Intel Core i7 3960X Sandy Bridge-E Review - PAGE 3

To support the new processors, Intel is releasing an entirely new chipset and socket, the X79 Express and LGA-2011, respectively. For anyone keeping count, this is the fourth new socket released by Intel since the 2008. So, anyone expecting to be able to switch out a Sandy Bridge chip for a Sandy Bridge-E chip, think again.

The box for Intel's reference motherboard features a sleek black design with a large blue skull across the front. The packaging also lists the processors supported by the motherboard, and the various features and specifications. The motherboard itself comes packaged in a custom formed plastic mould that sits atop the accessories. Intel has bundled an "Extreme" mouse pad with the skull logo and a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi module, along with the more traditional accessories.

The Intel P67 based motherboard is dubbed the DX79SI, which along with an all-new CPU socket and chipset also features a redesigned memory DIMM layout. As you can see from the image below, the LGA-2011 socket is rather big and takes up a substantial portion of the PCB. Along with the size, the latching mechanism has also been slightly altered, as both sides of the socket now have a locking clip. The steps to open the socket are built into the cover. This ensure the latches are removed in the proper order to prevent damaging the socket. Additionally, the heatsink mounting brackets surrounding the socket have also changed. In previous generation motherboards, Intel placed four mounting holes around the socket to secure the mounting clips. The LGA-2011 socket on the other hand actually has four screw holes where the screws can be threaded directly into.

The socket sits in between eight memory DIMMs, four to a side. Similar to motherboards that utilize a dual or triple channel design, the DIMMs are color coded per memory channel. SB-E supports a quad-channel memory architecture, so as long as four of the DIMMS are occupied the memory will run in quad-channel. While the Sandy Bridge-E processor officially supports DDR3 1600, the DX79SI is designed to support overclocked DDR3 2400 memory, delivering up to 64GB/s memory bandwidth. The motherboard also supports the Intel XMP (Extreme Memory Profile), which is essentially an easy overclocking feature that boosts the memory frequencies.

Intel has really gone all out when designing the DX79SI, as it features a wide array of high-end features. These include support for two SATA 6.0Gb/s and four SATA 3.0Gb/s ports, a post code detector, tweaking switches and a design that includes all solid-state capacitors. The board also includes a sleek heatpipe heatspreader that sits atop the X79 Express chipset. Overall, the amount of cooling on X79 boards is reduced in comparison to X58 based motherboards, because many of the functions that were previously built into the North and South bridge have now been relocated directly into the SB-E circuitry.

There are also plenty of expansion options available on the DX79SI. For instance there are a total of three PCI-E 3.0 slots on the board that support both CrossFire and SLI. All the PCI-E lanes are integrated into the Sandy Bridge-E processor, and there are a total of 40 available lanes. Configuration of the lanes depend on the number of graphics cards installed, but here is a quick rundown. Dual graphics cards will run at x16/x16, while three graphics cards will be set at x16/x16/x8, and four cards at  x16/x8/x8/x4. This feature could prove to be beneficial to games, but the consensus so far is that more lanes does not necessarily increase gaming performance. However, the available lanes will make setting up triple or quad GPU systems all that much easier.

The rear I/O panel on the back includes most of the high-end features we have come to expect, but since this is an enthusiast grade platform there are no video output options available. This means a discrete graphics card is required when using the SB-E platform, but at the price point we doubt anyone will miss (or even expect) the built-in video. From top to bottom, the DX79SI includes a Back-to-BIOS button, four USB 3.0 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, Dual Intel Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, Firewire and a 10-channel Intel High Definition audio panel.

Last up we have a block diagram of X79 chipset. As you can see, the memory and PCI-Express lanes are connected via the processor, while the USB, SATA LAN and audio options are connected via the X79 Express chipset.