Motherboard vendors are racing to get their products in stores to coincide with the launch of Intel's X99 chipset. All the usual suspects are geared and raring to go, including high-performance specialist EVGA, who has a trio of boards prepared for day-one availability.
The three boards on offer are the X99 Classified, X99 FTW and X99 Micro (pictured from left to right), with pricing set at £290, £217 and £182, respectively.
Aimed squarely at the enthusiast market, EVGA's Classified and FTW boards make use of the Extended-ATX form factor and provide a full eight DIMM slots and support for four-way Nvidia SLI. The range-topping Classified board ups the ante with Creative Core 3D audio, as well as a 10-phase power delivery system, and dual eight-pin CPU power connectors to help maximise overclocking potential.
EVGA X99 Motherboard Comparison |
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Product Name | Part Number |
Size |
SLI |
Audio |
SATA 6G |
USB 3.0 |
Memory Support |
M.2 |
Power Phases |
BIOS Support |
PCI-E Switches |
CPU Gold Content |
Intel Network |
8Pin Power |
EVGA X99 Classified | 151-HE-E999-KR |
EATX |
4-Way |
Creative Core3D |
10 |
6 |
8 DIMM 3000MHz+ |
Slot E/M |
10 |
3 |
Yes |
150% Increase |
2 |
2 |
EVGA X99 FTW | 150-HE-E997-KR |
EATX |
4-Way |
HD Audio |
10 |
6 |
8 DIMM 3000MHz+ |
N/A |
8 |
2 |
Yes |
150% Increase |
2 |
1 |
EVGA X99 Micro | 131-HE-E995-KR |
mATX |
3-Way |
HD Audio |
6 |
6 |
4 DIMM 3000MHz+ |
Slot E |
6 |
1 |
N/A |
Standard |
1 |
1 |
For users planning a smaller Haswell-E build, the X99 Micro is one of the first Micro-ATX boards to utilise the X99 chipset and offers a six-phase power supply, four DIMM slots and support for three-way SLI. EVGA has confirmed to HEXUS that a BIOS update will be available later today and will add support for higher-speed DDR4 memory, allowing all three boards to run modules at 3,000MHz or beyond.
Is there an EVGA X99 board that's particularly tickling your fancy? Take a look at the specification comparison above, as well as the information sheets below, then let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.