Back for another round of Ask B2G, this time around we got a question from our reader regarding the compatibility of Intel’s X79 motherboard. Reader Frothee writes:
I have an Intel DX79SI motherboard with a 3930K. I’m looking to update to a 4930K but I don’t see much info regarding support for this processor. Will the 4930K work on my motherboard?
Hey Frothee, hope you’re in a good mood because I’ll be breaking it to you hard but with Intel’s motherboard business now defunct, support for existing boards have been dropped except for warranty support.
The DX79SI, pictured above, only supports the previous generation of HEDT Sandy Bridge-E processors for the LGA2011 socket. That said, you’re pretty much stuck with your current setup unless you opt for a new motherboard which will leave you with a fully-working SB-E CPU/board pair which you could either sell to recoup some of your expenses or choose to retain as the SB-E is still a very good choice for multi-threaded, CPU-intensive loads.
You can refer to the motherboard’s official product page for further info. An Intel rep in their community has also stated that “we are not planning to enable backwards compatibility between the Intel® Desktop Boards based on the Intel® X79 Express Chipset and the Intel® Ivy Bridge-E processor family.“