Mainboard and memory
While you can still find a lot of X99 processors on the second-hand market, it looks much worse with the matching boards. Many of them have not survived the years of operation in productive systems at all or are partially defective. Especially faulty RAM or PCIe slots seem to be a common problem. The power-hungry processors also seem to have often taken a toll on the VRM, which was cooled rather minimally at the time. Offers for X99 boards are therefore often more expensive than a good mid-range board for current CPUs from Intel or AMD.
But I won’t let that stop me now, luckily Igor was able to provide me with a “brand new” MSI X99A Gaming 7 from his hardware pool. But even if you don’t have an Igor at your disposal, don’t fall into despair right away, you just need some patience. On the sites for odd electronics such as AliExpress an “new” Socket 2011-3 board can easily be ordered, it just takes some time to be shipped.
But why did I write in quotes? Quite simple: There are no new X99 chipsets anymore and many of the offered boards don’t even use one. In the spirit of smart reuse and profit maximization, they are transferring the still-functioning chipsets from old, defective boards to new PCBs. In the small print of the inexpensive boards one often learns that the smaller C226 or even only B85 chipset was installed. Depending on what you want for your system (eg. features or PCIe lanes), be a bit careful what to order.
I chose one of the most popular and affordable boards, the Machinist X99-RS9. For just under 60 euros including delivery within a week I made a real bargain, because meanwhile the prices have risen noticeably in Germany thanks to stricter customs regulations and import fees. But why did I buy exactly this board, since the choice can literally overwhelm you? Simply put, I relied on the great work of Youtuber Miyconst, who tested a variety of the chinese boards available. Here’s the really helpful video:
Which processors are suitable is also explained. The whole guide is also available in written form or summarized as a presentation on the blog of Miyconst.
Another roadblock is the often somewhat cobbled together BIOS of the cheap motherboards. For example, the X99-RS9 I bought has problems with fast data transfer over the USB 3.0 ports, no way to set RAM speed or timings, and Windows power saving mode doesn’t work. Nothing can be done about the last problem, but the rest can be corrected with an improved BIOS. Often the community makes a bugfix BIOS, but in my case a BIOS from another board works fine on the X99-RS9. Again, Miyconst has a suitable video and even his own tool-collection, which makes flashing a breeze:
The open source program can be downloaded directly from Github.
So, as is often the case, the low prices from the Far East do not come without a catch. I recommend to do your research beforehand and make an informed purchase, otherwise you’ll just be annoyed afterwards. Alternatively, you can hope for a bargain for a used motherboard of the established brands on eBay and similar sites.
And there are also a few more pitfalls when it comes to the choice of RAM. It’s great that the official specification already ends at 2133 Mhz DDR4 and thus the cheapest memory comes into question. However, this platform is not compatible with memory that has only 4 modules (banks). These are the vast majority of 4 GB sticks and also some 8 GB sticks. RAM with 8 banks is mostly compatible, with 16 banks there are no problems at all. So for the optimal quad-channel configuration, 4x 8 GB should provide the best experience.
I used a 2x 8GB Kingston Fury Kit with 2400 Mhz at CL15-15-15 for the tests of the i7 and Xeon here and it worked flawless on both mainboards. The exact designation is HX424C15FB2K2/16.
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