X99 Revisited | Is the 6900K...Good?

[@WarriorsPhoto]

I like how you used game images when going from game to game. Good review and I wasn’t surprised. 😂

[@doesitgame]

Thank you!

[@RuruFIN]

Thought about a 6800K about 5 years ago, but then my Rampage V Extreme died and I made a permanent switch to Ryzen. Nice to see that the platform still somewhat holds though.

[@doesitgame]

Yeah, it honestly really does in a lot of cases. If its pricing fell apart like X58 did -- like $50 boards and $20 top tier CPUs -- it'd be so much easier to recommend for anyone on a budget; it's just priced so stupidly that it's nonsensical to put money into in 2023. As a tangent, I do wonder if this board could have hit 4.4-4.5GHz with a 6800K or 6850K. This board was never an exeptional overclocker even when it was launched, and *really* struggled to deliver power necessary for 8 cores to OC.

[@SoranPryde]

Yeah, the problem with X99 as a 2nd hand platform today in 2024 is that 2nd hand Ryzen CPUs and mobos are so stupidly cheap. 2nd hand R7 3700X + X570 will give you better overall performance with PCIE 4.0 support, along with all the newer creature comforts like more M.2 NVME slots, onboard Wifi etc

[@genefulm]

Still running my i7 5820K from back in 2014. 4.3GHz w/1080 ti. It's about at the end of its life though. Waiting for the Ryzen 8000 to come out.

[@doesitgame]

Anyone who bought enthusiast Haswell/Broadwell at launch definitely made out with a solid long-term play! Even today, they still have exceptional value when tossed into compatible workstations...which was what I was trying to get across in my first X99 video, before everyone missed the point and started shouting that the 6900K can overclock lol I loved X99, but eventually I came to the same conclusion you've reached: it's time to move on.

[@genefulm]

@@doesitgame At the time I bought it I made a comment to a friend of mine that I was going to spend big $$$ this time to get something that would last 10 years. He said, "No way it will last that long." I swear I'm not just holding on to it for spite. Plays PUBG at ~120fps 1440p just fine.

[@10BTKKAL]

will you sell me your mobo?

[@Mr11ESSE111]

it will be ryzen 9000, 8000 are zen4 apus

[@genefulm]

@@Mr11ESSE111 I realize that now. Thanks.

[@thunderbladestorm]

Asrock X99-WS, i7-5930k, Sapphire RX6950, Kingston Predator (2×8 GB @ 3000MHz), Noctua NH-U14s, Corsair AX760i - that's still my current config - assembled in 2015, GPU (of course) bought later

[@jmurph9598]

Picked up an hp z840 with a single XEON E5 2650v4 and GTX 1080 for $272. Now im waiting for the two 2699 v3s I got for $53 to come in. If the turbo boost microcode hack works on the HP motherboard, wonder how close gaming performance will be to the i7 6900k. That r15 Cinebench run seems slow. For reference the 2650 v4 in the HP 840z scores 1560-1607. It's 12 cores running at. 2.5GHZ all core. Dual channel 2400mhz. Windows 11. No performance patches either. Xeon broadwell's and haswells IPCs are very similar so based on the results of the 2650 v4 the Xeon 2699 v3 at 3.6GHZ should score around 3,400-3,600ish especially on Quad Channel with patches.

[@doesitgame]

Haswell and Broadwell *really* like memory bandwidth, so going to quad channel should make a measurable difference.

[@yumenolala]

Great video. I feel bad that you had to buy X99 and the 6900K for the sake of science. I still have the 5960x as my main PC. Clocked at 4.4 on air, probably not good for power consumption but it's a beast that continues to live on. It started off with a 5820K but seeing the CPU prices drop over the last 3-4 years aloowed me do a CPU swap as I was going to repaste the thermal paste anyway, lol. Although the Broadwell-Es perform better than the Haswell-Es, the cost of them do not make sense.

[@BREEZYM6015]

I have an i7 8700k, GTX 1060 6GB, and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. I'm not complaining about performance. I'll eventually upgrade the GPU.

[@compwiz00]

I have one of these 6850k. It can run 4.5-4.6ghz with 3.4ghz cache ghz pretty reliably, with water cooling, at like 200w lol. it's actually running right now. My gigabyte x99-ud4 has shown no signs of degrading. It needs like 1.451v set in bios which sags to like 1.38 under load. I needed liquid metal and water cooling, since it will crash at about 75c when overclocked so far. I hate everything about it. I wish I never bought it.

[@doesitgame]

Oof, my condolences. I have a suspicion that this board could run 4.4GHz or higher with a 6800K/6850K, but the extra 2 cores on the 6900K are just too much for it. And as much as it kind of held its own (...against a laptop chip) in gaming, it gets thoroughly destroyed in things like Resolve, even on the same GPU. X99 was glorious when it launched, and anyone who bought into it then has gotten their money's worth out of it. But it's definitely time for people to accept that the flagship mystique of X99 has faded, and there are better options for someone's hard-earned money. Haswell and Broadwell are even still a great buy... in $150 workstations with $10 Xeons and 32GB of quad channel ECC, just not in $100-300 retail boards and $100-200 i7 chips.

[@MetallixX974]

I just bought a dual cpu x99 xeons E5-2680 v4 for Proxmox a few days ago. That's great for homeserver.

[@doesitgame]

There isn’t much you cannot do with dual 2680 v4s in a home server! Our media/file server is still using dual X5670s lol

[@giokiborg]

x99 already very obsolete, huge power consumption in comparison to modern systems with same or better performance, but most the test shown was somewhat cpu bound scenario, I think higher graphics settings would eliminate the difference (at least in averages), also power consumption numbers would be interesting P.S: I had 6800K (with GTX 1070) in 2017 and was not very fond of it, could not overclock it reliably, then mainboard started acting strangely, originally I thought it was a CPU issue and replaced it with Intel's warranty, but apparently mainboard (ASUS Sabertooth X99) was faulty, even now, CPU's are cheap but mainboards are expensive

[@doesitgame]

Higher graphics settings to make the GPU the limiting factor wouldn't be a CPU test. Agree that X99 is basically a dead platform for new builds in 2023, though! Anyone who bought one in 2014 is doing fine, but people looking to start something new -- especially on a budget -- should absolutely be looking at newer platforms.

[@danmcgee6992]

i'd like to point out that deals can be had with this cpu i managed to get a gigabyte x99p-sli mb 32gb ddr4 8x4 quad channel setup 6900k rx580 in a complete tower for 300$ i did need to supply ssd and os

[@traubeminze8842]

Really cool video! i checked out this chip because i want something faster on my HPZ440. Butt hell no i am getting something else… i got a Xeon 1680v4 on a Z440 Mainboard. Is the 1680 the fastest chip i can get for the FCLA2011 Socket? Overlocking is no option for the mainboard. I also saw your last video and there you talked about the 2400T DDR4 Ram that is faster on Workstations. Does it do a difference in performance if i swap my 2x 16gb 2400T Samsung ram to 4x 8 2400T Ram?

[@oleksandrlemeshchuk7196]

avrai il doppio della velocità ram

[@doesitgame]

1680 v4 is, for all intents, the fastest you’ll get for a 2011-3 workstation board. In theory swapping to four channel memory is a potentially massive boost in performance from dual channel, but it depends *heavily* on the workload. Some games benefit, others don’t; creative suites like Resolve or Blender, almost always benefit.

[@traubeminze8842]

@@doesitgame yeah i already switched to a i7-6850k that goes easy to 4.3 ghz. On all cores, Really old cpu but is enough for me. And thank you for the answer 👍

[@doesitgame]

Check the older versions of XTU to see if you can push that 6850K even harder. There’s a video on here - an early, very bad one - doing it and it has the requisite XTU version listed either in the comments or the video description.

[@amazed6161]

still rocking 6900k and 1070ti good enough for 1080p gaming

[@doesitgame]

Never said it wasn’t. Whether or not it’s still competent, or was worth buying years ago, wasn’t ever the point of this - or the preceding - video.

[@soldiersvejk2053]

It is truly amazing to see that a newer laptop chip smashes a flagship desktop cpu.

[@doesitgame]

I kind of want to see how it stacks up against like a 9th gen laptop chip now! I just don't know if I want to trust an AliExpress BIOS update to enable the modded BGA-to-LGA 9th gen chips on a B365...

[@merano7336]

currently using E5 1650v3 with 1080ti

[@doesitgame]

Great combo!

[@sburns015]

1660 v4 is around $35 on eBay, better buy than a 6900k... I always wanted to mess around with x99 and finally had a board literally fall in my lap. I also have x58 and x79 boards so it'll be just as fun to tinker with this.

[@doesitgame]

Heh, this video only exists because of an earlier video where I went through the trouble of demonstrating the exact same thing! 😁 On a $100 Dell workstation, the 1660v4 was either ahead of the 6900K or within spitting distance, but X99 diehards kept shouting at me "bUt K mEaNs oVeRcLocK!"...so I made this one, and 10% of the like/dislike are people angry the 6900K is still a terrible value. 🤨

[@doesitgame]

I still LOVE X99; it was an amazing platform when it debuted, and nobody who bought into it then should feel bad about anything. It's held its own forever. ...but buying it today, aiming for the flagship CPUs, is a colossal waste of money as a serious gaming platform, and I wish more people would just accept that reality. They're undoubtedly fun to tinker with, but they should be picked up with tinkering as the intended goal. It's no different from when the 10th gen i3-10100F started shredding the 6700K at like half the cost, but people just plugged their ears and went lalalalalalala over the sound of reality. /rant, lol Anyway, enjoy your X99 board! Hopefully, you got like a Rampage, or one of the other legendary OCers. I had to swallow my pride and buy an ASRock X99-WS, which was widely regarded as one of the worst OC platforms of the day.

[@sburns015]

@@doesitgame I got the Gigabyte x99 ud4p, I'll see how it does when my CPU arrives Thursday, gonna stick it in a Corsair C70😎

[@SlowHardware]

Nice Video

[@OlaftheGreat]

I got that motherboard for $20 lol

[@doesitgame]

Ugh, rub it in! That’s a steal!

[@RealTechGeek]

How about X299? Its coming down a lot.

[@doesitgame]

That'll eventually make its way here! Right now there are like 20 things queued up that I'm already struggling to get to lol

[@tylerspecht7553]

X99 is still got bang for buck if you ditch the i7 6900 and get the xeon e1660 v3 which is pretty much the same chip for way cheaper. Still is unlocked multiplier too!.

[@doesitgame]

1660v3 is a 5960X badged as a Xeon; 1680v4 is the 6900K. Although even the 5960X is a better value than the 6900K.

[@tylerspecht7553]

@doesitgame ah yes thank you! I saw a video of someone comparing a 4.3ghz 1660 v4 (the rare version you can overclock) vs a 1660 v3 4.2 ghz and it was only about a 6 percent difference in gaming even with the 2-2.5 percent clock difference.

[@doesitgame]

I did 1660v4 at stock clocks vs 6900K at stock clocks in a Dell workstation -- the comments on that video were what prompted this video -- and the considerably cheaper 1660v4 was a muuuuuuuch better value. It outright beat the 6900K plenty for half the price, and has dropped dramatically in price since. I love X99 as a value play when it's done right. Things like old Dell/HP/Lenovo workstations with the 6 or 8-core Xeons and 32GB of quad channel memory for $150 total? Brilliant value. Things like Asus Rampage X99 boards with a 6900K or 6950X? Idiotic waste of money in 2024.

[@tylerspecht7553]

@doesitgame totally agree bro! Unless you somehow get some killer deal those things are a flat out ripoff might as well build a ryzen system or a newer Intel system at that point as you say

[@your-business]

the e5 1650 v3 you tested is unlocked

[@doesitgame]

I didn't test a 1650 v3, though. V3 is Hazwell; I used the Broadwell v4.

[@m8x425]

Not an advocate for x99, but it is fun if you own it.... but anyway I have a few lga2011-v3 processors and I have no trouble getting the RAM to at least 4x8GB, 3200MT/s with the cas latency, delay and precharge pushed down to 14, and that's on haswell-e. I can get Broadwell-E to 3400MT/s with the same timings. Maybe it's that ASRock x99 board you have. With x99 in general, I don't recommend it because the boards are beaten up, not the processors. You'd be surprised at how very few people overclock. Other than that, a CPU like the 5930k or 6950x could last for a couple of decades at least while running at stock. I've also seen people, and I've personally run modest overclocks on CPUs for years without any sign of degradation. What's really funny is I'm always hearing stories or seeing people with blown Asus and MSI x99 boards. I personally own a Rampage V Ex that I bought from a Microsoft employee. However, I have seen a few broken x99 boards like the Rampage V, X99-A, MSI x99 Gaming 7 and Gaming 9 on CL. My buddy has a broken X99 Deluxe board that's I believe is throwing a '00' code. However, a few months after Sandy Bridge-E came out, I bought into the x79 platform and I went with the 3930k and Rampage IV Extreme. That board still works fine for the most part, no problems, and sometimes I'll take it out and fire up the old E5-1680 v2. I had that Rampage IV setup running almost every way, every day for a few months shy of 10 years. I only upgraded because I got a special discount on a 12900k, DDR5 RAM, and board combo.

[@doesitgame]

The X99-WS was never considered a stellar overclocker of a board in the first place. I suspect this one could hit higher clocks with a 6800K or 6850K, but the extra cores of the 6900K just push the draw past where the power delivery can reliably manage. X99 is a tinkerer's wonderland and still has a place, especially if you bought into it at launch, but the enthusiast retail boards with flagship chips are an overpriced dead end for the value hunter. I just picked up an X299 combo, with a 7820X, 16GB, and a cooler for what I paid for this 6900K and I have no doubts that will run circles around this one. As will the Lenovo P520 w/ W-2135 I scored with 32GB for $50 less than this pairing.

[@Mr11ESSE111]

this old (high end) cpus dont have absolutelly no sense to buying it because peoples still wants for them more money then for much more powerfull new ones!!

[@doesitgame]

100% The 6900K was great once upon a time, but even if I OC'd it further it's just not going to keep up with newer, cheaper, more efficient processors, and at its current price it's a terrible purchase. If the price comes down to the $30-50 range then it might be more viable. Luckily the v4 Xeons are already at that price.

[@Mr11ESSE111]

@@doesitgame it was not great back then too because it was expensive 700-800$ or more and AMD had only fx back then in 2016

[@doesitgame]

They were expensive, but the 6900K was the best gaming chip in the world stayed much more relevant than consumer desktop chips like the 4770K or 5775C, chips which were expensive in their own right. Someone who bought into flagship X99 at launch had a chip that was relevant for several generations. They're just an awful buy now.

[@Mr11ESSE111]

@@doesitgame i think thst 6700k and later 7700k was best gaming cpus

[@kevinhansford3929]

Whats incredible is hardware that's over 10 years old can even run modern games let alone playable fps. Try playing a 1999 game on a 1989 486dx 33mhz system lol 😆

[@doesitgame]

Well...err...okay, fair point lol In that context, it is really kind of amazing that *anything* with a current playerbase runs at all on a decade-old card, even if it reqs community drivers. And, truth be told, I think the W9100 was still an epic card. My alma mater once had a few of them for some very specific simulation software, and in 2014/2015 16GB per card on a 512-bit bus was just...otherworldly. Supposedly there was a 32GB variant, too, but I've never seen one in the wild, likely because it's still being used lol

[@SlowHardware]

Im running an i7 6950x @4.5ghz 64gb 3200mhz DDR4 CL15,18,18 CR1. Its keeping up with my friends 5700x 14k R23 cinebench 2380 R15 400fps+ In Valorant

[@doesitgame]

X99 is in absolute terms still a very capable platform! And it’s been phenomenally long-lived, especially if you bought it back when X99 launched. It’s just an absolutely awful value proposition in 2023 because secondhand prices for it haven’t dropped much in the last ~3 years…which is a cryin’ shame.

[@SlowHardware]

@doesitgame oh for sure! But in our market in NZ the new stuff is so much more expensive unfortunately.. :/

[@BREEZYM6015]

Is it worth upgrading from 16GB to 32GB of RAM?

[@doesitgame]

Depends what you do and what you have. If, say, you have a 2x8GB kit on something like X79, X99, or X299 then absolutely because you're only using half the theoretical memory bandwidth; four-channel memory configurations should always be used with all four channels populated. If you have a 4x4GB configuration on those same platforms...meh...it's a marginal upgrade even today, particularly for gaming. If you're doing gaming and any sort of content creation? 100%. 32GB makes a world of difference in most NLEs.

[@ELUSIVETURTLE16]

Woot woot

[@doesitgame]

Speak his name and he shall appear!

[@AcesUpUrs]

The heat that Erying puts out will have your processor fried within a year. If you don't want a paper weight search for a better mobo..

[@doesitgame]

I watched Bryan's video on Tech Yes City, too, and respectfully disagree (as does Craft Computing). VRM temps measure within spec, and the processor doesn't throttle even under sustained all-core loads. If I really want, there's plenty of sub-$10 AliExpress liquid metal I can put down on it. And, like the video lays out, the Erying is FAR from the only less expensive combo that walks the X99/6900K combo. Anyone looking for better value than the 6900K has plenty of options.

[@blakegriplingph]

>6900K Noice

[@doesitgame]

Even if it's way past its prime and gets beaten by less expensive options, it will still always be a legend just for its name!

[@blakegriplingph]

@@doesitgame Now pair it with two GTX 690s in SLI then. :P

[@Werewolfmage]

funny to say x99 is ancient. it was released in 2014

[@doesitgame]

But chipset years are like dog years. 9 calendar years is like 4900 in chipset years!

[@slobodanfuletic9465]

Xeon e5 2689 v4 is better and cheaper

[@doesitgame]

The majority of the good v4 Xeons are cheaper. Even the 1680v4... which is *much* better than the 6900K if your board only supports Multi Core Enhancement.

[@antitunnelvizie5877]

Hmmm Starfield the crown dont make me lagth try Star Citizen and say that again i dear you to try that and say starfield is the crown hmmmm nope hehe

[@doesitgame]

Star Citizen runs poorly because it's a permanent alpha release and has had functionally zero code optimization.

[@antitunnelvizie5877]

@@doesitgame okay thats a funny thing to say I run it 4k 60fps and it is awesome when you can run it right so it depends as you often say on your system and the up to date version runs just fine ;)

[@doesitgame]

@antitunnelvizie5877 Gotta make up your mind -- is it hard to run, or not? It can't be both.

[@antitunnelvizie5877]

@@doesitgame If you want a high game value and a engaging game sure it is but to come back to your question is it hard to run with modern hardere your just fine it is prossesor heavy so be aware of that but it is not becouse it is an alpha that it is poor game play I myself run on an Xeon server with 64gb ram it is for the more committed gamer and the new update was almost 40gb so that's the reason they solved a lot try it out if you need proef ;)

[@Willow1w]

This is what irks me about KZbinrs pushing these e-waste builds. It will self-destruct within the next 2 years. You are not saving money by buying this stuff it belongs in a landfill.

[@doesitgame]

Decade-old X99 stuff isn't even saving money these days lol At least not the flagship chips. 6900Ks are still $100+, and 6950Xs were almost $200 yet when I last looked. Fine for tinkering with but a disaster to commit to that as your primary build if you're on a budget. On the other hand, if you buy a complete v4 Xeon workstation for like $150, at least you're getting good value for upcycling some e-waste.

[@misterhoudi2824]

@@doesitgameplus these machines can last up for years upon years if taken proper care and cleaning. a non-humid/dusty environment would suit it best. Better for cheap scrappers who looking for something to work that wouldn’t burn their bank account.

[@RealTechGeek]

I completely disagree absolutely ridiculous way of thinking. Just because it isnt for you can't just work for someone else. We're in an silent depression people will look to buy more of this stuff. Pricing is coming up more on them.

[@yasirrakhurrafat1142]

​@@RealTechGeek bruh, this platform and the x299 as well. Are amazing, the enthusiast in me will go ballistick over tinkering memory timing, clocks, voltage (overclocking or undervolting if worth the efficiency). These also have amaxing amount of pcie lanes, much over 20 pcie lanes, which could be fully utilised using nvme ssds and gpus for multiseat, one pc, multiple gamer virtual machine setups. Amongst a lot of other simultaneous usages.

[@doesitgame]

Love X299, makes muuuuuch more sense than X99 as a viable budget platform right now. Chips like the 7800X, 7820X, and even 7900X are cheap-as-chips these days and run circles around the flagships like the 5960X and 6900K, while supporting higher memory bandwidth natively and just being better all-around. Boards are comparably priced as well, which is a huge bonus! I used one in the recent £200 budget build video and it slayed.

[@TheKorgborg]

This kind of video's are bad, waht you see in the gaming benchmarks it stil works, I have a friend still rocking a second gen laptop, because he don't need more. This kind of video's is made from a brainwashed consumer mind, for other brainwashed consumers

[@doesitgame]

It's "bad" to highlight that buying an ~8 year old CPU for more money than newer, better performing ones is a waste of money in 2023? Do you comment on reviews of cameras like the Panasonic GH3 and Canon 60D when they present a similar conclusion?

[@doesitgame]

@kuroneko9270 Still missing the point. The original video had a card of "stop buying this CPU", and this one repeatedly says -- explicitly -- that this is "a terrible BUY in 2023". You can pretend all you want that it's about something else, but the reality is now that two videos in a row people are deliberately missing the (explicitly stated and very obvious) point about buying this stuff in 2023. Now, chew on that for a second. If you're considering buying it in 2023...do you have it already? No? If you don't have it already, then is it a commentary on its place as your current hardware? And if you have the board already then we go back to the last video, where the less expensive 1660v4 and 1650v4 Xeons can essentially match the 6900K, especially since a board like this supports both MCE and bclk overclocking. The extra tiny margin a 6900K will gain over those is a waste of money. That's without even considering the existence of other enthusiast chips like the 5960X, which is still recognized as the better OCing chip, is available on the same platform for less than half the cost, and can be OC'd far past the point where the minuscule gains in IPC from Haswell to Broadwell are overcome and then some. No one is saying, at any point, that X99 is objectively bad. Read the comments. I have said multiple times that anyone who bought into it in 2014 has gotten an extremely good run out of it. But it's a ludicrous waste of money in the current market despite its mythic status among builders.

[@rafradeki]

There is just one (three) complaints with old laptops: 1. Battery life is dogshit. 2: HDD and DVD make the laptop unnecesary bulky. 3. 768p screen

[@esotericjahanism5251]

X99 isnt a good budget gaming platform anymore. But is great if you need a cheap high core count server with a lot of PCIE lanes

[@doesitgame]

And native PCIe bifurcation on the C612 workstation platform! Being able to use 4x4 NVMe RAID in a single slot on a sub-$150 complete "X99" workstation is glorious. I do still love these chips on prebuilt, decommissioned workstations, too. Well, not the 6900K, that thing will continue being a trash value buy; but the 1650v4 and 1660v4 with 32GB in quad channel on a Dell/Lenovo/HP for like $150 shipped is still a pretty solid price-to-performance ratio.

[@esotericjahanism5251]

@@doesitgame The Xeon 1650 v3 and 1660 v3 might be on older 22nm process but those CPUs do have an unlocked multiplier. Not to mention they are both dirt cheap. I got a 1650v3 for $7.50 on offer from ebay. That's a pretty wild deal! The i7 5960x I've also seen for under $40. Yeah those Workstations like HP z640 z840 are a great value as well. Lot of Enterprise level features, memory, and cores for cheap. Great for starting a high powered home server on a budget. E5-2698v3s 16 cores- 32 threads, 40pcies lanes for about $20. Unrivaled value!