UEFI Features
ASUS bundled the X99-E WS motherboard with the latest revision of the ASUS UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) implementation, a customized version of the AMI baseline UEFI BIOS replacement. The UEFI offers full keyboard and mouse support while using the BIOS pages. ASUS changed the way mouse right-click functions in the new UEFI implementation with right-click having no impact on the screen. By default, the user sees the EZ mode screen when entering the UEFI. The Advanced mode screens accessible via the Exit/Advanced Mode button at the upper right corner of the screen or by hitting the F7 function key. Advanced mode screens can be set for the default user interface via the UEFI Boot menu as well.
As we've stated in previous reviews, the ASUS UEFI implementation remains among the best out there. The UEFI is very responsive to both keyboard and mouse input with almost no lag or questionable click-space evident anywhere. The UEFI is designed in an intuitive manner so that both novice and advance BIOS users can quickly find what they are looking for. The EZ Mode screen lays out everything in a highly readable format, while the Advanced Mode tabbed layout displays as you would expect from a traditional BIOS. ASUS also gives you the ability to taken screen captures from within the BIOS by pressing the F12 key with those screen-caps saved in a 1024×768 bitmap format to an attached USB device. From the Tools menu, ASUS houses their collection of of BIOS-related tools and applets, ranging from an UEFI-based updater (EZ Flash2) to their full UEFI profile load and save utility.
UEFI Notable Features
With the Z99-E WS motherboard, ASUS integrated the features and changes introduced with their UEFI from the Intel Z97 line, optimizing several features as well as exposing several features specific to the Haswell-E processor line. They revised their EZ Mode page with added utility, integrating a customizable My Favorites tab into the Advance mode menu, Shortcut screen, a graphical fan tuning interface, a graphical EZ Tuning Wizard interface, support for display in nine different languages, and a Quick Note interface for adding persistent notes for later use. Note that the UEFI screen aesthetics have been customized for the board with it appearance customizable with several user-selectable themes available.
Advanced Mode, My Favorites screen, Shortcut popup
The Shortcut menu shown is available from the Advanced Mode interface only. To access, hit the F3 function key from within the Advanced Mode interface. The Shortcut page displays shortcuts to menus and sub-menus added via the Advanced Mode interface. If you hit the F4 function key with an item selected, you are taken directly to the menu or sub-menu. This functionality allows you to put commonly accessed menus and sub-menus at you fingertips with a single button or mouse click.
My Favorites tab, populated
The My Favorites tab houses user selected settings for access to these from a centralized location. To access, select the My Favorites tab from within the Advanced Mode interface. Note that if a menu or sub-menu is added to this page, all fields on that page will be added. The real strength in this My Favorites tab implementation comes with the ability to mix and match commonly used options in a central location, rather than having to hunt them down through multiple sub-levels of menus.
EZ Mode page
The EZ Mode page presents information organized into sections in an easy-to-read manner for those users who do not want to be bothered with the labyrinth of the Advanced Mode settings.
Q-Fan Tuning page
The Q-Fan Tuning page allows for graphical configuration of fan operation based on predefined threshold levels. The interface is similar in nature to the Windows-based Fan Xpert3 fan configuration interface and is a nice touch in-lui of the text-based configuration approach. The Q-Fan Tuning page is accessed by clicking on the Manual Fan Tuning button within the EZ Mode page.
Easy Tuning Wizard – OC Page
Easy Tuning Wizard – RAID Page
The EZ Tuning Wizard can be accessed by hitting the F11 function key from within the EZ Mode page or from within the Advanced Mode interface. This wizard can be used to setup BIOS configured system performance optimization or drive RAID setup based on user selections made within the wizard interface.
EZ Mode, Language selection
EZ Mode, non-English language active
Advanced Mode, Main tab, Language selection
Advanced Mode, non-English language active
The BIOS display language can be updated to one of 10 values through the language field in the top menu bar accessible in both the EZ Mode and Advance Mode interfaces. The screen values are updated immediately upon language selection.
Advanced Mode, Main tab, Quick Note pop-up
The Quick Note window is accessed by clicking the Quick Note field in the top menu bar or hit the F9 function key. From this window, you can enter notes that remain persistent between BIOS sessions. This functionality is only available from the Advanced Mode interface.
Advanced Mode, Last modified pop-up
The Last Modified pop-up is accessed by clicking the Last Modified link in the lower right corner of the Advanced Mode page. The Last Modified pop-up contains a comprehensive list of fields changed since the last save. This list also displays when you click on the Save Changes & Reset link from the Exit tab.
Ai Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled
The 4th generation Intel Core series of CPUs, also known by their codenames Haswell or Haswell-E, support the ability to use preset bus speed levels for the ring bus, which Intel refers to as CPU Strap. ASUS decided to take the CPU Strap setting to the next level and includes the following preset levels by default: 100MHz, 125MHz, 166Mhz, and 250MHz. This setting affects the CPU base clock, PCI-Express bus, and memory bus speeds. The PCI-Express bus speed is auto-adjusted to remain as close to 100MHz as possible, while the CPU and memory bus speeds adjusts at a 1:1 or 1:1.33 ratio with the setting.
UEFI Walkthrough
Advanced Mode screen, Ai Tweaker tab with XMP mode enabled
Ai Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, CPU ratio settings
Ai Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, Cache ratio and Bus settings
Ai Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, CPU voltage settings
Ai Tweaker tab with Manual mode enabled, DRAM and Miscellaneous voltage settings
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Secondary and Tertiary timing settings
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Tertiary timing settings continued
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Miscellaneous settings
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, Miscellaneous and Training settings
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, RTL IOL control page
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, RTL IOL control page continued
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, RTL IOL control page continued
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, IO Control page
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, IO Control page continued
Ai Tweaker tab, DRAM Timing Control page, IO Control page continued
Ai Tweaker tab, DIGI+ Power Control page
Ai Tweaker tab, DIGI+ Power Control page continued
Could you give more details
Could you give more details on how the OC socket works and how well it performs compared to other competitor’s approach for this?
OS Support – No Windows 10 😛
Wow – eSATA ports are back 🙂
First. Thanks for the review.
First. Thanks for the review. This is a great looking board and Beast like you said. My only gripe is since this is the EXREME platform using the H100i which clearly is not enough for more aggressive overclocking just like you said in the reveiw that it was maybe holding it back. Question is when using Ek Predator or H240x from Switech with a real copper Radiator if it is possible to reach 4.5 Ghz or not ? I am maybe nitpicking but like I said 5960X and a 550$$ motherboard deserve to get the best cooling out there to be tested on in my opinion !
I used the EK’s cooling
I used the EK’s cooling results to compare various AIO options and the H100i displayed roughly 1-2 hotter temps then their EK option.
Per this review and your comment, I believe an AIO solution may not be enough to cool the 5960X further. However, from various reviews; 4.3GHz to 4.6GHz is found to be the common stable OC range for the 5960X.
If your build allows, I would go with the Predator from EK. Not only is it an AIO option, but the larger rad allows for better cooling and if you want to convert to a full water system, the Predator has the adaptors for it.
No I am talking for the
No I am talking for the Review so Morry does not have to build a custom loop every time and I would NEVER use an AIO cause I am hardcore water cooler m8 😉 = AI not AIO = ALL IN = ME 😀 😀 :D.
In previous reviews, the
In previous reviews, the Corsair H100i was plenty capable of keeping my 5960X cool and stable at 4.5GHz. With this review, I think the Corsair cooler was having problems because of age more than anything. You have to realize that I've used and abused that AIO cooler for years with 10's if not closer to 100 mounts and dismounts, so I would chalk the issues up to the cooler going bad rather than a board issue.
That said, I am using a custom loop for both my test benches now to ensure that the cooler does not become a bottleneck for board testing…
All right my man…Nice
All right my man…Nice
The link on the front page to
The link on the front page to this article is wrong.
Only ONE M.2 slot on this
Only ONE M.2 slot on this workstation mainboard? But on Z170 gaming boards there are 2 or 3 M.2 slots? WTF?
Relax. It is an old board
Relax. It is an old board (much older than Skylake chipsets) just with USB 3.1 added. Asus would be mad to rework whole board just to add 2 USB ports and another quirky M.2. Want more M.2 go with newer Skylake.
IMHO WS board don’t need M.2 whatsoever. You have RAID AICs for that. At least I know I have, because RAID 0 is no RAID at all.
Not very good reviews from
Not very good reviews from Newegg and Amazon…
dual 8 pin CPU power… how
dual 8 pin CPU power… how many watts ?!@?!?
Note: you need to fix the
Note: you need to fix the “Continue reading our preview of the ASUS X99-E WS/USB 3.1 motherboard!” link on this post.
Got it, thanks.
Got it, thanks.
No PS/2 port? It’s useless!
No PS/2 port? It’s useless!
Ditch the SATA-Express ports
Ditch the SATA-Express ports and
support at least 4 integrated U.2 ports.
See photos of the ASUS Z170 Premium:
by removing the 2 SATA-Express ports,
there’s plenty of room for 3 more U.2 ports.
Yes, I realize this shifts the bottleneck
to the DMI link, so let’s start talking
about higher upstream bandwidth too.
MRFS
https://twitter.com/OC3D/stat
https://twitter.com/OC3D/status/645938923580035073/photo/1