Asus has unveiled four new X99 chipset-based motherboards that are designed for Intel’s upcoming Broadwell-E processors. Namely the Asus X99-E, X99-A II, X99-Deluxe II, and ROG Strix X99 Gaming – all of which are equipped with RGB lighting. All four motherboards are equipped with the LGA 2011-v3 socket, making them compatible with Haswell-E processors as well. In addition, Asus’ new motherboards will also ship with the “Safe Slot” technology, which is said to improve the strength of the PCI-e slots.
Asus X99-E
The first motherboard unveiled by Asus is the X99-E. Based on the Intel X99 chipset, the Asus X99-E motherboard is equipped with eight DDR4 RAMs (3200MHz) and three PCI-e 3.0×16 expansion slots. Besides that, the motherboard also supports three-way SLI or CrossFireX configurations.
Storage-wise, the Asus X99-E motherboard ships with one M.2 slot; one SATA Express slot; and ten SATA drive slots. The motherboard is also fitted with plenty of USB 3.0 ports as well a single USB 3.1 Type-C port. The X99-E motherboard will retail for a price of US$219 (about RM880).
Asus X99-A II
Next up is the Asus X99-A II motherboard. It comes with four storage slots: one M.2, U.2 and SATA Express slots; and ten SATA slots. In addition to this, the motherboard also supports up to eight DDR4 RAMs (3333MHz) sticks. Like the X99-E motherboard, the X99-A II comes with three PCIe 3.0×16 slots along with support for a three-way SLI or CrossFireX configuration.
Connectivity-wise, the Asus X99-A II motherboard is equipped with a handful of USB 3.0 ports as well a single USB 3.1 Type-C port. According to Asus, the X99-A II motherbard will retail for US$249 (around RM1000).
Asus X99-Deluxe II
Featuring the same design as the X99-A II, Asus’ X99-Deluxe II comes with plenty of features that will tempt gamers and PC enthusiasts. The motherboard is equipped with eight RAM slots which can support DRR4 RAMs (3333MHz). Expansion-wise, the X99-Deluxe II comes with four PCIe 3.0×16 slots.
However, unlike both aforementioned motherboards, the Asus X99-Deluxe II comes with an onboard 802.11ac WiFi adapter. Storage-wise, the motherboard has one M.2, U.2, and SATA Express slots each; as well as ten SATA ports. Also not forgetting the plethora of USB 3.0 ports and one USB 3.0 Type-C port. The Asus X99-Deluxe II is expected to retail for US$419 (approximately RM1690).
ROG Strix X99 Gaming
Lastly, the crème de la crème: ROG Strix X99 Gaming motherboard. Equipped with a total of eight DDR4 RAM slots (3333MHz) as well as three PCIe 3.0×16 slots. Besides that, the motherboard also comes with one M.2, U.2, and SATA Express slots each. Like the X99-Deluxe II motherboard, the ROG Strix X99 Gaming ships with a built-in 802.11ac WiFi adapter.
One of the many differences that consumers can find with the ROG Strix X99 Gaming when compared against the other three X99-based motherboards is the SupremeFX onboard audio solution; the rest are equipped with the Crystal Sound 3 sound card instead. When made available, the ROG Strix X99 Gaming motherboard will retail for a price of US$399 (about RM1610).
(Source: TechPowerUp, WCCFtech)
