BIOS Features
EVGA integrated their revamped UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) BIOS into the X99 Classified, reminiscent of the version bundled with their Z97 board line. The UEFI BIOS offers full keyboard and mouse support while using the BIOS pages with enhanced mouse navigation supported by right clicking the mouse – goes back to previous view if inside a settings pop-up or on a sub-menu page. EVGA also includes their screen capture utility. Clicking the F12 function key generates a 1024×768 bitmap image on an attached USB drive.
The x99 Classified's UEFI BIOS is a nice design with an intuitive layout, but remains little changed from the UEFI implementation from their Z87 board line. The biggest change was the ability to flash the BIOS chip from within the UEFI. One oddity encountered was the inability to use the screen capture utility (F12) with a pop-up box displayed. Note that flashing the board with a new UEFI revision will flash all three integrated BIOSes.
BIOS Notable Features
Overclock tab
EVGA's UEFI BIOS is a sleek and simple to use interface logically oriented in a tab-like motif. They organized the BIOS settings across five tabs – Overclock, memory, Advanced, Boot, and Save & Exit. Above the tabbed settings interface, EVGA integrated a real-time statistics interface displaying key settings such as memory size and speed fro active ports, CPU voltage, memory voltage, CPU ratio and Base Clock speed, CPU speed, HyperThreading status, number of active CPU cores, PCI-Express bus active-port bandwidth, VRM temperature, and CPU temperature. These statistics are presented in a mixed graphical/text display with graphical representations of the memory bus and PCI-Express bus shown.
Save & Exit tab
Save & Exit tab, Save Profile pop-up
Save & Exit tab, Load Profile pop-up
Save & Exit tab, Select BIOS File pop-up
The Save & Exit page houses a few notable features including a boot override section and BIOS profile load and save capabilities. Through this screen, you can generate up to eight total profiles for storage of all BIOS settings at the time of profile generation or save. You also have the option of flashing the BIOS to a new version using a BIOS file from an attached USB drive.
BIOS Walkthrough – Overlocking Settings
Overclock tab
Overclock tab, voltage settings
Memory tab with XMP profile active
Memory tab with manual profile active
Memory tab, Second Memory Timing Configuration settings
Memory tab, Third Memory Timing Configuration settings
Advanced tab
Advanced tab, CPU Configuration page
Advanced tab, CPU Configuration page, CPU Information page
Advanced tab, PCIe Configuration page
Advanced tab, PCH Configuration page
Advanced tab, SATA Configuration page
Advanced tab, USB Configuration page
Advanced tab, Power Management page
Advanced tab, Onboard Device Control Configuration page
Advanced tab, H/W Monitor Configuration page
Advanced tab, H/W Monitor Configuration page, voltage monitoring settings
Boot tab
My favorite product of all
My favorite product of all time is a bit different. I love the EVBot I got to push my Classified cards to the max… or whatever classified products I happen to be holding.
Nice write-up. My only gripe
Nice write-up. My only gripe is with EVGA going with angled connectors at the edge of the boar. This is clearly meant to be setup as a benching system or a very top-end full size ATX or EATX case with plenty of room.
The lack of a cmos jumper
The lack of a cmos jumper shouldn’t be listed as a weakness, considering there is a cmos reset button on the motherboard backplane.
CMOS reset button just clears
CMOS reset button just clears current CMOS settings but retains profile information and any internally configured settings. The reset jumper physically shorts the CMOS to reset it to factory defaults, including profile information, time, and internally configured settings (like memory and cpu-dependent settings that are not user configurable). That is why it is listed as a weakness.
Unfortunately, it seems to be the norm with x99 boards rather than the exception. You can remove the CMOS battery for the same effect most of the time, but I have seen boards retain profile and time settings even after removing the CMOS battery for elongated periods (> 20-30m)…
Weakness indeed. I tried
Weakness indeed. I tried every possible way to reset Cmos but it just doesnt work.