Conclusion
BIOSTAR TPOWER X79 is the only Intel X79 product released by BIOSTAR in 2012. Being the flagship product of it’s X79 series, BIOSTAR has put in workstation class design onto the board. This can be seen from the 2 AUX power connectors, 8 layer board design it incorporate into the TPOWER X79.
In terms of features, the BIOSTAR throws in eSATA and 8 x USB 3.0 ports onto the board. In addition, the THX sound that gives you better cinematic experience. Most importantly, the board is capable of running the4 sticks DDR3-2400 without issues when expensive boards fail to do so.
Performance wise, this board doesn’t differ too much from the other X79 boards. In fact, the differences might be due to the memory type used. The DDR3-2400 does give it ample bandwidth and speed things up.
Overclocking features were plenty, you can refer to page 4 for the video of the BIOS options. When overclocking is concerned, the board is capable of doing 4.5GHz (45×100) on AIR at 1.45v vcore, vdimm at 1.65v DDR3-2400. Although we are able to push through to 4.8GHz, the system isn’t as stable even if we pump in more voltage to the system. We are also able to run the system at 33×126 when we set the CLK to 126MHz. With TOverclocker software tool, we can also adjust the individual voltages and frequencies. Unfortunately, the way X79 is designed, any slight change of the CLK will bring the board to a stand still.
Packaging wise is a bit simplistic. There is nothing much to shout about. Perhaps BIOSTAR can include some sort of overclocking secret manual like MSI does for it’s X79 series. As for documentation, the manual only cover the basics but didn’t go in depth into the respective settings esp for overclocking.
In Conclusion, the BIOSTAR X79 is an excellent performer with DDR3-2400. It has most of the features anyone would want to build a stable X79 system. At the price of USD 235, it is in the same price segment as the other entry level but with better quality. For the price of USD 235, it is definitely worth your penny.
Price ~ USD 235
Pros
Power on/off, clear cmos switch on board
2 x 8 pin AUX power supply connector
Cons
No OC easy button to change multiplier on the fly
Chipset no native USB 3 support
non Powered eSATA
Ratings
Here are my ratings out of 10.
| Category | Score |
| Performance | 9 / 10 |
| Features | 8 / 10 |
| Ease Of Installation | 10 / 10 |
| Overclocking Features | 9 / 10 |
| Documentation | 8 / 10 |
| Packaging | 7 / 10 |
| Cost / Performance | 10 / 10 |
| Overall Rating : | 8.7 / 10 |