- Date:
- Tuesday , July 05, 2016
- Author:
- Daniel Dobrowolski
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
ASUS ROG X99 STRIX GAMING LGA 2011-v3 Review
ASUS’ ROG X99 STRIX GAMING motherboard adds a bit of bling to the ROG line and much needed fresh blood that comes with some cool features and a much lower price point than other ROG X99 chipset offerings. And it has all the pretty lights in any color you want, if that is your thing.
Overclocking
Before getting into overclocking, I had trouble with the X99 STRIX GAMING at stock speeds. In order to stabilize it, on BIOS 0401 I had to set the memory values all by hand including the memory voltage. Additionally, there were other parameters I had to set in order to achieve stability in Windows. These were VCCIO CPU and PCH voltages which had to be set at 1.1v. I also had to set the CPU input voltage to 1.90v. For whatever reason this defaults to 1.78v on BIOS 0401. Curiously, on the X99 Sabertooth the CPU input voltage was set to 1.92v by default which was an update made later after the board’s release. For whatever reason ASUS backed off on that with the X99 STRIX GAMING. This may have been done for Broadwell-E, but I still had to crank the input voltage up in order to stop the errors and crashes I was getting in Windows.
4.3GHz (100x43) DDR4 2666MHz
Once stability at stock speeds was achieved and subsystem testing completed, I began overclocking. Upon reflection of those experiences, I’d have to say that overclocking the X99 STRIX GAMING was a breeze. The automated overclocking was set to hit a target frequency of 4.3GHz which it was able to do. Unfortunately, it set the voltage to adaptive and pulling as much as 1.5v running Prime95 or Aida64 which was way too high. Still, all I really had to do was set the AVX offset to 2 and then drop the CPU vCore to 1.32v. Although CPU-Z reads the voltage at 1.348v for some reason. Memory overclocking wasn’t nearly as easily accomplished. The X99 STRIX GAMING had difficulty with most of the memory kits I tried. I had trouble with the DDR4 3600MHz modules that I had on hand and usually use. Having said that, they aren’t rated for Broadwell-E as they were designed for Z170 based motherboards primarily. I do have a Corsair Vengeance LPX kit which provided me the best results, but are limited to 2666MHz. So far that seems to be the upper limit of what this CPU can handle anyway at 4.3GHz which puts it close to the 5960X CPUs I have used.
Conclusions
Dan's Thoughts:
I had quite a few interesting problems with the X99 STRIX GAMING out of the box which is highly unusual for me out of an ASUS motherboard. I was able to get the system to POST immediately, although the POST time seemed unusually long. As is often the case, I had a lot of trouble with XMP settings and memory tuning. Even under manual configuration I couldn’t get stability with my Corsair Platinum DDR4 3600MHz modules. I then moved onto my preproduction Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2800MHz modules I used with most of my X99 motherboard reviews. These wouldn’t work at all. I switched to some Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2800MHz modules which worked. With BIOS 0401 I had to set all the memory timings manually. With BIOS 0601 XMP detection worked properly. The system still wasn’t stable, so I treated the board like I would an MSI. As I said above, I set the VCCIO voltages and the CPU input voltage which resolved the stability issues. Once I got the OS reinstalled and the drivers loaded everything worked pretty good.
I did have one problem which persisted beyond all the BIOS updates and memory module swaps. It was a minor but very annoying problem. When I would shut down the system it immediately powered back on and would display anti-surge warnings. Initially this didn’t’ seem like it was BIOS related. I hooked up a UPS thinking I might have an external power problem as I didn’t suspect the PSU at the time. In connecting a UPS I figured I’d most likely eliminate the potential for any sort of external surge. That didn’t change anything and I didn’t have a power supply close at hand. After upgrading to version to 0601 I didn’t have the random power on and surge warnings for a short time. Eventually they returned. ASUS had already been contacted at this point and were unable to duplicate my issue. Eventually I replaced the power supply. This actually worked and the problem didn’t return. So after more than 75 reviews with the same PC Power & Cooling 1kr SR, the time had come at long last to replace it. I’m now using a lightly used Thermaltake ToughPower 1200 watt I had on hand. So while my out of the box experience was pretty rough, nothing that happened was insurmountable or difficult to resolve outside of the weird power on anti-surge warning issue. ASUS suggested that the problem may be with my PSU running out of spec which seems to be all but confirmed.
Out of the box, my impressions of the hardware were good. I saw a nice quality build with good solder joints and no obvious flaws. I am disappointed in a couple of the short cuts ASUS took with the design though. I do not like the fact that the only reinforced PCIe slot was the primary PEG slot. I desire symmetry and this is the opposite of that. I also don’t like the "stickers" for the ROG and STRIX logos on the motherboard. Either something nicer needs to be used or this needs to be done via onboard LEDs. I am not certain why the latter wasn’t done, but it just seems cheap when the X99 STRIX is all about aesthetics and LED lighting is a huge part of that. Naturally the Rampage V Edition 10 uses lighting in this way. The I/O shield is also a half-assed, pathetic piece of tin not befitting the ROG brand at all. I find this trend among ASUS motherboards a bit disturbing. As a result of this evident cost cutting, the X99 STRIX comes across to me as a bit like Scion to Toyota. It might have all the reliability that Toyota is known for, but it’s styled in such a way as to appeal to a younger crowd. Part of that is making it affordable which means cost cutting. So while I have no doubt this board can run, it does so with some added flash, and some lost class.
Ordinarily, I don’t understand a lot of marketing jargon or the wisdom of having similarly priced parts with one or two minor changes to them. I’ll simply trust that ASUS knows what it’s doing in this area. I do however think that the X99 STRIX GAMING is a nice addition to the ROG line as it pertains to X99 specifically. The X99 lineup from ASUS is rather lean in the ROG brand compared to their standard offerings. There are 7 standard X99 motherboards, 1x TUF series X99 motherboard and now three in the ROG line. The outgoing Rampage V Extreme U3.1, the Rampage X Edition 10 and now the X99 STRIX GAMING. In the ROG line, the X99 STRIX is the budget offering. At $340 or so at the time of this writing, it isn’t exactly a budget option but that’s not what he ROG brand is known for. I think there was a definite need for a lower priced ROG branded option and the X99 STRIX GAMING fits the bill nicely. Even though it isn’t cheap I think the X99 STRIX GAMING is pretty reasonable for an X99 motherboard given what all it offers.
Lastly, I want to tackle the subject of "refresh" X99 motherboards. For whatever reason these are all somewhat problematic considering how old the X99 chipset is at this point. This isn’t a slam against ASUS specifically, but all of the X99 motherboards I’ve looked at are similarly irritating to deal with. Everyone seems to be doing the same thing which is test out new UEFI versions on them and add RGB lighting. USB 3.1 is part of the deal as well, but unless you need that I’d caution anyone who has a solid X99 motherboard from upgrading. You’ll be paying a lot of money for blinky lights, a USB standard you probably won’t leverage for years and an endless supply of headaches. New users wanting to get the most out of Broadwell-E, or people who are just building now and need the features the HEDT segment has to offer need to be mindful that this hasn’t been a smooth launch at all. In fact, in the last 10 years, I’d say this is easily the worst refresh cycle I’ve ever seen with regard to board problems and it ranks up there with the worst motherboard / chipset launches I can recall.
So far, this is the third X99 "refresh" motherboard I’ve worked with. Initially this was the worst of them, but after applying the BIOS update it became the best one thus far. Rarely have I ever seen a BIOS update have such a dramatic impact on a motherboard’s behavior. Nor have I ever seen some of the specific issues faced with this one. The anti-surge warning and unintended power ups were an issue I wouldn’t have thought resolvable via a BIOS update. I’m glad I was wrong and that this wasn’t a hardware issue, but rather an issue with our test equipment. So while I don’t think the X99 STRIX GAMING perfect, it does have a solid feature set, a great layout, nice aesthetics, and a reasonable price point. As a mid-range X99 offering I think it’s probably the best one you can buy out of the ones I’ve tested to date. I’ve got two more X99 motherboards on the bench, so that may change in a couple of weeks, but for now I think it’s safe to say that if you’re looking to go with an HEDT platform based machine today, the X99 STRIX GAMING stands tall in a field of X99 refresh motherboards.
Kyle's Thoughts:
First and foremost the ASUS ROG STRIX X99 GAMING motherboard is not billed in any way as an enthusiast motherboard, but rather a "gaming" motherboard. That said it is part of the Republic of Gamers line of products which does in fact bring to mind overclocking and ASUS does go out of its way to explain its overclocking features. Overclocking the STRIX X99 was very easy for me doing it manually or doing it through ASUS' software. Both netted me a stable 4.3GHz at 1.35v vCore while using a 2666MHz RAM bus. This has been the top end stable overclock I have seen out our particular Broadwell-E CPU.
I had zero issues working with the STRIX X99 motherboard. I hand-overclocked that 6950X processor using previous settings from the prior X99 motherboard without issue. The Windows 10 Pro 64-bit install went without a hitch and at 4.3GHz/2666MHz the STRIX X99 would complete a full movie Bluray encode without issue. Moving to Prime95 we were able to have the system remain stable overnight as well. I do believe that some of Dan's problems stemmed from an aging power supply that has now been replaced.
The Bottom Line
ASUS ROG STRIX X99 GAMING motherboard is a good place to start looking if a huge feature set is on your short list. You can now load up these motherboards with 10 core / 20 thread Broadwell-E powerhouse CPUs that will grind nearly any multithreaded application into dust quickly. The STRIX X99 has huge support for a bevy of storage options as well. The X99 platform is not for everyone, but if it is for you, you likely already know that. As far a pricing goes in the deep feature set X99 motherboard world the STRIX X99 is priced at modest $238 from several retailers currently and in stock. If a High End DeskTop is what you are looking for with some gamer and aesthetic features, the STRIX X99 is worthy of your consideration.
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