Asrock x99e

ASRock, a leader in state-of-the-art motherboards, has shipped us one of the most innovative motherboards for the 2011-v3 socket x99 platform. This is the ASRock X99E-ITX / AC with ITX format, 6 power phases and a free cooling kit.

This combination allows us to insert into a small box (Raijintek Metis, Bitfenix Prodigy…) a computer with six cores, 32 GB of RAM and a Dual graphics card like the Titan Z. If you want to know more about this motherboard, follow reading our analysis.

Product provided by ASRock Spain:

Technical characteristics

ASROCK X99-E ITX / AC FEATURES
Compatible processors	Supports Intel® Core ™ i7 and Xeon® 18-Core family processors for LGA 2011-3 socket Digi Power design Power Phase 6 Design Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 technology Supports Untied Overclocking technology
Chipset	Intel® X99 chipset
Memory	2 x DDR4 DIMM slots Supports DDR4 3200+ (OC) * / 2933 (OC) / 2800 (OC) / 2400 (OC) / 2133 non-ECC, un-buffered memory Supports non-ECC RDIMM (Registered DIMMs) Supports DDR4 ECC, un-buffered / RDIMM memory with Intel® Xeon® E5 series processors in Socket LGA 2011-3 Maximum system memory capacity: 32GB * Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0 DIMM slots with 15μ Gold contacts
Integrated Graphics Multi-GPU Compatible	1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot (PCIE1: x16 mode) 1 x Mini-PCI Express Half Slot Slot: For WiFi + BT module 15μ Gold Contacts in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1)
Audio	7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1150 Audio Codec) Supports Premium Blu-ray audio Supports surge protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection) Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Capacitors TI® NE5532 Premium Headphone Amplifier (supports headphones up to 600 Ohms) DTS Connect compatibility
LAN / Wifi / BT network card	1 x Giga PHY Intel® I218V, 1 x GigaLAN Intel® I211AT Technology On Intel® Remote (on Intel® I218V) Supports Wake-On-LAN Supports Lightning / ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection) Supports Dual LAN with Teamwork Supports energy efficient 802.3az Ethernet PXE support Wireless LAN Supports IEEE 802.11a / b / g / n / ac Dual-Band Compatible (2.4 / 5 GHz) Supports high-speed wireless connection of up to 867Mbps 2 antennas for support 2 (Transmission) x 2 (Reception) various technology Supports Bluetooth 4.0 / 3.0 + High speed class II
USB ports	ASRock USB 3.1 / ASRock USB 3.1 Type-A Ports (10 Gb / s)
SATAS connections	6 x SATA3 6.0 Gb / s connectors, Supports RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and Intel® Rapid Storage 13), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug * 1 x SATA Express 10 Gb / s connector ** 1 x eSATA Connector, Supports NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug 1 x Ultra M.2 socket, supported M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb / s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb / s)
Rear panel I / O	- 1 x PS / 2 Keyboard / Mouse Port - 1 x SPDIF Optical output port - 1 x eSATA connector - 2 x USB 2.0 ports (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) - 2 x USB 3.1 Type-A Ports (10 Gb / s) (ASMedia ASM1142) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) - 4 x USB 3.0 ports (Intel ® X99) (Supports ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection)) - 2 x Ports with RJ-45 LAN LEDs (Activation / connection and speed LEDs) - 1 x Clear CMOS Switch - HD Audio connectors: Rear Speaker / Center / Bass / Line In / Front Speaker / Microphone
BIOS	128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with Multilingual GUI support ACPI 1.1 compliant Wake Up Events Supports SMBIOS 2.3.1 CPU, DRAM, PCH 1.05V, PCH 1.5V, VPPM multi-voltage setting Audio, Video and Connectivity
Factory format	ITX 17 x 17 cm
Price	329 euros.

Asrock X99E-Itx

Asrock presents its motherboard in a compact format box with a central printed image of the motherboard and all its certifications. Among them we must highlight the incorporation of USB 3.1, Ultra M.2 connection, modified xOC socket, Dual LAN and Windows 8.1.

While in the back we have detailed all the most important features and specifications. The bundle is made up of:

• ASRock X99E-ITX / AC Motherboard, Instruction Manual, CD With Drivers, Intel 802.11ac Wireless Card, Back Plate, Low Profile Heatsink, 2 × 2 Wifi Antenna.

Like all ITX motherboards, it measures 17 cm x 17 cm. Although what makes it special is the incorporation of the X99 chipset and the compatibility with the new generation of Intel LGA 2011-V3 Intel i7 and Xeon processors with up to 18 cores. We have also been able to verify that it is compatible with any low profile heatsink on the market. My recommendations is to use the Noctua NH-D9L.

We also have two DDR4 RAM sockets that are compatible up to a maximum of 32GB DDR4 at 3200mhz. It allows us to have incredible potential in a very compact team.

ASRock has decided to combine a sapphire black PCB with blue heatsinks and DIMM slots, which we liked so much on the Z97 Extreme 4 socket 1150 motherboard. Although the heatsinks don't look like much, it efficiently cools the 6 feeding phases.

It has Super Alloy technology that offers stability and the possibility of overclocking on such a small plate. The components used are Power Choke 60A Premium with an efficiency of up to 3 times better saturation current, providing a higher and better Vcore voltage to the motherboard. The Premium Memory Alloy Choke is designed for memory power delivery, the new generation of alloy chokes have a highly magnetic and heat resistant heatsink design, thus delivering more stable and reliable power delivery to the motherboard.

It also features Fairchild 60A Dual Cool DrMOS which are the new improved MOSFETs that are more energy efficient, cooler and capable of withstanding currents up to 60th. And finally the Nichicon 12K Platinum trainers that have a life expectancy of at least 12, 000 hours. Compared to other high-end motherboards that only have a lifespan of around 10, 000 hours, these platinum capacitors offer a 20% longer life expectancy and provide greater stability and reliability.

On a board with such a small format it only includes a PCI Express 3.0 connection that allows us to install a high-end graphics card. If you want something powerful to play I always recommend a GTX 980 Ti or an AMD Fury. If it were the case of a workstation… a GTX Titan is a great combination.

It features two SATA 6.0 connections shared with a SATA Express and the Ultra M.2 connection. with a bandwidth of up to 32GB / s.

High performance is inevitably achieved at high temperatures, preventing your system from overheating is an important extra. This motherboard supports one included free server design heatsink or other narrow ILM CPU heatsinks for LGA 2011-v3. For my taste it is insufficient if we want to overclock, but if our goal is not to overclock or mount an Intel Xeon processor I see it as a very good investment.

Being up to date is optional, but having a maximum capacity Wi-Fi connection is a pleasure. The ASRock x99e-ITX incorporates a 2T2R 802.11ac WiFi adapter that offers us a strong WiFi signal and avoids the slowness of the Internet, being able to support wireless networks of up to 867Mbps and Bluetooth v4.0. Experiencing a speed increase of up to 289% compared to an old WiFi.

I did not like where they have positioned the battery, behind the USB 2.0 connections and the PS / 2 connector. The same in the long run takes off… These little details always have to be taken care of, hopefully in future motherboards they will integrate it into the motherboard or find a better place.

Finally, indicate on its rear panel is composed of:

• 2 x USB.PS/2.Clear CMOS.HDMI connections.2 x Gigabit LAN. 2 x USB 3.1 Digital audio output.

USB 3.1 is the clearest… this technology is the latest in high-performance connectivity standard, two integrated USB 3.1 Type-A connectors to deliver data transfer rates of up to 10Gbps.

BIOS

We have a very friendly, simple, and above all very stable UEFI Bios. Although it incorporates overclocking options, I do not recommend giving a lot of "wax" to the microprocessor, and it would not exceed 4200 mhz for air and 4400 mhz for liquid cooling.

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i7-5820K
Base plate:	Asrock X99E-Itx
Memory:	Corsair LPX 3200mhz 4x4GB
Heatsink	Included with the Asrock kit.
HDD	Samsumg 840 250GB.
Graphic card	Asus GTX 780
Power supply	Antec HCP 850.

To check the stability of the processor and motherboard, we've overclocked up to 4, 200mhz with Prime 95 Custom and air cooling. The graphics we have used is an Nvidia GTX780, without further delay let's see the results obtained in our tests with a 1920 × 1080 monitor.

Final words and conclusion

The ASRock X99E-Itx / AC is a small format motherboard (ITX) that is compatible with Intel i7 6 or 8 core processors and Intel Xeon up to 18 cores, 64GB of RAM, USB 3.1, PCI Express 3.0, M.2 Ultra connection and six SATA connections.

It is to be praised that ASRock is the first motherboard manufacturer to opt for an ITX motherboard for Intel's most powerful platform (X99 - 2011-V3) and is capable of over-air handling up to 4, 200mhz with offset and Stable BIOS. When we have installed our GTX 780 Direct CU II we have achieved up to 100 fps in Battlefield 4 with a Full HD 1080p resolution.

I really liked that ASRock opts to include a low profile heatsink for server, to be able to go pulling first and the incorporation of a Wifi 2 × 2 connection and Bluetooth 4.0. Chapó!

The only but I find this motherboard is that its acquisition cost exceeds the barrier of 300 euros, when it could be a TOP sales (and more with the Skylake price output so high) if it were above 230 euros.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ FIRST X99 BASE PLATE WITH ITX FORMAT.	- WE PAY A SURPRISE FOR HAVING A POWERFUL TEAM IN A REDUCED FORMAT, WHEN IT SHOULD BE BACKWARD...
+ 6 FEEDING PHASES.	- NO QUAD CHANNEL MEMORY SPACE.
+ INTEL XEON 18 CORE PROCESSOR SUPPORT.
+ POSSIBILITY OF OVERCLOCKEAR.
+ INCLUDES HEATSINK.
+ WIFI 2X2.

The Professional Review team awards him the gold medal:

ASROCK X99E-ITX

OVERCLOCK CAPACITY

COMPONENT QUALITY

COMPATIBILITY

BIOS

PRICE

8/10

FIRST ITX BASE PLATE FOR X99 PLATFORM.