ASUS X99-Deluxe II Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅26-05-16
Conclusion

With Intel’s next-generation CPUs on the horizon (check here for our upcoming reviews – using Deluxe II), it’s to be expected that a fresh wave of X99 motherboards would hit the shelves. Surprisingly, not all of the brands are involved in such a refresh but ASUS are monopolising on the event by presenting the ‘High End Desktop’ segment with some exciting new releases.

The X99-Deluxe II is just one of the motherboards which ASUS has released. Building on the success of the popular X99-Deluxe, this version two brings the motherboard right up-to-date by furnishing the PCB with USB 3.1 functionality, U.2 ports, RGB lighting and Intel Turbo Boost 3.0 to name just a few elements.

Across the board we also have some subtle alterations to the styling with a much more refined aesthetic which will pair up perfectly with white, black or blue devices.

Storage is a particular highlight on Deluxe II because there are a multitude of options to choose from. SATA, SATA Express, M.2 and U.2 are all fully supported. Even though we do only get a single M.2 slot on the motherboard, ASUS has included the Hyper Kit to allow users to take advantage of a RAID configuration. By its nature, M.2 takes up valuable space on a motherboard and therefore ASUS has made the wise decision of integrating an M.2 slot which causes the drive to stand upright – something which may seem odd at first but something which actually makes quite a lot of sense, since M.2 drives are notorious for generating heat. With this orientation, airflow can effectively reach the drive and bring down temperatures.


As far as performance goes, Deluxe II is a strong candidate in the X99 arena, demonstrating consistent results throughout a range of benchmarks. Further to this, we managed to overclock our Intel Core i7-5960X to 4.9GHz with very few steps thanks to the intuitive ASUS UEFI BIOS. This verifies for users that the Deluxe-II will carry any CPU to the furthest possible frequency.

Being derived from ASUS’ premium series doesn’t just mean you’ll get a wealth of features on the motherboard, the accessories bundle is pack with item after item – in fact we’ve never seen such a generous bundle before. Every conceivable part is provided – including handy and innovative items such as a fan extension card, M.2 X4 Hyper Kit, 802.11ac module, and a ThunderboltEX 3 card.

Priced at £359.99 GBP / $420 USD, the Deluxe II is no small investment. However, this motherboard isn’t designed for casual enthusiasts – its packaging bundle and included features clearly indicate extreme usage and will be the ideal candidate for passionate enthusiasts and overclockers who want to squeeze the very best performance out of their LGA2011 chip and make use of numerous storage standards as well as multi-GPU configurations (which we note, will allow x16/x16).

ASUS has revived the Intel X99 chipset with the release of Deluxe II. This motherboard carries with it a huge array of features; with a selection of USB 3.1 ports, a multitude of storage options and is ready to take on the new Intel® Core i7 processor family for socket LGA 2011-v3.

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Pros
+ Appealing design
+ Extensive accessories bundle
+ x16/x16 multi-GPU support
+ Numerous storage options inc. U.2
+ Great for overclocking
+ Includes a selection of USB 3.1 ports
+ Great audio solution

Cons
- Steep price

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