titleI entered the world of computer gaming with a well-justified custom laptop my freshman year of college. The urge to build my own PC inevitably began to grow as I traveled to LAN parties and saw the creation of others. My first board was a hand-me-down Biostar with a lot of life yet to give. Five years later, it’s fitting that my first build with Sandy Bridge-E is from that company‘s first socket 2011 board, the TPower X79. The TPower X79 is one of Biostars first attempts to branch out beyond the budget boards they are known for. I am excited to see what direction they will do and how it will perform. 

Product Name: Biostar TPower X79

Review Sample Provided by: Biostar

Review by: Adam and Wes

Pictures by: Adam

 

Specifications

Chipset

Intel X79

CPU SUPPORT

2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7 LGA 2011 Processor

Maximum CPU TDP (Thermal Design Power) 130Watt

MEMORY

Support Quad Channel DDR3 2400(OC)/2133(OC)/1866(OC)/1600/ 1333 /1066 MHz

4 x DDR3 DIMM Memory Slot

Max. Supports up to 32GB Memory

EXPANSION SLOT

3 x PCI-E x16 3.0 Slot (x16, 16, x8 )4 WAY CFX, 3 WAY SLI

2 x PCI-E x1 2.0 Slot

1 x PCI Slots

STORAGE

4 x SATA3 6Gb/s Connector

3 x SATA2 3Gb/s Connector

1 x eSATA2 3Gb/s Connector

Support SATA RAID: 0,1,5,10

USB

ASMedia ASM1042 USB 3.0 controller

6 x USB 3.0 Port

1 x USB 3.0 Header

2 x USB 2.0 Port

2 x USB 2.0 Header

GbE

Realtek RTL8111E - 10/100/1000 Controller

MULTI GRAPHICS

AMD 4-Way CrossFireX

NVIDIA 3-Way SLI

CODEC

Realtek ALC898 8 Channel Blu-ray Audio

REAR I/O

1 x PS/2 Keyboard

1 x eSATA2 3Gb/s Connector

6 x USB 3.0 Port

2 x USB 2.0 Port

1 x RJ-45 Port

6 x Audio Connector

1 x S/PDIF Out Port

INTERNAL I/O

1 x USB 3.0 Header

2 x USB 2.0 Header

4 x SATA3 6Gb/s Connector

3 x SATA2 3Gb/s Connector

1 x Front Audio Header

1 x Front Panel Header

1 x S/PDIF-OUT Header

1 x CPU FAN Header

2 x System FAN Header

1 x Serial Header

1 x CIR Header

DIMENSION

ATX Form Factor Dimension: 30.5cm x 24.4cm ( W x L )

OS SUPPORT

Support Windows XP / Vista / 7

ACCESSORIES

6 x SATA Cable

1 x SLI Connector

1 x CrossFire Connector

1 x I/O Shield

1 x CD Driver

1 x User Manual

FEATURES

Supports uEFI GUI Interface BIOS

Supports THX TruStudio Pro

Supports BIO-Remote2

Supports BIO-Remote

Supports Space-Pipe Thermal solution

Supports 100% Solid capacitor

Supports Puro Tone HD Audio Technology

Supports Rapid Switch2

Supports Rapid Debug3

Supports BIOS-Flasher

Supports BIOS-Relife

Supports Toverclcoker OC software

Supports Charger Booster