Price / Where to Buy:
US – Approx.: $269.99 – ASUS X99-A
PH – Approx.: Php15,960
We’re back for another round with Intel’s X99 platform and this time around we have the ASUS X99-A motherboard for review. ASUS has been improving its already wide array of feature set to completely define each and every one of its product lines which means we get a more specialized selection of boards for their lineups for mainstream, TUF and in this case, ROG.
In our bench today is the ASUS X99-A which is one of the three launch products for Intel’s X99 stack with the X99-A serving as the entry-level product below the mainstream X99-DELUXE. Rounding out their X99 port folio is the gamer-targeted ROG RAMPAGE V EXTREME motherboard which we reviewed prior. Another product that followed was the X99 Sabertooth from the TUF line of products.
Intel’s new high-end enthusiast platform has been released and beckons the advent of new chips codenamed Haswell-E which now sit atop Intel’s HEDT portfolio. Haswell-E will come in 3 models with two 6-core models and one 8-core chip which are as follows:
- i7-5960K – 8 cores, 16 threads, 3.0Ghz, Turbo up to 3.5Ghz, 20MB Cache, 140W TDP – $999
- i7-5820K – 6 cores, 12 threads, 3.5Ghz, Turbo up to 3.7Ghz, 15MB Cache, 140W TDP – $583
- i7-5820K – 6 cores, 12 threads, 3.3Ghz, Turbo up to 3.6Ghz, 15MB Cache, 140W TDP – $389
The new HEDT platform ushers in the arrival of socket LGA2011-V3, a revision of the LGA2011 socket used by the previous X79 HEDT platform but both sockets are not inter-operable with each other with LGA2011-V3 chips not compatible with LGA2011 sockets and vice versa.
Also new in the platform is support for DDR4. The new platform fully supports quad-channel DDR4 memory with the new DDR4 modules supporting higher default memory of 2133MHz at only 1.2v.
The ASUS X99-DELUXE is the entry-level product in ASUS current X99 product stack for the LGA2011-3 processors of Intel for the HEDT market and the X99-A is aimed at adopters who want to go with an ASUS board for quality but not bother with the really intensive feature set of the other products in the stack right now. It features everything there is to put together a powerful Haswell-E system with up to dual-GPU configuration and plenty of OC control to get a fully decked-out system without breaking the bank.
A list of the extra features of the ASUS X99-A are below:
- Patent Pending OC Socket – Drive CPU and DDR4 performance beyond all expectations!
- 5-Way Optimization by Dual Intelligent Processors 5 – One click overclock and cooling, done!
- 32Gb/s ultrafast M.2 x4
- Crystal Sound 2 – Flawless audio that makes you part of the game!
- Total control anytime, anywhere with Remote GO!
The X99 Chipset
The accompanying chipset for the Haswell-E CPUs is the also a 9-series chipset, codenamed Wellsburg and official dubbed Intel X99. Much of the duties of the north bridge have been relegated and built-in to the CPU during the past couple of years and the X99 chipset is no difference. This means that Haswell-E CPUs will communicate directly with the chipset via DMI.
X99 will offer ten SATA3 connections, 8 USB2.0 and 6 USB3.0 ports, and depending on your CPU you can get up to 40 PCI Express 3.0 lanes.
Together with the X99 chipset is support for DDR4 memory. DDR4 will offer timings far higher than DDR3 but at a lower voltage which starts out 1.2v. Most DDR4 memory will be XMP2.0 ready and make setting and getting the rated speeds easy. Also, as mentioned, Haswell-E supports quad-channel memory which offers more bandwidth than its normal dual-channel configurations. Couple that with the higher speed ratings of DDR4 and you get more memory bandwidth at lower voltages.
Closer Look – ASUS X99-A
Test Setup
Processor: Intel Core i7 5930K
Motherboard: ASUS X99-A
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 16GB (JEDEC-2133 CL15)
Storage: Kingston HyperX 3K SSD 120GB
PSU: Corsair AX860i
Cooling: Custom loop (XSPC Raystorm block, XSPC D5 Dual Bayres (set to medium), BlackIce Stealth GT 360 rad)
Monitor: LG E2350V
VGA: Palit Jetstream GTX 780Ti
As this is a new system, we will be adapting it to the more relative data we have on our database. For best relative information, we are including test data for our i7-4770K and i7-3770K systems. We will also be deferring gaming tests until we can establish a definitive benchmark for the X99 platform. Note that these are for informative purposes only and not for direct comparison.
We will be using an i7-5930K in our system also instead of the i7-5960X. We’ll cover that chip in a later review.
Performance Testing – Synthetic
Performance Testing – Real World
Performance Testing – 3D Benchmarks
Power Consumption & Temperatures
We check to see how motherboard makers tune their default BIOS settings and see how it impacts temperatures and power consumption. The system is left to idle for 30 minutes before readings are taken and load data is taken 30 minutes while Prime95 blend test is running. Power readings are taken for the entire system from the socket.
As a glance: Everthing seems average for this board in terms of power draw and out-of-box config temps. Variance on the idle temps in our setup though could be attributed to this board’s tad higher voltage on idle.
Overclocking
Overclocking on the X99 platform with the new Haswell-E chips should be very familiar with owners of 4770K and 3770K processors. Overclocking can be done either by multipliers or BCLK or by gear ratio. When loading XMP profiles higher than 2800, we found that the system would change gear ratio so you’re basically overclocking the system along with your RAM.
While ASUS claims that they’re OC socket improves OC performance, we still have some reservation about this claim. Unlike the X99-DELUXE, we only managed to bump our i7-5930K to 4.5Ghz on our standard OC voltage of 1.25v in this board. We’ll update our OC charts once we get a consistent processor for testing.
Conclusion
Let’s break down our scores before we give the final verdict:
Performance. Curiously, this board puts up some better numbers in some benchmarks than its high-end brethren but overall the variance is small and negligible. What this says is this board won’t hold back your expensive HEDT processor, overclocking it also makes it a sweeter deal and this board has plenty of chops to push your processor further.
Build Quality. As an entry-level in a really expensive product line, its not easy being the baby. People have expectations and ASUS does manage to make this board stand-out in terms of look and layout as much as they can without sacrificing the feel of a high-end product line.
Functionality. This board has plenty of features going for it mostly tied to the base X99 chipset offering but ASUS doesn’t skimp out and brings to the table some solid audio and didn’t limit multi-GPU
Bundle. Ok this is probably disheartening but ASUS doesn’t include much in the bundle here. Given its status as the entry-level product, its understandable but we’d have appreciated a couple of extras like a door hanger or cable ties.
Value. The ASUS X99-A is one of the more affordable X99 boards out there if you take into consideration that you’re getting pretty much a scaled down X99-DELUXE without all the fluff and extras. The lowest we found this board was for around $269 at Amazon and local PH SRP puts its pricing at around Php15,960 but stores may sell it for as low as around Php15,000.
Due to the weak demand for this platform, there’s really not much option out there and its really surprising that we’re saying this but the ASUS X99-A is actually the cheapest X99 board we’ve found locally. If you’re build an X99 machine for work or gaming, and want to stick to a simple dual-card configuration and don’t want to bother with on-board features or boxed extras, this is the best X99 motherboard for your money right now. Solid quality is where it’s at and ASUS doesn’t disappoint with the X99-A motherboard.
I still can’t believe we’re awarding a value award to ASUS.
Price / Where to Buy:
US – Approx.: $269.99 – ASUS X99-A
PH – Approx.: Php15,960
The ASUS X99-DELUXE is backed by a 3-year warranty. We give the ASUS X99-DELUXE our B2G Value Award. Albeit just a very good repeat performance.