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Intel® Desktop Board DX79SI Features Summary |
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Form Factor |
ATX (304.80 millimetres [12.00 inches] x 243.84 millimetres [9.60 inches]) |
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Processor |
Support for Intel® Core™ i7 and Intel® Xeon® processors in the LGA2011 package with: |
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Main Memory |
Eight 240-pin DDR3 SDRAM Dual Inline Memory Module (DIMM) sockets arranged in four channels with support for the following: |
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Chipset |
Intel® X79 Express Chipset consisting of the Intel® X79 Platform Controller Hub (PCH) |
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Graphics |
Support for multiple PCI Express* graphics cards including linked cards using Nvidia* SLI* technology and AMD* CrossFire X* technology |
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Serial ATA Support |
The board provides two 6.0 Gb/s Serial ATA (SATA) channels (blue connectors) and four 3.0 Gb/s SATA channels (black connectors). The four 3.0 Gb/s SATA channels support the following RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Drives) levels: |
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Audio |
• Independent multi-streaming 8-channel (7.1) audio and 2-channel audio subsystem, featuring: |
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Expansion Capabilities
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• Three PCI Express 3.0 x16 connectors (two x16 electrical and one x8 electrical) |
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Legacy I/O Support |
Nuvoton* Legacy I/O Controller that provides Consumer Infrared (CIR) support |
3960X Extreme Edition CPU front and read views
Intel® Desktop Board DX79SI Complete. Note how the board is well laid out with standardized Blue and Black DIMM sockets denoting the primary and secondary memory channels. Ample cooling covering both the Southbridge and PCH Controller by heatpipe cooling solution. We also see very clearly the dual clamps that are now used to secure the CPU in place. As always the bottom of the mainboard has the full array of pins plugs and sockets for those additional extra’s the end-user wishes the mainboard to support. 4 fan header points to ensure that the system stays nice and cool.
Upon the CPU socket we see very clearly which mode of removal the new style clamping mechanism must be followed in opening and closing once the transit cover is removed and the CPU is inserted. A word of caution though, ensure you know just how high your memory modules will sit on the mainboard when finally mounting your new air solution CPU cooling array.
SATA ports and South Bridge in their standard positions, though Intel have taken the trouble to ensure that the cooling solution is slick and low in profile for those long graphic cards. We had no trouble at all with the range of cards we tested in the slots. At the very bottom of the mainboard we see the array of LED’s for post messages and for the System Integrators and end-users testing the system power on and reset buttons.
I/O panel standardized now and not many changes as before. USB 3 header port clear from the main array of LAN and USB 2 ports so that there can be no confusion to what goes where.
Page 1 – 3960X Extreme Edition Introduction
Page 2 – X79 Featuring the Intel® Desktop Board DX79SI
Page 3 – Akasa’s New Venom Strike Chassis
Page 4 – Completed System Builds
Page 5 – System Set-Up and Software Used
Page 6 – CPU Heatsink Fan Cooling
Page 7 – NVIDIA® Geforce GTX 580
Page 8 – Sapphire Technology® Radeon HD 6970
Page 9 – SiSoftware Sandra 2011 (Latest Build) Part 1
Page 10 – SiSoftware Sandra 2011 (Latest Build) Part 2
Page 11 – POV-Ray for Windows v3.7 RC3 (64-bit)
Page 12 – AMD FirePro™ V7900 – Miscellaneous Professional Benchmarks
Page 13 – AMD FirePro™ V7900 – SPECviewperf® and SPECapc™ Tests
Page 14 – Nvidia® Quadro® 4000 – Miscellaneous Professional Benchmarks
Page 15 – Nvidia® Quadro® 4000 – SPECviewperf® and SPECapc™ Tests
Page 16 – Conclusions and Awards