The ASRock Fatal1ty X299 Professional Gaming i9 Motherboard Review
by Joe Shields on September 26, 2017 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Motherboards
- Gaming
- Intel
- ASRock
- SLI
- Fatal1ty
- CrossFire
- X299
- Skylake-X
- Kaby Lake-X
Gaming Performance 2017: AoTS Escalation
Ashes of the Singularity is a Real Time Strategy game developed by Oxide Games and Stardock Entertainment. The original AoTS was released back in March of 2016 while the standalone expansion pack, Escalation, was released in November of 2016 adding more structures, maps, and units. We use this specific benchmark as it relies on both a good GPU as well as on the CPU in order to get the most frames per second. This balance is able to better display any system differences in gaming as opposed to a more GPU heavy title where the CPU and system doesn't matter quite as much. We use the default "Crazy" in-game settings using the DX12 rendering path in both 1080p and 4K UHD resolutions. The benchmark is run four times and the results averaged then plugged into the graph.
The results here do not show any tangible differences between the two motherboards tested thus far.
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jardows2 - Tuesday, September 26, 2017 - link
I took the comment differently than you. I took it as being surprised that they didn't include a Killer NIC, not that the reviewer was disappointed in any way. It seems to be the standard practice of MB makers to give their "gaming" boards a more "awesomeness" by including the "much superior because of such a cool name" Killer NIC. Just a little bit surprised that AsRock didn't do it on this one.notR1CH - Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - link
Killer NICs are all software based too (except the very first proof of concept one with the ridiculous heatsink). Their software and drivers are trash compared to well established vendors like Intel. I actively avoid any motherboards integrating their hardware and I'm very surprised to see Anandtech in favor of them.BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, September 26, 2017 - link
"Curiously, for a motherboard which has "gaming" in the title and having three network ports, we were surprised not to see a Killer Network based NIC which finds its way on to several other gaming motherboards."I don't think that Killer NICs are a selling point these days. Rivet has a well-deserved, awful reputation for hocking what amounts to ethernet snake oil. Numerous times, I've seen people state that they will not purchase a particular product because a Killer NIC is present. ASRock probably made a good decision by omitting rather than including one.
Flunk - Tuesday, September 26, 2017 - link
You hit the rivet on the head there, most gamers don't want Killer Nics because of the poor software support and total lack of any advantage in performance. They'd rather have an Intel NIC that is rock solid.apoctwist - Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - link
Yeah. I have an ASRock X99X mobo and when I tried to use the Killer NIC my cpu usage was sitting at close to 60% on idle because the stupid software kept doing something. Luckily ASRock included a Intel NIC, moved to that and never looked back. I will never buy a mobo that has Killer NICs, period. So I'm glad ASRock is getting rid of that junk. Even more interesting is ASRock including Intel NICs on AMD's platform.samer1970 - Tuesday, September 26, 2017 - link
X299 +i9 is as stupid choice . people who choose 10+ cores want ECC support. and the new Turbo is more than enough for speed.people who want to overclock those cpu will go for the cheapest coming 6 cores i7 8700K ..
I dont know why intel is shooting itself in the foot .. intel enable ECC for i9 .. this needs no brain at all to figure out. unless your iq is zero
ddriver - Tuesday, September 26, 2017 - link
Intel was thinking about milking idiots.According to intel shills ECC is so unimportant, that intel feels the need to charge a 50% premium for an identical product that doesn't have ECC disabled.
But let's be honest, games need 10+ core products as much as they need ECC - not at all.
HEDT for gaming is simply idiocy. It is a waste. Intel's HEDT lineup however seems to be designed with one purpose in mind - milking idiots out of their money. So it all makes sense in a sad, sad way.
Do not be fooled by the high price, this is not a product for professionals, this is an expensive toy for losers with poor self esteem who need it to cultivate an illusion that it somehow makes up for their lack of redeeming qualities, even if all it does in reality is further prove their idiocy. Product value is not all that bad around 6-8 cores, albeit IO is abysmal, and of course, the lack of ECC support. But everything on top of that outta come with a certificate for idiocy, and for the 16 and 18 core versions, it should come in a massive, big frame too.
apoctwist - Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - link
No need for a certificate or frame. You can spot one of these idiots a mile away. They'll be covered in LEDs.samer1970 - Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - link
LOL ...True , Sadly all case manufacturers are going RGB led design to the point that I must get an older case each time I make a PC.
Tempered Glass and LED ... people forgot how important it is to shield their PC and the RGB is just for kids.
I miss already good designed PC cases ...
peevee - Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - link
"Professional Gaming"Up next: your mom's basement becomes "Professional Office".