Integrated Device Testing
Audio Subsystem Testing
Audio Playback Testing
Using a selection of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music tracks and Windows Media Player, the audio subsystem playback performance was tested for playback accuracy and fidelity.
Playback using the app provided test sounds and audio test tracks was clear and distortion free with the 7.1 speaker setup going through the integrated analogue audio ports. Note that the side channel output much be attached to the Line-In port when audio is set for 7.1 speaker output.
Listening tests using the selected audio tracks were performed with a Kingston HyperX Cloud Gaming audio headset as well as a 5.1 speaker setup to exercise the subsystem’s audio fidelity. In both cases, audio reproduction was clear and distortion-free with little quality difference between the listening sessions.
Microphone Port Testing
For testing the board’s Microphone input port, the microphone from a Kingston HyperX Cloud Gaming audio headset was used to capture a 10 second spoken phrase with the assistance of the Microsoft Voice Recorder application. The resulting audio file was saved to the desktop and played back using Windows Media Player.
Audio pickup was distortion free without Microphone Boost enabled, but was best with Microphone Boost set to +30dB with a recording volume of 75%. Also, there was no quality difference between audio pickup in normal mode and with the Noise Suppression and Accoustic Echo Cancellation functionality active.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
To validate that the board’s device ports were functioning correctly, we connected an Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SATA III SSD to the system and ran the ATTO Disk Benchmark against the drive. The SSD was directly connected to the native SATA 3 ports, the SATA-Express device ports, the USB 3.0 ports, and USB 3.1 Gen2 ports. NGFF port testing was performed using an M.2 based Samsung 950 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 256GB SSD. The M.2 device was tested using the board’s integrated M.2 slot. USB port testing performed using the SSD in a USB 3.1 Gen 2 compatible enclosure. ATTO was configured to test against transfer sizes from 0.5 to 8192 KB with Total Length set to 512 MB and Queue Depth set to 10. The M.2 SSD selected for testing has a maximum read throughput of 2200 MB/s and a write throughput of 900 MB/s over a PCI-Express x4 bus. The selected SSD has a maximum read throughput of 540 MB/s and a write throughput of 520 MB/s on a SATA III controller. The drive tests were repeated three times with the highest repeatable read and write speeds recorded.
The SSDs performed well on the Intel-based SATA ports with no measurable performance differences between the SATA and SATA-Express ports. The Samsung 950 Pro drive performed as expected within limit using the integrated M.2 port. On the USB 3.1 ports, there was a varying degree of differences between performance seen on the the ASMedia ports. The measured differences are likely a result of the different enclosures used, rather than port-related issues. Even so, all the USB 3.1 and 3.0 devices posted impressive performance numbers well over of 400 MB/s.
SoftPerfect Research NetWorx Speed Test
In conjunction with Windows Performance Monitor, SoftPerfect Research NetWorx Speed Meter application was used to measure the upload and download performance of the motherboards integrated network controllers. Speed Meter was used to measure average network throughput in MB/s with Windows Performance Monitor used to measure average CPU utilization during the tests.
The LanBench network benchmarking software was used to generate send and receive traffic between the local and remote systems over a five minute period with packet size set to 4096 and connection count set to 20. A LanBench server was set up on the remote system to generate or receive traffic for the tests performed. The upload and download tests were repeated three times with the highest repeatable average throughput, the lowest repeatable average CPU utilization, and lowest repeatable performance spike percentages recorded.
Note that that theoretical maximum throughput for a Gigabit Ethernet adapter is 125 MB/s (1.0 Gbps). The theoretical maximum throughput for the integrated wireless AC controller is 108 MB/s (867 Mbps)
Both network controllers performed well with the GigE Intel I218-V network controller averaging speeds of 117 MB/s for both upload and download. The Atheros 802.11ac wireless controller performance was significantly lower with upload and download speeds averaging around 70 MB/s. The wireless controller performance suffers in comparison to the wired controller because of packet loss and transfer overhead. In both cases, the CPU utilization averaged below an impressive 5% during all tests with minimal performance spikes during the runs.
Can both the U.2 and M.2
Can both the U.2 and M.2 ports be used simultaneously?
It looks likes you can, but
It looks likes you can, but M.2 is favored over U.2. In the BIOS, you can specify two use one or the other as well.
Yes, but the manual for this
Yes, but the manual for this motherboard says it shares bandwidth with the M.2 slot.
In fact most things are shared (WiFi, USB3.1) if you only have a 28 lane CPU.
yes you can.
yes you can.
Would you know if ASUS will
Would you know if ASUS will be revising their X99 MICRO ATX motherboard?
Saving for the ASUS X99-M WS and will make the purchase by the end of the year. But would be nice to know if a newer board will be released then which includes various improvements as seen on the other boards.
I am not sure, truthfully,
I am not sure, truthfully, but have not heard of a revision coming out…
I have this motherboard along
I have this motherboard along with Corsair LPX 3200MHz, 4x16GB modules.
The issue I have with it (and if you read a lot of newegg reviews) is that the board will not post above DDR4 2400MHz with this memory. Is it just the size of my RAM and compatibility?
When it doesn’t post, the only way to get it back is to unplug it, remove the battery, and clear the CMOS. Then you have to hold the power button for 20-30 seconds. Then it posts.
It’s ridiculous and I can see why so many newegg reviews claim it doesn’t boot after a week.
Did it pose any problems for you?
Right now I’m running it at 2133MHz just because I’m tired of it not turning back on if I shut it down.
It’s weird though because I can get it to boot at 3200MHz after it successfully boots at 2133MHz. Until I shut it down. Restarts are fine. And sleeping is fine.
I had a hard time dialing it
I had a hard time dialing it in for overclocking and did notice an issue getting high memory speeds to work, but was able to get similar corsair modules to boot and run stable at 3200MHz. My testing was done with a Haswell processor.
Were you using a Haswell or Broadwell processor in your system?
I replied to the wrong
I replied to the wrong comment, but you can find my reply under hechacker1.
Thanks. 6800k in my
Thanks. 6800k in my system.
My system actually runs stable at 3200MHz memory using XMP, along with a 4.5GHz on all cores at 1.370v (I won the silicon lottery?). I played around with the cache multiplier, but that didn’t make a difference in it booting.
Everything else is basically set to auto voltages.
The issue is simply that it won’t boot with the RAM at higher clocks from a cold boot. With a warm reboot and it’s fine.
I didn’t buy a 4x16GB kit, rather 2 kits since it was cheaper.
That’s an odd one. I did
That's an odd one. I did have quite a time getting the board to board with RAM at 3200MHz, but, it did eventually once i got it dialed in (without using the XMP setting too).The board itself is just a bit "finnicky", but that may have more to do with the changes made to support the Broadwell processor perhaps. Didn't have the same challenges with older X99 boards. (Note that this is speculation on my part based on testing experiences, and not based on anything I've heard/been told by ASUS or other manufacturers).
One thing to check is the BIOS version, make sure to update to the latest if you haven't already.
One other thing, Raja from ASUS put out this very comprehensive guide on overclocking the Broadwell-E processor on X99 boards, that also includes memory tweaking. I found it very useful myself:
http://edgeup.asus.com/2016/06/17/broadwell-e-overclocking-guide/
The thing is (and I’m a Strix
The thing is (and I’m a Strix x99 gaming motherboard owner) that this board is marketed as an overclocker’s dream, but in actual life it’s the furthest thing from it.
It seems to have issues even at factory settings, it’s quite choosy about RAM, and it has a delicate voltage regulation circuitry – I’ve had to RMA it AND my CPU after the dreaded QCODE 00 hit my board one morning a few months after assembling my rig. And I know that others with this model encountered it as well.
Now I’m pretty stable (the board alternates between Qcode AA and Qcode 40 most of the time) with the latest bios, and a UPS unit to make sure that there are no spikes. But I would think twice about buying a board from this series again. Even the newer x299 LGA2066 model. Just my two cents.
Hello new here
I have this
Hello new here
I have this motherboard i have purchased a msi gaming x TRIO 2080ti and wanted to get another. However it wont fit two cards the the x16 slots ie top and middle pcie slots. if i was to add the second card to the bottom pcie slot would it still link as x16 or x8? as u can probably tell im not spend another 1300 on a card if the wont link at x16 on both cards. any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
THIS IS A FANTASTIC BOARD BUT I DO GET THE ODD OVERCLOCKING ERRORS EVERY NOW AND THEN