Test – Asus Prime X299 Deluxe |Specs | Price

Hi all!

Today marks the start of testing of new motherboards equipped with the X299 chipset from Intel, with the Asus Prime X299 Deluxe! Intel recently released a new high-end platform replacing the old X99, the range of compatible processors is however much larger, ranging from a 4-core processor without hyperthreading (the Core i5 7640X) to a huge 18-core processor with hyperthreading ( the Core i9 7980XE), there are however only 2 processors available at the moment (i7 7740X and i9 7900X).
The motherboard in today’s test is the Deluxe version of the Prime X299 from Asus, top of the range equipped with everything needed to satisfy the most demanding, still happy when we see the 480 € requested from checkout 😉 Let’s see what it looks like in practice!

The Asus Prime X299 Deluxe is a standard ATX format motherboard, so it will fit into all ATX cases without having to ask too many questions. It is equipped with the brand’s new 2066 socket, compatible with all Sky Lake X and Kaby Lake X processors, at the time of writing only 5 processors are available, ranging from the Core i5 7640X to the Core i9 7900X ( 4 to 10 cores), other processors with more cores (up to 18) will be available later.
The memory compatible like its predecessor in X99 is DDR4, with a native base frequency of 2666 MHz (against 2133 MHz), the Prime X99 Deluxe however allows overclocking up to 4000 MHz (depending on the compatibilities, be careful look at the listing of compatible modules on the manufacturer’s website). There are 8 slots for a total of 128 GB of memory, so you can see it coming!
The card is equipped with 3 PCIe 3.0 16X ports, 16x / 16x / 8x cables, however be careful with the processor because this configuration is only available with the Core i9 7900X (44 PCIe lanes) for the moment. On a processor equipped with 28 lines (Core i7 7800X and i7 7820X) we fall to only 2 ports wired in 16x / 8x against 8x / 8x for 16 line processors (Core i5 7640X and i7 7740X). Multi-GPU compatibility is of course part of the game whether it is at AMD or even NVIDIA with 2, 3 or 4 cards. Other limitations are also to be taken into consideration if you want to make a well loaded machine, here is what we find in the manual:

So you have to be careful what you install on the card, even some PCIe 1x ports are disabled by default because they share their bandwidth with other controllers, for example the PCIE 1x port number 1 is not available if the WiFi card is activated, same for the PCIE 1x number 2 which is not available with the Sata 6gb 6/7 ports activated. In short, it’s a bit of a jungle but all motherboards are the same, even if you still have to look carefully to find these limitations, for me more important than the presence of an RGB LED for example 😛
In terms of storage, we are not at a loss either with 7 Sata 6Gb / s ports, 2 M.2 ports (one Sata & PCIe 4x compatible, the other being only PCIE 4x) and a U.2 port. However, the card has the particularity of having one of the two M.2 connectors vertically, a metal bracket is included in the bundle to install it, this choice is certainly explained by the lack of space on the motherboard in it -even.
Embedded peripherals were also given preferential treatment, with 2 Ethernet controllers from Intel (better than the rather entry-level Realtek, even if perfectly functional), a WiFi part compatible with 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac and even 802.11 ad (or WiGig with theoretical speeds up to 4.6 Gbit / s), a Bluetooth 4.1 controller, a Realtek Realtek® ALC S1220A sound part equipped with high-end capacitors and so on. , there really is everything you need to minimize the potential number of additional cards.
Of course, let’s not forget the presence of RGB LEDs on the board,
Offered at a price of around € 480, the Asus Prime X299 Deluxe card offers a wide range of features, and we expected no less given the price, so you have to need all this!

The box offers a photo of the beast on the front with of course the name of the model and the logo of the brand. A whole bunch of logos are also present, SLI, Crossfire, Intel X299 Chipset and so on. At the back another photo showing this time some highlights of the X299 Deluxe, as well as a table of technical characteristics.

From the great classic here to opening, we find the motherboard in its antistatic bag, nothing that changes what we usually find.

Below the map we can say that we are spoiled with a bundle that looks extremely well supplied, quite logical however for the “Deluxe” versions of the brand.

Okay so clearly we have what it takes here, see more! Of course the various driver manuals and DVDs are delivered but for reasons of space I did not put them on the photos 😉 In the program:

• 6 x Sata cables
• 1 x Addressable LED extension cable
• 3 x cables with temperature sensor
• 1 x MiniDP -> DP cable
• 1 x Wifi antennas (one for the a / b / g / n / ac and another for the ad)
• 1 x pont SLI-M 3-Way
• 1 x pont HB SLI 2-Way
• 1 x Q-Connector
• 1 x M.2 fixing bracket and its screws
• 1 x I / O plate
• 1 x hub for fans and its cable
• 1 x ThunderboltEX 3 card and its cable

Here as you can see Asus has not made in the lace, a Thunderbolt 3 card, a hub for fans, 2 WiFi antennas, SLI bridges, temperature sensor etc. It will almost be necessary to do it on purpose to lack some thing by buying the Prime X299 Deluxe, at the same time at 480 € it makes a bit of sense 😀