dude congratulations! Thats awesome to hear. Your reviews on youtube are hands down the best mobo reviews out. i dont even understand half of what you're talking about but i love listening to all the nitty gritty electrical jargon. tweaktown is one of the BEST sites out there.. every time i look up a product that no one else reviewed, i find a tweak town review. good stuff man. i dont know u very well, but you obviously deserve it. You must have had a relationship with gigabyte, but now youll get to review msi, asus and asrock. MSI has become my favorite board manufacturer. I wish they didnt go to china like everyone else but they're making some of the coolest bboards these days. Asus has kinda been a joke the last couple years other than workstation boards and some rog stuff. MSI makes boards normal people can buy but still look cool and have functionality. One suggestion: MSI Z97A SLI Krait Edition. PLEASE try to review this! No one did the last krait board.. and this one is even better. I sold my krait z97 and i dont even know if the new usb 3.1 version is coming to the states.
2sites Hey man, thanks! I can try, but I can only really review what i have here and I don't have that board, and the chances of getting another Z97 board are a bit slim :(
Fabulous! I'm speechless, never expected to see such perfection on UA-cam. One request: Would it be possible for you to explain why the MSI BigBang-Xpower II Motherboard (Intel X79 Processor, 128GB RAM, XL-ATX, RAID, Gigabit LAN, Socket LGA2011) is so perfect. I own four and they are by far the best mobos I have ever had. This request brings us to the X99 fiasco (mobo wise). I have 4 i7 5960x waiting for a mobo which deserves them (to replace the X79s). I would like to hear your thoughts on the X99 mobos and why apparently all manufacturers seemed to be surprised by the new chip... All seem half-baked to me, like something assembled on the rush (with a lot of corners being cut). Am I wrong? Is there a great X99 mobo out there? If so I would love one of these reviews on it, or just your recommendations. Once again, congratulations. Cheers.
NorthWolfe Thanks man! So i actually had a X79 BBXP2, it was possibly the best X79 motherboard I had tested, it OCed excellent (especially BLCK), it had great hardware, and it didn't flinch like all the other X79 boards I tested. X99 is a different animal compared to X79, almost really every board I have tested is 100x better than their X79 counterparts. If I was you I would buy a few boards that look good to you and try to get one with the socket with extra pins (all ASUS boards have it, and other manufactures all have it with their latest models). Unlike X79, boards from all manufacturers are quite good for 24/7 use for X99, I think Intel really got their game together for the high end desktop.
sin0822 Thanks for the reply. My X99 builds are replacements for the X79s. They are essentially for CAD/CAM (auto industry) and for Video/Photo editing. It just seems to me (maybe just some bad reviews I read somewhere) that Mobo and RAM manufactures just weren't ready for the X99 platform (or maybe it just doesn't justify the huge investment). The X99 would certainly save me a lot of time/money. What RAM would you recommend I use? Are the timings getting any better? Cheers.
NorthWolfe I wouldn't worry too much about timings they are around the same as DDR3 for the same speeds, but I would recommend staying below 2600MHz, at least for now. Maybe one of those Crucial 2133MHz or 2400MHz 32 GB kits would work fine and hopefully not be too expensive and provide decent performance. The thing is that the memory controller is just a souped up DDR3 IMC, maybe in the future this will change. The issue with X99 and memory is overclocking above 2666mhz for anything other than bench-marking, because the dividers above 26x or 26.66x aren't well implemented by Intel and require manufacturers to individually implement them which is tough, if you do you would be lucky to find a board that consistently boots above 3200MHz well without much training and even more so if it didn't require using the 1.25x BCLK divider. The socket with extra pins helps reduce the VCCSA voltage for higher memory OCes which is important for 3200MHz overclocks, which require +0.5v on boards without the socket and +0.2v on boards with it, but either way support is flaky. I just got in a new 3200MHz Dominator Platinum kit and I will test it out, before I had used G.Skill and Kingston 3200MHz kits with the same results.
sin0822 Thanks. Since they are for productivity PCs no overclocking will be necessary... Never saw much gains in it anyway. 24/7 High-Load stability is what I want. Crucial is my go to memory and I trust the brand at delivering what they promise. I will probably wait a couple of months to see were things stand... It's not like the CPUs have a shelf-life issue ;) Anyway, we are now in the off season where I am just looking around the inter-webby thing for cars to build on in time for the next annual big event (end of the year Bankers' bonuses). Thanks for everything and keep up the amazing work you do! Cheers.
anyway could could briefly cover the differences between the gaming 7 and the gaming 9 (besides the more obvious features like wifi) i also wanted to mention one more thing/discrepancy. in the video and your tweaktown review you state "The PWM is an Intersil ISL6388, and I haven't seen any other brand use this PWM yet, but I think it is Intersil's most advanced VRD 12.5 PWM. This is the first time I have seen Intersil call their PWM digital outside of their Ziker Lab's parts, so it is safe to assume it's a fully digital PWM." in your vrm list (the image of a chart/excel sheet), the msi gaming 7, like the 9, is also listed with ISL6388 however described as Analog/Hybrid
Awesome Review! But i'm a bit curious about how the CPU-VRM on the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 stacks up against this one. I know they have the same number of phases, but do the 7 have the same PWM and dubbers/dual drivers?
have one it's epic. only main reason I have issues with it the mouse and or keyboard. when you power on it has a tendency to turn off both your mouse and keyboard. other then that I paired it with a i7 4790k which i have had up to 4.5ghz and a amd Radeon r9 290x lightning with a corsair have 100i and 16gb ram crucial tactical ballistix tracers. a wd blue 1tb drive. other then mouse and keyboard issues it's a great board.
Essa Placa MSI é melhor que essa : www.kabum.com.br/produto/65670/placa-mae-asus-atx-p-intel-lga-1150-maximus-vii-formula-c-quad-gpu-sli-3-way-crossfirex-box
![[SH]Supermicro C7Z97-OCE Review](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tJh3VS8JJLQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![[SH]Supermicro C7Z97-OCE Review](/img/tr.png)
![[SH]Supermicro C7Z170-OCE and non-K SKU (i3-6100TE) Overclocking](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nXoeYa1Vzjg/mqdefault.jpg)
![[SH] Supermicro C7Z170-OCE Unboxing/Review](/img/n.gif)
We're here for the circuitry analysis and the witty banter. Definitely looking forward to more of your reviews.
Glad to see you back, man.
dude congratulations! Thats awesome to hear. Your reviews on youtube are hands down the best mobo reviews out. i dont even understand half of what you're talking about but i love listening to all the nitty gritty electrical jargon.
tweaktown is one of the BEST sites out there.. every time i look up a product that no one else reviewed, i find a tweak town review. good stuff man. i dont know u very well, but you obviously deserve it. You must have had a relationship with gigabyte, but now youll get to review msi, asus and asrock. MSI has become my favorite board manufacturer. I wish they didnt go to china like everyone else but they're making some of the coolest bboards these days. Asus has kinda been a joke the last couple years other than workstation boards and some rog stuff. MSI makes boards normal people can buy but still look cool and have functionality.
One suggestion: MSI Z97A SLI Krait Edition. PLEASE try to review this! No one did the last krait board.. and this one is even better. I sold my krait z97 and i dont even know if the new usb 3.1 version is coming to the states.
2sites Hey man, thanks! I can try, but I can only really review what i have here and I don't have that board, and the chances of getting another Z97 board are a bit slim :(
sin0822 well, im gonna buy it anyway. And I appreciate the response.. cant review what you dont have. Glad you'll be doing more videos!
Fabulous!
I'm speechless, never expected to see such perfection on UA-cam.
One request: Would it be possible for you to explain why the MSI BigBang-Xpower II Motherboard (Intel X79 Processor, 128GB RAM, XL-ATX, RAID, Gigabit LAN, Socket LGA2011) is so perfect. I own four and they are by far the best mobos I have ever had.
This request brings us to the X99 fiasco (mobo wise). I have 4 i7 5960x waiting for a mobo which deserves them (to replace the X79s).
I would like to hear your thoughts on the X99 mobos and why apparently all manufacturers seemed to be surprised by the new chip... All seem half-baked to me, like something assembled on the rush (with a lot of corners being cut).
Am I wrong? Is there a great X99 mobo out there?
If so I would love one of these reviews on it, or just your recommendations.
Once again, congratulations.
Cheers.
NorthWolfe Thanks man! So i actually had a X79 BBXP2, it was possibly the best X79 motherboard I had tested, it OCed excellent (especially BLCK), it had great hardware, and it didn't flinch like all the other X79 boards I tested. X99 is a different animal compared to X79, almost really every board I have tested is 100x better than their X79 counterparts. If I was you I would buy a few boards that look good to you and try to get one with the socket with extra pins (all ASUS boards have it, and other manufactures all have it with their latest models). Unlike X79, boards from all manufacturers are quite good for 24/7 use for X99, I think Intel really got their game together for the high end desktop.
sin0822 Thanks for the reply. My X99 builds are replacements for the X79s. They are essentially for CAD/CAM (auto industry) and for Video/Photo editing.
It just seems to me (maybe just some bad reviews I read somewhere) that Mobo and RAM manufactures just weren't ready for the X99 platform (or maybe it just doesn't justify the huge investment).
The X99 would certainly save me a lot of time/money.
What RAM would you recommend I use? Are the timings getting any better?
Cheers.
NorthWolfe I wouldn't worry too much about timings they are around the same as DDR3 for the same speeds, but I would recommend staying below 2600MHz, at least for now. Maybe one of those Crucial 2133MHz or 2400MHz 32 GB kits would work fine and hopefully not be too expensive and provide decent performance. The thing is that the memory controller is just a souped up DDR3 IMC, maybe in the future this will change. The issue with X99 and memory is overclocking above 2666mhz for anything other than bench-marking, because the dividers above 26x or 26.66x aren't well implemented by Intel and require manufacturers to individually implement them which is tough, if you do you would be lucky to find a board that consistently boots above 3200MHz well without much training and even more so if it didn't require using the 1.25x BCLK divider. The socket with extra pins helps reduce the VCCSA voltage for higher memory OCes which is important for 3200MHz overclocks, which require +0.5v on boards without the socket and +0.2v on boards with it, but either way support is flaky. I just got in a new 3200MHz Dominator Platinum kit and I will test it out, before I had used G.Skill and Kingston 3200MHz kits with the same results.
sin0822 Thanks. Since they are for productivity PCs no overclocking will be necessary... Never saw much gains in it anyway. 24/7 High-Load stability is what I want.
Crucial is my go to memory and I trust the brand at delivering what they promise.
I will probably wait a couple of months to see were things stand... It's not like the CPUs have a shelf-life issue ;)
Anyway, we are now in the off season where I am just looking around the inter-webby thing for cars to build on in time for the next annual big event (end of the year Bankers' bonuses).
Thanks for everything and keep up the amazing work you do!
Cheers.
anyway could could briefly cover the differences between the gaming 7 and the gaming 9 (besides the more obvious features like wifi)
i also wanted to mention one more thing/discrepancy. in the video and your tweaktown review you state "The PWM is an Intersil ISL6388, and I haven't seen any other brand use this PWM yet, but I think it is Intersil's most advanced VRD 12.5 PWM. This is the first time I have seen Intersil call their PWM digital outside of their Ziker Lab's parts, so it is safe to assume it's a fully digital PWM."
in your vrm list (the image of a chart/excel sheet), the msi gaming 7, like the 9, is also listed with ISL6388 however described as Analog/Hybrid
Awesome Review!
But i'm a bit curious about how the CPU-VRM on the MSI Z97 Gaming 7 stacks up against this one. I know they have the same number of phases, but do the 7 have the same PWM and dubbers/dual drivers?
have one it's epic. only main reason I have issues with it the mouse and or keyboard. when you power on it has a tendency to turn off both your mouse and keyboard. other then that I paired it with a i7 4790k which i have had up to 4.5ghz and a amd Radeon r9 290x lightning with a corsair have 100i and 16gb ram crucial tactical ballistix tracers. a wd blue 1tb drive. other then mouse and keyboard issues it's a great board.
how to turn off the light ?
Where can I kind this motherboard? It seems like it just fell of the earth and no one has it.
+Mr. Jerome C. Harrod Sr. Yea i believe it is sold out everywhere now except for maybe over seas :(
Essa Placa MSI é melhor que essa :
www.kabum.com.br/produto/65670/placa-mae-asus-atx-p-intel-lga-1150-maximus-vii-formula-c-quad-gpu-sli-3-way-crossfirex-box