So yesterday I took a look at the controversial Core-X CPUs from Intel. One of the best parts about a new enthusiast chipset and CPUs though are all the amazing motherboards that come along with them. During Computex, all of the boards were shown off but availability right before the launch was tight so the only board to come in time was the Asus Prime X299 Deluxe. Being a Prime board it isn’t super flashy but Asus didn’t skimp on the features at all. On top of being packed full of anything you can ask for the board even has unexpected features like a Wireless AD adapter in addition to the standard a/b/g/n/ac adapter and it even has a what they call LiveDash, a small display that is customizable and goes well beyond the standard LED post indicator. So today I’m going to try to get through all of the features of the Prime X299 Deluxe and see what else Asus is hiding.

Product Name: Asus Prime X299 Deluxe

Review Sample Provided by: Asus

Written by: Wes

Pictures by: Wes

Amazon Affiliate Link: HERE

 

Specifications

CPU

Build in Intel® Socket 2066 Core™ X-Series Processors

Chipset

Build in Intel® X299

Memory

Intel® Core™ X-series Processors (6-core above)
8 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 4000(O.C.)/3600(O.C.)/2666/2400/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory 
Intel® Core™ X-series Processors (4-core)
4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB, DDR4 4000(O.C.)/3600(O.C.)/2666/2400/2133 MHz Non-ECC, Un-buffered Memory 

Multi-GPU Support

Supports NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ Technology

Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology

Supports NVIDIA® 2-Way SLI™ Technology

Supports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ Technology

Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ Technology

Expansion Slots

44-Lane CPU-
3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16/x16, x16/x16/x8) 
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode) *1
28-Lane CPU-
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16/x8) 
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode) *1
16-Lane CPU-
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x2 mode) *1
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1 (x1 mode) *2

Storage

Intel® X299 Chipset : 
1 x M.2 x4 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)
1 x M.2 x4 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)*3
7 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s)*4
1 x U.2 port
Support Raid 0, 1, 5, 10
Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology
Support Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise 5.1 for X-Series(6-core and above) CPU RAID
Intel® Optane™ Memory Ready

LAN

Intel® I219V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s), featuring Turbo LAN

Intel® I211-AT, 1 x Gigabit LAN, featuring Turbo LAN

Dual Gigabit LAN controllers- 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE) appliance

ASUS Turbo LAN Utility

ASUS LAN Guard

Wireless Data Network

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac+ WiGig 802.11ad*5

Supports MU-MIMO

Supports dual band frequency 2.4/5 GHz+ 60GHz

Up to 4600Mbps transfer speed

Bluetooth

Bluetooth V4.1

Audio

Realtek® ALC S1220A 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC 
- Impedance sense for front and rear headphone outputs
- Internal audio Amplifier to enhance the highest quality sound for headphone and speakers
- Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retasking
Audio Feature :
- DTS Connect
- DTS Headphone:X 
- Optical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panel
- Audio Shielding: Ensures precision analog/digital separation and greatly reduced multi-lateral interference
- Dedicated audio PCB layers: Separate layers for left and right channels to guard the quality of the sensitive audio signals
- Premium Japanese-made audio capacitors: Provide warm, natural and immersive sound with exceptional clarity and fidelity
- Unique de-pop circuit: Reduces start-up popping noise to audio outputs
- EMI protection cover to prevent electrical noise to affect the amplifier quality
Separate layer for left and right track, ensuring both sound deliver equal quality

USB Ports

ASMedia® USB 3.1 Gen 2 controller : *6
1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 port(s) (1 at mid-board)
ASMedia® USB 3.1 Gen 2 controller : 
4 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 port(s) (Type-A + USB Type-CTM)
Intel® X299 Chipset : 
5 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s) (1 at back panel, , 4 at mid-board)
Intel® X299 Chipset : 
6 x USB 2.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, , 2 at mid-board)
ASMedia® USB 3.1 Gen 1 Hub : 
3 x USB port(s) (3 at back panel, )

Special Features

OC Design - ASUS PRO Clock Technology
5-Way Optimization by Dual Intelligent Processors 5
- 5-Way Optimization tuning key perfectly consolidates TPU, EPU, DIGI+ VRM, Fan Xpert 4, and Turbo Core App
ASUS 5X Protection III :
- ASUS SafeSlot Core: Fortified PCIe Slot prevents damage
- ASUS LANGuard: Protects against LAN surges, lightning strikes and static-electricity discharges!
- ASUS Overvoltage Protection: World-class circuit-protecting power design
- ASUS Stainless-Steel Back I/O: 3X corrosion-resistance for greater durability!
- ASUS DIGI+ VRM: 10 Phase digital power design
- ASUS Enhanced DRAM Overcurrent Protection - Short circuit damage prevention 
- ASUS ESD Guards - Enhanced ESD protection
AURA :
- Aura RGB Strip Headers
- Aura Lighting Effects Synchronization with compatible ASUS ROG devices
- Aura Addressable Strip Header(s)
ASUS Exclusive Features :
- USB BIOS Flashback
- MemOK!
- AI Suite 3
- Ai Charger 
- Onboard Button : Power/Reset
- ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode featuring friendly graphics user interface 
- Turbo LAN
File Transfer
- Cloud GO!
- File Transfer
ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution :
- Stylish Fanless Design with M.2 Heat-sink solution
ASUS EZ DIY :
- ASUS EZ Flash 3 
- ASUS USB BIOS Flashback 
- ASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode
- Multi-language BIOS
ASUS Q-Design :
- ASUS Q-Shield
- ASUS Q-Code
- ASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED, HDD LED)
- ASUS Q-Slot
- ASUS Q-DIMM 
- ASUS Q-Connector
M.2 and U.2 Onboard (The Latest Transfer Technology with up to 32Gb/s Data-transfer Speeds for M.2 and U.2)

Back I/O Ports

2 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)

2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 ()Type-A

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 ()USB Type-CTM

4 x USB 3.1 Gen 1

4 x USB 2.0 (one port can be switched to USB BIOS Flashback)

1 x Optical S/PDIF out

5 x Audio jack(s)

1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button(s)

1 x ASUS Wi-Fi GO! module (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac+ WiGig 802.11ad and Bluetooth v4.1)

Internal I/O Ports

1 x Aura Addressable Strip Header(s)

1 x AAFP connector

1 x Aura RGB Strip Header

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s)

2 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 4 USB 2.0 port(s)

1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)

1 x M.2 Socket 3 with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x 4 mode)

7 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s)

1 x M.2_FAN connector ()

1 x VROC_HW_Key ()

1 x CPU Fan connector(s)

1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s)

2 x Chassis Fan connector(s)

1 x W_PUMP+ connector

1 x AIO_PUMP connector

1 x Thunderbolt header(s)

1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s)

1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)

1 x 4-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)

1 x EZ XMP switch

1 x System panel(s) (Q-Connector) (Chassis intrusion header is inbuilt)

1 x 5-pin EXT_FAN(Extension Fan) connector

1 x MemOK! button(s)

1 x Thermal sensor connector(s)

1 x Power-on button(s)

1 x Reset button(s)

1 x Clear CMOS button(s)

1 x U.2 connector

1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 front panel connector

1 x CPU_OV jumper

Accessories

User's manual

ASUS Q-Shield

1 x Vertical M.2 bracket set

6 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)

1 x M.2 Screw Package

1 x Supporting DVD

1 x ASUS WiGig 802.11ad moving antenna *7

1 x ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antennas (Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compliant)

1 x Fan Extension Card (3 x 4-pin fan out)

1 x Fan Extension card screw pack

1 x ThunderboltEX 3

1 x mini DisplayPort Cable

1 x ThunderboltEX 3 GPIO cable

1 x 3-Way SLI bridge(s)

1 x SLI HB BRIDGE(2-WAY-M)

1 x Q-Connector

3 x Thermistor cable(s)

BIyOS

128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI3.0, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 3.0, ACPI 6.0, Multi-language BIOS,

ASUS EZ Flash 3, CrashFree BIOS 3, F11 EZ Tuning Wizard, F6 Qfan Control, F3 My Favorites, Last Modified log, F12 PrintScreen and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory information

Manageability

WfM 2.0, DMI 3.0, WOL by PME, PXE

Support Disc

Drivers

ASUS Utilities

EZ Update

Anti-virus software (OEM version)

Operating System

Windows® 10 64-bit

Form Factor

ATX Form Factor

12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

 


Packaging and Accessories

The box for the Prime X299 Deluxe has the same basic black background of our X99 and X370 boards only the box for this one is noticeably larger than the others. On the front Asus has a large photo of the board with the model name next to it. Then down along the bottom is a list of the supported features like SLI, the various audio formats, and Asus Aura lighting. The front of the box also opens up and although the board is in a static protective bag you can kind of see it. The flipped up door also has more information on the back. It has a photo of the board with lines drawn to it pointing out some of the board's features with short descriptions and sometimes additional photos to go along with the descriptions. The back of the box is similar as well with another main photo along with a full specification list, then on the right more features on the board's many many features and accessories.

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With the motherboard pulled out I found that more than half of the box is actually just filled with accessories. Right up on top, there were a few trays with a PCIe card and a few SLI bridges. Then under that, there was a lot of documentation. You get a full user guide for the board and an additional user guide for the ThunderboltEX 3 card. There is a small paper for the included fan extension PCB and a CableMod discount code to pick up some Asus Aura lighting. Then for discs, you get a driver/software disc and a second disc for the ThunderboltEX 3 card.

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So the PCB that we saw when first digging into the box was the included ThunderboltEX 3 card. It is a short PCIe x1 slot device with a black PCB. It has a thunderbolt header in the top right corner, then on the outside facing slot, you get an additional USB 3.1 Type A, a USB 3.1 Type C with Thunderbolt 3, and a Mini DisplayPort In.

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The X299 Deluxe came with another small breakout board. This is the fan extension PCB. It hooks to the motherboard down in the bottom right corner of the motherboard using the EXT Fan plug that is on the bottom left corner with the white header. Basically, this breakout board lets you add four more four pin fan headers. To power it though you will also need to plug in that four pin Molex.This board also has the three headers for the includes thermal probes as well so if you plan on using them you will need to integrate this board into your build.

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The included rear I/O shield has a white and gray stripe finish on it that almost looks a little strange. I personally would still prefer this to be solid black as that normally goes with more cases, but it does match the Prime look. The back has a foam padding to replace the metal springs but if you look you can see that one of the USB ports does still have the metal spring so you do have to be careful not to get that inside of the plug when installing the board. The Prime X299 Deluxe also comes with a high bandwidth PCB SLI bridge. Then for wireless antennas, they include two. One is for the new Wireless AD adapter and it has a black finished connection so you can spot it, then there is also the normal wireless AC antenna as well. They have a new longer shape but still have magnets inside so you can stick them right to your case if needed.

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Digging through the huge pile of bags of accessories I found three bags with SATA cables, this gets you a total of 6 with three of those having a right angle on one end. The external fan breakout board cable was in the mix. There was also a mini-display port adapter and the Thunderbolt internal header cable as well. Then they included a 3 way SLI bridge that is blacked out and PCB as well should you be looking to go triple SLI for some reason. There was a pile of screws for the fan extension mounting and for the included vertical M.2 mount. There was also a Q-connecter that helps you plug in the front panel connections. Then I was really surprised to see three thermistor cables that you can hook to the board and attach to other items in your PC to keep track of additional thermals.

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Board Layout and Pictures

You most likely have seen Asus Prime boards before now, but if this is your first time Asus goes a different direction for the Prime boards when compared to their Strix, ROG, and TUF lines. Most of those are flashy and all blacked out but with Prime boards, they keep the styling simpler and they use white and shades of gray along with black. The Prime X299 Deluxe is a full ATX board that is 12 inches tall and 9.6 inches wide. It is the flagship Prime board in a series of Prime X299 boards. X299 itself is a higher end platform as a whole but with this being on the higher end of that, it is completely packed with features so let's see if we can get through them all.

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For cooling the board has two main heatsinks. There is a large low profile heatsink down next to the PCIe slots that covers and cools the X299 chipset then the second up above the CPU that keeps the power circuitry cool. The power heatsink fits in between the two sections of ram DIMMS and it is just barely wider than the CPU socket. It has an angled design and is machined out of aluminum and finished with a gray anodized finish. With everything going on the board it blends into the background. The chipset heatsink, on the other hand, is large and very visible. Part of that is because of the white finish in the middle with a mirrored stripe up the middle. The stripe has Asus Aura lighting behind it when it is powered on. There is an Asus logo and then it has multiple steps in the same anodized gray finish as the other heatsink. The chipset cooler’s bottom left portion has a screw then you can remove and it will give you access to one of the two M.2 slots on the board. This one is a little hidden but you still get full x4 bandwidth.

This is also where you will find the new LiveDash. The small black block in the cover just above the PCIe x16 slot is a small OLED screen. This screen displays temperatures, frequencies, fan speeds, error messages, and it also shows boot information when booting.

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The white theme carries over to the covers over the rear I/O and the audio chipset. Initially, I wasn’t sure if I would like all of these I/O covers because I prefer to see the actual board but when it comes to the rear I/O I always prefer a cover. The rear I/O connections never blend in with a black PCB, not that the all white cover on this board blends in either. But it does look good while being simple. The cover also has Asus Aura lighting integrated into the small space between it and the ram DIMMS. As for the audio shield, I prefer these to be metal but this plastic one may have foil under it. It covers up part of the  Realtek ALC S1220A 8 channel audio chipset. They have impedance sensing headphone amps built in and the Japanese capacitors are visible to round things out.

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So starting up in the top left region on the board the main things going on here is the rear I/O panel on the left, the CPU socket on the right, and in between four DDR4 DIMMS that are half of the 8 total on the board. That said if you look closely you can see a few other things. Just below the I/O and just above the RAM slots, there are a total of three 4-pin fan headers. The two up top are for the CPU cooler or a water cooling pump and the one down below is one of many case fan headers. Then for CPU power, there is an 8-pin header with a four pin next to it for additional power. Last but not least there is a small white header for RGB lighting that can be controlled via Asus Aura.

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On the top right, the second batch of DDR4 DIMM slots are to the right of the CPU socket. Up in the top right corner just below one of the mounting holes there is a row of LED lights. These show the part of the boot process you are on so if your PC locks up mid boot it will help point to what the issue is. Each LED has a description printed on the PCB next to it. Oddly enough the new OLED screen on the Deluxe also shows this same information, I’m not sure that these are needed with that and a LED readout. Below the LEDs is a 24-pin motherboard power connection. The plug below that might not even be recognizable to some people. This is an M.2 that plugs in and sits vertically. Asus included a mounting bracket and screws to attach it. The connection runs at x4 so this is a fast connection and the vertical orientation helps with keeping the drive cool by keeping it away from the CPU and GPUs while letting airflow get to both sides. Then a half inch farther down the board is the new USB 3.1 internal header. Right now there aren’t many cases that support it, but when they do it will be much easier to use than the current USB 3.0 connection while adding faster speeds and Type-C connections.

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Moving down the right side the chipset heatsink and the M.2 heatsink take up most of the space in this area but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything going on. There are two 4-pin fan headers along the right edge and then another just under the heatsink. Then there is an older style USB 3.1 header that is positioned at a right angle for better wire management. Below that there are six SATA 3 connections and a new U.2, all right angled as well. The U.2 is similar to M.2 but for an external drive but right now there aren’t many options other than the Intel 750 Series U.2 drive. Just past the U.2, there is one more SATA plug as well. From there we really get into all of the different connections. There is another USB 3.1 header only for some reason this one isn’t listed at all in the specifications and next to it yu have one of the two USB 2.0 headers. The white ext_fan connection is where we hook the included breakout board for the four additional fan headers and the three thermal sensors. Then down in the corner are all of the front panel connections. Over towards the left, there is another RGB header only this one isn’t the standard type, it is a digital header for individually controlled LEDs.

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Moving across the rest of the bottom edge there is an EZ XMP switch to avoid having to get into the BIOS at all to turn on a basic XMP mode to clock your ram at its suggested settings and next to it you have a few more buttons. The MemOK button helps when you have memory issues, pressing it will downclock the memory until your PC can boot properly so you can get into the BIOS and adjust the ram to something that works. If that doesn’t do the job the clear CMOS button is right there in bright red. From there you have a LED diagnostic readout and large power and reset buttons. Last but not least the soundcard on the left has its front panel audio connection right along the bottom edge.

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For PCIe slots, officially you get four x16 length slots with three of those having the metal shielding on them and two being gray and spaced in a way to give two full slots in between them. Then there are two PCIe x1 slots just under the two gray slots. Of course, the slot speeds get more complicated depending on what CPU you are running. The high end 7900X has a full 44 lanes but moving down the stack you get 28 lanes on some of the middle CPUs and only 16 for the two Kaby Lake CPUs. To accommodate this here is the PCI breakdown. If you have 44 lanes you are good to do anything you want, 28 is good for two video cards and two slower slots, and 16 lanes slows things down more but you do still get dual x8 slots just like a Z270 boards basically.

44-Lane CPU-
3 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16/x16, x16/x16/x8) 
1 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode)
28-Lane CPU-
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16/x8) 
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x4 mode)
16-Lane CPU-
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8) 
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (max at x2 mode)
2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x1 (x1 mode)

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For the rear I/O Asus didn’t do too bad with connections. They used the extra space from not having to worry about onboard display connections to double up on network connections. Both are Intel NICs but one is the I219V and the other is the I211-AT. Both have LAN Guard support so you have some protection for power surges through them. Then there are the three wireless antenna connections. The two gold connections are for the Wireless AC that is also running on an Intel NIC. The bottom darker port is for the new Wireless A. It has its own antenna and it doesn’t have backward compatibility like AC but the speeds are crazy 4.6 Gbps over AC’s 1.3 Gbps. Of course, those are in lab numbers. On the far left is a BIOS reset button. Then on the far right is the standard 5+Optical audio layout. For USB you get four USB 3.1 Gen 1 connections in the dark blue and four USB 2.0 with the black. The greenish connections are also USB 3.1 but they are Gen 2 that have additional bandwidth and the small Type-C connection is also USB 3.1 Gen 2.

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Taking a look at the back of the board, there isn’t anything too crazy going on like M.2s on ITX boards. The back gives us a better look at the black PCB. You can also see the split audio circuitry that goes all the way up to the rear I/O. Beyond that the back f the PC has the certifications and overall you can see just how packed full the board Is with just about every area in use.

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BIOS

For the BIOS the UEFI on the Prime X299 Deluxe stuck with basically the same look and layout as the X370 Prime and X99 Prime boards that I have in the office. When you boot into the BIOS you land on the EZ Mode page where you can do and change the main offenders. You can do an auto overclock with the EZ System Tuning, change the boot priority with a drag and drop setup, adjust fan profiles, turn on XMP, and turn on Intel Rapid Storage. There is also some info about your PC and readouts for key information.

bios 1

The advanced mode is a lot more like a traditional BIOS only with a mouse and I should point out that the mouse moves correctly, something that a lot of other boards still have trouble with. Over on the right of every page, you get CPU, Memory, and Voltage information on the fly. Up top, there are tabs to sort out all of the options and above that, there are a few main features like Qfan where you can adjust fan speeds. The main page itself just has BIOS versions and basic memory and CPU info.

bios 2

The Ai Tweaker tab is basically where you will do any and all overclocking. Up top, it shows your target frequencies for the CPU, memory, and cache. Then from there, most of the main settings for the CPU and memory are on this page or there are subpages you get to from this page like DRAM timings for example. Asus didn’t skimp on anything.

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With the number of features built into the board, it also means a lot of on and off switches and tweaks you can do. Basically, anything that isn’t overclocking is on the Advanced tab. Each of the options seen here have their own pages with even more options and pages inside.

bios 4

The Monitor page is simple, this is where you turn all of the sensors on and off and check all of the detailed readouts that the X299 Deluxe has. Remember on top of all of the fan headers and normal sensors they also included three external sensors as well, it’s all here.

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So the boot page isn’t as easy as drag and drop from the EZ Mode but you have that option and a lot more. You can change all of the boot order, dive into secure boot, turn compatibility modes on and off for Windows 10 and older OS’s, and anything else booting related.

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The tool page is the catch all for just about everything else and really the EZ Tuning and Qfan should also be here but they are already up on top. You can secure erase your hard drive or set overclocking profiles. Mostly though I use the EZ Flash 3 Utility where you can reflash your BIOS. You actually get the open to download it or you can pull the new BIOS that you already downloaded off any installed drive including your OS drive, in the downloads folder for example for a simple upgrade. Then I also included a look at the QFan page. You can basically create your own fan profiles to help better tune your cooling to keep things cool and quiet.

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bios 8

 


Test Rig and Procedures

Intel Z270 Test System

CPU

Intel Core i9-7900X

Live Pricing

Cooling

Noctua NH-U12S for cooling

Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste

Live Pricing

Live Pricing

Memory

Kingston HyperX FURY DDR4 16GB kit 2666MHz

Live Pricing

Storage

Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD

Live Pricing

Video Card

Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti

Live Pricing

Power Supply

Thermaltake 850w

Live Pricing

Case

Microcool Banchetto 101 Test bench

Live Pricing

OS

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Live Pricing

Motherboard Testing

Passmark Performance Test 9.0

Overall PCMark score

PCMark 10

PCMark 10 standard test, not the quick or extended versions

3DMark

We run the 2013 Fire Strike test on the performance setting

In Game Tests

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

In game benchmark, ultra setting, 1080p

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands

1080p, built-in benchmark run at the high setting

Subsystem Testing

Passmark

Passmark Advanced network test

 


Performance

For testing, most performance tests are really only good for verifying that there are no big issues but I did still hook up our GTX 1080 Ti and run through a few tests. If nothing else this helps give you an idea of performance expected with an i7-7900X and a GTX 1080 Ti. I tested in 3DMark as well as with two in game benchmarks for gaming performance. For overall benchmarks, I followed up with Passmarks Performance Test 9 with its overall score and the new PCMark 10 with a few different scores. Right now with this being the first board in the office there isn’t much to compare to though I will say the performance numbers in game look great.

The network tests were really the only big area of interest and even without another board to test against the X299 Deluxe had so many different connections itself that we can get a good idea of overall performance. There are two wired NICs and they were both Intel but the I211-AT performed a little better in our test. Then for Wireless AC, the performance was in line with what I’ve seen on Z270 and X370 boards. Sadly I couldn’t test the new WiGig Wireless AD as our access point didn’t support it at all. That said having WiGig AD support is huge, AC theoretically supports 1.3 Gbps and AD does 4.6 Gbps for comparison. Of course in the real world, those numbers are much lower, but there is a reason they call it WiGig.

3DMark

Motherboard

Overall Score

Graphics Score

Physics Score

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe

19867

23755

24113

PCMark 10 Score

Overall Score

Essentials

Productivity

Content Creation

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe

6475

9145

8486

9496

Passmark PerformanceTest 9.0 Overall Score

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe

5924.0

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands Average FPS

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe

113.64

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Average FPS

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe

94.3

Average Network Speed

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe - Intel I219V NIC

918.2

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe - Intel I211-AT

942.0

Asus Prime X299 Deluxe – Wireless AC

211.8

Beyond the numbers, we also have features like the built in Asus Aura lighting. Typically I only run single color lighting that matches my build but I kind of dig the default colors of the Aura lighting. Both of the two arrays have individual LED controls so as you can see as they rotate through the colors more than one color shows at a time. There was lighting in the rear I/O cover and then again above the chipset cooler. When the lighting is turned off Asus used a two-way mirror finish so if you don’t want lighting at all you can go that route and keep the clean Prime look.

lighting 1

lighting 2

Then slipped in just above the top PCIe x16 slot was this small OLED screen. It caught me a little off-guard the first time I saw it but it ended up helping when getting our system up and running initially. You already have a standard LED debug readout at the bottom but this screen when booting will go through more detail, showing exactly what it booting up at the time. In the case of our photo, it was booting up the SSD. When I had issues getting things started it also showed the error code and when up and running it showed temps. You can also set it to show a logo or a PC name if you want. The location was questionable as the video card was really close to it, but I like the idea of the screen on a high-end board like this.

lighting 3

 


Overall and Final Verdict

So I mentioned it in my initial Intel coverage but I should probably bring it up again here. Most people are used to Intel’s mainstream boards that are, even at the highest end, limited by low PCIe lanes and chipset features. So when you get into the Intel enthusiast platforms these motherboards seem a little ludicrous. It doesn’t help that boards like this have never existed on AMD platforms at all, Asus even had to come up with a new product name for the high-end Threadripper boards introduced at Computex this year.

But when it comes to wanting or needing the highest possible end hardware this is where boards like the Prime X299 Deluxe come in and Asus really delivered on that front. They did a good job sticking with the Prime theme while adding a little 80’s Miami Vice feel with the large striped heatsinks on the chipset and M.2 slot, especially with the Asus Aura powered lighting across the top. If you didn’t look too close it might even seem like a standard board, but when you start to look closer you will notice that Asus didn’t leave any area unused. For example, they slipped in 6 different fan headers but that wasn’t enough. They added a breakout board that adds another four along with thermal sensor connectors as well. You get two USB 3.1 headers, one USB 2.0, and a new style USB 3.1 as well, connections shouldn’t be a problem. They also did a good job on the rear I/O, especially with USB ports but they included a PCIe Thunderbolt card to expand on that even more if needed.

The excessiveness continues even to the network connections where you get two different Intel NICs and two wireless options. One of those is the new WiGig Wireless AD, there are hardly any Wireless AD access point or router options out there but the Prime X299 Deluxe is ready. This is the only area where I thought Asus could have gone crazier, 10G on one of the NICs would have been nice to see at this level of craziness.

So I don’t think you could ever look at the Prime X299 Deluxe and want for more features or connection options. Is it too much? For most builds, yeah, but when you start looking at throwing down $999 for the currently available i9-7900X or a lot more for the upcoming CPUs you can expect people to also be going crazy with the rest of the hardware and the Prime X299 Deluxe fits with that. Stuff like the built-in OLED screen just adds to what you can show off. But all of that leads me to the price. At $489.99 the X299 Deluxe is expensive. Do I think you get a lot of features that help justify that price? yes. But unless you are planning on spending $3000 or more on your PC this isn’t really in most budgets. That said, just like that Lamborghini Countach poster I had on my wall when growing up. The Prime X299 Deluxe is part of that dream PC that most people won’t ever be able to afford, but you could pick up something like the Asus Prime X299-A and pretend you are driving the Deluxe right?

fv5tophonors

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Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

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