Rampage VI Extreme (LGA2066, Intel X299) - info, experience, BIOSes etc.

[DragonPurr]

Also waiting on the board to be released to get my setup completed ... While it is hard to cope with all the waiting, It has been great so far to follow all the amazing discussions here and even know we have some fellow Brazilians visiting this thread ! A question for you guys also waiting for this board - which case are you considering for your setup ? I myself am torn apart between the several phanteks, in win, li lian and thermaltake alternatives.

PC case selection tends to be a personal decision. Just make sure that your case can fit an E-ATX mobo. If you use a mid-tower like the Phanteks Evolv ATX or Corsair 570X, the R6E mobo may cover up some or all of the rubber grommet openings to the right of the mobo. But if that happens, you can use longer standoffs and route the 24-pin, SATA, and other cables underneath the mobo, just being careful that protruding pins on the underside do not jab into the cables. I think the R6E would also look fantastic in an open chassis like the Thermaltake Core P5.

[mpoffo]

Meh... you are just wasting time by phoning/emaling Newegg, Amazon, Asus, etc, or by repeatedly asking Raja for release dates.

Aren't we all wasting time while waiting? If someone wants to contact Newegg or whomever that is fine. You have your way of passing your time with your input and theories and others have theirs.

[Mavtop]

I also hope that the wait results in bigger initial shipments to all retailers, especially the bigger retailers in each country, with at least 150 units for many of the big retailers. That would be an epic fail if retailers still only received 40 to 60 boxes after a 3-month delay.

The last BIOS update was exactly 3 weeks ago, which included "Upgrade DRAM compatibility and performance". But with TTL's R6E review showing slower memory performance, they obviously need another BIOS fix for memory.

If you are doing big compiles, you absolutely need to use a RAM Disk, which will make even RAIDed NVMe SSDs feel sluggish. My software work is all done on i7 SSD-equipped laptops using RAM Disks for compilations. My gaming build remains as a delidded/OCed 7700K with two 1080 Ti GPUs. So my i9 builds are solely for 4K video and photo processing.

I wonder what the next Rampage VII Extreme will later look like after Asus has raised the aesthetics bar so high on the VI? With In Win's Signature Series cases, they have now pushed the envelope to make a totally spherical clear PC case called the Winbot that looks like Pac-Man when you raise its lid.

RAMDisk ftw. I'm with you pal. I was just tired of going back and forth, figured why not all in one.

[Feklar]

I'm hoping that the wait is meant to be a time for the developers to work out all the kinks in the software, so when it hits, it will benchmark better, go faster, remain stable, and generally Intel can once again say "We are the fastest consumer oriented experience bar none."

I've got high hopes for the 7980XE, it gives me enough flexibility to not only run consumer apps and games, but enough horsepower to compile relatively quickly, and "EXTREME" multitask, which means I shouldn't have to compromise anymore on what processes are running in the background when I'm trying to stream at the same time.

Supercross between workstation & consumer.

I'm sure the board is already finished and ready to go. I don't think anything else needs to be worked out softwarewise. Anything else can be done through bios updates. I'm sure TTL would have found any serious issues in his review. This appears to be just marketing and nothing else like a delay caused by hardware or software issues. The software and even the bios are similar to the Apex and it runs fine. The R6E will be available close to the availability of the HCC processors. Remember it was supposed to be week 33 and now we're in week 37 and still nothing. It would have been better if Asus would have just told us this but I'm sure there is an NDA with Intel that prevents this. There would be no other logical reason for the delay in release or the "extreme" secrecy in it's retail availability.

[DragonPurr]

Aren't we all wasting time while waiting? If someone wants to contact Newegg or whomever that is fine. You have your way of passing your time with your input and theories and others have theirs.

But the problem is that you do not receive ANY input, reply, or theory by contacting Raja, Asus, or retailers about a release date.

[Exzelsior]

Why would asus wait on intel, that makes no sense. The people that need a workstation CPU will wait till it's available, which also stretches the timeframe when people will buy the board to weeks instead of only the first week. On the other hand some people buy the board and put it on a shelf till the CPU comes out...

To back the no sense part, the R6E is suposedly already available from vendors in new zealand:
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MBD...l-X299-Chipset

They probably got there by plane because of small shipments. Australian suppliers already measure the ETA in days, even if they delayed that a few times by now, but it's not far from asia by ship obviously. The container ship from taiwan or wherever the boards actually are made to everwhere else need up to a month so I suspect it's only a matter of time. That intel comes out with its other CPUs around the same time is pure coincidence or logic, because the release and delivery windows are the same...

[DragonPurr]

Why would asus wait on intel, that makes no sense. The people that need a workstation CPU will wait till it's available, which also stretches the timeframe when people will buy a board to weeks instead of only the first week.

To back that, the R6E is suposedly already available from vendors in new zealand:
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MBD...l-X299-Chipset

They probably got there by plane because of small shipments. Australian suppliers already measure the ETA in days, even if they delayed that a few times by now. The container ship from taiwan or wherever the boards actually are made to everwhere else needs up to a month so I suspect it's only a matter of time. That intel comes out with its other CPUs around the same time is pure coincidence or logic, because the release and delivery windows are the same...

Asus actually loses more by waiting on Intel due to various people who have already gotten tired of waiting for the R6E and bought another mobo, including buying mobos from competitors. But I think perhaps (and this is all just guessing) Intel entered an NDA-bound agreement with Asus to purposely synch both releases together in hopes of driving up sales of their most expensive (and highest profit margin) X299 CPUs. If the R6E was released one or two months before Intel's other HCC i9s, many people would cave in and buy the 7900X instead of waiting another one or two months.

I mentioned in a previous post that these OEM partnerships happen all the time, and they often mainly benefit one party only. But Intel can flex their marketing muscle and offer Asus other perks in return for Asus delaying their R6E release. Thus, if this was really a signed deal between Intel and Asus, a hush-hush NDA was also involved, which would explain the mystery silence by Asus.

I don't know if there are any Kiwis lurking on this forum, but there have already been numerous previous instances of retailers presenting an [Add To Cart] button, but it just turned out to be a pre-order. If you click on that "Show branch stock" for that NZ retailer, it only shows 6 mobos across both islands. I would think that New Zealand has more than 6 PC enthusiasts total. True - "it's only a matter of time". But after a 3-month delay, having the R6E release on the last week of Sep with the HCC i9s is more than "pure coincidence".

[Brighttail]

So I'm getting ready to buy my 7900x and have to do some thinking. Being in Canada, anything I do with purchasing, delidding, ect I have to consider our weak Canadian dollar and potential shipping/brokerage fees. All that follows is in Canadian dollars.

A new 7900x that is as is, purchased in Canada is about $1350 with shipping. For $150 more I can send it off to get delidded, which would include shipping. I can get a de-lidded one that is guaranteed to hit 4.7 from the US and take my chances as to whether I would be charged brokerage or not. If I do, it would be $250ish.

I don't know how likely it is I can get a chip that would clock to 4.7GHz. Seems that I haven't 'hit the silicone lottery' since my i5-2500k. Buying the CPU straight from Silicone Lottery is the quickest but may be a little more expensive. Buying the CPU from Canada ensures I don't get any brokerage charges, but I still have to ship it down to the US to get it delidded (Not that I have a motherboard to put it in).

I could go cheaper for a 4.5 or 4.6 and see if I could get a little more out of it with a little extra voltage. I'm not sure how Silicon Lottery tests its CPUJs but the 4.5 runs at 1.21v and the 4.8 runs at 1.25. I'm hearing that MOST of the 7900x CPUs are capable of 4.6 after being delidded. Ah decisions, decisions....

[DragonPurr]

RAMDisk ftw. I'm with you pal. I was just tired of going back and forth, figured why not all in one.

I actually went in the opposite direction as you. I have always done software work on fast laptops because I need the portability. I previously had all-in-one gaming and workstation builds. But having two GPUs and 6 or 8 7200-RPM hard drives adds a lot of heat inside a case. And there is no point in letting the hard drives continue to run, adding both unnecessary heat and wear on the drives, while I played a game. So now my gaming build only uses on-board M.2 drives with no hard drives.

[smithkid]

I'm ready. Just need the board and a waterblock.

Have you seen this waterblock.

https://www.facebook.com/EKWaterBloc...7387537648606/