Asus X79 Sabertooth | Core i7-3960x (Successful)

[paulash]

thanks man
that mean....VT 6xxx chipset is working

 

[subaro0o]

thanks man
that mean....VT 6xxx chipset is working

Glad I could answer your question Paulash, I saw you asking like a mad man in the other threads

 

[timelapser01]

wow! impressive build. congratulations!

I am using Lightroom 4, FinalCut Pro X as well as Adobe AE a lot, as well as Motion (but Motion not on my build, as I have strange render problem with Nikon NEF RAW).

See my build here: viewtopic.php?f=54&t=56534. I am also having a good experience with OSX software Raid of the 2 barracudas I am using - extremely fast.

Question: I understand that the 6 cores make some difference, but does the NVIDIA card make a difference? What are your experiences? Is Lightroom actually making use of the NVIDIA or more of the 6 cores?

Cheers
C

 

[mitchellk]

Question: I understand that the 6 cores make some difference, but does the NVIDIA card make a difference? What are your experiences? Is Lightroom actually making use of the NVIDIA or more of the 6 cores?

Thanks timelapser Very sweet build you have there too

I can't honestly see how having one of the later Nvidia cards has improved anything for me. The new 6-core processor with hyperthreading turned on however has really changed things for me especially with Lightroom which when rendering uses all 12-cores. On my older i7-965xe processor I could never get Lightroom to properly utilise all cores.

The biggest problem these days is sourcing video cards which are known to work 100% with Mac, I wanted to go with something really solid and proven but could not for love or money source them in SA.

 

[mitchellk]

A far as Speedstepping goes, I used the latest PowerManagement and Speedstepping stuff provided by Tony and MacMan in the latest Multibeast but sadly these still do not work on the X79 chipset. They did not cause any Kernel Panics or anything simply no Speedstepping YET. All this means is my processor will not speedstep/turbo-boost but it does stay at a stock value of 3300Mhz with a multiplier of x33.

I think MacMan will soon find a way to bring Speedstepping to the X79 chipsets here's hoping.

I found a very nice Overclocking guide for this board from Asus on Youtube, I will soon try and push this to around 4.4 Gb and see what Geek/Cinebench reveal. Will update here with any progress.

 

[timelapser01]

well, that Lightroom uses all Cores is already very good, I am already happy with the performance it has on my build, but it can always be faster . I had no time yet to experiment with KEXTs, so I will see too.

Sure Tony and MacMan will find a way to find a workaround with the X79, at least when the new iMacs with 6cores arrive.

I have made good experience with the XFX radeon 6970. Good luck with the Overclocking!
Cheers
C

 

[timelapser01]

A far as Speedstepping goes, I used the latest PowerManagement and Speedstepping stuff provided by Tony and MacMan in the latest Multibeast but sadly these still do not work on the X79 chipset. They did not cause any Kernel Panics or anything simply no Speedstepping YET. All this means is my processor will not speedstep/turbo-boost but it does stay at a stock value of 3300Mhz with a multiplier of x33.

mitchell, what I forgot to ask: would this build also be possible with OSX 10.6.8?

cheers
c

 

[mitchellk]

A far as Speedstepping goes, I used the latest PowerManagement and Speedstepping stuff provided by Tony and MacMan in the latest Multibeast but sadly these still do not work on the X79 chipset. They did not cause any Kernel Panics or anything simply no Speedstepping YET. All this means is my processor will not speedstep/turbo-boost but it does stay at a stock value of 3300Mhz with a multiplier of x33.

mitchell, what I forgot to ask: would this build also be possible with OSX 10.6.8?

cheers
c

Hi timelapser, I don't see why not. I have a spare HDD, I will see if I get an hour later today and will test and confirm for you. Will let you know.

 

[yoni1]

Hi Mitchell & everyone,

Congrats on the sweet build! I actually followed MK500's build, but got an MSI GTX 580 card like in this build. I was a bit surprised by how loud this graphics card is. Do you know of a way to turn down the fan speed on OSx? I know that MSI has that Afterburner app for windows, but haven't been able to find something comparable for Lion.

Thanks!

 

[MK500]

Not exactly a software based solution, but this is the only thing that has finally made me happy in terms of quieting those crappy GPU fans:

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/vga/554/accelero-xtreme-iii.html?c=2182

I have one in my rig, and it keeps my card super cool and completely quiet. The down sides are that it is a pain to install, takes up a lot of space, and likely voids your GPU warranty. You have to make sure your case will fit it, as it extends goes beyond the length of the video card (on my version at least). I've found it to be totally worth the hassle though. One thing that will save you a lot of time if you go this route: If your existing GPU cooler didn't have heat syncs on the RAM or anything contacting them; don't bother installing the ones with the new cooler. It's not necessary.

It amazes me that the GPU manufacturers will sell a $400+ video card with a crappy cooling system (single fan that is too small and too noisy...not enough heat sync).