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Finally, An Asus X99 Motherboard

By - Source: LinusTechTips Forum | B 37 comments

This is Asus' X99 Deluxe, and while it might be lacking M.2, it does look pretty.

A user who goes by the name VSG on the LinusTechTips forums has posted some images of the upcoming X99 Deluxe motherboard, which is one of Asus' upcoming boards supporting Haswell-E processors. We've had looks at plenty of X99 motherboards dribbling out from other manufacturers, but we haven't seen an Asus X99 motherboard revealed yet.

This ATX board has eight DDR4 memory slots for quad-channel memory and a staggering five PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots for expansion, as well as another PCI-Express 4x slot. A handful of SATA3 (6 Gb/s) ports take care of storage connectivity, along with either one or two SATA-Express interfaces, although given the limited visibility, we can't be sure yet.

On the topic of storage, we're not even sure whether the motherboard has M.2 connectivity. There is a slot that vaguely resembles an M.2 slot between the ATX power connector and the SATA ports, but mounting an SSD in there would have the drive protruding straight out from the motherboard, which seems a bit silly. It could also be that there simply isn't an M.2 slot at all, although given the massive increases in potential bandwidth with newer M.2 applications it would also seem a little silly of Asus not to include it on a high-end board like this one. Hopefully, it's just mounted on the rear of the board or behind a heat-shield where we can't see.

Regarding other features, the motherboard appears to have dedicated audio hardware in the form of 'Crystal Sound 2,' as well as support for wireless connectivity. Rear I/O consists of ten USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet, what is likely a clear CMOS switch, and finally 8-channel HD audio connectors.

No word on pricing or availability yet, although we do expect that the X99 motherboards, along with DDR4 memory and, of course, the Haswell-E processors will launch on August 29.

Follow Niels Broekhuijsen @NBroekhuijsen. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

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  • 5 Hide
    hardcore_player , August 26, 2014 10:33 AM
    a very good looking motherboard ... looking forward for the Rampage V as it must be the top of the line Motherboard by ASUS . really i liked it .
  • 6 Hide
    bjaminnyc , August 26, 2014 10:42 AM
    Wow, that's a sexy board
  • 0 Hide
    ImMunneY , August 26, 2014 10:56 AM
    what'd be nice is if you guys actually provided the source link... you know. like normal
  • Add your comment Display all 37 comments.
  • 1 Hide
    lp231 , August 26, 2014 10:59 AM
    There is a M.2 slot, it's next to the main ATX power connector. They made it perpendicular with the board, so it has to stand up when it's installed.
  • 6 Hide
    Jeffrey Barone , August 26, 2014 11:04 AM
    If only the ROG looked that good. The red on the rog is just too loud and is the only reason I have not bought one. Asus how about a ROG ULTRA with this color scheme
  • 3 Hide
    TheMentalist , August 26, 2014 11:04 AM
    Looks amazing, nice white accents.
  • 0 Hide
    Jeffrey Barone , August 26, 2014 11:06 AM
    Oh and for a ROG ULTRA Saber tooth dust covers and chipset waterblock pre-installed not like that's needed anymore lol
  • 0 Hide
    Jeffrey Barone , August 26, 2014 11:08 AM
    Oh and for a ROG ULTRA Saber tooth dust covers and chipset waterblock pre-installed not like that's needed anymore lol
  • 0 Hide
    ap3x , August 26, 2014 11:11 AM
    uhhhh......is that 12 usb ports in the picture there? Asus does not play around do they. Rampage should be interesting.
  • 2 Hide
    ubercake , August 26, 2014 11:15 AM
    That's an impressive looking motherboard.
  • 0 Hide
    SessouXFX , August 26, 2014 11:31 AM
    Nice...
    But I'll wait for Cannonlake before building one of those.
    #smellthesarcasm
  • 0 Hide
    DragonFireXY , August 26, 2014 11:38 AM
    Quote:
    uhhhh......is that 12 usb ports in the picture there? Asus does not play around do they. Rampage should be interesting.

    It's not really a big deal. My current motherboard has 10 USB slots but I use only 4.
  • 2 Hide
    B4vB5 , August 26, 2014 12:21 PM
    I'll wait for the P9X99-E WS.
  • 2 Hide
    scolaner , August 26, 2014 12:42 PM
    Quote:
    what'd be nice is if you guys actually provided the source link... you know. like normal


    It's up at the top of the piece, under the headline. Next to "source".
  • 1 Hide
    Osiris454 , August 26, 2014 3:43 PM
    That slot is the M.2 slot. If you zoom in you can see the label under it. It says M.2x4. So, M.2 with 4 PCI express lanes.
  • 0 Hide
    dottorrent , August 26, 2014 3:43 PM
    That is a nice looking board. Reminds me of Galaxy's HOF cards, somewhat.
  • 0 Hide
    christinebcw , August 26, 2014 4:08 PM
    Stroking and drooling over computer parts... sheesh...
  • 0 Hide
    photonboy , August 26, 2014 7:40 PM
    re M.2 slot:
    The article says it looks like one, however also that it's not a good spot and I agree.

    The problem is the main POWER CABLE is likely to push up against it once you put the motherboard in the case so damaging the M.2 SSD board is very likely.

    Why they wouldn't just put it in the UPPER LEFT makes no sense to me.
  • 0 Hide
    lp231 , August 26, 2014 7:53 PM
    From the manual
  • 1 Hide
    EasyLover , August 26, 2014 7:53 PM
    If this is the mobo then I must say it is beautiful. Asus should follow the approach of building ATX Power connector, USB headers in right-angle on the mobo as EVGA has started recently. This would make cable management rather very easy. Also, will this board support Thunderbolt needs to be seen!
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