I wanted this feature when I was shopping for a Z97 board but utilization of m.2 x4 would disable the use of SLI. Not a problem with X99 but it is just a consideration for those looking at Z97 + m.2 x4 + SLI.
Way too much red.. Why every manufacturer puts these colors (I could paint the heatsinks, but the PCIe slots and the ram slots are red too). Also the gold caps would bother me a lot.. Hope there will be more than just this and ROG mATX X99.. there wasn't enough choices on x79 mATX.. Also, that's a great decision to put two lan ports on the motherboard, because for the networking enthusiasts there wouldn't be room for two graphics cards and a networking card (unless you go 295x2 or TitanZ). Although I'm not a fan of the killer NIC..
Mini-ATX on LGA2011 is a niche of an already small market, I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. The black/red color scheme can look really nice if you don't overdo it, it's probably the best idea to just embrace it and make the best out of it.
Do what I do, get a case without windows. ;) Sure, they where fun when they first came out(remeber having to cut your own?), but they're just tiresome now.
So much red. I like it. Although one thing comes to mind; Why is nobody offering white pcbs anymore ? I think one of the MSIs Eco boards suppost to be white, but it turned out to be black afterall for the retail.
ECC and RDIMM support? Now that is interesting as these features have been tied to Xeon chips. Granted, the previous generation X79 could support these technologies when a Xeon chip was put into the socket, though most motherboard manufactures never bothered to run the extra traces to the DIMM slots.
Could this mean that Intel is loosening its grip on some basic RAS features for its high end consumer platforms? If so, this is exciting news for me.
ECC is not Xeon-only. Goto ARK and open the Embedded category rather than Desktop and grab an i7 (with ECC) for the usual pricepoint. It's just that ECC does not matter for Desktop.
The E5-1650v2 has ECC and is 100MHz faster than the i7-4930K, but it has the same MSRP and is still unlocked. The E5-1660v2 and 1620v2 are similar compared to the 4960X and 4820K. In reality the Xeons are about $100 more expensive because most vendors don't offer them, but if ECC is required the premium is not that large.
What is the point of the "Killer LAN" when INTEL are suppling the X99 with the worlds best LAN solution. The "Sound Purity" is the Realtek 886 rebadged.
Use you head ASROCK and junk the junk and sell the board a little cheaper nobody wants that crap, would have done better with Sound Core, I guess cheapskates are cheapskates.
I assumed it was because the 1 intel nic is the one integrated into the chipset, while the extra one is not. so the "optional" one they probably have some kind of "deal" with Atheros instead of intel. And if they didn't use the "killer" nic they couldn't use the theme of "fata1ity" with "killer"
Unless you've heard otherwise, Purity Sound is usually an upgraded ALC1150 package with an EMI shield, PCB separation and filter caps (at a minimum), much like the other upgraded ALC1150 packages on other vendors. The idea behind this is to remove a noisy audio signal away from the digital trace interference as well as adjusting the single response to a much truer sound rather than straight out of the codec.
With the Killer LAN, the package from Qualcomm Atheros also includes network management software, which some motherboard manufacturers believe adds value to their product. The Intel one, despite whatever performance differences, relies on third-party implementations for network prioritization.
I don't care how much they try to improve Realtek onboard sound. it's not going to beat a ~$50 USB DAC. That's just laws of physics, period. They should just include the latter when they are already charging these boards sky high instead of putting lipsticks on pigs.
Just drop the killer NIC and add a second Intel NIC and this would be a good workstation slash gaming board. I don't trust the Killer low-latency driver. Too bad you can't do NIC teaming on 8.X though. If you want better network performance you basically have to drop in a card for 10GbE or fibre-channel depending on what your doing.
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23 Comments
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R3MF - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
M.2 3.0x4 is a must on a new platform at this cost.Any with USB 3.1 too?
A5 - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
I don't think there are any USB 3.1 controllers available at the moment. Maybe next year's platforms.swaigo - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
I wanted this feature when I was shopping for a Z97 board but utilization of m.2 x4 would disable the use of SLI. Not a problem with X99 but it is just a consideration for those looking at Z97 + m.2 x4 + SLI.DIYEyal - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
Way too much red.. Why every manufacturer puts these colors (I could paint the heatsinks, but the PCIe slots and the ram slots are red too). Also the gold caps would bother me a lot.. Hope there will be more than just this and ROG mATX X99.. there wasn't enough choices on x79 mATX..Also, that's a great decision to put two lan ports on the motherboard, because for the networking enthusiasts there wouldn't be room for two graphics cards and a networking card (unless you go 295x2 or TitanZ). Although I'm not a fan of the killer NIC..
Omniwar - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
Mini-ATX on LGA2011 is a niche of an already small market, I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. The black/red color scheme can look really nice if you don't overdo it, it's probably the best idea to just embrace it and make the best out of it.Mr Perfect - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
Do what I do, get a case without windows. ;) Sure, they where fun when they first came out(remeber having to cut your own?), but they're just tiresome now.jabber - Monday, August 18, 2014 - link
Yeah Windows just look terrible on 99% of builds. Only useful for dust build up inspections.Laststop311 - Sunday, August 17, 2014 - link
I hear ya the all black boards are the best lookin in my opinion like all stealthed outhojnikb - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
So much red. I like it. Although one thing comes to mind; Why is nobody offering white pcbs anymore ?I think one of the MSIs Eco boards suppost to be white, but it turned out to be black afterall for the retail.
Kevin G - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
ECC and RDIMM support? Now that is interesting as these features have been tied to Xeon chips. Granted, the previous generation X79 could support these technologies when a Xeon chip was put into the socket, though most motherboard manufactures never bothered to run the extra traces to the DIMM slots.Could this mean that Intel is loosening its grip on some basic RAS features for its high end consumer platforms? If so, this is exciting news for me.
hfp - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
ECC is not Xeon-only. Goto ARK and open the Embedded category rather than Desktop and grab an i7 (with ECC) for the usual pricepoint. It's just that ECC does not matter for Desktop.madmilk - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
The E5-1650v2 has ECC and is 100MHz faster than the i7-4930K, but it has the same MSRP and is still unlocked. The E5-1660v2 and 1620v2 are similar compared to the 4960X and 4820K. In reality the Xeons are about $100 more expensive because most vendors don't offer them, but if ECC is required the premium is not that large.Kevin Cobley - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
What is the point of the "Killer LAN" when INTEL are suppling the X99 with the worlds best LAN solution.The "Sound Purity" is the Realtek 886 rebadged.
Use you head ASROCK and junk the junk and sell the board a little cheaper nobody wants that crap, would have done better with Sound Core, I guess cheapskates are cheapskates.
bebimbap - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
I assumed it was because the 1 intel nic is the one integrated into the chipset, while the extra one is not. so the "optional" one they probably have some kind of "deal" with Atheros instead of intel. And if they didn't use the "killer" nic they couldn't use the theme of "fata1ity" with "killer"one of the reasons I stick with Asus or Gigabyte
Laststop311 - Sunday, August 17, 2014 - link
Yea I only use asus their bios is the best.Ian Cutress - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
Unless you've heard otherwise, Purity Sound is usually an upgraded ALC1150 package with an EMI shield, PCB separation and filter caps (at a minimum), much like the other upgraded ALC1150 packages on other vendors. The idea behind this is to remove a noisy audio signal away from the digital trace interference as well as adjusting the single response to a much truer sound rather than straight out of the codec.With the Killer LAN, the package from Qualcomm Atheros also includes network management software, which some motherboard manufacturers believe adds value to their product. The Intel one, despite whatever performance differences, relies on third-party implementations for network prioritization.
StrangerGuy - Wednesday, August 20, 2014 - link
I don't care how much they try to improve Realtek onboard sound. it's not going to beat a ~$50 USB DAC. That's just laws of physics, period. They should just include the latter when they are already charging these boards sky high instead of putting lipsticks on pigs.Mr Perfect - Friday, August 15, 2014 - link
So what exactly is a Fatality mouse port?Penti - Saturday, August 16, 2014 - link
Just drop the killer NIC and add a second Intel NIC and this would be a good workstation slash gaming board. I don't trust the Killer low-latency driver. Too bad you can't do NIC teaming on 8.X though. If you want better network performance you basically have to drop in a card for 10GbE or fibre-channel depending on what your doing.Laststop311 - Sunday, August 17, 2014 - link
You would think after being at a 1gbit standard for so long 10 gbit would be the default network port intel automatically included.nirwander - Sunday, August 17, 2014 - link
This shall very likely be my MB of choice. So tired of those huge ATX coffins...Hope AT will get one for the review.
efficacyman - Monday, August 18, 2014 - link
Needs 8 dimms for X99 even if they went to laptop SO-DIMMS for increased densityghitz - Wednesday, August 20, 2014 - link
Agreed, the reason for getting X99 would be because of more RAM capability. This really castrates it for me.