Quite a few parts have arrived over the past weeks, so lets get started with the motherboard. EVGA was kind enough to send over their X299 DARK motherboard, a board I have long wanted to use since it was announced back at Computex.
As you can tell from the overall looks of the board, it already has such a Star Wars vibe to it.
Active VRM cooling, which definitely gives this an old school vibe to it. I'm happy to see the small details EVGA has put into this board.
90 degree fan headers as well as 24 pin are two things I absolutely love about this board. I wish more manufacturers would adopt this.
No RGB headers here. EVGA hasn't jumped onto the RGB train until the release of the X299 FTW-K board, which personally I have no problem with. Although, while it would be nice to at least have a header, I understand this board was not designed to be a "showoff" motherboard.
Few more shots showing off the details of the board.
I was stocked to see they included a bench table, something I've never seen included before. This made testing the hardware feel much more professional than using the box or even installing onto the chassis. Something I cant do yet as the case isn't fully assembled.
For this build, Intel was kind enough to supply me with a 7900X.
As well as an Optane 800p 118GB which I will be using as a main OS boot drive and the beastly Optane 905P 960GB as primary storage. This drive is insane!
Quick shot of the 800P installed on the board. The fan actively cools both M.2 sockets on the board and channels the air up and out through the top area.