[Gaming] Dual x16 PCI Express for SLI .. LGA1150 or LGA2011

[bar10dr]

I'm looking to run two 980's in SLI.

So from what I gather i7-4790K on the LGA1150 platform is the best pure gaming processor out there on the intel side at the moment.

But I can't find any motherboards for LGA1150 that will support dual x16 PCI Express?
Looking at the LGA2011 side you have the i7-5930K who's motherboards will support dual x16 but at a much lower CPU clock speed.

Are there any LGA1150 dual x16 motherboards out there that's not gone into retirement?

 

[LukaBoki]

ASUS Maximus VII Hero.

 

[legend001523]

^ no, the hero runs at x8 x8 on sli if I'm not mistaken, nevertheless, a msi zpower might do the job, it runs at x16 x8 I think

 

[unknownofprob]

with the 5930k the socket is LGA 2011-3.

With 3/4 way SLI/Xfire LGA 2011/2011-3 is by far the way to go but for two cards LGA 1150 is fine.

As for your question -

This one can do dual X16/X16 if cards are placed in the top two slots -

Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming GT

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4969#ov

The Hero VII runs in dual X8.

 

[LukaBoki]

Isn't x8x8 the same as x16? Performance wise.

 

[unknownofprob]

I though the same thing, but after comparing the bandwidth myself there is a difference with multiple cards.

 

[legend001523]

Not really, it limits both cards by a bit since t's x8, x8, but x16 x8 will be better and same for x16 x16 ofc

 

[LukaBoki]

Oh,I didn't know that.
@OP Then the Gigabyte board @unknownofprob suggested is the one you should get. 😉

 

[bar10dr]

Thanks for the help guys.

I'm either going to go with the "4790K - Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming GT" option or shell out for a "5930K - Asus Rampage V Extreme" combo...

Decisions decisions

 

[LukaBoki]

The first one.

 

[unknownofprob]

the second board is not really needed. A Gigabyte X99 UD4 is good enough -

It'll run multiple card the same, as the configurations are the same. I'd go for option number 2, DDR4 ram is very appealing.

 

[bar10dr]

the second board is not really needed. A Gigabyte X99 UD4 is good enough -

It'll run multiple card the same, as the configurations are the same. I'd go for option number 2, DDR4 ram is very appealing.

When it comes to gaming, is it the RAM speed worth the huge loss in CPU speed though?

 

[unknownofprob]

There isn't a huge loss in 'speed' when comparing the CPU and ram. Later on, the i7 5930k will be far better at gaming then the 4970k can achieve. DDR4 ram is far better then DDR3, and is quite cheap for what they are.

I don't really know what your saying, but the speed of the processor (GHz) isn't much a factor when comparing these CPU's.

 

[bar10dr]

There isn't a huge loss in 'speed' when comparing the CPU and ram. Later on, the i7 5930k will be far better at gaming then the 4970k can achieve. DDR4 ram is far better then DDR3, and is quite cheap for what they are.

I don't really know what your saying, but the speed of the processor (GHz) isn't much a factor when comparing these CPU's.

Well as I understand it the 4970k can easily be overclocked to 4.7Ghz, the 5930k safe overclock hovers around 4.0Ghz?

Or am I looking at this wrong. If you can't judge by Ghz then how are consumers supposed to make valid choices?

 

[unknownofprob]

when comparing those CPU's, their clock rates shouldn't be a factor. 4 cores vs 6, 8MB Cache vs 15MB. 2MB Cache per core vs 2.5MB Cache per core. I have clocked my 4930k to 4.9Ghz nicely, the 5930k is a solid CPU at 4.5GHz, though every CPU doesn't have the same overclocking capability. In terms of the long run, the 5930k easily has it's advantages to suffice it far better. The 5930k has 40 lanes of bandwidth (PCI-E 3.0)compared to the 4790k's 16 (PCI-E 3.0).