CPU Cooler Fit and Included Accessories
CPU Cooler Fit
To test the amount of space surrounding the CPU socket, we mounted the Noctua NH-D15 cooler to the CPU socket. This behemoth CPU air cooler sports a dual fan construction and two huge vertical cooling towers.
When oriented in its default configuration with air blown towards the rear panel of the case, the Noctua cooler fits well into the CPU socket area of the X299 Designare EX board. The spacing surrounding the socket is more than sufficient to accommodate the cooler. Further, the spacing between the CPU socket area and the primary PCIe x16 slot is most than sufficient to support both the larger cooler and a full sized card in the primary PCIe x16 slot.
The Noctua hold down mechanism is large enough to qualify the socket space for use with the majority of mount methods included with a CPU cooler. The Noctua mount fits well to the CPU socket with no tight areas or contact points evident between it and the on board capacitors, chokes, or VRM heat sinks.
Included Accessories
The X299 Designare EX motherboard comes with all the necessary components and accessories to get the board up and running, as well as some enthusiast level accessories to sweeten the deal.
The board's motherboard manual is feature complete, containing all necessary information describing integrated components and board functions with clear and concise language. Also included is a driver DVD with all necessary hardware drivers and Window's utilities. GIGABYTE also included Designare branded case stickers and cable labels for decorating your case.
GIGABYTE included six black 6Gb/s rated SATA cables for use with the integrated ports. The cables have integrated port locks and a mix of straight and 90 degree connectors.
For multi-GPU configurations, GIGABYTE included a single two-way NVIDIA SLI HB adapter. The ports on the back of the adapter are steel reinforced giving the ports additional strength.
For use with the on-board front panel header, GIGABYTE included G Connector device. You simply plug the front panel case leads into the G Connector, locking the plugs in place, and then plug the G Connector into the front panel board header. It makes the installation of the front panel plugs much easier. The G Connector housing has notched arms that lock the case header plugs in place within the housing.
For use with the integrated WI-FI card, GIGABYTE includes a dual-plug antennae. The antenna leads plug directly into the provided ports integrated into the rear panel and can be swiveled in a 180 degree arc for optimal signal reception. The base included integrated magnets to ease with placement of the antennae.
GIGABYTE included an M.2 to U.2 adapter for use with the integrated PCIe M.2 ports. The adapter accepts a U.2 cable which connects to the a U.2 drive, offering up to x4 bandwidth to the attached device..
For use with the integrated 12V RGBW LED header, GIGABYTE included two five wire RGBW cables for syncing your case RGB or RGBW cables with the motherboard lighting configuration. Attached LED cables can be controlled via the included RGS Fusion app as well.
GIGABYTE included two temperature diodes for temperature monitoring via the integrated board headers.
For cable management purposes, GIGABYTE included several Designare-branded velcro cable strips for case cable management.
Good job, Morry.
Question:
Good job, Morry.
Question: did you happen to notice if the BIOS/UEFI
supports bifurcation? e.g. “4×4” (ASRock nomenclature)
and “x4/x4/x4/x4” (ASUS nomenclature) on PCIe x16 slots.
For the large amount of money, I would require that specific
feature; otherwise, I’ll pass on the high price of this
motherboard.
It does not support user
It does not support user configuration of that unfortunately. The PCI bus bandwidth per slot is auto-configured by the BIOS based on the processor and slots that are popupulated. There is a list of values that the board supports on page two of the review, about halfway down the page…
Thanks, Morry. Excellent
Thanks, Morry. Excellent review!
Wow. Never thought I’d see
Wow. Never thought I’d see the day when we have $500 motherboards. It’s nice but it definitely isn’t THAT nice!
yes, i cant agree more. $200
yes, i cant agree more. $200 is my limit.
i need the other $300 for RAM 😛
Where does one obtain an
Where does one obtain an adapter for the “1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 Gen 2” found on the motherboard, for those that don’t have a brand new case and instead have the older 19-pin USB 3.0 connector?
you can find them at
you can find them at amazon…
Are there any other
Are there any other motherboards that have “DP in” that routes the video through the USB-C connection?
I want to build a computer that I can quickly disconnect and bring to my VR area without having to un-plug and plug more than a few connections.
There are a few, but most
There are a few, but most ship with TB3 AIC (add-in card) capabilities because of the cost involved with implementing an integrated Intel-TB3 chipset. Most board use ASMedia-based USB 3.1 ports, negating their use as TB3 style pass throughs…
Are there any other
Are there any other motherboards that have “DP in” that routes the video through the USB-C connection?
I want to build a computer that I can quickly disconnect and bring to my VR area without having to un-plug and plug more than a few connections.
Does the Designare logo spell
Does the Designare logo spell out Designare all smashed together?
I have this board; it’s been
I have this board; it’s been inside my PC for about three weeks now – no nasty surprises so far…
I didn’t have the opportunity to test thunderbolt yet.
For me the biggest drawback is inability to disable wireless card in the BIOS. I wonder what would happen if I just physically remove it from the slot?
Also the latest BIOS “anti-Specter” firmware is a beta released in March.
P.S. Almost forgot, during the installation process the board didn’t recognize one of the four identical 16GB Crucial DDR4 modules (XPM). Strange thing was: the board showed 56GB during boot and CPU-Z showed all 64GB but in triple channel configuration(!?). What helped, was switching placement of two DIMM’s with each other (!!???).
Will the Noctua NH-D15S cover
Will the Noctua NH-D15S cover up my Trident Z RGB RAM completely or will the RGB at least still be visible?
We have a Gigabyte x299 and
We have a Gigabyte x299 and the M2 does not show up in bios. How do we install the M2 on a new build? I have the windows 10 usb thumb drive ready. Please send me step by step bios configuration. Thank you! Callie