Intel launched new Extreme LGA 2011 platform end of 2011 to replace 3-year long LGA 1366.
Recently, Intel uses two different sockets to define the product position. New Extreme uses X79 chipset.
X79 is the product at the top of pyramid. CPU is Core i7 series only. It has 4C8T and 6C12T.

The mid-high level is LGA 1155. It has full product line, from entry to Core i7.
CPU has 1C2T~4C8T. It means the top LGA 1155 is the entry of LGA 2011.
Intel dual product lines are different positions and pricing strategies. I do suggest you to study carefully before buying.

This time, the CPU I got is LGA 2011 Intel Core i7-3820.
It’s entry CPU for X79 platform. The structure is 4C8T which is different with two 6C12T 3930K and 3960X.
Even though it’s entry Core i7 of LGA 2011, the price is similar with LGA 1155 Core i7...


i7-3820 clock is 3.6GHz. It supports Turbo Boost 2.0 and up to 3.80GHz.
It’s physical 4 Cores with Hyper-Threading to support 8 threads, called 4C8T.
It’s 32nm manufacturing, TDP 130W, and 10MB L3 Cache. The picture is the back side.


MB is using GIGABYTE X79-UD5, the mid end X79 board.
GIGABYTE X79 UD5 and G1.Assassin2 both bundle BT4.0/Wi-Fi combo PCI-E card.


It’s E-ATX form factor, 30.5cm x 26.4cm.
It looks bigger but still can install into regular ATX case, like Sharkoon T28.


Lower-Left Corner
3 X PCI-E X16 support 3-Way AMD CrossFireX/nVIDIA SLI.
The bandwidth is X16 + X16 or X8 + X8 + X8.
2 X PCI-E X1
1 X PCI
LAN Chip is Intel GbE LAN
Audio chip is Realtek ALC898, support 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio technology.
Design in Taipei


Lower-Right Corner
2 White SATA support SATA3, provided by X79.
4 lack SATA support SATA2, provide by X79.
Above SATA can support hybrid RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10. The performance is based on installed SATA devices.
4 Gray SATA support SATA3, provided by Marvell 88SE9172. They support RAID 0 and RAID 1.
2 X 64 Mbit flash for Dual BIOS, 1 front USB 3.0 and 3 USB 2.0 ports.


Upper Side
X79-UD5 uses 14-phase digital PWM for CPU. CPU metal cover is plating process.
8xDIMM DDR3 support 1066/1333/1600/1866/2133. The max DDR3 capacity is 64GB.
DRAM supports quad channel and Extreme Memory Profile technology.


IO
1 X PS2 KB/Mouse
1 X O.C. button
1 X BIOS switch
1 X Clear CMOS button
7 X USB 2.0(Red/Black)
1 X eSATA/USB 3.0 Combo(Blue)
1 X eSATA3 Combo(Blue)
2 X USB 3.0(Blue)
1 X RJ-45 LAN
1 X S/PDIF Optical Output
5 X Audio Jacks


X79 Chipset use big heat-sink. The good harmonious color makes board more elegant.


MOSFET heat-sink, you can see the special cutting make surface bigger.
The heat-pipe design can balance the heat between chipset and PWM.

GIGABYTE starts to use UEFI interface since X79.
The main setup page has 2 interfaces. This part is different with the others.
First, we look at the 3D BIOS. The GUI design is based on product outlook.


M.I.T. Tuning Page. You can see the real time hardware status.


LGA 2011 CPU frequency is much higher than LGA 1155.
Depending on CPU quality, like the picture, I adjust CPU from 100MHz to 125MHz.


Memory Setup Page, you can enable XMP here.
As rising CPU clock, DDR3 will be sync with it. I set memory as 1600.


Advanced DDR3 parameters - CL9 10-10-27 1T


Voltage Page
According to CPU quality and cooler, I add 0.460V.
CPU Vtt is 1.1000V. If you would like to OC CPU and memory more, you need to add this voltage.


DDR3 Voltage is 1.600V.


PC Health Status


The setup above is OC Core i7-3820 to 4.75G and DDR3 to 2000.
If you would like to OC higher, you have to rise the CPU Vtt. The range is 1.100 ~ 1.200V.
If you only use multiplier to OC i7-3820, you can achieve 4.3GHz only by ratio X43.
It doesn’t support unlock features as 3930K or 3960X.

System Configuration
CPU: Intel Core i7-3820
MB: GIGABYTE X79-UD5
DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMT16GX3M4X2133C9
VGA: msi N560GTX-Ti Twin Frozr II
HD: Intel 520 Series 120GB
POWER: CORSAIR AX650W
Cooler: CORSAIR Hydro Series H100
OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit


Cooler is CORSAIR H100 Liquid Cooling System
Hydro Series has H60, H80 and H100.
Below is H100 packing. It’s 5-year warranty. The packing is bigger than H80.
It lists all compatible CPU socket. It also supports latest LGA 2011 CPU.