Introducing an Asus Rampage III Extreme in 2020?
Introducing an Asus Rampage III Extreme in 2020?
Hello, I got a main rig that is rather old -I bought it myself second hand in 2014 and at that point I'd figure it was already 3-4 years old- but which I updated throughout the years with newer hardware, like SSD's and a better graphics card. Yesterday I stumbled upon the gorgeous looking Aerocool Cylon Pro White case and I figured "that would be a nice fit for my main rig". I looked a bit deeper and thought about if the computer is still worth an upgrade. The current hardware is as follows: -Main Board: A Rampage III Extreme -CPU: Xeon X5675 overclocked to 4.0Ghz -GPU: GTX 1070 -RAM: an assortment of sticks working in single channel -yes I know, it is a triple channel board- 12GB 1600Mhz -1x Samsung Evo 850 500GB & 1x Samsung Evo 250GB -1x External HDD 2TB & 1x External HDD 750GB For the Front panel IO of the new case to work, I'd have to get a PCIe card with a 19pin header for the USB 3.0 port. Now the Rampage III Extreme is a rather interesting case on that front since it has 4 16x PCIe ports -of course one already occupied by the GPU- and I believe 3 8x PCIe ports. I was also wondering if I should get M.2 NVMe storage. For that I would need another PCIe card. So let's bring up the costs of the potential upgrade: -Case: 60 euro's -New fancy RGB fans: 23 euro's -USB 3.0 PCIe card: 9 euro's -M.2 NVMe PCIe adapter card: 5 euro's -M.2 NVMe 250GB 2000MB/s SSD: 42 euro's Total costs: 139 euro's Is this worth to pump it into a 10 year old, but otherwise completely fine and well maintained, main system?
A major concern is that the board might not support PCIe 3.0 initially. I’m observing PCIe 2.0 instead. It’s conceivable the 1070 is being limited by the PCIe 2.0 port. Not certain. This would imply that a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe card would require all eight lanes just to keep up with a single PCIe 3.0 NVMe card. I’m unsure if it will actually use them or not—perhaps only four lanes, resulting in half-speed NVMe, or it might fail altogether. It’s unclear how well a four-lane PCIe 2.0 performs compared to SATA 6 speeds. That PCIe 2.0 setup could become a real issue. Regardless, the device predates RGB, so an RGB controller will likely be necessary. The CPU appears solid and seems comparable to the 2xxx AMD processors currently popular. Whether it’s worth investing in depends on the situation. Marginal at best. Depending on whether that PCIe 2.0 slot still functions, it’s roughly the same performance level as many budget machines under $1000 that new buyers are replacing. The main difference is it has hit its full potential for expansion, whereas budget models are basic with limited room. For gaming NVMe, the benefit is minimal at best, though it could shift. It might simply not work. Personally, I wouldn’t recommend it. There are too many uncertainties for me. I’d wait to see if PS5/Scarlett models still need NVMe. The new case and RGB fans could improve its appeal if you’re considering a purchase. I’m not sure if they’d reclaim the money spent, as that’s all marketing.
So I checked this before, but I rechecked just to be doubly sure, but the PCIe 2.0 is not bottlenecking the GTX 1070 -luckily! What matters, are the lanes. So x16 lanes. It's even on these boards. That would make it basically useless. I wouldn't necessarily want it for my boot drive -although certainly preferable- but if it can't detect it at all, there's no point to it. Assuming what @Bombastinator said, it's not worth the upgrade anyway should speed being cut by half. I was looking into for AOE2DE specifically, given it is both RAM and pagefile hungry, and the pagefile is actually determining a large part of the performance, meaning the faster the drive, the less bottleneck. I can still get more performance out of the CPU btw. There are people out there easily squeezing 4.5Ghz out of it on an air cooler. I don't think there is room for much else though. Maybe more RAM and a bit more OC speed, but then again it is DDR3... . Also I forgot to mention this, but the case fans come with a controller, included in the price. So let's say I drop the NVMe, which now seems sensible and I also would like to thank you guys for it, do you think it is worth the esthetic upgrade for 92 euro's? I know that is a difficult question, subjective even, just looking for an opinion. I'm neither looking into selling it btw, and the case and fans are obviously reusable for a different build.
I missed @Lord Athetos ’s post. He did it while I was typing. That makes the nvme a hard no which Changes things a bit. There is a very real chance now that this machine may not be able to run new games that are written after PS5/Scarlett hit. One of the things being talked about by console makers is “much faster drive options”. This could mean a lot of things because the old drive options for consoles were just so bad. It might be just a sata6 ssd. If that happens the machine will be good till the end of the life of the upcoming consoles. It could mean though that they’re going to run some kind of pcie4.0 nvme system, and push developers to base games on high speed drive access. If this happens that machine is sunk. It can’t go faster than a 2xsata6 raid0. A die roll. Dumping it before that happens and using the money on a new machine that can makes a certain amount of somewhat evil sense. evil option: dump the machine on some poor schmuck who doesn’t realize it may EOL soon. -skip the case. it’s money that may not come back unless the current case looks just craptacular. Then curb appeal matters, but you may want to spend less money on a prettier case. -RGB fans: maybe. Curb appeal again. Plus they’re cheap. -pcie 3.0 card: maybe. Might even want a newer one. 3.x r(whatever it happens to be atm) More ethical option: Do nothing, sit on it, and hope Sony/microsoft are overselling their drive improvements and the thing will keep running for years to come.
This situation is quite unusual and dated, resembling a case from the early 2000s with no cable management options, a faded acrylic side panel, and large Asus Rampage stickers. Reusing the existing case and fans for a future build seems reasonable. The GPU and SSDs are still functional after a couple of years, so they should work well for 1080p gaming. You’re not aiming to profit from the remaining parts, so it’s fine. If the device is no longer usable, it should be taken to a recycling facility unless you can repurpose it yourself. The PCIe USB card is likely still usable despite the Molex connector, which can be a bit tricky. Overall, the hardware appears to have lasted longer than expected, and you’re able to extract good performance from it.
It seems likely to be improving eventually. So far, everything except the drive speed appears functional, though opinions vary. There’s a real possibility that with a SATA6 RAID 0 setup, performance could remain solid for another five years even if future console makers boost their storage speeds. It’s also conceivable that someone could teach the system to sing and discover ways to make NVMe 3.0 work on a 2.0 motherboard. Of course, it’s also conceivable that neither outcome would be sufficient. If you upgrade your current case, you can rebuild it later while retaining the original unit for future upgrades. The local recycling center I work with is a nonprofit called freegeek, where I once volunteered. They refurbish old machines and either sell them or donate them to those without computers. The device would still be a solid, reliable machine. They’d probably appreciate it. The main concern about rebuilding is that some people are already expressing interest in abandoning traditional modular ATX designs, partly because drive enclosures seem less useful today. It’s just talk so far—I’ve seen it before. It could happen, or it might not.
Thanks for the advice! I've heard about ATX possibly being phased out, but I think it's unlikely to happen soon and there should still be some compatibility left. The Cylon Pro model also offers plenty of flexibility: it shouldn't be too risky. If my old, worn-out system can be repurposed as an office computer or something similar, I'd be willing to part with it when the opportunity arises.
Hey, I see you're looking for the best GPU option that fits your motherboard without throttling due to PCIe 2.0 limitations. Let me help you find the right match.