X99 motherboards, Haswell-E CPU, DDR4 RAM – SA prices

The holy trinity of PC gaming has arrived in SA – the X99 motherboard, DDR4 RAM, and the Haswell-E i7 CPU.

Due to the fact that I am a PlayStation peasant, I have relied heavily on hardware experts Anandtech for research over the past few weeks in the build up to the local release of this new technology.

So, at the risk of sounding like a complete noob, here’s what the new hardware brings with it.

The Haswell-E CPUs – which include Intel’s first consumer 8-core option – are the latest upgrade to the company’s line of powerful processors. They work in conjunction with the new X99 chipset (that’s the motherboard) which is the first consumer board to support DDR4 RAM.

What does this all mean? More power, speed, and credit card bills – three things PC gamers love.

Let’s talk turkey

Now, the reason we are all here: the price.

Local PC builders Rebel Tech and Evetech are both stocking one or more of the three new hardware components – here’s how much it will cost to upgrade your rig.

X99 Motherboards

When you see the prices and wonder why these boards cost more than eye surgery, it’s because they are pretty powerful. The XPOWER, featured fifth, can take up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM, along with Intel’s new CPU. Drop that figure on a forum and watch the hate comments flood in.

The boards also come with the obligatory SATA, USB, WLAN, Ethernet connections, and everything else you are currently rocking on your old chipset.

Asus X99 Deluxe – R6,520

Asus X99 Deluxe Motherboard

MSI X99S Gaming 7 – R4,543

MSI X99S Gaming 7 Motherboard

MSI X99S SLI Plus – R3,585

MSI X99S SLI Plus Motherboard

MSI X99s Gaming 9 – R6,399

MSI X99S Gaming 9 Motherboard

MSI X99S XPOWER – R6,999

MSI X99S XPOWER Motherboard

Haswell-E CPU

The Haswell-E processors will support up to 8 cores on the i7, will only support DDR4 RAM, and, obviously, will need one of the above motherboards as its home.

Brace yourself, with great power comes great debt.

Intel Haswell-E i7 5930K 3.5GHz – R7,308

Intel Haswell-E i7-5930K

Intel Haswell-E i7 5960X 3GHz – R13,047

Intel Haswell-E i7 5960X 3GHz

Intel Haswell-E i7 5820K 3.3GHz – R4,787

This is what the extreme version of the CPU looks like, from a technical perspective.

Haswell-E CPU

DDR4 RAM

We featured some DDR4 RAM on MyGaming a while back, and you guys and girls had a bit to say about the pricing. Sure, early adopters pay more for tech than those who wait, but you do get to enjoy faster RAM before your friends.

DDR4 RAM brings with it not only faster speeds, but energy efficiency, too. According to the stats, it is up to 40% more energy efficient tham DDR3 RAM. And remember, your new Haswell-E CPU and X99 motherboard only work with DDR4.

Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 RAM

Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 RAM
Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 RAM – 32GB	R6,499
Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 RAM – 16GB	R3,499
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 RAM – 16GB	R3,299
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 RAM – 8GB (Kit)	R1,999
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 RAM – 8GB	R1,899
Crucial Ballistix DDR4 RAM – 4GB	R1,099

Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4 RAM

Corsair Dominator and Vengeance DDR4 RAM

Corsair DDR4 RAM
Corsair Dominator Pro DDR4 2800 – 16GB	R7,468
Corsair Dominator Pro DDR4 2666 – 16GB	R6,638
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2800 – 16GB	R5,571
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2666 – 16GB	R5,266