X99 Micro ATX

Dirk Diggler · 10 Sep 2015 at 23:41

Any recommendations on a micro ATX board for X99? Been looking at the Gigabyte Gaming 5, but just not sure.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-519-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2875

Will want to OC to get the very best from the cpu and will team it up with 980Ti (possibly SLI) and 5820k. The Gigabyte will compliment my Parvum case nicely, but colour is hardly the deciding factor here!

stulid · 10 Sep 2015 at 23:44

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-015-GI&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=2858

Can get the board+cpu together and save money.

No brainer really.

Dirk Diggler · 24 Sep 2015 at 12:32

Still doing my homework here.

The reviews of the Gigabyte board aren't great, with the USB3.0 headers blocking a 2nd GPU being a bit of a schoolboy error. Also the M.2 speed is only 10GB/s?

Looking at the EVGA X99 Micro2. Reviews seem OK from what I've seen, but I can't see the speed of the M.2 slot listed anywhere. Anyone know what speed this runs at? Admittedly, I'm not very clued up on the M.2 hardware.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-051-EA&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2875

Finding a good Micro-ATX X99 board isn't easy!

phiiil · 24 Sep 2015 at 15:02

The Asus X99-M WS if you can get hold of it.

Dirk Diggler · 24 Sep 2015 at 15:28

phiiil said:
The Asus X99-M WS if you can get hold of it.

You mean this : https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-663-AS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2875

Quite a price premium.

Is it full speed M.2?
Why would you go for that over the EVGA?

whyscotty · 24 Sep 2015 at 16:06

As you want to OC make sure it has the OC socket.

My call would be

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty X99M Killer3.1/

But I'm bias.

BornEvil · 24 Sep 2015 at 17:00

whyscotty said:
As you want to OC make sure it has the OC socket.

My call would be

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty X99M Killer3.1/

But I'm bias.

I bought the non usb3.1 version of that board on MM, and I am very impressed. Normally buy only Asus or Gigabtye but Asrock is really not bad at all.

To OP: As you mentioned, the gaiming 5 has a lot of flaws. Onboard pic-e gen3 x4 is recommended on a mATX. If you go multi gpu, you will have no option for super fast storage.

Dirk Diggler · 24 Sep 2015 at 17:35

Don't they all OC? :eek:

Asrock board looks promising. Cheers.

dromi · 25 Sep 2015 at 10:28

My call would be

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal...M Killer3.1/

But I'm bias.

Do you have this board? can you recommed it? interested on getting it. What would you think are the main benefits? Like having thunderbolt 3..

Dirk Diggler · 25 Sep 2015 at 10:33

dromi said:
Do you have this board? can you recommed it? interested on getting it. What would you think are the main benefits? Like having thunderbolt 3..

Having done a little research last night, it looks like full speed M.2 and x16 on both PCI slots even when M.2 is running full speed.

dromi · 25 Sep 2015 at 11:46

Having done a little research last night, it looks like full speed M.2 and x16 on both PCI slots even when M.2 is running full speed.

Sorry can you explain this to an average joe

Dirk Diggler · 25 Sep 2015 at 12:15

dromi said:
Sorry can you explain this to an average joe

The M.2 SSD speed on the other micro ATX board were all restricted to 10GB/s unless they were using a PCI slot, but that was causing problems with PCI options and speed.

The Asrock board appears to run at 32GB/s M.2 SSD without impacting the PCI (graphics cards).

Maybe someone with one of these boards could confirm this?

dromi · 25 Sep 2015 at 18:08

As I read on a competitor website review:

"As far as features go, ASRock’s X99M Killer provides a healthy set of offerings. There’s the strong audio solution, Killer and Intel NICs, gaming device enhancements, and support for 32Gbps M.2 SSDs.That last point is important for users who care about future-proofing their system – higher-than-10Gbps M.2 SSDs are getting ready to enter the market."

BornEvil · 25 Sep 2015 at 20:50

String said:
The M.2 SSD speed on the other micro ATX board were all restricted to 10GB/s unless they were using a PCI slot, but that was causing problems with PCI options and speed.

The Asrock board appears to run at 32GB/s M.2 SSD without impacting the PCI (graphics cards).

Maybe someone with one of these boards could confirm this?

I have that board.

I can only assume the m.2 slot is getting native PCI-E lanes (4) direct from the CPU. It makes sense like that as there is so many lanes left over since it is only mATX. It does not need to share bandwidth with any physical PCI-E slots.

I'll check the motherboard traces the next time i take it apart.

there is no mention in the manual about any PLX chip either. Will buy my Samsung 950 Pro in October to test it out.

8 Pack · 25 Sep 2015 at 22:49

whyscotty said:
As you want to OC make sure it has the OC socket.

My call would be

http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Fatal1ty X99M Killer3.1/

But I'm bias.

Neil is spot on here. This is by far the best MATX board on X99. It has full OC socket is very efficient and overclocks like a dream. Nick developed this for the GSKILL OC competition at computex which the guy using this board out of any available on the market won.

I am going to build MATX X99 soon and this is my choice.

Dirk Diggler · 26 Sep 2015 at 07:47

Well, I think we have a clear winner. :cool:

Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it.

whyscotty · 26 Sep 2015 at 08:18

8 Pack said:
I am going to build MATX X99 soon and this is my choice.

Copy cat

dromi · 26 Sep 2015 at 13:27

Cool guys, I am going for this motherboard as well then

now what CPU 5820k or 5930k?

Will start with one 980ti, and hopefully get a second one later on.

Dirk Diggler · 26 Sep 2015 at 13:59

I'm not sure if you need the extra lanes for dual SLI?

8 Pack · 26 Sep 2015 at 18:24

5930K for Dual card SLI

I had it since early June Neil for testing Ln2. Really great board with mems and eff. I will use my retail board in this build though.