amazon Asus X99-A II reviews
Design
Asus X99-A II re-use the black and white tone of the first generation X99-A. Besides cutting some parts out of the Deluxe edition, the PCB has also been redesigned, changing some of the details as well as the expansion slots. Compared with the Deluxe, the X99-A II’s accessories are much less expensive.
Motherboard X99-A II
One of the biggest changes in motherboard layout is the location of slot M.2. Instead of plugging the M.2 SSD into a vertical slot near the 12V power connector, like the Deluxe, the X99-A slots the M.2 slots in parallel with the motherboard in the lower right corner. This location still enough space for users to plug M.2 SSD 110mm long.
Like other ASUS Haswell-E motherboards, the X99-A is equipped with socket sockets with more socket pins than the standard socket 2011-3 from Intel. With the OC Socket, the motherboard has the ability to support higher bus rams than. The X99-A II has 8 RAM slots for users to perform heavy multimedia tasks easily and quickly.
Connectors on the back
There are a total of 6 PCIEx slots on the X99-A II, supporting up to 3 SLI / CrossFire slots, somewhat disappointing compared to a premium platform. Because the X99 supports 10 SATA III ports, the X99-A II is the best choice for multi-drive systems. The M2 slot of the X99-A II adds a high-speed storage solution to the system.
In terms of sound, the X99-A II is powered by Realtek ALC1150 audio processor and Texas Instrument R4580 audio amplifier, supports DTS UltraPC II surround sound emulation and DTS Connect multi-channel audio decoding. Overall, due to the experience of producing their own sound cards, the sound quality of the X99-A II is quite good.
BIOS interface
Note that the BIOS interface of the X99-A II is quite similar to the interface on the Z97 platform of Asus. The options are displayed quite intuitive, easy to use. The mouse support in the adjustment process allows users to customize more quickly. The BIOS supports advanced overclocking options for CPU and RAM, and also supports fan adjustments for overclockers. In addition, with the application of Asus Dual Intelligent Processors 5 (DIP), users can manage the BIOS directly on Windows. DIP has the option to automatically overclock to non-professional users, making them able to overclock easily and more stable.
Performance
The same chipset, the same CPU, the same pulse rate, the score of the system is usually not too different. If we compare the performance of the Asus X99-A II and the Asus X99-Deluxe, we can see similarly balanced scores.
In tests with graphics rendering and gaming applications, the X99-A II often lost to the X99-Deluxe with a timeline of about 2-3 seconds. The interesting point is that at startup time, the X99-A II is slightly higher than the Deluxe, which is about 5 seconds faster.
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Power consumption
The X99-A II consumes quite a bit of power even when the system is off. Compared with the Deluxe, the X99-A II has a power consumption of more than 3W, and at full load, the X99-A II consumes more power than its older counterparts. In general, with a simple designed motherboard, this is unreasonable.
Conclude
The X99-A II is a relatively good product that adds options for people using the X99 platform but does not want to spend too much on motherboard investments due to the low power consumption of socket 2011. The product supports a number of overclocking features, both automatic and manual, that allow users to fine-tune their system in the most optimal way for both amateurs and professionals. Although it does not support SLI / CrossFire 4 cards, for midrange systems, the use of three graphics cards is horrible. This can be considered as one of the best products of the midrange X99 segment.