Overall and Final Verdict
When it comes to motherboards I generally know I can count on Asus boards being packed full of features no matter the price point. When you get up into high end enthusiast chipsets things can sometimes get a little silly. Just going through the packaging section for a minute and checking out all of the accessories the X99 Deluxe comes with shows you how much value Asus really tried to add with this board. You get 3T3R wireless with Bluetooth, a second M.2 slot via a PCI card, enough SATA cables to tie someone up, and a really cool PWM fan header expander. This is on top of everything that they packed into the motherboard. Just to give you an idea of how packed the PCB is, they had to actually mount the M.2 header in a vertical position because laying it down would take up to much space!
The white theme also made me very happy, it’s just a shame they don’t have a white dual CPU board that I could put in my Fridge build. White is more natural than the gold on their other boards while still being something fresh and eye catching. Really the only issue I had with the board was the issue with our Trendnet switch that caused slowdowns when doing network testing.
The software, as always, was top notch. They didn’t improve on much from Z97 but the changes in how they handle auto overclocking were welcomed! The only other downside to the board really is the overall cost. At just under $400 this isn’t going to be a board for everyone. Its not even that it’s a bad deal, because they packed it full of features. The problem is if you spend $400 on your motherboard, $583 or even $389 for a CPU, and around $400 on ram you already have hit your bank account really hard. That is before picking up the SLI or Crossfire video cards that are going to go perfectly with this setup and everything else. BUT if you have the room in your budget the Asus X99 Deluxe is a great board to keep in mind.
