KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
We have already tested the Intel Core i7 3960X EE @ reference clocks in other articles today. Therefore in this specific review we are concentrating on overclocked performance when @ 4.8ghz with the Corsair Dominator GT memory running at 2400mhz with 10-12-10-30 timings @ 1.65 volts.
After all there is a strong possibility that a user purchasing an Asus Rampage IV Extreme board will be running constantly in a highly overclocked state, as close to the limit as possible.
Test System:
Processor: Intel i7 3960X EE
Motherboard: Asus Rampage IV Extreme
Cooler: Antec H20 920
Memory: 8GB Corsair Dominator GT 2400mhz memory
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX590 QUAD SLI. (additional GTX580 Sli testing) – x16/x16
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
Software:
Windows 7 Enterprise (64-bit).
FRAPS Professional.
SiSoft Sandra.
Windows Media Player/VLC Player.
CPUz.
GPUz.
CPUID Hardware Monitor.
Cinebench R11.5 (64-bit).
Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 Ultra.
Cyberlink MediaEspresso.
CrystalDiskMark.
3D Mark Vantage.
3DMark 11.
PCMark 7.
Forceware 285.62.
Games:
Lost Planet 2
Total War: Shogun 2
Comparison Systems:
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
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)
Graphics Card: HIS HD6970 IceQ Mix
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)
Graphics Card: HIS HD6970 IceQ Mix
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)
Graphics Card: HIS HD6970 IceQ Mix
Power Supply: ADATA 1200W
Chassis: SilverStone Raven 3
Boot Drive: Intel 40GB SSD
Secondary Drive: Patriot 120GB WildFire
Great mobo ! but ouch on price (although expected for ROG).
That motherboard is friggin hardcore. 2400mhz memory?! awesome. probably cost £500 in the UK if they ever bring it out here however!
50GB of bandwidth with that Corsair GTX8 memory? I wet myself.
What beautiful memory too, stole the show for me today, never mind the 3960X… (which is good too I guess :p)
Great article, I would have liked to see the temperatures of that 2400mhz memory. I would say the oversized heatspreaders arent there for just show.
I cant believe the result of 50 GB/s of bandwidth with it, thats off the chart.
Great review, as always. One thing though, in the future will this CPU be used to bench new cards? Cause i think for gaming, from the small data i see in the review, it’s not the best performance/$ nor will it be affordable to 99% of gamers out there which would rather spend the cash on video cards.
No, I don’t think we will use it much for ‘general’ reviews in coming months. probably a 2600k system for those.
That Corsair memory is mindblowing. look at the design ! spectacular!
For video editing and 3d work, this is stunning. for the f irst time ive seen how high spec memory can make a difference. 2,400mhz is amazing, but can it overclock more?
Hey man, if you ever want a home for that 590 GTX QUAD SLI system, let me know.
almost 1kw from the socket. lol.
/jealous .
over 63k with 3dmark vantage? I seriously need a system upgrade, about to cry 🙁
Its a great setup, but its not mainstream or even for most enthusiast users. the price of the CPU alone means you could get a decent system, but in regards to technology its a bad sign for AMD, they are so far behind now its not even funny
Seems overkill for most users, if I played games at night and encoding video during the day, sure. but its a 2600k for me im afraid.
I love asus products. I bought one of their rampage boards a few years ago and its still working perfectly at a mad OC level.
LN2 switch is cool, wonder how many people at home would use thaT? any benefits for an ordinary user when ocing or just LN2?
Great review guys. love those high res images for board detail.
I am buying this setup when it is available. thanks for details. going to cost me 3k or so but I already have two GTX590s 🙂
I really do want to get hold of some of that memory from Corsair, that is insanely good.
How about WEI score? Can i7-3960x reach perfect 7.9? I have read many reviews that there is no processor that reach it without extreme overclocking.
Wei , the windows experience index?
Yes 7.9.
Anyone notice that Asus did not make the Rampage IV extreme with bluetooth V3.0… they are using the old 2.1 version, likely to continue the sells of they’re current Rampage III Black Edition.
Guess, they want me to wait until they come out with another black edition only for the Rampage IV?
Yeah thats weird, why would they do that?
Wow, this is cool, Intel Core i7-3960x EE is the first desktop processor capable of reaching the WEI (Windows Experience Index) perfect 7.9 at stock speed (3.30 GHz).
For the other components that have reached 7.9: DDR3 memory > 12 GB, HD 6970 or GTX 580 or faster, 200 GB or higher SATA 6 Gbps SSD.