ASRock X299 Taichi Motherboard Review

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While AMD's ThreadRipper X399 platform has undeniably stolen a lot of the spotlight from Intel's newest HEDT offerings, there still no doubt that the Skylake-X X299 platform has a lot going for it. This is especially true with the recent launch of the higher core count Core i9-7960X and Core i9-7680XE processors.

Although there's no really budget-friendly way of buying into this platform, we did want to test out an LGA2066 motherboard that was a bit more affordable than the ASUS STRIX X299-E that we have recently reviewed. With this in mind, we turned to ASRock and their promising X299 Taichi. Over the last few years the Taichi models have consistently impressed us by serving up all of a platform's key features, having top-notch VRMs, and avoiding unnecessary extras.

At the moment, ASRock's LGA2066 motherboard lineup currently consists of six different models ranging from $210 USD all the way up to about $370 USD for the flagship X299 OC Formula. The motherboard that we are going to be reviewing today - the aforementioned X299 Taichi - retails for about $270 USD / $380 CAD, which makes it the mid-range model in ASRock's lineup. Despite this positioning, there's really nothing that we find seriously lacking from this model.

For starters, the X299 Taichi has a 13-phase CPU power design, four steel-reinforced PCI-E x16 slots, one PCI-E x1 slot, two M.2 x4 slots, and ten SATA 6Gb/s ports. To put that into perspective, compared to the pricier ASUS X299-E, this ASRock model has one additional PCI-E x16 slot, one more M.2 slot, and two more SATA ports. High-speed USB connectivity is adequate thanks to two high speed USB 3.1 Gen2 ports on the rear I/O panel, one Type-A and one Type-C, four USB 3.0 ports, two internal USB 3.0 headers, two USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 2.0 header for a grand total of twelve possible USB ports. We would have maybe liked to see an internal USB 3.1 Gen.2 header to provide next-gen USB connectivity to the front of the case.

When it comes to networking, there are two Intel-powered gigabit LAN ports and onboard Wi-Fi in the form of an Intel-based dual-band 802.11ac modules that tops out at 433Mbps, supports Bluetooth 4.2, and is attached to 1x1 external antennas. Onboard audio duties are handled by the Purity Sound 4 design that is based on the Realtek ALC1220 ten-channel codec, linked to an array of Nichicon audio-grade capacitors, and a physical PCB-level audio separation line that protects the audio components from EMI. There is also dedicated Texas Instruments op-amp that serves as headphone amplifier for the front panel headphone jack. While the audio section on this model doesn't have any illumination, there are a few RGB LEDs placed under the chipset cooler. If that is not enough lighting for you, there are also two light strip headers that can be fully controlled from within the ASRock RGB LED utility.

This model has a grand total of five fan headers, which doesn't compare all that well to the ASUS X299-E's seven fan headers. However, they are all 4-pin that are fully controllable via both DC and PWM fan control modes from within the UEFI or the A-Tuning utility. Two of the five headers are also of the high amperage variety that can be used to power all-in-one coolers, high speed fans, or water pumps. While we are on the topic of cooling, it will be interesting to see how well this motherboard's MOSFET heatsink performs, since very high VRM temperatures are plaguing most X299 motherboards when you combine overclocking with certain high intensity workloads.

Overall, we have a lot to dig into with the X299 Taichi, but at first glance it's bringing quite a lot of positives to the table. As long as everything is well implemented, we could be looking at another winner from ASRock.

 

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Packaging & Accessories

Packaging & Accessories

Now that we have gone over the X299 Taichi features and specifications in the introduction, it is time to examine the packaging and then crack open the box to take a look at the bundled accessories. Let's check it out:

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Aside from a switch to a black-on-black colour scheme, the X299 Taichi's packaging looks essentially identical to that of the X370 Taichi and X99 Taichi. That's not a problem for us since it is still a good looking box, and why fix what's not broken.

The front of the packaging is adorned with the usual array of Intel-related badges and logos, while the back of the box is packed with all the features that make this particular model unique in some way. There is also an abbreviated specifications list, as well as a handy diagram highlighting the connectivity on the rear I/O panel.

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Once you remove the outside packaging, you are greeted with an inner box - with a handle - that contains two separate sections, the top half contains the accessories, software and documentation, while the bottom half holds the motherboard in an anti-static bag.

Usually, we have nothing more to say about how the motherboard is packaged, but ASRock have upped the game by protecting it in a nice foam cradle and also securing it with zip ties. We have never seen a motherboard this well protected from the bumps and bruises of shipping.

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The X299 Taichi's accessories bundle won't blow anyone away, but the fundamentals are there. There is a bunch of documentation, an ASRock sticker, a driver/software DVD, and even a postcard. There are also four SATA 6Gb/s cables (which is a little stingy given the ten SATA ports), a rear I/O panel cover, an M.2 screw, two Wi-Fi antennas, a two-way SLI HB bridge, and a three-way SLI bridge.

 

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A Closer Look at the X299 Taichi

A Closer Look at the X299 Taichi

While past Taichi models have generally all had black and white colour schemes - for example the X370 Taichi - this new model has ditched the white for a few different shades of grey. This obviously makes the motherboard easier to colour match with a wider variety of components, but it does rob owners of the possibility of creating cool black and white builds.

This model is based on the conventional full-size ATX form factor - 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm / 12.0-in x 9.6-in - so there are no compatibility issues to worry about with any properly designed case. The overall layout is very well-thought-out and there are no critical shortcomings that we can point out. All the numerous connectors and ports are easily accessible and free from possible obstruction. We appreciate the fact that there is a huge amount of space between two primary PCI-E x16 slots, so there won’t be any issues fitting thick dual or even triple-slot graphics cards on this motherboard. We are also impressed by the fact that the engineers managed to squeeze three full-size M.2 slots in between all the PCI-E slots, since most X299 motherboards only support up to two M.2 storage devices which we find a little disappointing. While those M.2 drives might get heat-soaked from any nearby graphics card we prefer that possibility versus one less slot.

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Given that this motherboard has to deal with the very high power demands of Skylake-X processors with up to 18 cores, ASRock outfitted the X299 Taichi with an absolutely top-notch VRM. This model features a 12+1 phase CPU power design that allocates 12 doubled phases for the cores and one for the system agent. It utilizes some of the most modern and high-end components on the market, specifically Intersil ISL69138 digital PWM controllers, Intersil ISL99227 60A MOSFETs, and Intersil ISL6617 phase doublers. The remaining parts are high current 65A power chokes and Nichicon 12K Black capacitors, so in every respect ASRock have selected some high quality components. In fact, aside from other ASRock models, the X299 Taichi has the most capable VRM of any LGA2066 motherboard on the market.

Aside from the fact that they are more efficient and more intelligent when it comes to self-monitoring of current and temperature, what makes the Intersil ISL99227 series MOSFETs unique is that they feature an integrated heat spreader, which should allow them to dissipate heat better than conventional power stages. This is particularly beneficial on this platform given how much current the VRM is expected to handle when the processor is overvolted and overclocked and stressed with particular workloads, such as anything AVX-512 enabled.

Our only complaint is that there is only one 8-pin CPU power connector, which could be an issue if you're overclocking a Core i9-7900X (or above) processor very aggressively with high-end water cooling or LN2. Having said that, while overclocking we consistently pulled more than what is considered ideal from the single 8-pin EPS connector and didn't experience any issues whatsoever... other than the fact that the connector heated up to the low 60°C/140°F range. Thankfully, ASRock have realized their mistake and created the X299 Taichi XE. This updated Taichi model adds a secondary 8-pin EPS power connector, and has a significantly upgraded MOSFET cooler. This X299 Taichi XE will undoubtedly replace the regular X299 Taichi that we are reviewing.

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The MOSFET heatsink on the X299 Taichi model has very little actual mass or surface area, which is far from ideal given how much power the MOSFETs are expected to handle. Thankfully, as mentioned above, there is a new X299 Taichi XE available that has a significantly upgraded MOSFET cooler that shares a heatpipe with another heatsink, and we would definitely recommend searching for this updated model instead.

While we would love to provide some hard numbers, unlike the ASUS STRIX X299-E, there is no utility that can easily show us the VRM temperature on this motherboard. And since we don't have a FLIR camera laying around, the best that we could do was monitor the MOSFET heatsink temperature which peaked at 76°C/169°F while running our manual overclock and hours upon hours of benchmarking, gaming, video encoding, and mining. That is very hot indeed, but you have to realize that our test bench provides zero active airflow to the VRM area. We are looking forward to seeing how much of an improvement the new X299 Taichi XE is when it comes to cooling the MOSFETs.

While we are on the topic of cooling, this motherboard has two CPU fan headers and three system fan headers. All five of the fan headers are of the 4-pin variety that are fully controllable via both DC and PWM fan control modes from within the UEFI or the A-Tuning utility. Two of the five headers are also of high amperage capable and can be used to power all-in-one coolers, high speed fans, or water pumps with a maximum current draw of 1.5A (18W).

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Since Skylake-X chips feature a quad-channel memory interface, this motherboard has eight DDR4 memory slots, with each bank of four slots being fed by a 2-phase power design that utilizes Sinopower SM7341EHKP MOSFETs. When a dual-channel Kaby Lake-X processor is used only the right bank of memory slots are supported. ASRock have validated the Taichi for overclocked memory frequencies up to DDR4-4133. Skylake-X processors can support up to 128GB of system memory, while the Kaby Lake-X parts top out at 64GB.

Like on all recent ASRock motherboards that we have reviewed, this model's memory slots are clipless on one side, which prevents any clearance issues that can arise between conventional memory clips and the back of any nearby expansion card.

In the top-right corner of the motherboard is one of the two RGB LED headers, and it is where you can plug in any 12V/3A 36W 5050 RGB LED light strip and have it fully powered by the motherboard and controlled by the UEFI or the ASRock RGB LED utility.

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To the left of the 24-pin ATX power connector are two USB 3.0 front-panel headers, which can add up to four USB 3.0 ports to the front of your case. These headers are courtesy of a ASMedia ASM1074 four-way USB 3.0 hub controller.

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One of the most impressive aspects of the X299 Taichi is the fact that it has three full size and full speed M.2 slots. One of the ways that ASRock was able to do this without using all of the X299 chipset's 24 PCI-E lanes - and thus negatively impact other types of connectivity - was by utilizing the processor's bandwidth instead. More specifically, ASRock has engineered it so that the top M.2 slot can use up to four PCI-E 3.0 lanes from the processor whenever necessary. One of the downsides of this approach is that you cannot RAID this slot with the other two M.2 slots, both of which are run from the PCH and support RAID 0/1.

All three of the M.2 slots have a theoretical maximum bandwidth of 32Gb/s, support SATA/PCI-E/NVMe M.2 solid state drives, and also support Intel's Optane Memory SSDs.

The little white header is where you can install a physical VROC key. For those unaware, VROC stands for Virtual RAID on CPU, which is new concept allows multiple M.2 PCI-E drives to run off a Skylake-X CPU's PCI-E lanes and form a bootable RAID array. RAID 0 is the default mode, and if you want other RAID modes you need to purchase a physical VROC Key. As far as we know, neither the VROC keys or the multi-M.2 PCI-E adapters are being sold at this time.

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This motherboard features an impressive ten SATA 6Gb/s ports, eight of which are supplied by the X299 PCH and as a result support RAID 0/1/5/10 plus Intel Rapid Storage Technology 15. The remaining two are courtesy of a ASMedia ASM1061 SATA controller, which doesn't support any form of RAID. Definitely use the native Intel ports if you want to minimize boot time.

Keep in mind that one native SATA port will be disabled for every SATA-based M.2 SSD that is installed in the M.2 slots.

 

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A Closer Look at the X299 Taichi pt.2

A Closer Look at the X299 Taichi pt.2

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The lower-right corner of the motherboard is where you will find the front panel header, the Debug LED display, two 4-pin case fan headers, BIOS selection LEDs, and the two physical BIOS chips. The bottom edge of motherboard is also where you will find two USB 2.0 headers, a TPM header, a Thunderbolt AIC header, one of the two RGB LED headers, the clear CMOS jumper, and the front panel audio header.

Those two RGB LED headers is where you can plug in any 12V/3A 36W 5050 RGB LED light strip and have it fully powered by the motherboard and controlled by the UEFI or the ASRock RGB LED utility.

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The X299 Taichi features an impressive four PCI-E x16 slots and one PCI-E x1 slot, all of which are PCI-E 3.0 capable. While the x1 slot runs off of the X299 PCH, the other slots make use of the processor's PCI-E lanes, and as a reminder that's 44 or 28 lanes for Skylake-X processor or 16 lanes Kaby Lake-X. What this means is that depending on what processor is installed the transfer rates will obviously vary significantly since the limited number of PCI-E lanes need to be judiciously carved up by the clever Texas Instruments HD3SS3415 PCI-E 3.0 switches.

The PCI-E slot breakdown can get a little complicated though. For example, in a regular single graphics card configuration, both the 44-lane and 28-lane processors obviously have no problems supplying enough PCI-E lanes for the primary PCI-E x16 slot to run at PCI-E 3.0 x16. However, when you install a 16-lane Kaby Lake-X processor, that primary PCI-E x16 slot might be limited to PCI-E 3.0 x8 if you occupy the topmost M.2 slot with a PCI-E SSD. If you avoid using that M.2 slot or simply install a SATA-based M.2 SSD, that slot will be able to run full-speed PCI-E 3.0 x16 even with a i5-7640X or i7-7740X.

In a dual graphics card configuration, a 44-lane CPU can support x16/x16 operation, while a 28-lane CPU is limited to x16/x8, and a 16-lane processor tops out at x8/x4... which is worse than on the mainstream LGA1151 platform. In fact, that second PCI-E x16 slot will be entirely disabled if you install a PCI-E SSD into the topmost M.2 slot.

When three graphics cards are installed, the 44-lane CPUs can support x16/x8/x16, while the 28-lane CPUs drops down to x8/x8/x8. Last but not least, those who want to install four graphics cards (or just expansion cards in general) and can deal with the single slot spacing between the second and thirds slots will be able to run at x8/x8/x16/x8 with a 44-lane processor.

As we have come to expect from quality motherboards, all of the PCI-E x16 are steel reinforced, which means steel sleeving and additional anchor points for the slots likely to hold graphics cards.

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Once we removed the plastic shroud, we were able to verify that this motherboard's onboard audio is based on the new Realtek ALC1220 ten-channel HD audio codec. The codec is accompanied by Nichicon Fine Gold Series audio-grade capacitors and a Texas Instruments N5532 op-amp, which serves as headphone amplifier for the front panel headphone jack.

The PCB isolation line surrounds the audio section of the PCB and protects it from the rest of the system. This helps preserve the signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio and thus ensure the highest possible signal quality. Regrettably, there is no electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield covering the Realtek codec, which is a bit of a disappointment at this price point.

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The X299 Taichi has solid connectivity on its rear I/O panel, but we would haven't minded two additional USB ports, even USB 2.0 ports. Starting from left to right, we have the two USB 2.0 ports, a PS/2 combo port, the WiFi/Bluetooth antenna ports, BIOS Flashback and clear CMOS buttons, one gigabit LAN port powered by an Intel I219-V controller, four USB 3.0 ports made possible by an ASMedia ASM1184e PCI-E switch, one gigabit LAN port powered by an Intel I211-AT controller, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A port, one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C port, five analog audio jacks plus the S/PDIF output.

The onboard Wi-Fi module supports both dual-band 802.11ac and Bluetooth v4.2. Although it is not mentioned anywhere in the official literature, the Windows Device Manager clearly reveals that it is an Intel Wireless-AC 3168 M.2 adapter, which means that it's plugged into a vertical M.2 E-key slot. This 1x1 solution supports wireless transfer speeds up to 433 Mbps, which is obviously slower than most 2x2 AC-867 solutions. We haven't yet made the leap to the 802.11ac standard, but our 802.11n connection was solid courtesy of the included 1T1R antennas. The antennas feature RP-SMA connectors, and thus can be easily replaced with larger ones.

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The back of this motherboard has quite a few ICs on it, such as the six aforementioned Intersil ISL6617 phase doublers, a Intersil ISL69138 PWM controller, a ASMedia ASM1061 SATA 6Gb/s controller, a ASMedia ASM1074 four-way USB 3.0 hub controller, a ASMedia ASM1543 USB 3.1 Type-C switch, a ASMedia ASM3142 USB3.1 Gen2 controller, and a Nuvoton NCT6791D Super I/O chip that monitors several important parameters such as power supply voltages, fan speeds, and temperatures.

As we have come to expect from a motherboard in this price range, all of the heatsinks and the plastic shroud are attached with metal screws. We also get a better look at the PCB audio separation line that surrounds the audio subsystem.

 

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Hardware Installation

Hardware Installation

In the Hardware Installation section we examine how major components fit on the motherboard, and whether there are any serious issues that may affect installation and general functionality. Specifically, we are interested in determining whether there is adequate clearance in all critical areas.

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Since it has such an unobstructed CPU socket area, installing any type of cooling on this motherboard should be a breeze. No matter if we install it in the East-West or North-South orientation, our Prolimatech Mega Shadow cooler and its numerous bits of mounting hardware had no issues physically clearing the capacitors or the MOSFET heatsinks.

We don't know whether it was an intentional design choice, but the grooved machined into the MOSFET heatsink is a perfect place to route the CPU fan cable.

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With the heatsink installed in the traditional North-South orientation, we surprisingly did not have any show stopping clearance issues when it came to installing or removing the memory modules. Having said that, as on all quad-channel motherboards, our cooler's fan clips did make slight contact with the nearest memory module, but simply installing the clips after the RAM prevented any problems. Those using a heatsink that is wider than 122mm (with fans) or memory modules that are taller than 44mm will want to be careful, assuming a similar fan clip setup.

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There is a decent amount of room between the back of the graphics card and the memory slots, and RAM installation is further aided by the clip-less Q-DIMM memory slots. The 24-pin ATX power connector and the 8-pin and 4-pin CPU power connectors are ideally placed in their common locations, so that helps make assembling and disassembling the system just a tad easier.

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This board will hold two or three dual-slot graphics cards without issue. The cards overhang the motherboard, but the edge-mounted SATA connectors and various headers are still easily accessible. As on all motherboards, if you install a dual-slot expansion card in the bottom PCI-E x16 slot it will block the headers at the very bottom of the motherboard and make access to the various buttons difficult if not impossible. If you're planning on a more conventional two graphics card configuration, then there's really no accessibility issues to worry about it.

The ten 90-degree SATA ports are obviously accessible no matter how many graphics cards are installed.

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Installing an SSD in any of the M.2 slots is relatively simple. You simply need to move the grommet to the correct hole depending on the length of your M.2 drive, locate the M.2 screw in the accessories bundle, and then simply screw down the drive.

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Much like on previous LGA2011 motherboards, this new LGA2066 model comes with its own CPU backplate, so there is really nothing to worry about back there.

 

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UEFI Explored

UEFI Explored

In the last year ASRock have updated the layout and aesthetic of their UEFI BIOS and made it largely uniform on both the Intel and AMD platforms, as you can see by a quick look up these X370 Taichi screenshots. What has remained consistent is that the UEFI is still divided across two distinct modes. The Easy Mode is simplified and features a mouse-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) for basic tasks, while the Advanced Mode is still mouse-compatible but also has all the settings, options, and features that you could ever want. From within the Easy Mode you can switch to the Advanced Mode by pressing F6, and vice-versa to get back to the Easy Mode. Overall, both UEFI modes were very smooth and responsive, as we have come to expect now on any modern motherboard.

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The first section in the Advanced Mode is the Main tab, which displays some basic system information. This section lists some rudimentary specification info, including the BIOS date & version, the type of processor and the amount of memory installed. You can also access the My Favorite sub-menu, which allows you to have all your most useful or most used settings in one place, so you no longer have to search through the whole bios to find what you need time and time again.

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Next up is the OC Tweaker section, which is where all the fun happens. First and foremost, there is the Optimized CPU OC Setting, which is an automatic overclocking feature with four available options, ranging from Turbo 4.2Ghz to Turbo 4.8Ghz when a Core i9-7900X is installed. You can check how effective this feature is in our Overclocking Results page. Next we have three sub-menu dedicated to the three key overclocking areas, namely the CPU, DRAM, and voltage. Once you have everything dialed in properly, ASRock have provided a means of saving those settings as a user profile, with up to five different profile slots available. You can also save those profiles to a storage device and share it with friends.

The CPU Configuration sub-menu is where you will find all of the essential system clock control options: CPU multiplier with an all core and per core option, maximum and minimum cache multiplier, BLCK frequency, FCLK frequency, as well as the option to enable or disable Intel SpeedStep and Turbo Boost technology. You can also adjust the processor's current and power limits.

As its name suggests, the DRAM Configuration section is where you will find all the memory-related settings. Within this section you can enable the XMP Profile, select the memory frequency, change the BCLK frequency, and obviously tweak all of the primary, secondary and tertiary memory timings. It had just about every memory setting that an enthusiast or overclocker will need to fine-tune their memory modules.

The Voltage Configuration section is where you can adjust all of the primary and secondary system voltages. There are no drop-down options for the individual voltage options, but you can manually type in your desired voltage. There are also readouts for all of the voltages.

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The Advanced tab is where you can tweak countless settings and enable or disable all of the motherboard's components. The CPU Configuration sub-menu is where you can manipulate all the CPU-specific features like the Thermal Monitor, Hyper-Threading, Virtualization, SpeedStep, Turbo Mode, C-States, etc.

The Advanced Tab is also where you can enable/disable or just find all the various settings and options for all the onboard devices like the integrated graphics, PCI-E link speed, onboard audio, LAN, Thunderbolt, USB ports, SATA ports, serial port, etc. As you can see, there is a bewildering and overwhelming array of settings and options here.

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The Tool tab is where you can find a bunch of the handy tools that ASRock have developed to make setting up the motherboard a little more user friendly. The RGB LED sub-menu is where you can simply enable or disable the onboard LEDs that are under the chipset heatsink. The Easy RAID and Easy Driver Installers simplify the job of installing drivers via the included DVD. The Instant Flash tool allows you to update the UEFI from a storage device, while the Internet Flash is a unique feature that permits users to update the UEFI directly from the internet. Both are quick, painless, and take the worry out of BIOS flashing.

 

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UEFI Explored pt.2

UEFI Explored pt.2

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The H/W Monitor tab is mostly dedicated to monitoring the various voltages, temperatures, and fan speeds. This whole section is really quite impressive, it has all the essential temperature and voltage readouts, as well as truly excellent and comprehensive fan control functionality.

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The Security tab is where you can set the Supervisor Password, as well as a subordinate User Password. By doing so, you can enable the Secure Boot option.

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The Boot tab is essentially where you set storage device priority, select the boot drive, enable/disable Fast Boot or the full screen logo, and ton of other boot settings that can help with the installation or troubleshooting of various OS installations.

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You can either hit F10 key or enter the Exit tab in order to save your settings and exit the UEFI. We wish ASRock implemented a pop-up window that lists the changes you made during the session. If and when you want to reset all the settings, the Load UEFI Defaults will obviously come in handy.

 

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Included Software

Included Software

ASRock APP Shop

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The ASRock APP Shop is an all-in-one centralized hub for all the BIOS, drivers, and utilities that ASRock bundles/requires with their motherboards. It permanently resides in the notification area/icon tray in the right corner of your screen. Not only does it give you one location from which to open or even uninstall all motherboard-related pieces of software, but it also feature a Live Update feature that lets you know if the there's a new version of the software available.

ASRock A-Tuning​

For those users who like to tweak their systems, the most important and all-encompassing piece of software in ASRock's broad range of programs is the A-Tuning software suite. This system management utility is the hub from which you can select performance or energy-saving modes, enable automatic overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU, allow users to manually adjust frequency and multiplier settings, monitor system clock speeds/temperatures/voltages and fan rotation speeds. You can also automatically set fan speeds based on temperatures. Lastly, there is a feature that allows users to contact tech support from within the app.

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The Operation Mode tab is where you can select between three modes that balance performance and power consumption. While the Normal and Power Saving modes are fairly self-evident, the Performance Mode is the most interesting since it features an Advanced sub-menu with a fair bit of performance settings. In this menu, you can enable automatic overclocking of the CPU and/or GPU via presets. Regrettably, there is no Auto Tuning feature available on this platform yet.

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The OC Tweaker tab is where you can manually adjust the BCLK frequency, as well as the CPU and cache multipliers. There is also an impressive eleven adjustable system voltages. You can adjust all these settings on-the-fly without having to reboot the system.

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The System Info tab is where you will find the Hardware Monitor, which displays some basic system frequencies, system temperatures and fan speeds, as well as a bunch of system voltages. The System Browser button pops up a full diagram on the motherboard, and if you drag your cursor across the various parts of motherboard, some additional information about the ports or the installed components is listed.

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The Fan-Tastic Tuning tab is, as you might expect, where you can fully manage and optimize the all CPU and system fans. While there are no preset options, you can manually adjust the fan speed curve to your preferences, or simply use the fully automated Fan Test feature.

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The Settings tab is limited to just enabling or disabling the auto-run on Windows startup option.

 

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Included Software pt.2

Included Software pt.2

ASRock RGB LED

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The ASRock RGB LED software utility allows users to control the RGB LEDs that are integrated into the chipset cooler, and any lighting strip that is plugged into the RGB header. The LEDs can be adjusted to any number of different colours and customized to create cool lighting effects, like pulsating with the beat of your music, ‘breathing’, strobbing, cycling through all the colours, statically displaying one colour, or just totally disabled if that is your preference. Definitely check out our ASRock RGB LED feature test page to see what the lighting effects look like.

Restart to UEFI

The Restart to UEFI utility allows users to boot directly into the BIOS without having to repeatedly hit delete during the POST screen. It is a pretty hand tool when you are rebooting as often as overclockers tend to do.

 

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Test Setups & Methodology

Test Setups & Methodology

For this review, we are going to be testing the performance of the STRIX X299-E Gaming with two different CPU and three different configurations each: default settings @ DDR4-2666, with an automatic overclock applied, and with our manual overclock settings. The components and software are the same across all three configurations, and aside from manually selecting the frequencies, timings, and voltages in the manual overclock configuration, every option in the BIOS was at its default setting.

Intel Core i7/i9 LGA2066 DDR4 Test Setup​

For all of the benchmarks, appropriate lengths are taken to ensure an equal comparison through methodical setup, installation, and testing. The following outlines our testing methodology:

A) Windows is installed using a full format.

B) Chipset drivers and accessory hardware drivers (audio, network, GPU) are installed.

C)To ensure consistent results, a few tweaks are applied to Windows 10 Pro (Creators Update) and the NVIDIA control panel:

• UAC – Disabled
• Indexing – Disabled
• Superfetch – Disabled
• System Protection/Restore – Disabled
• Problem & Error Reporting – Disabled
• Remote Desktop/Assistance - Disabled
• Windows Security Center Alerts – Disabled
• Windows Defender – Disabled
• Screensaver – Disabled
• Power Plan – High Performance
• V-Sync – Off

D) All available Windows updates are then installed.

E) All programs are installed and then updated, followed by a defragment.

F) Benchmarks are each run three to eight times, and unless otherwise stated, the results are then averaged.


Here is a full list of the applications that we utilized in our benchmarking suite:

• 3DMark Vantage Professional Edition v1.1.3
• 3DMark11 Professional Edition v1.0.132.0
• 3DMark 2013 Professional Edition v2.3.3732
• AIDA64 Engineer Edition v5.92.4350 Beta
• Cinebench R15 64-bit
• FAHBench 1.2.0
• Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward Benchmark
• Grand Theft Auto V
• HEVC Decode Benchmark (Cobra) v1.61
• LuxMark v3.1
• Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
• PCMark 10 v1.0.1275
• Prime95 v29.2
• SuperPi Mod v1.9 WP
• Unigine Superposition Benchmark Download v1.0
• Valve Particle Simulation Benchmark v1.0.0.0
• WinRAR x64 5.50
• wPRIME version v2.10
• X3: Terran Conflict Demo v1.0

That is about all you need to know methodology wise, so let's get to the good stuff!