First Looks: ASUS X99-Deluxe motherboard

First Looks: ASUS X99-Deluxe

The ASUS X99-Deluxe board features the Intel X99 chipset that replaces the incumbent Intel X79. Besides bringing support for , the Intel X99 PCH adds native USB 3.0 support, Thunderbolt connectivity, Intel Smart Response technology, Intel Rapid Storage technology, as well as PCIe Gen 3.0 storage for SATA Express and M.2 storage devices. In comparison to the older Intel X79, the Intel X99 has brought more desktop computing features that will appeal to the power user, looking beyond the limitations of the .

This new chipset goes hand-in-hand to support the brand new Intel Core i7 "Haswell-E" processors that uses an updated LGA2011-v3 package. As usual, the platform and processor are targeted to appeal to the ultimate power users and enthusiasts who will settle for nothing but the best technology has to offer.

This particular ASUS board has a unique color scheme; however, it isn't as ostentatious as the Intel Z97-based ASUS Z97-Deluxe (NFC & WLC) motherboard. The X99 board has a white-on-black color scheme, with hints of blue and grey streaks quietly blended in. On the left, there is a large plastic sheath that runs along the entire length of the board. It appears to be purely decorative feature. Despite its rich feature set, the board comes in the ATX form factor, and it even supports up to two M.2 devices. Let us look beyond its facade and examine its features in detail.

One of the marquee features of this board is its "patent-pending" ASUS OC Socket. Essentially, it uses more CPU pins to "connect a proprietary circuit to contacts found on Haswell-E's land grid array (LGA)." When combined with the board's UEFI BIOS utility, it will allow for over-rating the CPU's voltage for stable performance during extreme overclocking.

Also, this is the first desktop platform to support DDR4 RAM, and the board has four memory channels spread across eight DIMM slots. Each channel is rated to support up to 3200MHz memory. ASUS claims its proprietary T-Topology circuitry design, together with its OC Socket feature, is touted to be a platform for memory overclocking by "minimizing coupling noise and signal reflection."

The board's heatsinks are split up into two assemblies; each consists of one main heatsink connected by a heatpipe to another heatsink, which is meant for exclusive heat dissipation. The MOSFETs heatsink, which sits above the CPU socket is connected by a heatpipe to its other half, located right under the plastic sheath marked with the X99 series branding. Above the CPU socket, we can see the exposed chokes, which are located right behind the capacitors, and the row of MOSFETs. The other half of the MOSFET heatsinks conceals a collection of surface-mounted capacitors that are located right next to the rear I/O ports.

The other assembly is made up of the Intel X99 PCH heatsink connected by a separate heatpipe.

This particular heatsink hides a collection of ASMedia ASM1480 PCIe 3.0 switches; however, it doesn't come into any thermal contact with those chips. There aren't any PLX PCIe Gen 3.0 high-speed switch chips onboard, despite the presence of this heatsink. Did you notice the lithium CMOS cell battery is inserted vertically? This is probably to allow for easier removal in the event it needs to be replaced.

The board has five PCIe Gen 3.0 x16 expansion slots, and a PCIe 2.0 x4 slot. The lone PCIe 2.0 slot shares bandwidth with one USB 3.0 header, and the SATA Express connector. The lane configurations of these slots are dependent on the CPU installed. Currently, there are three Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition processors that are compatible with the board's LGA2011-v3 CPU socket.

Of the three, there are two processors with the full set of 40 PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes; they are the Core i7-5690X and the Core i7-5930K. The flagship Core i7-5690X is the first socketed 8-core desktop processor from the company. It has a base clock speed of 3.0GHz and a Turbo clock speed of 3.5MHz. Second in line is the Core i7-5930K that has a total of six, 22nm-based Haswell-E cores. This CPU has a  base clock speed of 3.5GHz, with a Max Turbo clock speed of 3.7GHz. Last of the trio, the Core i7-5820K comes with the same six physical cores; however, its clock speeds are lower, with a base level of 3.3GHz, and a Max Turbo frequency of 3.6GHz. Its PCIe Gen 3.0 lanes are limited to only 28. As a result, in a multi-GPU setup, the available bandwidth is limited by this processor model paired..

In order to assist you in setting up with a multi-GPU configuration easily , there is an onboard SLI-CFX switch that will indicate (via LED lights next to the slot) of the appropriate PEG slots suitable for a 2-way or 3-way graphics cards installation.

With a 40-lane CPU, and a 3-way graphics cards setup, there are two possible configurations:-

• x8 / x8 / x8 mode (with M.2 x4 mode enabled by default)
  
  
  PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2, and PCIEX16_4 are available

• x16 / x16 / x8 mode (with M.2 x4 mode disabled)
  
  
  PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_3, and PCIEX16_5 are available
  The bandwidth of PCIEX16_5 has to be manually configured at BIOS to x8 mode, and the M.2 x4 mode will be disabled accordingly.

With a 40-lane CPU, and a 2-way graphics cards setup, there is only one configuration:-

• x16 / x16 mode (with M.2 x4 mode enabled)
  
  
  PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_3 are available

If the Core i7-5820K, or any 28-lane LGA2011-v3 processor, is installed, there is only one possible 3-way graphics cards configuration

• x8 / x8 / x8 mode (with M.2 x4 mode enabled)
  
  
  PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2, and PCIEX16_4 are available

And for the 2-way graphics cards setup, with M.2 x4 mode enabled, there is one suggested configuration where PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_4 are to be used.

This is the M.2 socket that shares PCIe lanes with the last PEG slot, PCIEX16_5. With this vertical mounting bracket, a 42- /60- /80mm M.2 PCIe form factor SSD can be installed to operate at x4 mode, with a theoretical maximum transfer speed of 32Gb/s.

If you have a spare PEG slot, there is an optional Hyper M.2 x4 add-in card that will allow you to install a compatible M.2 SSD. The add-in card can be installed into the lone PCIe 2.0 x4 slot, which is below the first x16 PEG slot (PCIEX16_1). It would be impossible to use this x4 slot if your discrete graphics card has a dual-slot profile. In a 2-way, dual-slot graphics cards configuration, the Hyper M.2 x4 add-in card will be relegated to the last x16 slot, PCIEX16_5. And do bear in mind that this slot shares PCIe 3.0 lanes with the M.2 socket mentioned above.

At the bottom edge of the board, we see a collection of premium Japanese capacitors of its Crystal Sound 2 audio system. A collection of headers and connectors are crammed into this area of the board. We also see some onboard buttons like the power, reset and clear CMOS. There is also a collection of switches, where the SLI/CFX switch is located, to the right of this area. There is an EZ XMP switch that allows you to overclock supported DDR4 RAM modules. A regular feature is its EPU switch that allows for auto PC power load configurations.

More features of the board

To the right of the switches mentioned on the earlier page (at the bottom corner of the board), there's the stack of SATA connectors. The SATA Express connector marked with the red frame is driven by the third-party ASMedia ASM106SE controller. The SATA Express connector supports up to a pair of SATA devices, or a single SATA Express one. The other SATA Express above, and the eight SATA 6Gbps connectors, are connected to the Intel X99 PCH of the board.

As we move along this edge of the board, we see the M.2 socket, the 24-pin power connector, and the MemOK! button that allows you to automatically tune the memory settings for compatibility.

The board's rear I/O ports consists of 10 USB 3.0 ports that are powered by an ASMedia USB 3.0 controller, a pair of black USB 2.0 ports, which is connected to the board's PCH, and a pair of Gigabit LAN ports. At the left corner, there is a BIOS Flashback button. Next to this stack of audio connectors (five analog audio jacks and an optical S/PDIF port), there is the Wi-Fi GO! module that supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth v4.0 standards.

There is a bundled 3T3R dual-band Wi-Fi moving antenna that ASUS claims to be able to support a throughput of up to 1300Mbps.

The last accessory, which is worthy of mention, is the fan extension card. This optional accessory allows you to plug in up to three additional cooling fans. This is on top of the two CPU fan headers and seven system fan headers that are available on the board. Each fan can be controlled independently from the UEFI BIOS utility or the Windows-based AI Suite 3 software. There aren't any clear installation instructions; however, there are two mounting holes on the card, so our best guess is to locate a spare drive bay slot and attach the card to the base of the slot.

Overall, the ASUS X99-Deluxe board is one that is focused on performance. There are two marquee features; the OC Socket and the T-Topology circuitry behind its quad-channel DDR4 DIMM slots, are touted to offer "better" overclocking capabilities. There are also some well-thought board layout features, most likely to overcome the limited PCB space. They include the CMOS battery that is inserted in a vertical position, and the M.2 bracket, which allows for the vertical installation of supported M.2 SSDs. Note that in our review unit, the optional accessories like the fan extension card and the Hyper M.2 x4 add-in card were provided. We feel that as a deluxe package, these accessories should be bundled all together in the full retail package.

It also doesn't hurt that the board has an alluring appearance, mainly due to its plastic sheath that came in the same hues as its heatsinks. The stark white color contrasts sharply against its jet black PCB, giving the entire motherboard, a sharp and clean appearance. So it seems we have a nifty-looking board that has strong overclocking potential!

Stay tuned for our performance review of the board as we put it through its paces.

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