Intel Basin Falls Platform: Processors and Motherboards

The youngest Intel Basin Falls processor is Core i5-7640X, but it has only four physical cores without Hyper-Threading, that is, there is not twice the number of virtual threads. Buying such a weak processor to build a HEDT computer is clearly not worth it. We consider a quad-core, but eight-threaded Core i7-7740X to be the minimally justified choice.

It is built on the Kaby Lake-X architecture, similar to processors with the more common LGA1151 socket. As a result, the i7-7740X is almost a complete copy of the i7-7700K: the same TurboBoost 2.0 auto-acceleration, the same unlocked multiplier for additional manual overclocking. The only significant difference is the absence of an integrated graphics accelerator. However, it is not needed, because motherboards with an LGA2066 socket still do not have video outputs.

If the Core i7-7740X is no better, and in small things even worse than the i7-7700K, so why pay twice for the LGA2066 motherboard? The meaning lies in the prospect of a future upgrade. If you already realize that eight threads will not be enough for you in a year or two, for example, for video editing or three-dimensional modeling, but the low-cost is limited, take the basic set from the LGA2066 motherboard and the Core i7-7740X processor is inexpensive (compared to other Basin Falls processors) in order to replace only it in the future.

Basin Falls processors with the number of physical cores from six, like the Core i7-7800X, to eighteen, unlike quad-cores, are not built on the latest Kaby Lake-X architecture, but on a slightly older Skylake-X. The main difference for the worse is a lower frequency (even in the case of manual acceleration) caused by the 14+ process instead of the more advanced 14++ nanometers. However, for CPUs with such numerous cores and threads, several hundred megahertz do not make the weather.

In our opinion, the Core i7-7800X is the perfect base for an uncompromising gaming PC with two flagship GeForce GTX 1080 or 1080 Ti graphics cards. There are two reasons for this at once. Firstly, eight threads are no longer enough to unlock the potential of two graphics accelerators. Secondly, LGA1151 processors allow you to connect video cards only in the half-bandwidth PCI-E x8+x8 mode. Whereas the LGA2066 platform removes this restriction.

As a result, the Core i7-7800X is a processor not for the first time, and not for growth, namely to use here and now. As they say, I have assembled it, it works and I don't think about upgrading. A computer with such a percentage and two GTX 1080/1080Ti is guaranteed to be able to pull all games on ultra-graphics settings in 4K resolution for another three to four, or even five years.

The 7900X processor is the youngest and, accordingly, the most affordable representative of the new Core i9 family (the old geek joke about the fictional i9 has come true, now we are waiting for the i11?). It has ten physical cores and, accordingly, twenty virtual threads. The larger the number of cores, the lower the base frequency (only 3.3 GHz) is forced to meet the heat package of 140 watts.

However, for the 7900X, as well as the older Core i9, there are two types of overclocking: the updated automatic Turbo Boost 3.0 Max and the classic manual via a free multiplier. Unlike Turbo Boost 2.0 technology, which accelerates all cores slightly, or one strongly, Turbo Boost 3.0 Max can increase the frequency of each core separately. So, the maximum loaded core gets the highest auto—overclocking frequency (4.5 GHz), and the rest — a little lower (4.3 GHz). However, auto overclocking can be short-term (before overheating), and manual is always a "lottery" (a specific instance of the processor can be overclocked well or poorly).

Naturally, auto acceleration and manual acceleration are possible only if there is a truly efficient cooling system. To remove 140+ watts of heat from 7900X, you will need a supercluster or dropsy (see the article"Air, water and copper pipes: the 5 best CPU coolers of 2017"). But in the Intel Core i9 family there are even more multicore and as a result hot chips: 12-core 7920X, 14-core 7940X, 16-core 7960X and 18-core 7980XE. But in our opinion, they are unreasonably expensive and, if such a powerful percentage is really needed for work tasks, it is wiser to look at the more affordable competing AMD Threadripper.

The MSI X299 Raider motherboard, like its predecessor X99A Raider, is made with an emphasis on functionality without overpaying for design, which makes it significantly cheaper than analogues. It does not have a mottled colour, LED backlight and decorative casing of the interface panel. But there are a lot of really useful things.

So, eight DIMM-DDR4 slots allow you to install up to 128 GB of RAM in four-channel mode (only in the case of SkyLake-X processors, but not Kaby Lake-X). RAM overclocking up to 4500 MHz is available for dual-channel mode (modules with such a high frequency are currently produced only by G.Skill). CPU overclocking, of course, is also supported. A pair of UltraM slots.2 will help to build a simple "reactive" RAID array of two NVMe drives (supported including Intel Optane SSD). And four (de facto, three, since two are located close to each other) PCI-E x16 slots — a bundle of NVIDIA SLI or AMD CrossFire video cards.

The absence of video outputs on the back panel (a feature of all LGA2066 motherboards) allowed ten USB ports to be soldered at once, one of which is double-sided type C. A nice bonus is the advanced Audio Boost 4 sound subsystem with a pair of amplifiers for connecting high-impedance headphones. As a result, MSI X299 Raider can be safely advised to build both a working and gaming PC with not only the younger Basin Falls processors, but even the flagship Core i9 XE.

If the design of computer components is as important to you as functionality, then take a closer look at the ASUS Prime X299-A motherboard. White PC assemblies are now in fashion: for example, in the NZXT H440 case with a similar colour and a transparent side window. And the ASUS Aura technology will allow you to synchronize the colour and intensity of the glow of the motherboard with other PC components: a graphics card, RAM and case LED strips.

If the casing of the rear interface panel Prime X299-A performs an exclusively decorative function (and even makes it difficult to clean the computer from dust), then a large radiator on the chipset really benefits. It cools two M.2 drives in parallel, which, in case of overheating, would reduce the speed of reading and writing to the level of conventional SATA-SSDs.

All three PCI-E x16 slots are reinforced and thus reliably protected from breakage due to long and heavy graphics cards. The sound path bears the proud name Crystal Sound 3 and consists of a top-end (by the standards of integrated) Realtek S1220A audio chip, a pair of headphone amplifiers (one for the front and back of the PC) and high-quality Japanese transistors that minimize noise and distortion. The ASUS Prime X299-A is about a third more expensive than the cheapest LGA2066 motherboards. Its functional advantages are clearly not worth this extra charge, but the spectacular appearance is probably still worth it.