X79-UD5 is EOL? What board to get instead?

[Ryan Thomas]

I was placing an order for my new hack and was told the X79-UD5 is EOL??

They told me the GA-X79S-UP5-WIFI was the replacement, or the GA-X79-UP4

Will this work??? anyone tested this?

 

[thelostswede]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide 2012

I was placing an order for my new hack and was told the X79-UD5 is EOL??

They told me the GA-X79S-UP5-WIFI was the replacement, or the GA-X79-UP4

Will this work??? anyone tested this?

We've got a board coming, but I'd say go for the X79-UP5, the X79S-UP5 is going to be a lot more expensive as it uses the workstation grade C606 chipset with SAS 3Gbps support, but that only works if you have a Xeon processor.

 

[Ryan Thomas]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide 2012

Thanks for the reply.

Actually locally the X79S-UP5 is the same price as the -X79-UD5 was, so the budget is there.
Just don't feel like buying something that is not going to work.

 

[thelostswede]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide 2012

Thanks for the reply.

Actually locally the X79S-UP5 is the same price as the -X79-UD5 was, so the budget is there.
Just don't feel like buying something that is not going to work.

Well, as I said in my previous reply, the X79S-UP5 is meant for Xeon CPU's, not Core i7's as to make the SAS ports work, you need a Xeon CPU. This is why I suggested the X79-UP4 instead as it's more or less the direct replacement of the X79-UD5. Also note that so far, the four rear USB 3.0 ports on the X79S-UP5 can't be used in OS X due to lack of drivers.

You can compared the board features here http://www.gigabyte.com/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=4288,4287,4049

 

[Ryan Thomas]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide 2012

Well, as I said in my previous reply, the X79S-UP5 is meant for Xeon CPU's, not Core i7's as to make the SAS ports work, you need a Xeon CPU. This is why I suggested the X79-UP4 instead as it's more or less the direct replacement of the X79-UD5. Also note that so far, the four rear USB 3.0 ports on the X79S-UP5 can't be used in OS X due to lack of drivers.

You can compared the board features here http://www.gigabyte.com/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=4288,4287,4049

Thanks for the reply

I understand the Xeon only features.

Locally there is only a $35 difference between the X79-UP4 and the X79S-UP5 so money is not a factor, (would this change your recommendation?)

The X79S-UP5 has firewire, however are you saying the X79-UP4's USB 3 will work with ML?

So the X79-UP4 will be easier to setup and more compatible out the box?

Cheers
Ryan

 

[thelostswede]

Article: Building a CustoMac: Buyer's Guide 2012

In terms of installation, there shouldn't be any difference between the boards.
The FireWire chip Gigabyte uses doesn't work well with OS X anyhow, so you can forget about that.

The reason I'm saying the UP4 over the UP5 is simply that half of the features won't work unless you get yourself a Xeon CPU. Your call really. Keep in mind though that Xeon's also need more expensive ECC memory.

Also, I moved this to a new thread, as it's quite off topic now.

 

[Ryan Thomas]

Thanks for the input!

I agree then the X79-UP4 it is.

 

[thelostswede]

It would appear I was wrong with regards to the SAS ports, they work with Sandy Bridge-E CPU's too http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/X79S-UP5_WiFi/
I wasn't aware Intel had enabled that, as Initially the chipset spec called for a Xeon CPU (Sandy Bridge-EP) for it to work, so I guess you can get either board.

 

[psionicsin]

It would appear I was wrong with regards to the SAS ports...

I have a question about these SAS ports that I'm not finding in the readings. Do they function like traditional server grade SAS ports to where instead of hooking up one SATA drive to each port, that each individual SAS port can support up to 2 SATA drives?

Traditionally I've seen boards/controller cards that has SAS ports come with a cable that sends 2 SATA lanes directly to one SAS port.

 

[thelostswede]

I have a question about these SAS ports that I'm not finding in the readings. Do they function like traditional server grade SAS ports to where instead of hooking up one SATA drive to each port, that each individual SAS port can support up to 2 SATA drives?

Traditionally I've seen boards/controller cards that has SAS ports come with a cable that sends 2 SATA lanes directly to one SAS port.

No, Gigabyte (as well as every other "consumer grade" motherboard with SAS out there) used standard SATA style connectors. I think you're thinking about the mini SAS connectors that allows for four drives to be connected per port. Sadly this has as yet to be implemented on a single consumer board, at least as far as I'm aware.
So the simple answer is no, it's one drive per port.
Have a look here for some more details - http://www.anandtech.com/show/6231/...review-ultra-durable-5-meets-the-c606-chipset