Just a month ago we were looking at the first images of the first motherboards and we came across one that was going to be a lot of war both for its format and for its conditions, it is the ASRock X99M Killer with 12 power phases, MultiGPU support and compatible with 128 Gb DDR4 at 2666 mhz. In this analysis we will show you all its benefits.

Product ceded by:

Technical characteristics

ASROCK X99M KILLER FEATURES
CPU	- Supports Intel® Core ™ i7 and Xeon® 18-Core family processors for LGA 2011-3 socket - Digi Power design - Power phase 12 design - Supports Intel® Turbo Boost 2.0 technology - Supports Untied Overclocking technology
Chipset	Intel® X99
Memory	- DDR4 Quad Channel Memory Technology - 4 x DDR4 DIMM slots - Supports DDR4 3000+ (OC) * / 2933+ (OC) / 2800 (OC) / 2400 (OC) / 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 non-ECC, un-buffered memory - Supports non-ECC RDIMM (Registered DIMM) - Supports DDR4 ECC, un-buffered / RDIMM memory with Intel® Xeon® E5 series processors in Socket LGA 2011-3 - Maximum system memory capacity: 64GB * - Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0
Multi-GPU Compatible	- 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (PCIE1 @ x16 mode; PCIE2 @ x16 mode) - 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot (PCIE3 @ x4 mode) - Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX ™ and CrossFireX ™ - Supports NVIDIA® Quad SLI ™ and SLI ™
Storage	- 10 x SATA3 6.0 Gb / s connectors, Supports RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and Intel® Rapid Storage 13), NCQ, AHCI, Hot Plug and ASRock HDD Saver Technology - 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) RAID is only supported on ports SATA3_0 ~ SATA3_5. Connectors - 1 x COM Header port
USB and extras	6 USB 3.0 (2 Front, 4 Rear), 8 USB 2.0 (4 Front, 3 Rear, 1 Fatal1ty Mouse Port)
Net	1 x Intel® I218V (Gigabit LAN PHY 10/100/1000 Mb / s) - 1 x Qualcomm® Atheros® Killer ™ E2200 Series (PCIE x1 Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb / s) - Qualcomm® Atheros® Wake On Internet Security Technology (on Qualcomm® Atheros® Killer ™ E2200 Series) - Supports Wake-On-LAN - Supports Lightning / ESD Protection (ASRock Full Spike Protection) - Supports 802.3az Ethernet Power Efficiency - Supports PXE Expansion / Connectivity
Bluetooth	Do not.
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) - Supports Purity Sound ™ 2 - Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Trainers - 115dB SNR DAC amplifier with differential - TI® NE5532 Premium Headphone Amplifier (supports headphones up to 600 Ohms) - Direct Drive technology - Cover with EMI shielding - Insulated shielded PCB - DTS Connect compatibility
BIOS	2 x 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with Multilingual GUI support (1 x Main BIOS and 1 x Security BIOS) - Supports UEFI Secure Backup Technology - ACPI 1.1 according to Wake Up Events - Supports SMBIOS 2.3.1 - CPU, DRAM, PCH 1.05V, PCH 1.5V, VPPM multi-voltage setting Audio, Video and Connectivity
Format.	MATX format: 24.4 cm x 24.4 cm

ASRock X99M Killer

ASRock presents us in a box of reduced size to its base lacquer X99M Killer, where we find a cover that predominates the colors red and black. On the back we have all the characteristics and specifications of the motherboard. The bundle is made up of:

ASRock X99M Killer motherboard. CD with drivers and software. Instruction manual and quick guide. Back plate. SATA wiring. M.2 screw.

As we have explained in the introduction it is a microATX motherboard: 24.4 x 24.4 cm and a very elegant design, thanks to the FAZIRO black PCB color. The heatsinks and expansion slots have a red color turning to pink… that if we combine it with the G.SKills Ripjaws 4 memories or the Kingston Hyperx Predator we have a very attractive combination.

We do not see news in the rear area.

It is compatible with all Intel Haswell-E processors (5820k / 5930k / 5960x), 18-core Xeon and up to 64GB of DDR4 memory over 3000 Mhz. What is said soon!

Refrigeration is one of its strongest points (where ASRock has improved a lot) with its Super Alloy technology that incorporates Nichicon 12K Platinum capacitors, memory mosfets, 60A Choke and some XXL aluminum heatsinks. When we overclocked we hardly noticed that the area was hot.

Regarding storage, it has 10 SATA Express 6.0 Gb / s with RAID 0/1/5/10 support and Intel Rapid Storage 13 with active HD Saver technology.

We miss that it does not include SATA Express connection.

We have 3 PCI Express x16 connections and no other format. Being retro-compatible with the rest it is more than enough to mount two graphics cards by water. If we install the i7-580k the connection in SLI will work at 16x - 8x since it only has 28 lanes.

The new M.2 socket interface is also for connecting a next generation SSDs (NGFF). ASRock is the first in the world to implement PCIe Gen3 M.2 socket that runs up to 32Gb / s.

The Sound Purity 2 sound card is a combination of various solutions (hardware and software) that deliver fantastic sound, driven by the Realtek ALC1150 chip. What are the improvements? Integration of a 115dB SNR DAC, Premium TI 5532 600 ohm headphone amplifier, shielding and interference isolation.

As its name indicates "Killer" we knew that it was going to include a Killer E2200 Smart network card that increases gaming performance and signal transmission. What does he do? Automatically detects game packets and accelerates traffic giving advantage over the rest of the network traffic to make the performance smoother, without cuts in the game and the competitive advantage.

WE RECOMMEND YOU Samsung 860 EVO Review in Spanish (Full Review)

I love seeing the motherboards incorporate the on / off, reset and debug buttons as a must-have on mid / high-end motherboards.

Finally we see all the rear connections:

USB 2.0 x 4 Clear CMOS 1 x HDMI. 2 x LAN. 4 x USB 3.0. Sound output.

Test bench and tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel i7 5820K
Base plate:	ASRock X99M Killer
Memory:	16GB G.Skills Ripjaws 4 at 3000mhz.
Heatsink	Noctua NH-14S
HDD	Samsumg 840 250GB
Graphic card	Nvidia GTX780
Power supply	Antec HCP 850

To check the stability of the processor and the motherboard we have used a high-end processor: i7 4770k. Since it does not allow us to overclock, we have passed the tests with the stock values.

TESTS
3dMARK FireStrike	P9995
3dMark Vantage	45111
tomb Raider	85 FPS
CineBench 11.5 / R15	13.92 pts / 1265 cb
Metro Last Night	89 FPS

software

The most useful software that ASRock presents to us is the Fatal1ty F-Stream tuning that provides us with very interesting features, both at the level of overclock and monitoring. And that incorporates software such as: Key Master, Fatal1ty Mouse Port, EZ OC, OC Tweaker, Live Update, Tech Service, etc…

Final words and conclusion

The ASRock x99M Killer is a high-end microATX format motherboard that integrates the X99 chipset and is compatible with Intel Haswell-E processors (LGA 2011-3). Supports up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and includes Super Alloy technology with 12 digital phases! Although where it stands out the most is in the integration of the Killer network card for gamers, 10 SATA Express connections and the powerful Purity Sound 2 sound card.

In our tests it has matched both synthetic tests, always accompanied by an i7-5820k processor and a GTX780 graphics card. The results have been very good with a base overclock of 4400 mhz giving scores: 1265cb in Cinebench R15 and 85 FPS with games like Tomb Raider.

In short, if you want a 6-core processor in a small computer and with a capacity of up to 64GB of RAM, gaming characteristics… the ASRock X99M Killer is positioned as the best option today. Its price is € 230 approx, which we see offset by all its features.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ REDUCED FORMAT	- NO SATA EXPRESS.
+12 DIGITAL PHASES.
+ ALLOWS SLI / CROSSFIRE
+ RED KILLER CARD
+ SOUND
+ PRICE