Best x99 Motherboards for Overclocking – The incorporation of an X99 motherboard in your systems marks durability, stability, and exceptional performance. However, getting the best model for your needs can be quite tricky if you don’t have much knowledge about technical stuff. Therefore, you are recommended to go through the buying guide in order to make a valued purchase. Hopefully, this article has helped you in finding the model you are looking for!
Motherboards with Intel’s x99 chipset will perfectly match your high-end processor and ensure that your set-up is top of the line. We guarantee that you’ll be blown away once you make your next purchasing decision and finish building up your PC.
ROUND UP
As you can see, there are a lot of options that you can select from as you seek to optimize your gaming capacity. Based on our careful vetting and expert opinion, you really can’t go wrong with any of the options listed below.
1.Asus X99-PRO
Pros & Cons
- Ultra-fast 10Gb/s USB 3.1 built in to the board
- Patent Pending OC Socket - Drive CPU and DDR4 performance beyond all expectations!
- 5-Way Optimization by Dual Intelligent Processors 5 - One click overclock and cooling, done!
- Dual 32Gb/s ultrafast M.2 x4 (onboard and PCIE add-in card)
- Crystal Sound 2 - Flawless audio that makes you part of the game!
- ASUS Home Cloud with 2x2 802.11ac Wi-Fi - Access your PC remotely and stream multimedia content anywhere, anytime
Back when the platform launched, we noted that X99 motherboards were priced around higher than Z97 boards if you compared add-in features. We also observed that the X99’s additional integrated extras only helped offset the more expensive hardware.
Enthusiasts needing to run different data to a bunch of high-bandwidth cards would need the extra PCIe lanes of X99, while those looking to send the same information to multiple GPUs in SLI or CrossFire could get similar results from Z97 by purchasing a board with PLX’s switch.
The extra features found in this price range typically include a PCIe-based SATA controller or two, secondary network controllers, mildly oversized voltage regulators and extra USB 3.0.
2.Asus Intel X99
Pros & Cons
There are very few motherboards on the Z97 chipset that pass this barrier for example, and those that do are usually the cream of the crop. As a result, with Z97 the range really aims for the higher mainstream performance and functionality.
In X99, the level is the base. One of the reasons for this is that due to the prosumer nature of the market, where every motherboard has a lot of features which do not come cheap. There’s very little demand for a stripped system outside of the OEM market.
So as a result, the budget end of the market for X99 is still feature packed, even with the X99-A. For comparison we reviewed the ASUS X99-Deluxe when the chipset first launched, and it came with almost everything apart from the kitchen sink. The Deluxe was ASUS’ main product for the X99 launch focus, and the X99-A arrived a few weeks later. At it represents a cut down version of the Deluxe.
3.ASUS ATX DDR3
Pros & Cons
- USB 3.1 On-board
- 5-Way Optimization by Dual Intelligent Processors 5 - One click, total system optimization!
- M.2 & SATA Express - Speed up your system with lightning-fast 10Gb/s transfer speed
- Crystal Sound 2 and Intel Gigabit Ethernet - a game-winning combo!
- ASUS Home Cloud with 802.11ac Wi-Fi - Access your PC remotely and stream multimedia content anywhere, anytime
- Proven quality - 5X Protection. 1000+ compatible devices. 7000+ validation hours.
We made this Asus ATX DDR3 2600 FM2 Motherboard Crossblade Ranger review so that you can have a primary resource about this particular motherboard.
Before going into the details, let’s discuss what the Crossblade Ranger is, who can benefit from it, and what items it includes.
The Asus Crossblade Ranger is a ROG motherboard with an ATX form factor and an FM2/FM2+ processor socket.
Asus released it in the third quarter of 2014, separate from its A88X and A55 motherboard lineups for the FM2+ processors.
4.MSI Extreme
Pros & Cons
- Refer the user manual below for troubleshooting
- Chipset: Intel X99 Express
- Memory: 8x DDR4-3333(OC)/ 3110/ 3000/ 2750/ 2666/ 2600/ 2400/ 2200/ 2133 DIMM Slots, Quad-Channel, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, Max Capacity up to 128GB
- Slots: 4x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 Slots, 2x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 Slots
- SATA: 10x SATA3 Ports, 1x SATA Express Port; M.2: 1x M.2 Port
- Ports: 2x USB 3.1 Ports (rear), 10x USB 3.0 Ports (6 rear, 4 via headers), 6x USB 2.0 Ports (2 rear, 4 via headers), 1x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Combo Port, 1x Optical S/PDIF Out, 1x RJ45 LAN Port, Audio I/O Jacks
Once we lifted the lid of the 6-pound GX600 Extreme Edition, we were met with a gorgeous 1680 x 1050-pixel resolution LCD that offered plenty of real estate for surveying the battlefield.
The Unreal Tournament 3 action never felt too cramped on the 15.4-inch screen, proving that you don’t need a huge canvas to game hard. Our The Two Jakes: Special Collector’s Edition DVD looked crisp and had a nice color balance
In addition to the standard connections, you’ll find an ExpressCard/54 slot and a 4-in-1 memory card reader on the right side of the machine, eSata and HDMI ports on the left, and two USB 2.0 ports on each side. Conspicuous by their absence is the lack of dedicated multimedia keys, but MSI tosses in a responsive wired laser mouse and headset.
5.MSI H310 LGA 1151
Pros & Cons
- Supports 8th Gen Intel Core/ Pentium gold/ Celeron Processors for LGA 1151 socket
- Supports DDR4 Memory, up to 2666MHz
- DDR4 Boost: advanced technology to deliver pure data signals for the best gaming performance and stability
- Audio Boost: reward your ears with studio grade sound quality
- M.2 and NVMe support, up to 20 GB/s Using PCI-Express Gen2 x4
While the marketing rhetoric attempts to make this sound like a premium motherboard, make no mistake: As it’s built around the entry-level H310 chipset, the H310M Gaming Plus is designed for gamers and builders opting for mainstream CPUs who would prefer to spend the majority of their money on other components, like the CPU, graphics, and storage.
The H310M Gaming Plus supports the latest 8th and 9th gen Intel Core, Pentium Gold, and Celeron processors with DDR4 memory support up to 32GB with speeds up to 2666 MHz (the speed limitation here is baked into the chipset).
The Micro-ATX board includes a single M.2 slot and the full chipset complement of four SATA ports, along with an Intel-based Gigabit NIC rounding out some of the basic features.
6.MSI MPG Z390
Pros & Cons
- Supports 9th i9-9900k, i7-9700k, i5-9600k and 8th Generation Intel Core/ Pentium gold/ Celeron Processors for LGA 1151 socket
- Supports dual channel DDR4 Memory, up to 4400(OC) MHz
- Audio Boost 4 with Nahimic 3, 2x Turbo M. 2, Intel Optane Memory Ready, M. 2 Shield frozr, Turbo USB 3. 1 Gen2, pre-installed I/O shielding
- Mystic Light: 16. 8 million colors/ 29 effects. Connect RGB or rainbow LED strips with addressable headers and create an RGB Gaming PC. Control Mystic Light Sync enabled products
- Built for high-performance gaming - Atx form Factor ready for Multi-GPU. Operating System - Support for Windows 10 64-bit
They’re a necessary means to an end for most PC gamers, and that’s fine. So long as a new motherboard does its job, doesn’t get in the way, and allows you to get the most out of the rest of your expensive PC hardware, that’s all you can ask.
Unless you’re planning on strapping a bunch of graphics cards together, along with an unwieldy RAID array, then most of us PC gamers can get by with a relatively modest motherboard as the base of their PC.
And that’s what MSI’s MPG Z390 Gaming Edge AC is looking to offer. But, despite its relatively low price for a top-end chipset board, this MSI Z390 still has the sort of lengthy feature set you’d want for your gaming PC. What’s not to like?
7.ASUS ROG Rampage V Extreme
Pros & Cons
- USB 3.1 Add-On Card
- Intel Core i7 processors on LGA 2011-v3 socket
- Intel X99 Express chipset
- OC Socket, OC Panel, Safe Boot and Retry buttons - Powerful tuning kit for breaking records
- Extreme Engine Digi+ IV - Primo components for rock-steady power
- Direct CU, X-Socket II, multiple thermal sensors and Fan Expert 3 - Stay even cooler
- PCI Express 3.0 x4 M.2, dual SATA Express, 3T3R 802.11ac Wi-Fi - Unparalleled connectivity with blistering-fast transfer speeds
- Supreme 2014, Sonic Radar II, Intel Ethernet, LANGuard, Game First III, Key Bot, RAM Disk - Hear more, banish lag, accelerate loading and control
This has been added to in recent quarters with the Impact (mini-ITX), the Hero (cheap ATX) and the Ranger (cheap ATX also). Depending on the focus of the platform, some, none or all of these focal points are used. Traditionally the Extreme line was on all the major Intel chipsets, but this changed last year.
When Intel released the Haswell line of processors, the new LGA1150 socket was paired with the Z87 chipset and ASUS went all in with every ROG model. The purpose of Z87 was to facilitate the Haswell processor line but to also provide an upgrade to Broadwell when released. Z97 was launched when Broadwell was expected to hit the shelves, offering a similar sort of package to Z87 but with minor transitional updates.
Similar circumstances happened on LGA1155 with Sandy Bridge (P67/Z68) to Ivy Bridge (Z77) in the two generations previous. What made Z97 and Intel’s mainstream 9-series different for the ROG line is that only a few models were launched, and an Extreme version was absent
8.ASRock FATAL1TY X99M
Pros & Cons
- LGA 2011-v3
- Chipset: Intel X99
- Memory: 4x DDR4-3200+(OC)/ 2933(OC)/ 2800(OC)/ 2400(OC)/ 2133 DIMM Slots, Quad-Channel, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, Max Capacity up to 64GB
- Slots: 2x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 Slots, 1x PCI-Express 2.0 x16 Slots (runs at x4)
- Ports: 2 x USB 3.1 Ports (Type-A), 4x USB 3.0 Ports (2 rear, 2 via header), 8x USB 2.0 Ports (3 rear, 4 via headers, 1 Fatal1ty Mouse Port), 1x PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse Combo Port, 1x Optical S/PDIF Out, 1x eSATA Port, 2x RJ45 LAN Ports, Audio I/O Jacks
- Form Factor: MicroATX
Worse, mini-ITX steals the spotlight from what I consider to be a truly useful form factor, microATX.
Lop the last three slots off of a full ATX motherboard and you’ve just defined the microATX standard. That means microATX still has enough room around the CPU interface to include a big voltage regulator or support four memory channels.
Builders still get up to four slots, which is enough for most, and two-way CrossFire or SLI, which also covers the majority of enthusiasts. In fact, microATX’s only performance-oriented restriction is that, with less slot space to waste, manufacturers tend not to blank out the top slot space in favor of oversized on-board devices.
9.ASRock X99 EXTREME4
Pros & Cons
- ASRock X99 EXTREME4 LGA2011-v3/ Intel X99/ DDR4/ Quad CrossFireX & Quad SLI/ SATA3&USB3.0/ M.2/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard
The least-expensive of today’s contenders, ASRock leans exclusively on chipset features to provide four I/O panel and two front-panel USB 3.0 ports, along with a slew of USB 2.0 ports spread across internal and external connectors, in addition to 10 SATA 6Gb/s ports shared with M.2 and eSATA.
Our three previous reviews featured high end motherboards from the major manufacturers of MSI, GIGABYTE and ASUS but these motherboards had hefty price tags attached to them, so much so that they will be out of reach for many. Each of those manufacturers do have lower priced motherboards of course but the first mid range X99 motherboard to land on our desk came courtesy of ASROCK.
The mATX Extreme based the X79 chipset thoroughly impressed us, not least because of the cost but also because of the performance matching capabilities it had when pitched against the ‘big boys’. We were therefore very eager to get ASROCK’s latest incarnation onto the test bench to see how it compared, hoping that it could replicate previous success.
10.ASRock B450M
Pros & Cons
- Socket AM4 Digi Power design 9 Power Phase design Supports 105W Water Cooling (Pinnacle Ridge) Supports 95W Water Cooling (Summit Ridge) Supports 65W Water Cooling (Raven Ridge)
- Country of origin : China
- Memory 4x DDR4-3200+(OC)/2933/2667/2400/2133 DIMM Slots Dual Channel ECC Non-ECC Unbuffered Max Capacity of 64GB (AMD Ryzen series CPUs (Pinnacle Ridge))
- Slots 2x PCI-Express 3 0 x16 Slots (one runs at x8) 2x PCI-Express 2 0 x16 Slots (two run at x4) 1x PCI-Express 2 0 x1 Slot
ASRock has a new value MATX board with the latest B450 chipset from AMD; it’s got everything you need and nothing you don’t.
The ASRock B450M Pro4 MATX motherboard has all the essentials. There are plenty of ports on the back and a PS/2 port for those with old school peripherals. You’ll find 4 SATA ports and 2 M.2 slots for storage, RGB headers for aesthetics and gigabit Ethernet for connectivity.
Whilst the audio is the Realtek ALC892 codec and not the ALC1220 we see on ‘gaming’ products it’s still going to be good enough for all but the most hardcore of gamers and it fits the price point well.
Best x99 Motherboards for Overclocking – BUYER’S GUIDE
Chipset
Obviously all of the motherboards listed here have an x99 chipset, but we want to highlight some features that make this stand out. These are designed and manufactured by Intel, and are intended for gaming enthusiasts and other high-end desktop users. Note that all of the supported processors use the LGA 2011-v3 socket.
Processor compatibility and support
x99 motherboards also support a number of CPUs, including variants of the Intel Core i7 Extreme, which is important to keep in mind if you’re building up your PC and haven’t yet got a processor. If you do have one, then you need to check that the motherboard you end up going with can support the speed and type of processor you already have.
RAM support
Motherboards with Intel’s x99 chipset are the first to support DDR4 memory, which has been the new RAM standard since around 2007. It’s more efficient and quicker than DDR3, has lower power demands, high bandwidth, and higher density so this is the best of what you can get in the industry at the moment.
Generally motherboards will range from four to eight slots, so your maximum RAM capacity will be a lot higher. For example, a motherboard with eight slots will support up to 128GB of RAM.
Operating system compatibility
In addition to checking the motherboard’s compatibility with your processor, you should also check that it’s compatible with your current operating system.
This is a smaller point to note because most motherboards on the markets these days are equipped with drivers for recent and current Windows versions, but this will impact whether your motherboard works or not so make sure you keep this in mind.
WRAP UP
Best x99 Motherboards for Overclocking – If you are thinking of building a high-end gaming PC with the latest Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition processors, top of the line graphics cards in multi-GPU setup then you will need a top-quality Intel X99 Chipset motherboard that supports LGA2011-v3 Socket processors. Intel X99 Chipset is the top of line motherboard chipset from Intel that supports the high-end Intel Core i7 Extreme and Xeon server processors, dual GPU configurations, offers many advanced features & ports and provides blazingly fast performance in gaming, server as well in other heavy-duty applications. LGA 2011-v3 Socket is also known as Socket R3 or LGA 2011-3. Here in this post, I am going to list down the best X99 motherboards for all budgets and form factors (mini-ITX, micro-ATX & ATX). All these X99 motherboards support overclocking, DDR4 RAM, Socket LGA2011-v3 Intel Core i7 and Intel Xeon Server processors. The only thing these motherboards lack is display connectors/ports (no onboard graphics) and you have to invest in a good graphics card for Intel X99 motherboards.
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