I ordered a x99S SLI Plus on amazon.ca, they sent me an x99S SLI Plus USB 3.1.
On the box itself (not a sticker) is a printed recommendation by Andatec for the x99S SLI Plus..
This made me think the x99A SLI Plus USB 3.1 is a revision of the x99S (since it's newer than the x99S). Eventually I found the only reference to this here on tom's Hardware's review of the x99S
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/msi-x99s-sli-plus-motherboard,4116.html
"MSI now offers a revised version of the X99S SLI Plus featuring USB 3.1. Called the X99A SLI Plus, it replaces this board's ASM1042 controller with an ASM1142 USB 3.1 controller via two PCIe 2.0 lanes. The entire 10Gbps bandwidth can be dedicated to a single device or shared over two ports, and MSI states that this adds only $10 to the X99A SLI Plus MSRP. The steep discounts found with the X99S SLI Plus are not available for the X99A SLI Plus, so we'd still pick the original model in our search for value."
So.. now to my question.. replacing the controller with the 3.1 via two PCIe 2.0 lanes.. does this ah heck the board by comparison to the original x99S or is this considered a superior board? I'm not concerned with USB 3.1 at all... Should I be returning this thing and making sure I get the original x99S that I intended?
On the box itself (not a sticker) is a printed recommendation by Andatec for the x99S SLI Plus..
This made me think the x99A SLI Plus USB 3.1 is a revision of the x99S (since it's newer than the x99S). Eventually I found the only reference to this here on tom's Hardware's review of the x99S
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/msi-x99s-sli-plus-motherboard,4116.html
"MSI now offers a revised version of the X99S SLI Plus featuring USB 3.1. Called the X99A SLI Plus, it replaces this board's ASM1042 controller with an ASM1142 USB 3.1 controller via two PCIe 2.0 lanes. The entire 10Gbps bandwidth can be dedicated to a single device or shared over two ports, and MSI states that this adds only $10 to the X99A SLI Plus MSRP. The steep discounts found with the X99S SLI Plus are not available for the X99A SLI Plus, so we'd still pick the original model in our search for value."
So.. now to my question.. replacing the controller with the 3.1 via two PCIe 2.0 lanes.. does this ah heck the board by comparison to the original x99S or is this considered a superior board? I'm not concerned with USB 3.1 at all... Should I be returning this thing and making sure I get the original x99S that I intended?
I got it flashed eventually but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Also, I could not for the life of me to find a South Bridge water block. I wished I went with the Gigabyte board in hindsight but I an not your typical user either. Once I got past the flashing problems (MSI if you read this MAKE A LINUX version of the flash program) the board seemed fine. Yes I only have USB 3.0 and only Audio Boost 2.0 but that is what I get for buying a board so early.
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