Testing Configuration and Benchmarks Used
To verify that the motherboard works as advertised, the board was run through our standard benchmark suite. In most cases, the results are presented for the motherboard under review as well as a different similar-class motherboards for performance comparison purposes. The benchmark tests used should give you a good understanding of the board’s capabilities for both office and gaming use so that you, the reader, can make a more informed purchasing decision.
| Test System Setup | |
| Motherboards | Intel X99-based systems ASUS STRIX X99 Gaming GIGABYTE X99P-SLI ASUS X99-E WS ASUS X99-A Intel Z170-based systems ASUS Z170-A Intel Z97-based system ASUS Z97-Pro |
| CPU | Intel X99-based systems Intel Core i7-5960X (3.0GHz CPU and Ring Bus, 30 x 100MHz Base Clock) Intel Z170-based system Intel Core i7-6700K (4.0GHz CPU and Ring Bus, 40 x 100MHz Base Clock) Intel Z97-based system Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5GHz CPU and Ring Bus, 35 x 100MHz Base Clock) |
| Memory | Intel X99-based systems Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 modules (2133MHz, 15-17-17-35-1T, 1.225V) Intel Z170-based system Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 modules (1600MHz, 16-18-18-35-1T, 1.225V) Intel Z97-based system Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 modules (1600MHz, 9-10-9-27-1T, 1.525V) |
| Hard Drive | Intel 730 240GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA III HD |
| Sound Card | On-board sound |
| Video Card | NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB |
| CPU Cooling | XSPC Raystorm Koolance CPU-360i Corsair Hydro Series™ H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler |
| Video Drivers | NVIDIA 353.62 |
| Power Supply | Corsair HX750 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro x64 |
Test Setup Explanation
The 64-bit Windows 10 based test bench used for Intel X99 LGA2011-V3 board testing includes an Intel Core i7-5960X CPU, 32GB of DDR4-2666 memory, an NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB video card, and an Intel 730 240GB SSD drive. For Intel Z170 LGA1151 board testing, an Intel Core i7-6700K processor, 16GB of DDR4-2666 memory, an NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB video card, and an Intel 730 240GB SSD drive were used in the test system. For the Z97-based board testing, an Intel Core i7-4770K CPU, 16GB of DDR3-2400 memory, an NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB video card, and an Intel 730 240GB SSD drive were used in the test system. Using the selected components gives us the ability to demonstrate the motherboard's capabilities rather than that of the components themselves.
Benchmark Tests used for evaluation:
- SoftPerfect Research NetWorx Speed Test v5.41
- LanBench v1.1.0
- ATTO Disk Benchmark v3.05
- SiSoft Sandra 2015 SP2b (v2015.07.21.42)
- Intel Linpack Benchmark v11.3.0.004
- Maxon Cinebench R15
- PCMark 8 v2.4.304
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