EVGA Debuts Trio Of X99 Motherboards: Classified, FTW, Micro

EVGA has three motherboards landing today with the X99 launch, all of which feature the LGA2011-3 socket, giving them support for the new Haswell-E processors. The X99 Classified, the X99 FTW, and the X99 Micro target different users, as you can see by the difference in specifications and pricing.

Both the X99 Classified and the X99 FTW boards have very similar designs, with just a couple of differences. Both are E-ATX boards with support for up to 4-way CrossFire or SLI configurations, and both have ten SATA3 (6 Gb/s) ports along with six USB 3.0 ports and room for up to eight DDR4 memory modules.

However, the X99 Classified also has a Creative Core3D audio chip, an M.2 slot, three BIOS's (vs. two on the FTW board) and a 10-phase VRM circuit (vs. an 8-phase circuit on the FTW board). In short, the X99 Classified board is simply a higher-end board aimed at a DIY audience, while the X99 FTW board appears to be targeted more towards system builders.

The X99 Micro board sports the Micro-ATX form factor, which somewhat limits expansion. That's not necessarily a problem though, as anyone who wants a Micro-ATX board is more interested in the compact size than its more limited capabilities. EVGA's X99 Micro has support for up to 3-way CrossFire or SLI (assuming you have at least one single-slot card), six SATA3 (6 Gb/s) ports, an M.2 slot, four DDR4 memory slots and a six-phase VRM circuit.

EVGA's X99 boards are available immediately. MSRP pricing is $249 for the X99 Micro, $299 for the X99 FTW, and $399 for the X99 Classified.

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