ASRock Fatal1ty X299 Professional Gaming i9 Motherboard Review

Specifications and Features

• Chipset
  – Intel^® X299
• Memory
  – Quad Channel DDR4 Memory Technology
  – 8 x DDR4 DIMM Slots
  – Supports DDR4 4400+(OC)* / 4266(OC) / 4133(OC) / 4000(OC) / 3866(OC) / 3800(OC) / 3733(OC) / 3600(OC) / 3200(OC) / 2933(OC) / 2800(OC) / 2666 / 2400 / 2133 non-ECC, un-buffered memory
  – Supports non-ECC RDIMM (Registered DIMM)**
  – Max. capacity of system memory: 128GB***
  – Supports Intel^® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) 2.0
  – 15μ Gold Contact in DIMM Slots

• BIOS
  – 2 x 128Mb AMI UEFI Legal BIOS with multilingual GUI support (1 x Main BIOS and 1 x Backup BIOS)
  – Supports Secure Backup UEFI Technology
  – ACPI 6.1 Compliant wake up events
  – SMBIOS 3.0 Support
  – CPU, DRAM, VPPM, VTTM, PCH 1.0V, VCCMPHY, VCCIO, VCCST, VCCSA, VCCSFR, VCCPLL, CLK VDD Voltage Multi-adjustment
• Graphics
  – n/a
• Audio
  – 7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC1220 Audio Codec)
  – Premium Blu-ray Audio support
  – Supports Surge Protection
  – Nichicon Fine Gold Series Audio Caps
  – 120dB SNR DAC with Differential Amplifier
  – NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier for Front Panel Audio Connector (Supports up to 600 Ohm headsets)
  – Pure Power-In
  – Direct Drive Technology
  – PCB Isolate Shielding
  – Impedance Sensing on Front Out port
  – Individual PCB Layers for R/L Audio Channel
  – Gold Audio Jacks
  – 15μ Gold Audio Connector
  – Supports Creative Sound Blaster™ Cinema 3
• LAN
  1 x 10 Gigabit LAN 100/1000/2500/5000/10000 Mb/s (AQUANTIA^® AQC107):
  – Supports Wake-On-LAN
  – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
  – Supports PXE
  2 x Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Mb/s (1 x Intel^® I219V, 1 x Intel^® I211AT):
  – Supports Wake-On-LAN
  – Supports Lightning/ESD Protection
  – Supports Dual LAN with Teaming*
  – Supports Energy Efficient Ethernet 802.3az
  – Supports PXE

• Wireless LAN
  – Intel^® 802.11ac WiFi Module
  – Supports IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
  – Supports Dual-Band (2.4/5 GHz)
  – Supports high speed wireless connections up to 433Mbps
  – Supports Bluetooth 4.2 / 3.0 + High speed class II
• Slots
  – 4 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 Slots*
  – 1 x PCI Express 2.0 x1 Slot
  – Supports AMD Quad CrossFireX™, 3-Way CrossFireX™ and CrossFireX™**
  – Supports NVIDIA^® Quad SLI™, 3-Way SLI™ and SLI™***
  – 1 x Vertical M.2 Socket (Key E) with the bundled WiFi-802.11ac module (on the rear I/O)
  – 15μ Gold Contact in VGA PCIe Slot (PCIE1 and PCIE3)

  *If you install CPU with 44 lanes, PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE5 will run at x16/x8/x16/x0 or x8/x8/x16/x8.
  If you install CPU with 28 lanes, PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE5 will run at x16/x0/x8/x0 or x8/x0/x8/x8.
  If you install CPU with 16 lanes, PCIE1/PCIE2/PCIE3/PCIE5 will run at x16/x0/x0/x0 or x8/x0/x4/x0.
  Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks**3-Way CrossFireX™ is only supported with CPU with 44 lanes or 28 lanes.*** This feature is only supported with CPU with 44 lanes or 28 lanes.
• Storage
  – 8 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel^® Rapid Storage Technology 15 and Intel^® Smart Response Technology), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug*
  – 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by ASMedia ASM1061, support NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug
  – 1 x Ultra M.2 Socket (M2_2), supports M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280/22110 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**
  – 2 x Ultra M.2 Sockets (M2_1 and M2_3), support M Key type 2230/2242/2260/2280 M.2 SATA3 6.0 Gb/s module and M.2 PCI Express module up to Gen3 x4 (32 Gb/s)**

  *If M2_1 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_1 will be disabled.
  If M2_2 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_0 will be disabled.
  If M2_3 is occupied by a SATA-type M.2 device, SATA3_7 will be disabled.**Supports Intel^® Optane™ Technology (on M2_2 and M2_3)
  Supports NVMe SSD as boot disks
  Supports ASRock U.2 Kit
• Connector
  – 1 x Virtual RAID On CPU Header
  – 1 x TPM Header
  – 1 x Power LED and Speaker Header
  – 2 x RGB LED Headers*
  – 1 x CPU Fan Connector (4-pin)**
  – 1 x CPU Optional/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)***
  – 2 x Chassis Fan Connectors (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)
  – 1 x Chassis Optional/Water Pump Fan Connector (4-pin) (Smart Fan Speed Control)****
  – 1 x 24 pin ATX Power Connector (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 2 x 8 pin 12V Power Connectors (Hi-Density Power Connector)
  – 1 x Front Panel Audio Connector (15μ Gold Audio Connector)
  – 1 x Thunderbolt™ AIC Connector (5-pin)*****
  – 2 x USB 2.0 Headers (Support 4 USB 2.0 ports) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Headers (Support 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports) (ASMedia ASM1074 Hub) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x Front Panel Type C USB 3.1 Gen2 Header (ASMedia ASM3142)******
  – 1 x Dr. Debug with LED
  – 1 x Power Button with LED
  – 1 x Reset Button with LED

  *Supports in total up to 12V/3A, 36W LED Strip

  **The CPU Fan Connector supports the CPU fan of maximum 1A (12W) fan power.

  ***The CPU Optional/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 1.5A (18W) fan power.

  ****The Chassis Optional/Water Pump Fan supports the water cooler fan of maximum 1.5A (18W) fan power.
  CPU_OPT/W_PUMP, CHA_FAN1, CHA_FAN2 and CHA_FAN3/W_PUMP can auto detect if 3-pin or 4-pin fan is in use.

  *****The Thunderbolt™ AIC card can be installed in the enabled PCIe slot (depending on CPU type).

  ******Supports USB PD 2.0 up to 12V@3A (36W) charging

• Rear Panel I/O
  – 2 x Antenna Ports
  – 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard Port
  – 1 x Optical SPDIF Out Port
  – 2 x USB 2.0 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)*
  – 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-A Port (10 Gb/s) (ASMedia ASM3142) (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C Port (10 Gb/s) (ASMedia ASM3142) (Supports ESD Protection)**
  – 4 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Ports (Supports ESD Protection)
  – 3 x RJ-45 LAN Ports with LED (ACT/LINK LED and SPEED LED)
  – 1 x BIOS Flashback Button
  – 1 x Clear CMOS Button
  – HD Audio Jacks: Rear Speaker / Central / Bass / Line in / Front Speaker / Microphone (Gold Audio Jacks)

  *1 x Fatal1ty Mouse Port (USB 2.0) is included

  **Ultra USB Power is supported on USB3_12 ports.
  ACPI wake-up function is not supported on USB3_12 ports.

• Software and UEFI
  Software
  – ASRock F-Stream
  – ASRock RGB LED
  – ASRock Key Master
  – ASRock XFast LAN
  UEFI
  – ASRock EZ Mode
  – ASRock Full HD UEFI
  – ASRock My Favorites in UEFI
  – ASRock Instant Flash
  – ASRock Internet Flash
  – ASRock Crashless BIOS
  – ASRock UEFI System Browser
  – ASRock UEFI Tech Service
  – ASRock Easy RAID Installer

  *These utilities can be downloaded from ASRock Live Update & APP Shop.
• Support CD
  – Drivers, Utilities, AntiVirus Software (Trial Version), Google Chrome Browser and Toolbar
• Accessories
  – Quick Installation Guide, Support CD, I/O Shield
  – 4 x SATA Data Cables
  – 1 x ASRock SLI_HB_Bridge_2S Card
  – 1 x ASRock 3-Way SLI-2S1S Bridge Card
  – 2 x ASRock WiFi 2.4/5 GHz Antennas
  – 3 x Screws for Ultra M.2 Sockets
• Hardware Monitor
  – Temperature Sensing: CPU, CPU Optional/Water Pump, Chassis, Chassis Optional/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Tachometer: CPU, CPU Optional/Water Pump, Chassis, Chassis Optional/Water Pump Fans
  – Quiet Fan (Auto adjust chassis fan speed by CPU temperature): CPU, CPU Optional/Water Pump, Chassis, Chassis Optional/Water Pump Fans
  – Fan Multi-Speed Control: CPU, CPU Optional/Water Pump, Chassis, Chassis Optional/Water Pump Fans
  – Voltage monitoring: +12V, +5V, +3.3V, CPU Vcore, DRAM, PCH 1.0V, VCCIO, VCCSA, VCCSFR
• Form Factor
  – ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 9.6-in, 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm
  – 8 Layer PCB
  – 2oz Copper PCB
• OS
  – Microsoft^® Windows^® 10 64-bit
• Certifications
  – FCC, CE
  – ErP/EuP ready (ErP/EuP ready power supply is required)