No frills x99 board?

[JasonCoder]

Do they exist?

I don't want LED lighting, triple SLI or WIFI. I'm not going to overclock, not even a little. Do want newer features like USB latest, etc.

Could someone recommend me a good boring old x99 board... want to throw a 6800k in it.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Plain X99 board? With the latest features? Look no further then the Asus X99-A II. If you want TB3/Alpine Ridge USB3.1, the Gigabyte X99P-SLI is the most inexpensive option.

 

[lukart]

There's a really decent low cost X99, Taichi.. has the basic and more. Not much fancy stuff as the 250+$ mobos.

 

[Spamburgers]

MSI has a couple sub-$250 X99 boards. Even one that's under $200, the X99A Raider.

 

[deustroop]

See the board in my signature

 

[JasonCoder]

I dunno... that Asus X99-A II has a lot of terrible reviews on the egg. Not sure what to make of that... surprised even, given that it's Asus.

 

[crashtech]

ASRock X99 Extreme4. I have it, it's no frills, works fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157543

 

[deustroop]

I read those negative reviews and feel deeply, deeply sorry for those who complained. But calling this board trash makes me think the owners are looking in a mirror. This is one of the most sophisticated bit of kit you'll find ( as are many modern main boards). Every board I've had since 1992 was Asus and over that time I've had one problem and the board was replaced. Asus even has staff on line replying to the problems .
I can't say how frequent these problems arise and there are likely several boards that fit the bare bones criteria so you do got choices.

 

[crashtech]

I'm a former ASUS fanboy, but they're not the company they used to be, as evidenced by the many complaints particularly centering on their poor RMA service. Not to say other companies are consistently better, but when paying the ASUS premium price, one expects more. I believe ASRock has become the one to beat for combining quality and value. The board I linked above has Intel LAN, 12 phase power, and a pretty decent onboard audio implementation featuring the Realtec ALC1150. Not a lot of bling, but the 88+ positive reviews on Newegg help cement the notion that the ASRock is a pretty solid buy.

That said, if I were to recommend an ASUS X99 board, it would probably be the X99-A. It's similar to the X99 Extreme4 feature-wise, but includes a debug LED and onboard power and reset switches for your extra $36.00.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

If I wasn't interested in overclocking, I might be looking for server/workstation motherboards (C-series chipsets) instead. Should have a few options in the $200-$250 range, anyway.

 

[JasonCoder]

The board I linked above has Intel LAN, 12 phase power, and a pretty decent onboard audio implementation featuring the Realtec ALC1150. Not a lot of bling, but the 88+ positive reviews on Newegg help cement the notion that the ASRock is a pretty solid buy.

Thanks. Typing this on a z77 pro4 so copy that on asrock being good. That board better than the taichi?

That said, if I were to recommend an ASUS X99 board, it would probably be the X99-A. It's similar to the X99 Extreme4 feature-wise, but includes a debug LED and onboard power and reset switches for your extra $36.00.

Onboard power and reset... you saying that it has a physical switch I can thumb on the board to reset or power down? That sounds odd but it's the only thing that makes sense since I assume every board has a power and reset switch header.

 

[JasonCoder]

If I wasn't interested in overclocking, I might be looking for server/workstation motherboards (C-series chipsets) instead. Should have a few options in the $200-$250 range, anyway.

ECC prices scared me away from the workstation boards. Also seems like the workstation boards lag a bit in features (number of USB ports, M.2, Alpine Ridge, etc.). I know, I'm picky. Squeezing every feature I can get for my $$

Seems like the x99 is a good workstation board for a single proc but I'm kind of an ignoramus on current offerings.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

I second the ASUS X99-A motherboard. I picked one up for my 5960x and it's been great.

It was a little bumpy at first install as it had a really early bios but after updating it was much better. It's done nothing but get more stable and let me overclock farther nearly every single bios update since.

You can get the X99-A/USB 3.1 for $160 after MIR at newegg here.

 

[crashtech]

Thanks. Typing this on a z77 pro4 so copy that on asrock being good. That board better than the taichi?



Onboard power and reset... you saying that it has a physical switch I can thumb on the board to reset or power down? That sounds odd but it's the only thing that makes sense since I assume every board has a power and reset switch header.

Yes, if you take a look at the bottom edge in this image*, you'll see physical switches on the board that supplement the normal switch header.

*Image link from the Anandtech X99-A review.