My Asus x79 Sabertooth is rock solid since day one... Why would I ever swap for a less reliable board?

Any step up news?

darkxfaded

Wow they are retailing this thing at $399.99? I knew it was going to be higher then current priced X79 FTW/Classifieds.

If Evga are comparing the values to the retail price of the X79 Dark then this seems like a horrible deal or is there something else to it?
http://www.evga.com/articles/00760/

Also does anyone know if the X79 Dark supports quad channel memory?

Says it does in Key Specs, then again the SLI/FTW/Classified did too.
 
Could it be possible to pay the $399 upfront once told to send in the motherboard?  What happens if the Dark turns out to have problems? Now your down time is increased by another week or two. Maybe an option for those who would like to put a hold on their card for the full amount and when EVGA gets the motherboard they release the appropriated amount.
 
A certain router company did this for me and I didn't want it, but I had no down time which in the end was a really good thing.

They'll probably be giving the X79 Dark away once a bit of time goes by for standard RMAs if they dont plan on keeping stock of the other X79 models.  I think its a horrible deal, more so for people in North America since its cheaper to keep RMAing the board.
 
Edit: I just read that this board still uses 32 lanes instead of 40 still, for $399.99 really?¿?¿

I guess I now know why my many direct questions regarding pci-e lanes went unanswered.

xtremegamer

for 399 don't even have x16, x16, x16, x16 many people jumping in this don't even know if this board has issue like rest evga x79... 

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL where can you by an new x79 MB for less than 400 us dollars that can run x16, x16, x16, x16???
Think you have to pay closer to 600 dollars or even more. And I have one of thoose,  an Asrock x79 extreme11 and I strongly suggest not bying one.
Its the most unstable MB I ever owned, even worse than some older Asus I owned. In my opinion its worth almost nothing.
I will try keep it running to the 2011-3 comes out, but not sure if I have the patient for it.

 
If any are willing, I swop it for an x79 dark easely due to I am sure EVGA would under no circumstances release the Dark if its not working as claimed. PS: Pcie slot 1 lock is "broken" (due to bad design). The MB was new this january and I am the second owner of it, quess why? lol
 

Go here and see if it says anything that says you can't apply:
 
http://www.evga.com/articles/00760/
 

Griffiron

1st ide like to appoligys if this question hase been asked. Ide like to know if the x79 dark upgrade program will be avable to australians? I payed $575 for a classified and still have the invoice ide hate the thort i wasted that much money.

please respond ide like conformation

my appoligys and central victoria Australia 

PCIe lane distribution looks good. I don't see any PCIe switches.

According to the manual:
PE1 - x16 (x8 if PE2 used)
PE2 - x8
PE3 - x16 (x8 if PE4 used)
PE4 - x8
PE5 - x4
PE6 - x8 (x4 if PE5 used)

That uses all 40 lanes from the CPU. Best configs are:
1 x16 in slot PE1.
2 x16 in slots PE1 and PE3 (can use 3 slot cards).
2 x16 in slots PE1 and PE3 and 1 x8 in slot PE6 (can use 3 slot cards).
4 x8 in slots PE1, PE2, PE4, and PE6 (can use 2 slot cards), plus PE3 is still active at x8 if you want to use a PCIe extender cable to enable 4-way SLI + PhysX.

As for the x79 lane distribution:
x1 for Intel 82579 GbE
x1 for Intel 82574 GbE
x2 for Marvell 9230 (4 SATA 6Gbps)
x1 for Marvell 9172 (2 E-SATA 3Gbps)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (backpanel)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (backpanel)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (onboard)

Therefore, all lanes are being utilized.

Well as long as its got all the awesome GUI, mouse use, etc, I'll be happy.

Aggressor Prime
...............
As for the x79 lane distribution:
x1 for Intel 82579 GbE
x1 for Intel 82574 GbE
x2 for Marvell 9230 (4 SATA 6Gbps)
x1 for Marvell 9172 (2 E-SATA 3Gbps)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (backpanel)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (backpanel)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (onboard)

Native SATA 6G ports, no 3rd party controller required [link].
 
I also like that for 2 GPU card SLI setup, there is a space between 1st and 2nd cards and both will still have x16.
 

Nereus

Aggressor Prime
...............
As for the x79 lane distribution:
x1 for Intel 82579 GbE
x1 for Intel 82574 GbE
x2 for Marvell 9230 (4 SATA 6Gbps)
x1 for Marvell 9172 (2 E-SATA 3Gbps)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (backpanel)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (backpanel)
x1 for Asmedia ASM1042 (onboard)

Native SATA 6G ports, no 3rd party controller required [link].

I also like that for 2 GPU card SLI setup, there is a space between 1st and 2nd cards and both will still have x16.

 
Download the Dark's Specs in PDF, it says that 2 ports are native sata 6 4 are marvell 9230

 There is no PLX chip.

Nereus

 
Ah ok thanks re native vs 3rd party controlled SATA 6Gbps.
Two native is enough for my SSD o/s and games drives, the rest of my drives are 7200rpm mechanical drives, and I believe with mechanical drives there really isn't that much of a difference between SATA 3Gbps & 6Gbps... so I can disable the 3rd party controller :)   ..Marvell SATA3 controller slows boot time anyway :P (at least it does on my x58 770 mobo).

For what it's worth, the 770 uses a Marvell 88SE9128 chipset, while the Dark uses a Marvell 9230 chipset for SATA III.