New upgrade path.

[NosRokanaske]

I'm going to upgrade my desktop around late March and early April to the X99 platform, and i am trying to figure out which motherboard i should get. I made sure before hand that all my programs, not just gaming that i am going to be using can leverage the six core processors that you have to get with this platform, so i can justify this upgrade path. 

 

Right now what i have set on my mind is the i7-5820K and a 4x 8GB kit of Crucial Ballistic Sport. I can't really justify the extra PCIe lanes for the 5930K so im sticking with the 5820K. The Crucial Ballistic set is among the cheapest DDR4 RAM kits you can get while being fairly highly rated. Also, that black PCB is dope. Only thing i am missing is the motherboard.

 

For the motherboard i am interested in the MSI X99S SLI Plus cause its pretty cheap and Anandtech gave it a recommendation. I am wondering if there is any other boards to take into consideration. EVGA X99 FTW looks interesting only being $70-80 more expensive and having a larger feature set. I haven't seen too many reviews of the FTW version, so i am a bit skeptical.  The ASUS X99 Deluxe is something i've seen a lot of people recommending, but the 64GB maximum RAM capacity is bothering me when the MSI has 128GB RAM capcity at nearly half the price. At around the ASUS Deluxe price the EVGA classified is also an option.

 

Any other recommendations?

[WoodenMarker]

I'd suggest planning later. ~2-3 days at most before you buy. Parts and prices change frequently so any parts list you come up with now will likely be obsolete by the time you're ready to buy.

[dizmo]

Personally I'd go with the Asus. I like their BIOS. They're pretty solid. Plus, do you actually ever think you'll need more than 64gb before another platform upgrade? Doubt it.

EVGA, while an absolutely excellent company to deal with, generally isn't as strong with their motherboards. FWIW Tweaktown loved the new EVGA boards and apparently their BIOS has come pretty far. Just look at the boards features and pick that way. A lot of the higher priced boards might have features you'll simply never use.

[NosRokanaske]

I'd suggest planning later. ~2-3 days at most before you buy. Parts and prices change frequently so any parts list you come up with now will likely be obsolete by the time you're ready to buy.

 

The main thing right now is the price is probably going to change and the availability of getting a X99 motherboards in store will increase, but i dont really think there would be insane changes. At least to the X99 platform. I can see that argument being more appropriate for the mainstream platform not really X99.

 

Personally I'd go with the Asus. I like their BIOS. They're pretty solid. Plus, do you actually ever think you'll need more than 64gb before another platform upgrade? Doubt it.

EVGA, while an absolutely excellent company to deal with, generally isn't as strong with their motherboards. FWIW Tweaktown loved the new EVGA boards and apparently their BIOS has come pretty far. Just look at the boards features and pick that way. A lot of the higher priced boards might have features you'll simply never use.

 

Thats very true about the higher priced boards. And as far as features go, yeah its true that i probably wont ever need 128GB of RAM but in terms of price, i dont really understand how the ASUS Deluxe can get away with a 64GB cap priced at $389 where the MSI has roughly the same features with a cap of 128GB of ram priced at $220.

[dizmo]

The main thing right now is the price is probably going to change and the availability of getting a X99 motherboards in store will increase, but i dont really think there would be insane changes. At least to the X99 platform. I can see that argument being more appropriate for the mainstream platform not really X99.

 

 

Thats very true about the higher priced boards. And as far as features go, yeah its true that i probably wont ever need 128GB of RAM but in terms of price, i dont really understand how the ASUS Deluxe can get away with a 64GB cap priced at $389 where the MSI has roughly the same features with a cap of 128GB of ram priced at $220.

The Deluxe is a much, much more feature rich board. Dual LAN, Bluetooth, built in WiFi, more USB ports.

The Bluetooth and WiFi alone are pretty solid value adds for some people, and then you also have brand power. Asus is just a higher tier brand to most.

Not to mention Asus probably realizes that there are very, very very few people that would put 128gb on a consumer board like this.

[MeDownYou]

I'd suggest planning later. ~2-3 days at most before you buy. Parts and prices change frequently so any parts list you come up with now will likely be obsolete by the time you're ready to buy.

^this.

[NosRokanaske]

The Deluxe is a much, much more feature rich board. Dual LAN, Bluetooth, built in WiFi, more USB ports.

The Bluetooth and WiFi alone are pretty solid value adds for some people, and then you also have brand power. Asus is just a higher tier brand to most.

Not to mention Asus probably realizes that there are very, very very few people that would put 128gb on a consumer board like this.

 

The X99 Deluxe is considered a consumer board? I thought it was more in between consumer and enthusiast. That is a lot to take into consideration, but i dont think i will use the built in WiFi or Bluetooth mainly cause of how sketchy my room reception is and i have a Dual Band bridge already. More USB is really nice though. Is that board really highly rated? I'm leaning towards to the MSI X99S SLI mainly because there are a lot of reviews saying its a pretty solid board and Anandtech recommends it.

 

 

^this.

 

I still feel like its more relevant for Z97 than X99. I mean its possible that they're coming out with a new X109 or whatever in March/April but i really doubt it.

[dizmo]

The X99 Deluxe is considered a consumer board? I thought it was more in between consumer and enthusiast. That is a lot to take into consideration, but i dont think i will use the built in WiFi or Bluetooth mainly cause of how sketchy my room reception is and i have a Dual Band bridge already. More USB is really nice though. Is that board really highly rated? I'm leaning towards to the MSI X99S SLI mainly because there are a lot of reviews saying its a pretty solid board and Anandtech recommends it.

 

 

 

I still feel like its more relevant for Z97 than X99. I mean its possible that they're coming out with a new X109 or whatever in March/April but i really doubt it.

Even 99% enthusiasts don't need 128gb of RAM. That's much more into the professional segment than the enthusiast.

Yeah, like I suggested, look at the specs of each board and pick the one that makes the most sense to you. I highly doubt you'd use more than the 10 ports on the back of the MSI board.

Stranger things have happened though.

[NosRokanaske]

Even 99% enthusiasts don't need 128gb of RAM. That's much more into the professional segment than the enthusiast.

Yeah, like I suggested, look at the specs of each board and pick the one that makes the most sense to you. I highly doubt you'd use more than the 10 ports on the back of the MSI board.

Stranger things have happened though.

 

Yeah, i pretty much maxed out my Pro4 rear USB ports, so having 10 will definitely help hahaha. I'm pretty much sold on the MSI board, but i might look into the Deluxe if there is a price drop when i do buy it