Asus X99 Pro Motherboard Review: More Memory Multipliers

[Crashman]

The first motherboard in our labs to support unofficial memory multipliers, Asus’ X99 Pro quickly became the go-to product for our recent DDR4 roundup. Does the X99 Pro have enough additional features to justify its over-$300 price?

Asus X99 Pro Motherboard Review: More Memory Multipliers : Read more

 

[StarBound]

The gaming tests shows a socket 1150 cpu, the i7 4790. That can't be right. Are all tests done on a i7 5960X?

 

[Olla_laif]

Thats one sext mobo.

 

[DeViL5o5]

yeah, i noticed that too. maybe its a typo.

 

[Sabishii Hito]

I'm curious as to where the voltage check points are on this board, I know the Rampage V has easily accessible (and labelled) ones.

 

[Eggz]

I've been hoping since X99 came out that it could offer something compelling over X79 besides a 8-core configuration option. That is, assuming you can either spend $1,100 on a single chip or else have a hook up. DDR4 is too young and doesn't offer the value or low latency of DDR3 yet, though I'm confident it will in time.

Maybe the next round of Extreme chips will present something better from an upgrade standpoint, at least for those still on X79. But for people still on X58, obviously, it's a different story.

 

[sosofm]

Why did you test 3 ATX motherboards with Asrock mATX and not the with the big brother Asrock X99 Extreme 4 ?

 

[Crashman]

The gaming tests shows a socket 1150 cpu, the i7 4790. That can't be right. Are all tests done on a i7 5960X?

Yes. The charts were recycled from the reformatted 1150 spreadsheet. And that puts me in a bind because it means if I update this article with new charts, I have to update the previous articles...I'd rather be testing hardware

Why did you test 3 ATX motherboards with Asrock mATX and not the with the big brother Asrock X99 Extreme 4 ?

Because the charts can only hold a certain number of systems, and the mATX tests were newer (newer firmware, which made the 1.25x strap more stable, which allowed addition of the 125MHz+ BCLK test).

Sorry that we can't retest every single board for every review, but if you look at the Extreme4 review you'll see that everything else (apart from 1.25x strap optimization in firmware) is the same.

 

[NaqoyqatZ]

Is there really a demand for WiFi on this platform? I can only see a need for that on a min-itx or micro-atx gaming rig that one could take to a LAN party/tournament. Personally, I'd rather have a lower price. You can keep the WiFi.

 

[Crashman]

Is there really a demand for WiFi on this platform? I can only see a need for that on a min-itx or micro-atx gaming rig that one could take to a LAN party/tournament. Personally, I'd rather have a lower price. You can keep the WiFi.

You can use it as a hot spot In the other direction, you can move it to another room that doesn't have a cable. Or, you can buy a cheaper version of the board without Wi-Fi.

 

[loosescrews]

The slot config on this board makes it perfect for 2 GPUs + a high performance PCI-e card. Examples of the third card could include a RAID card, hhhl PCI-e SSD, or 10Gbps networking card. I am been looking for a board like this.

I still probabally won't buy it because I need dual gigabit LAN. If they had only included another gigabit LAN port or made slot 3 a 1x slot. I don't want to steal lanes from my GPUs for an extra gigabit LAN port.

 

[Crashman]

The slot config on this board makes it perfect for 2 GPUs + a high performance PCI-e card. Examples of the third card could include a RAID card, hhhl PCI-e SSD, or 10Gbps networking card. I am been looking for a board like this.

I still probabally won't buy it because I need dual gigabit LAN. If they had only included another gigabit LAN port or made slot 3 a 1x slot. I don't want to steal lanes from my GPUs for an extra gigabit LAN port.

Uh, dude, Slot 3 is an x1 slot. It just looks like an x16 slot. It gets up to four PCIe 2.0 lanes from the chipset, but using it in x4 mode disables a bunch of stuff that you don't want to disable. So go ahead, buy the board, and put your x1 network card there

 

[loosescrews]

Uh, dude, Slot 3 is an x1 slot. It just looks like an x16 slot. It gets up to four PCIe 2.0 lanes from the chipset, but using it in x4 mode disables a bunch of stuff that you don't want to disable. So go ahead, buy the board, and put your x1 network card there

Wow, you are right. The slot appers to physically have pins for x8. I should have read that part more closely. I love the slot config on this board.

I also see another deal-breaker, you either get the last slot or the M.2 slot. I assumed that the M.2 used the PCI-e 2.0 from the chipset like a lot of other boards. Where did all eight of the PCI Express 2.0 lanes go? And why can't both the M.2 and PCI-e x16 #4 run in x4 mode when the M.2 is populated?

 

[Crashman]

Uh, dude, Slot 3 is an x1 slot. It just looks like an x16 slot. It gets up to four PCIe 2.0 lanes from the chipset, but using it in x4 mode disables a bunch of stuff that you don't want to disable. So go ahead, buy the board, and put your x1 network card there

Wow, you are right. The slot appers to physically have pins for x8. I should have read that part more closely. I love the slot config on this board.

I also see another deal-breaker, you either get the last slot or the M.2 slot. I assumed that the M.2 used the PCI-e 2.0 from the chipset like a lot of other boards. Where did all eight of the PCI Express 2.0 lanes go? And why can't both the M.2 and PCI-e x16 #4 run in x4 mode when the M.2 is populated?

OMG now you're nailing down the reasons this board was criticized so harshly. Asus didn't add ANY pathway switches between slots. You know, those cheap little 2-lane pieces that you see all over mainstream Z97 boards? None. So the top lanes are locked into x16 mode (or x16/x8 on the 5820k), and the bottom slot is locked into x8 mode (or x4 on the 5820k). AND, the M.2 slot is locked into PCIe 3.0 x4 mode, so the only pathway switches available are the ones that turn off the bottom slot to turn on the M.2 interface.

If you want M.2 and three high-bandwidth slots (SLI + something else), don't even bother with this board. If you don't care about either the last slot or the M.2 slot, you're good to go!

If you want more PCIe 3.0 slot and more M.2 flexibility, check out the MSI X99S Gaming 7

 

[loosescrews]

OMG now you're nailing down the reasons this board was criticized so harshly. Asus didn't add ANY pathway switches between slots. You know, those cheap little 2-lane pieces that you see all over mainstream Z97 boards? None. So the top lanes are locked into x16 mode (or x16/x8 on the 5820k), and the bottom slot is locked into x8 mode (or x4 on the 5820k). AND, the M.2 slot is locked into PCIe 3.0 x4 mode, so the only pathway switches available are the ones that turn off the bottom slot to turn on the M.2 interface.

If you want M.2 and three high-bandwidth slots (SLI + something else), don't even bother with this board. If you don't care about either the last slot or the M.2 slot, you're good to go!

If you want more PCIe 3.0 slot and more M.2 flexibility, check out the MSI X99S Gaming 7

That board's slot config won't work for me. This seems to be the only board on the market with the slot config I need. I looked at the board and I can't figure out where the extra PCI-e 2.0 lanes went.

The MSI board also has one of those Killer NICs. Yuck.

EDIT: Let me clearify. I want two empty slots between the top two x16 slots and an x8 slot at the very bottom for airflow.

My HHHL RAID card gets extreamly hot (without a fan I measured it at 100C). The slot fan I have for my RAID card takes up 2-3 slots on its own, so the RAID card needs to be in the bottom slot so the fan can be in case slots not on the motherboard.

While the blower style coolers will work where wedged aginst each other, the quieter open-air coolers work much better with a gap between the cards.

 

[Crashman]

OMG now you're nailing down the reasons this board was criticized so harshly. Asus didn't add ANY pathway switches between slots. You know, those cheap little 2-lane pieces that you see all over mainstream Z97 boards? None. So the top lanes are locked into x16 mode (or x16/x8 on the 5820k), and the bottom slot is locked into x8 mode (or x4 on the 5820k). AND, the M.2 slot is locked into PCIe 3.0 x4 mode, so the only pathway switches available are the ones that turn off the bottom slot to turn on the M.2 interface.

If you want M.2 and three high-bandwidth slots (SLI + something else), don't even bother with this board. If you don't care about either the last slot or the M.2 slot, you're good to go!

If you want more PCIe 3.0 slot and more M.2 flexibility, check out the MSI X99S Gaming 7

That board's slot config won't work for me. This seems to be the only board on the market with the slot config I need. I looked at the board and I can't figure out where the extra PCI-e 2.0 lanes went.

The MSI board also has one of those Killer NICs. Yuck.

EDIT: Let me clearify. I want two empty slots between the top two x16 slots and an x8 slot at the very bottom for airflow.

My HHHL RAID card gets extreamly hot (without a fan I measured it at 100C). The slot fan I have for my RAID card takes up 2-3 slots on its own, so the RAID card needs to be in the bottom slot so the fan can be in case slots not on the motherboard.

While the blower style coolers will work where wedged aginst each other, the quieter open-air coolers work much better with a gap between the cards.

Like I said, If you don't care about either the last slot or the M.2 slot, you're good to go! In this case, give up the M.2 slot
If you can get away with a slower M.2 interface, there's always the Gigabyte X99-UD4. You can use the first, third and fourth x16 slots for SLI plus your RAID card, and you can use the second x1 slot for your network card.

 

[computertech82]

I think most ppl would agree that most motherboard with same chipset is NOT going to be much (if any) difference. I would rather see the difference in different chipsets vs others.

 

[Crashman]

I think most ppl would agree that most motherboard with same chipset is NOT going to be much (if any) difference. I would rather see the difference in different chipsets vs others.

for most platforms you're still looking at the same stuff. AFAIK Intel has only one LGA 1150 chipset, and just disables features to make lower-priced versions.