X99 question

[OnionRings]

Here's my build planning topic 

 I was trying to find an X99 motherboard that works out of the box NO bios update as I am not Linus and don't have a shelf of CPUs, is the one I chose good? PCPP review said it is, amazon review said it needs the update, which one is it?

[OnionRings]

A second question about that motherboard, what M.2 socket does it have? The MSI product page does not say, it only says it has 1 slot.

[Freezanator]

@OnionRings, I've searched all over the internet but in vain. But based on Wikipedia, Gen3 x4 (which is what the board supports) would be M key. However, since the motherboard is a high-end model, I think it will support most keys of the M.2 socket.  

[Sintezza]

If you just pick one of the newer X99 boards that came out with the launch of Broadwell-E cpu´s.

Then you basicly dont have to worry about cpu compatibility.

 

Asus:

- Asus rampage 5 Extreme ED10

- Asus X99 Deluxe 2

- Asus X99 ROG Strix Gaming.

- Asus X99-A 2

 

Asrock:

- Asrock X99 Taichi

- Asrock X99 Fatal1ty Professional Gaming i7

 

Gigabyte:

- Gigabyte X99 Designare EX

- Gigabyte X99 Phoenix Sli

- Gigabyte X99 Ultra Gaming.

 

EVGA:

- EVGA X99 FTW-K

 

All these boards are basicly good.

So my question is; what is your budget for the a board?

And what feutures are important to you?

 

[done12many2]

I posted a reply in your other thread.  You should try to keep all of this stuff in one thread.

 

Out of the boards that @Sintezza listed, I'd take any of the Asus boards or the new Asrock x99 Taichi.  I prefer Asus x99 boards because they do a great job with their topology for memory and they overclock CPU cache very well, which is a weak point for many other brands.  The x99 Taichi just seems to be doing well for those that I've read about.  No first hand experience there.

[RLP2nd]

Hi, 2 months ago I built a system using a Asus X99-A II motherboard and a 6900K.  The motherboard worked without a BIOS upgrade out of the box, but there were several bios updates shortly after I got the system up and running.  Asus has an app that does the upgrade without much hassle while the system is in Windows.

But I'd like to say that my new build had ghosts right from the get go.  The computer would go into hibernate mode every so often on it own.  It also could go into sleep mode properly, it would try but wake as soon as it went to sleep.  Finally it shut down and wouldn't restart, it gave me a Code 00, processor not found.  I was not pleased.  I went on to the web and there were other people with code 00 and replacing the motherboard or processor was the fix.  I was in a panic that I fried the CPU so I brought in an Asrock X99 Taichi to test the cpu. I did not have to upgrade the firmware on the Taichi and it worked beautifully.

I RMAed the Asus board, no problems from Asus, but I don't know if it actually works since I do have a working system with the Taichi, again no problems now for a month.

The Asus board has nice setup for the power headers.  They have a water block header, a CPU fan header and a aux fan header, all beside each other.  I chose to connect the 2 fans to the water pump, maybe this my mistake?  There was no power to the water block after code 00.

Also I kind of blame the foam padding that Asus puts on their IO shields.  The motherboard was a tight fit in a new Corsair 750D, I think there is too much strain on the screw holes.  I put the Asus into an old case after ripping off the foam and it fit perfectly.  I had a similar problem with a P6T7 years ago.

 

The Taichi is a noisier build, the fans run louder.

 

I noticed that you were going for a large SSD, I just like to mention that I went with a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro M.2 and boy is it fast.  On both the Asus and Asrock it doesn't reach the IOPS that Samsung says it can, but it does reach the 2500Mbps read and 1500Mbps write.  Just thought it was worth mentioning.  Also check out the Samsung 960 if you can wait.

 

[Law_Rence]

Would you trust a refurbished Samsung 950?

[OnionRings]

Thanks all, sorry for late reply I wasn't getting notifications. I still am not sure if I'm going X99 or Z170 or waiting to see what the new platform will be, I just wanted those questions answered so when I do decide I'll know.

 

2 minutes ago, Law_Rence said:

Would you trust a refurbished Samsung 950?

If I'm spending 2k+ I ain't using nothing refurbished, I'd trust only like refurbished keyboards mice headsets, any peripheral, but not inside hardware. UNLESS it has a good warranty saying if it dies I get a new one.

[Sintezza]

On 23-11-2016 at 9:13 PM, RLP2nd said:

 I was in a panic that I fried the CPU so I brought in an Asrock X99 Taichi to test the cpu. I did not have to upgrade the firmware on the Taichi and it worked beautifully.

I RMAed the Asus board, no problems from Asus, but I don't know if it actually works since I do have a working system with the Taichi, again no problems now for a month.

 

 

Yeah well funny enough if i look at the whole history of X99 motherboards since the launch of the platform back in 2014 up untill now.

Asrock in general seems to be the least troublesome of them all which is pretty impressive.

Their boards of course are not as fancy as some other brands.

But still they are pretty good with not too manny nonsense on it.

 

 

[done12many2]

35 minutes ago, Sintezza said:

 

Yeah well funny enough if i look at the whole history of X99 motherboards since the launch of the platform back in 2014 up untill now.

Asrock in general seems to be the least troublesome of them all which is pretty impressive.

Their boards of course are not as fancy as some other brands.

But still they are pretty good with not too manny nonsense on it.

 

 

 

Simplicity works.