The X99 – All’s Well That’s Haswell

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9ALL

Representing a die deafening “TOCK” on professor Intel’s roadmap to silicone sainthood, the x99 with triad of extreme Haswellery should have excelled on all fronts – not least those where the x79 had flattered to deceive – realising every Enthusiast’s earnest wishes and igniting the convincing revival of a market whose existence might soon have become decidedly tenuous.

At first glance, the socket – traditionally novel following an architectural shift –  bore as much similarity to its forerunner as imaginable.  We have reflected on how the end of 2008 witnessed Intel’s introduction of separate sockets for its mainstream and enthusiast customers, but where the former group’s transition from Sandy Bridge to Haswell included notable physical updates, the latter’s were virtually non-existent.

We had known for months of Intel’s intentions to retain the 2011 design for its Haswell Heavyweights, but identifying any distinctions might have proven an impossible challenge were it not not for a crafty re-christening.

At the risk of slight deviation, the image above depicts four “Xeon” CPUs, processors targeted at businesses and engineered to thrive in resource hungry workstations and servers, alongside two more familiar I7 “Extreme” chips aimed at our consumer enthusiast.

The Ivy Bridge EP succeeded the Sandy Bridge-EP  just as the Ivy Bridge-E had dethroned Sandy Bridge-E.  All four of these parts were interchangeable, provided the motherboard manufacturer supplied a supporting BIOS.

In contrast, despite being physically installable in the same socket, an Ivy Bridge-EX chip would only operate in server-class motherboards with a minimum of two sockets and a maximum of thirty two!

Lastly, the Haswell-EP, another Xeon part, featured Intel’s revised design entitled “Socket 2011-3″, the same as the consumer oriented Haswell-E and once more, both CPUS were interchangeable when afforded a compatible motherboard and BIOS.

In examining all three interpretations, especially the Ivy Bridge-EX and Haswell-EP, their dimensions were identical, the spacing between each tiny hexagon or “ball pattern pitch” matched exactly, even the number of contacts was the same but their electrical layout and PCB’s keying (the notches on the upper and lower edges) had both been subtly altered.

Not since the ubiquitous LGA 775 had the company’s partiality to a pin pattern so permeated its product lines and by all accounts, would continue to do so throughout the subsequent two years.

Humble Customer:  May it please my lord and master Intel, but I have just acquired a Z-68 motherboard from one of your appointed Generals, Asrock, it is inscribed “Gen 3”, am I bound to savour the  princely pixel pioneering of Nvidia or AMD through the powers of PCI Express 3.0?

Lord and Master Intel:   Hmm, well, so long as Ivy has supplanted Sand and ensured those barren lanes now flower…then, yes.

Humble Customer:  May it please my Lord and master Intel, but I have cast my hard earned cash away upon a two Flagships.  The first, from another of your proudly ascribed interpreters, Asus, bears the esteemed engraving, x79 and the second, a processor of your own ingenious forging, the 3970x.  Am I to be blessed with the bandwidth that can bolster my dreams of a PCI Express 3 paradise, a glowing graphical utopia and slots of searingly swift SSDs?

Lord and Master Intel:  I shall utter nothing about the potential of such past machinations, delightful though they might be.  The sole means by which to realise your chosen destiny is to cultivate Ivy…..to Bridge over the Sandy chasm, seek the numbers 4, 9, 6, 0, then…as ever, X shall mark the spot.

Humble Customer:  Right, so basically another $1000 CPU then.

Lord and Master Intel:  A waiter’s tip for the seasoned enthusiast?

Humble Customer:  What about that patch from Nvidia, that just enables PCI-E 3.o for no dollars?

Lord and Master Intel:  Ahh yes, the one of which old Green Eyes advised, “Use only if stability is not absolutely crucial, or if the hardware is not operating in a mission-critical environment.”?

Humble Customer:  That’s the one.

Lord and Master Intel:  Read between the lines my friend, he’s saying…apply at your own risk….your own peril.  The peril of extinguishing all vestige of inner peace.  The risk of raising a personal Hell, of reducing your house and family to ash…!

Humble Customer:  Well, I live in rented accommodation, I’m moving next month, my insurance is solid and my family only bother me at Christmas so…

Lord and Master Intel:  The risk of your system spontaneously rebooting when on the verge of exquisitely brutal triumph in a Battlefield team deathmatch…

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9ALL