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Motherboards based on new Intel X99 chipset launched!

By Wong Chung Wee - on 31 Aug 2014, 10:44am

Gigabye, MSI, and EVGA Intel X99 Offferings

Gigabyte GA-X99-SOC Force (Image source: Gigabyte)

For Gigabyte, it has eight boards to showcase; four from its Ultra Durable series, three boards from its Gaming series, and the lone GA-X99-SOC Force with server-grade power delivery components for stable overclocks! The Gigabyte boards feature both M.2 and SATA Express connectors, as well as Thunderbolt add-in card connectors. In terms of CPU power design, they make use of an all-digital IR power system for stability and reliability.

Gigabyte GA-X99-UD7 WIFI (Image source: Gigabyte)

The GA-X99-UD7 WIFI is the top-end offering from its Ultra Durable series that prides itself in using power delivery components with better thermal capabilities for stable and reliable performances.

Gigabyte GA-X99-Gaming G1 WIFI (Image source: Gigabyte)

For gamers, they shouldn’t look further than the GA-X99-Gaming G1 WIFI. Sporting the now familiar red eye logo on its PCH heatsink, the board supports up to 4-way multi-GPU configurations over the 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes of the Haswell-E processor. It has a unique stacked M.2 interface in order to fit M.2 SSDs and the onboard 802.11ac WIFI + Bluetooth 4.0 module. The rest of the Gigabyte boards are as follows:-

 

MSI X99S SLI Plus (Image source: MSI)

For fans of MSI, the company first showcased its Intel X99 prototypes in June this year now, the company has finalized its lineup with five new mobos! Two of them hail from its Overclocking series, and two from the Gaming family. The odd man out is the X99S SLI Plus, an E-ATX board that boasts of Military Grade IV components, and Guard-Pro technology. As a result, the components of the board are touted to perform reliably under extreme conditions, with protection against EMI, humidity and electrostatic discharges.

MSI X99S Gaming 9 AC (Image source: MSI)

The X99S Gaming 9 AC board has an onboard game capture and streaming feature that features an AverMedia encoding chip that works with its XSplit Gamecaster system to share highlights of the gamer’s experience on social media. The AverMedia encoding chip ensures the processor and GPU of the system aren’t unnecessarily taxed when it records and streams the full HD game capture videos.

MSI X99S XPower AC (Image source: MSI)

The top-end board from its Overclocking series, X99S XPower AC, strongly resembles the MSI Z97 XPower AC. However, the newer board sports a SATA Express connector that is absent from the Intel Z97 board. As usual, the X99S XPower AC has features that target extreme overclockers like its onboard OC Essential buttons, and V-Checkpoints for easy voltage measurement. But built-in liquid cooling blocks for VRM heatsinks are missing for this board. The rest of its offerings include:-

 

EVGA X99 Classifed (Image source: EVGA) 

EVGA has released three Intel X99 boards with SRPs in US dollars. At the top of the pile, the EVGA X99 Classified has triple BIOS support, and a Creative Core 3D onboard audio chip.

EVGA X99 Micro (Image source: EVGA)

If you need a mATX board, the EVGA X99 Micro offers a stripped down experience for this new desktop platform. System memory support is capped at 64GB, and its PEG slots limit you to a 3-way multi-GPU configuration, instead of the usual 4-way setup. The EVGA X99 Classified has an SRP of US$399, the EVGA X99 WTF is priced at US$299, and the EVGA X99 Micro is US$50 cheaper at US249.

Do check out the respective add-in board partners’ sites for more details of their Intel X99 offerings.

(Source: ASUS (1), (2), (3), ASRock, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI)

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