Shootouts

Two Intel X99 motherboards compared: ASUS X99-Deluxe & ASRock X99 Extreme6

By Wong Chung Wee - 18 Dec 2014

Conclusion

Conclusion

Each board brings a difference user experience for the Intel X99 platform. The ASUS X99-Deluxe is bold in looks, with an impressive feature set. The ASRock X99 Extreme6 boasts of a stronger overclocking performance. Under normal testing procedures, it runs cooler, with a lower power draw than the ASUS board.

The Intel X99 platform didn't disappoint us, and the two boards that we have tested left us duly impressed. They aren't exactly identically matched boards, but nevertheless, it's an excellent chance to see how these board differ.

The ASUS X99-Deluxe board had enough bundled accessories without going overboard. Its appearance marked the boldness of the ASUS Design team to step away from the usual safe choices of hues for motherboards. The ASRock X99 Extreme6 was the strong and silent type; its muted appearance belied strength and prowess that were frankly quite unexpected. This was especially so in our overclocking exercise where the board managed to tune up the Intel Core i7-5960X chip to operate at 4.1GHz with ease! However, the ASUS board wasn't a pushover as it offered more finesse in automated overclocking with an additional option of adjusting both CPU ratio and BCLK frequency. This feature wasn't present for the ASRock board.

In terms of their performance scores, the boards were somewhat equally matched but in terms of gaming, it appeared that ASRock had a slight edge over ASUS. The ASRock board had a lower power draw, and its operating temperatures were also lower. As we've iterated earlier, ASUS has a wider breadth of features onboard and these do add to the slightly higher heat and power draw.

Due to the difference in features offered by both boards, they differ in price by quite a large margin. The ASRock X99 Extreme6 is priced about US$280, whereas the ASUS X99-Deluxe is closer to US$400. Locally, the ASUS board is over $S$600 but we couldn't yet find the ASRock X99 Extreme6 in stores. It's clear that if you want more features and capabilities out of your high-end system, despite the small performance differential, the ASUS X99-Deluxe is still your best bet. However, if you're more practical and prefer a better tuned board with a better memory support and can live without some of the frills and over-the-top features of the ASUS baord, the ASRock X99 Extreme6 is a better fit.

All things considered, as the Intel X99 platform boasts of server-grade DNA, we feel the ASRock X99 Extreme6 is an excellent pedigree that is more true to the platform's prestigious lineage and it has exhibited better overall performance in our scrutiny.

The ASRock X99 Extreme is ideal for building a reliable Intel X99 workstation platform. It doesn't hurt its server-grade credentials even as the board designers have included the Purity Sound 2 audio system.

Our Final Ratings
ASRock X99 Extreme6

Click for detailed results break-down

ASUS X99-Deluxe

Click for detailed results break-down

 

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