MSI Big Bang-XPower II X79 Review – A World of Novelty Heatsinks
by Ian Cutress on February 25, 2012 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- MSI
- X79
Test Setup
| Processor |
Intel Sandy Bridge-E i7-3960X 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 3.3 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo) |
| Motherboards | MSI Big Bang-XPower II X79 |
| Cooling | Intel All-In-One Liquid Cooler, made by Asetek |
| Power Supply | Silverstone 1000W 80 PLUS Silver |
| Memory | G.Skill RipjawsZ DDR3-1866 9-10-9-28 1.5 V 4x4 GB Kit |
| Memory Settings | XMP |
| Video Cards |
XFX HD 5850 1GB ECS GTX 580 1536MB |
| Video Drivers |
Catalyst 11.8 NVIDIA Drivers 285.62 |
| Hard Drive | Micron RealSSD C300 256GB |
| Optical Drive | LG GH22NS50 |
| Case | Open Test Bed - CoolerMaster Lab V1.0 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 64-bit |
| SATA Testing | Micron RealSSD C300 256GB |
| USB 2/3 Testing | Patriot 64GB SuperSonic USB 3.0 |
Power Consumption
Power consumption was tested on the system as a whole with a wall meter connected to the power supply, while in a dual GPU configuration. This method allows us to compare the power management of the UEFI and the board to supply components with power under load, and includes typical PSU losses due to efficiency. These are the real world values that consumers may expect from a typical system (minus the monitor) using this motherboard.
For an XL-ATX board, the MSI BBXP2 is spot on in its power consumption, being the most energy efficient (or the second most efficient) by default compared to other X79 boards tested.
CPU Temperatures
With most users’ running boards on purely default BIOS settings, we are running at default settings for the CPU temperature tests. This is, in our outward view, an indication of how well (or how adventurous) the vendor has their BIOS configured on automatic settings. With a certain number of vendors not making CPU voltage, turbo voltage or LLC options configurable to the end user, which would directly affect power consumption and CPU temperatures at various usage levels, we find the test appropriate for the majority of cases. This does conflict somewhat with some vendors' methodology of providing a list of 'suggested' settings for reviewers to use. But unless those settings being implemented automatically for the end user, all these settings do for us it attempt to skew the results, and thus provide an unbalanced 'out of the box' result list to the readers who will rely on those default settings to make a judgment. CPU Temperatures are not really indicative of quality or performance, even though one would postulate that worse parts may produce higher temperatures. However, if a manufacturer uses more conductive material in the power plane, this reduces resistance and increases the voltage at the CPU, causing a higher temperature but potentially better stability.
Impressively, the novelty heatsinks on the MSI seem to work wonders, producing our lowest ever CPU temperatures in idle, video and OCCT mode.
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physical - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
I really don't like firearm themed heatsinks... I don't really like any sort of novelty heatsink. It makes my expensive components look cheap.CloudFire - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Completely agree with you. It annoys me when companies put on gimmicky designs such as bullets/firearms as heatsinks. I've seen plenty of creative/awesome heatsink designs that uses unique angular designs and looks amazing, instead of this crappy feel of "firearms". It's a computer motherboard for crying out loud, not a damn rifle. One thing's for sure, I will never buy any product that has heatsinks looking like that.essemzed - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
+1!I would also add that being totally at ease with my penis and its performance, I do not feel compelled to find comfort in the purchase of this childish motherboard.
(apologies for my broken english!)
smz
Bownce - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 - link
Freud wrote, "A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity". Time to give the firearm bashing a rest and get back to tech.g00ey - Wednesday, March 14, 2012 - link
Sorry, but Freud never wrote that. The statement is a misconception and a paraphrase of Freud's work from "Guns, Murders, and the Constitution" (February 1990) by Don B. Kates, Jr.bigboxes - Saturday, February 25, 2012 - link
Anyways.... if you're through with your childish rant... who cares what it looks like? Look at the benchmarks, the feature set and the supplied software. If you don't have a window in your case why on Earth would you care what it looks like? Function over form is what I always say.CloudFire - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
Anyways, if you're through with your narrow point of view, what if someone has a window on their case and care what the mobo looks likes? I never knew that having an opinion that differs from yours, hail the almighty, makes that person childish. Get off your high horse.Sabresiberian - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
It's interesting that you claim bigboxes has a "narrow point of view", when you say you would never use a mainboard that uses firearm themed heatsinks.While I'm not thrilled with the heatsink looks in the pictures, if this board fit my needs the best, I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot by not using it because I think the heatsinks are ugly.
Appearance is largely a matter of personal taste in these things anyway. I rarely find fault in another person's desire for different esthetics than me, just in them finding fault in mine.
;)
CloudFire - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
I agree with you, everyone has their own personal opinion and it is about personal taste in esthetics. I merely voiced my own opinion but when someone else comes in and starts an ad hominem attack about how someone else opinion's is "childish" because it differs from theirs, then I would say that is a narrow point of view. Any person could have simply disagreed respectfully like how adults do and it would have been perfectly fine.Just like for you, if you used this board for it's features, I would have no problem and would not find any fault in your decision because it is your own opinion which I respect.
;)
Ben90 - Sunday, February 26, 2012 - link
The motherboard would look cool as hell if it wasn't for the Gatling gun and stupid heatsink. While I agree looks aren't everything, this mobo just screams "I'm a giant fag".