Buyers of Intel's X99 platform, which supports Intel's Haswell-E and new DDR4 memory, were probably prepared to pay a premium for mid-market boards. Are any of these $240 to $300 models worthy of Intel’s latest CPUs?
Let's say you read Intel Core i7-5960X, -5930K And -5820K CPU Review: Haswell-E Rises, and really liked the idea of Intel's latest-gen enthusiast-oriented processors. But what's the price premium on X99 motherboards (not to mention DDR4), and what does it get you? A quick look at the specs show that LGA 2011-v3-based platforms priced between $240 and $300 sport close to the same added features as a Z97-based board selling between $120 and $180.
At least from the motherboard angle, that sounds like a fairly mainstream recipe to me. But it's the technology built into Intel's newest Core i7s that make them so high-end.
You get up for 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes, for example, allowing advanced graphics configurations like four-way SLI. You’d have to pay an extra $60 to get a lane-multiplying switch enabling that feature from Z97 Express, and the price premium on these boards is only twice as high. You also get ten SATA 6Gb/s ports, and the extra four ports are connected directly to the X99 PCH instead of sharing a couple of 5 Gb/s PCIe lanes, as they would on Z97. And then there are those four channels of DDR4 memory, compelling motherboard companies to build beefier circuit boards.
Perhaps the biggest cost-adding feature on X99-based desktops is all of that PCIe connectivity. You actually pay twice for it, since the controller is built into your expensive Core i7 processor. If that doesn’t make complete sense, consider that the entry-level LGA 2011-v3 processor, Intel’s $390 Core i7-5820K, has only 28 lanes rather than 40. If you want the same number of cores to connect all 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes, you’re forced to buy the $590 -5930K.
Yet, the motherboard market is so competitive that price-gouging is nearly impossible. Intel consequently gets credit for adding most of the complexity and performance, and then getting to charge for it. You can’t have one without the other. And now that we’ve acclimated ourselves to the high cost of a mainstream motherboard for Intel’s high-end socket, we’re ready to look at how motherboard manufacturers have addressed its additional interfaces.
| Products |
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| Pricing |
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| X99 Mainstream Motherboard Features | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock X99 Extreme4 | Gigabyte X99-UD4 | MSI X99S Gaming 7 | |
| PCB Revision | 1.02 | 1.0 | 3.1 |
| Chipset | Intel X99 | Intel X99 | Intel X99 |
| Voltage Regulator | 12 Phases | Six Phases | Eight Phases |
| BIOS | P1.34 (08/26/2014) | F7 (08/26/2014) | V17.2 (08/29/2014) |
| 100.0 MHz BCLK | 99.94 (-0.06%) | 100.19 (+0.19%) | 99.98 (-0.02%) |
| I/O Panel Connectors | |||
| P/S 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| USB 3.0 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| USB 2.0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Network | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| CLR_CMOS Button | 1 | None | 1 |
| Digital Audio Out | Optical | Optical | Optical |
| Digital Audio In | None | None | None |
| Analog Audio | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Other Devices | eSATA 6Gb/s | Antenna Bracket | None |
| Internal Interfaces | |||
| PCIe 3.0 x16 (-5960X, -5930K) | 3 (x16/x16/x8, x16/x16/M.2) SLI x3, CrossFireX x3 | 4 (x16/x0/x16/x8, x8/x8/x16/x8) SLI x4, CrossFireX x4 | 4 (x16/x16/x0/x8*, x8/x16/x8/x8*) SLI x4, CrossFireX x4 *Forces M.2 to PCIe 2.0 x2 |
| PCIe 3.0 x16 (Core i7-5820K) | 3 (x16/x8/x4, x16/x8/M.2) SLI x2, CrossFireX x3 | 4 (x16/x0/x8/x4, x8/x8/x8/x4) SLI x3, CrossFireX x4 | 4 (x16/x8/x0/x4*, x8/x8/x8/x4*) SLI x3, CrossFireX x4 *Forces M.2 to PCIe 2.0 x2 |
| PCIe 2.0 x16 | 1 (4-pathways) | None | None |
| PCIe 2.0 x1 | 1 | 3 (+1x M.2 WIFI) | 2 |
| USB 3.0 | 1 (2-ports) | 1 (2-ports) | 2 (4-ports) |
| USB 2.0 | 2 (4-ports) | 2 (4-ports) | 2 (4-ports) |
| SATA 6Gb/s | 10 (Shares M.2, SATA-E) | 10 (Shares M.2/SATA-E) | 10 (Shares M.2/SATA-E) |
| SATA Express | None | 1 (Uses 2x SATA) | 1 (Uses 2x SATA) |
| 4-Pin Fan | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| 3-Pin Fan | 4 | None | None |
| FP-Audio | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S/PDIF I/O | None | Output Only | None |
| Internal Buttons | None | None | Power, Reset, OC-Genie |
| Internal Switch | None | None | Audio power source |
| Diagnostics Panel | Numeric | None | Numeric |
| Other Devices | Ultra M.2 (SATA x1 or PCIe 3.0 x4), TB Header, Serial COM port | M.2 (Shares SATA-E), TB Header | Ultra M.2 (SATA x2 or PCIe 3.0 x4 or PCIe 2.0 x2), Sup. Audio Power |
| Mass Storage Controllers | |||
| Chipset SATA | 10x SATA 6Gb/s (Includes M.2, SATA-E) | 10x SATA 6Gb/s (Includes M.2, SATA-E) | 10x SATA 6Gb/s (Includes M.2, SATA-E) |
| Chipset RAID Modes | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 | 0, 1, 5, 10 |
| Add-In SATA | None | None | None |
| USB 3.0 | Chipset-only | uPD720210 PCIe | VL805 PCIe ASM1042 PCIe |
| Networking | |||
| Primary LAN | WGI218V PHY | WGI218V PHY | Killer E2205 PCIe |
| Secondary LAN | None | None | None |
| Wi-Fi | None | None | None |
| Bluetooth | None | None | None |
| Audio | |||
| HD Audio Codec | ALC1150 | ALC1150 | ALC1150 |
| DDL/DTS Connect | DTS Connect | None | None |
| Warranty | Three Years | Three Years | Three Years |
MSI doesn’t call its X99S Gaming 7 a four-way SLI board, and there are a couple reasons for that. Still, our experience with multi-GPU graphics arrays suggests three cards is often the sweet spot for big-spending gamers. We’re not going to go too hard on MSI’s technical marketing team over the nomenclature (or the missing quad-SLI bridge), but this does leave Gigabyte’s X99-UD4 as the only four-way SLI-capable solution in our round-up.
One of the companies you might have expected to appear told us that it wanted a few more days for firmware development before seeding review sites with its most price-appropriate model. Sure enough, the other three manufacturers all sent new firmware builds a few days after we started testing. Unfortunately, catering to every firmware change starts an update loop that keeps us from completing stories, since updates are often issued in the middle of our comprehensive testing.
- More, Less Or Just Different?
- ASRock X99 Extreme4
- ASRock X99 Extreme4 Software
- ASRock X99 Extreme4 Firmware
- Gigabyte X99-UD4
- Gigabyte X99-UD4 Software
- Gigabyte X99-UD4 Firmware
- MSI X99S Gaming 7
- MSI X99S Gaming 7 Software
- MSI X99S Gaming 7 Firmware
- How We Tested X99 Motherboards
- Results: 3DMark, PCMark And Sandra
- Results: 3D Gaming And Encoding
- Results: Adobe CC, Productivity And File Compression
- Results: Power, Heat And Efficiency
- Results: Overclocking
- Picking A Mid-Priced X99 Winner

Did something change?
12 Phases Six Phases Eight Phases what!
+1
Did something change?
LGA 2011 uses DDR3 while LGA2011-3 uses DDR4 so the sockets are different to prevent people from putting the wrong CPU in the wrong motherboard.
I think there were other changes but this is the big obvious one.
12 Phases Six Phases Eight Phases what!
I see what you did there Intel
It has the features you need because your keyboard and mouse are USB 2.0, not "USB3".
The Firmware-Downgrade-Bug is present since P55 boards and I saw it on EVERY generation, be it 50, 60, 70, 80 or 90 series boards. Not necesserilly on every version of the chipset, e.g. I saw it on a P65 but not on a G61 chipset. But if you have the bug then rest assured they will NEVER fix it.
The P65 was especially nasty, it downgraded the bios even when actually nothing went wrong and all BIOS settings were "default". EG I once pressed Reset and voila, back to F3. Also happens if I disconnect from power, even if the system is actually already shut down. Only way to avoid this is to power down the system safely by the OS. But then you have to switch the system on at least every couple of days or it will downgrade to F3 immediatly after power on.
Gigabyte? No thanks.
(writing this from my old P35 gigabyte system, my last gigabyte in private use)
The Firmware-Downgrade-Bug is present since P55 boards and I saw it on EVERY generation, be it 50, 60, 70, 80 or 90 series boards. Not necesserilly on every version of the chipset, e.g. I saw it on a P65 but not on a G61 chipset. But if you have the bug then rest assured they will NEVER fix it.
The P65 was especially nasty, it downgraded the bios even when actually nothing went wrong and all BIOS settings were "default". EG I once pressed Reset and voila, back to F3. Also happens if I disconnect from power, even if the system is actually already shut down. Only way to avoid this is to power down the system safely by the OS. But then you have to switch the system on at least every couple of days or it will downgrade to F3 immediatly after power on.
Gigabyte? No thanks.
(writing this from my old P35 gigabyte system, my last gigabyte in private use)
Gigabyte also has true dual-BIOS motherboards at the high-end, where the forced downgrade can be disabled. You've probably just missed that little tidbit if you think all Gigabyte boards are like this one.
This is the worst board Gigabyte has sent in a long time, and the first one that I've had to recommend against buying. It's been a few years since I've had a Gigabyte board fail after continuous forced-downgrades.
Gigabyte also has true dual-BIOS motherboards at the high-end, where the forced downgrade can be disabled. You've probably just missed that little tidbit if you think all Gigabyte boards are like this one.
This is the worst board Gigabyte has sent in a long time, and the first one that I've had to recommend against buying. It's been a few years since I've had a Gigabyte board fail after continuous forced-downgrades.
Gigabyte obviously doesn't like that we told you any of this. But to not tell you would be to lie. Its PR are nice people, but I can't lie for them, so it looks like they'll probably pack up their toys and go home.
Gigabyte PR people might be nice people, but there's only so much one can do about pumping up poor hardware design.
I've had four Gigabyte motherboards, and I've had hardware compatibility issues with them all. I've had bios issues with three, where I've needed a new bios to support a new generation of processors, but the new version doesn't work well. The latest one was my x79-UP4 board, where it didn't like my EVGA GTX 680 with the F2 bios, and the F4 bios caused the screen saver and power saver features to never turn on, and it took their support nearly two weeks to get me a program that would allow back dating the bios to the F3, which finally worked. The audio plugs never detected when speakers were plugged in, so I couldn't use the on-board audio. Finally, after 9 months of annoyances, it stopped giving power to the USB ports and the PCIe x1 slots, so I lost access to pretty much everything. It was a slow, horrible death for a bad motherboard. I'm not buying a Gigabyte product again.
They don't need PR. They need to get their heads on straight and engineer their boards better, and test better. Testing is a basic necessity for any technology design. I am a systems admin for three test labs for enterprise level hardware and software. I have seen how many bugs we find and exterminate through our testing, and I have seen how it has affected the quality of our products as management decided to reduce the complexity of our testing. Above all, I have seen how it has affected our sales. Gigabyte has never been very good at their testing. If they want to compete, they need to get off their high horse and confront the criticisms for what they are: a chance to change. If they're pulling their products from being reviewed on this site because of these criticisms, then they have shown their attitude, and nobody should be buying from them anyway.
The response from APC on the power strip teardown shows how a successful company reacts to criticism. Gigabyte's reaction will show if they're up to the task of staying in business.