports.
So im ok either way.

The only reason I was interested in x99 platform is cheap six core CPU that based on google search can be rather easily overclocked to 4.0 - 4.2Ghz which makes it same speed as top of the line Quad Core which people buy for games just with extra 2 cores.

What we dont know is how DX12 will affect it all, some say that DX12 lowers the need in beefy CPU, other say that it will be utilizing every core available and speeding up the games.


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## Delta6326 (Jun 30, 2015)

Yeah I would wait for skylake to come out should be good features.


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