Deluxe II is designed to work with Intel’s Core-i7 processors aka Haswell-E, as well as the upcoming next-generation Core-i7 family. We therefore have the 2011-v3 Socket which supports 14nm CPUs and the next-generation of Turbo Boost technology – 3.0.
As with other ASUS X99 motherboards, the Deluxe II takes advantage of OC Socket – adding extra pins to the socket area which tie in to a proprietary circuit to enhance the overall system performance.
The edge of the mounting plate utilises four screw holes for use with LGA2011 ready CPU coolers - this motherboard also benefits from having twin-CPU fan headers and H_AMP (high speed fan support) and W_PUMP headers for an LCS.
Around the CPU socket there is a dual-heatsink design which sits over the MOSFETs, the hetsinks are both connected with a thick copper heatpipe. Deluxe II uses an all-digital design via DIGI+ Power control to bring about better power efficiency and stability, with an 8+2 phase configuration.
On either side of the socket there are four slots for DDR4 memory. These eight slots support up to 128GB and speeds of up to 3333MHz (OC). Quad-channel support and XMP is available as expected.
Around the memory region there are some additional features which include MemOK! – ASUS’ exclusive memory compatibility tool, after pressing this button problematic bootups with unsupported memory are resolved. Beside the 24-pin ATX power, there is also an M.2 X4 slot and a U.2 slot; supplying up to 32GB/s for your storage needs. Those with concerns about the orientation of the M.2 slot are assured that supports will sit either side of the drive (using the screw holes) to provide a secure fitment. Although the drive will stand up, this positioning is actually ideal for such a drive as airflow will effectively reach the M.2 drive and help to bring down temperatures – often a downfall for such storage.
Moving along, we have more storage options available. In this area we have the following:
• Eight SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports – Four if SATA Express are used
• Two SATA Express ports
• One U.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4) port
Having such flexible storage options means that we aren’t stuck with one particular standard. The inclusion of U.2 future-proofs the motherboard considerably.
Located just behind the SATA ports is a large heatsink which sits over the X99 chip. This heatsink connects to an additional heatsink via a copper heatpipe – the idea being, that is transferred away and the use of two solutions will help to alleviate heat buildup.
Around the X99 heatsink there are two additional SATA 3 (6GB/s) ports which are upwards facing and there are also two switches:
SLI-CFX Switch
This switch allows the user to specify which slots are used for multi-GPU configuration – 2-way or 3-way. There is also a handy LED indicator built into the PCIe latches which highlights which slots are enabled (Lighting demonstration can be seen below).
EZ XMP Switch
This switch allows the user to enable XMP on-the-fly for the installed DDR4 kit.
