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Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WIFI (with Intel Xeon E5 2660) Review

To test today we are using the reference XEON clock speed. In various sections of the review we will compare against a variety of systems and processors we have tested in the past, listed below.

Main Test System:

Processor: Intel E5 2660
Motherboard
: Gigabyte X79S-UP5-WIFI
Cooler
: Corsair H100
Memory
: 16GB G.Skill ARES 2,133mhz @ 9-11-10-28

Graphics Card
: Sapphire HD7970 6GB Toxic Edition (1,200mhz core 1,600mhz memory).
Power Supply
: Corsair AX1200
Optical Drive
: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis
: Lian Li X2000a
Monitors
: Dell U3011, 3x Ilyama ProLite E2472HDD
Boot Drive: Intel 510 120GB
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB WildFire

Comparison Systems:

Intel i7 3960X EE
Motherboard: Asus P9X79 WS WorkStation
Cooler: Corsair H100
Memory
: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT8 2400mhz memory
Graphics Card
: AMD HD7770 CrossfireX
Power Supply
: ADATA 1200W
Optical Drive
: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis
: Cooler Master Cosmos 2
Monitors
: Dell U3011, 3x Ilyama ProLite E2472HDD
Boot Drive: Crucial C300 128GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 240GB Pyro SE

Intel i7 3960X EE
Motherboard
: Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Cooler
: Antec H20 920
Memory
: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT 2400mhz memory
Power Supply: Enermax Platimax 1200W
Optical Drive
: Asus BluRay Drive
Chassis
: Lian Li PC-A77FR Aluminium Red Full Tower Case
Monitors
: Dell U3011, 3x Ilyama ProLite E2472HDD
Boot Drive: Patriot WildFire 120GB
Secondary Drive: 1TB Samsung

Intel i7 3820
Motherboard
: ASRock Extreme4-M
Cooler: Intel reference cooler
Memory: 8GB Corsair GTX8 @ 2133mhz
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: Lian Li PC60
Monitors: Dell U3011/La Cie 730
Boot Drive: Crucial C300
Secondary Drive: Patriot Pyro SE 240GB

AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Processor: AMD FX 8150 Black Edition
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire

Intel Core i7 990X
Processor
: Intel Core i7 990x
Cooler: Corsair H100
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 Assassin
Memory: Kingston HyperX 6GB
Drives: Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB
Power Supply: Corsair AX1200
Chassis: Antec Twelve Hundred

Core i7 970 @ 4.6ghz
Graphics
: SAPPHIRE HD 7970 6GB TOXIC Edition
Cooling: Coolit Vantage
Motherboard
: MSI X58A-GD65
Chassis
: Thermaltake Level 10 GT
Power Supply
: Corsair AX1200
Memory
: 6GB ADATA @ 2133mhz 9-10-9-32
Storage
: Kingston SSDNow V+ 512GB Gen 2 SSD (Storage) / Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB (OS boot)
Monitor: Dell U3011.

Intel Core i7 2700k
Processor
: Intel Core i7 2700k
Cooling: ThermalTake Frio OCK
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Chassis: Silverstone Raven 3.
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory
Storage: Intel 80GB SSD (boot) / Patriot Wildfire 120GB SSD.

Intel Core i7 2600k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2600k
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z68 Professional Gen 3
Cooler: Intel XTS-100H
Memory: ADATA 1600mhz DDR3 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W
Boot Drive: Intel 510 SSD 250GB

Intel Core i5 2500k
Processor: Intel Core i7 2500k
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z68AP-D3 Z68 Motherboard
Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer Xtreme Rev.2 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair 1600mhz memory 8GB (2x4GB)
Power Supply: Corsair 850W.
Boot Drive: Patriot Pyro 120GB SSD.

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7
Cooler: Noctua NH D14
Memory: G-SKill Ripjaws 1600mhz 8GB (2x 4GB)
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire

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6 comments

  1. That is one insane motherboard. very impressive featureset. not that expensive either, I was factoring in £400 before I got to the conclusion.

  2. That GSKILL ares memory looks like it was made for the board.

    Good results, not for me, but I can appreciate the workstation desire for this. over £1,000 for the chip puts it firmly in the market for rendering and video work.

    Shame they cant be overclocked, but I see their more expensive Xeon’s cost quite a bit extra so wouldnt make much sense for them logistically.

  3. These are great chips. they will always be locked out. the pro market doesn’t want unlocked chips, instability ALWAYS occurs with overclocking.

    Still I understand your point. would be nice to see performance at 4.5ghz. would be interested myself to see the headroom. 8 cores might heat up more than the 6 core 3960 and 3930. although im sure 4.5ghz would be possible with the H100.

  4. mega review Zardon – ive always loved Xeon processors. we adopted 6 of the new E5 2670 in our business for the network and serving clients.

    Our IT guys are always singing their praises for being 100% solid. personally im not into overclocking so id be happy with one of these, if I could justify the cost. 3930 is next on my list, but ill run it stock speeds.

  5. Is the C606 chipset also suitable for a normal non-xeon build? I am planning on using this board for a future build since it is cheaper than most high-end X79 board, and I don’t really trust the first generation of X79 boards.

  6. This board works with 2011 slot processors, including the 3930 and 3960, yes.