Equipped with Ambient Surround LED, this Intel X99 motherboard delivers a lively design which is packed with a bag full of impressive features.
Product on Review: GA-X99-Ultra Gaming
Manufacturer & Sponsor: GIGABYTE
Street Price: £250 UK – $270 US
Since its revival, the Intel X99 has seen motherboard manufacturers come to the fore in a bid to provide end-users with updated and enhanced platforms for the new Broadwell-E Processors. While the basis for these X99 motherboards remains the same, new features are now present such as USB 3.1. Fresh looks and improved features should make the ‘High End Desktop’ platform even more appealing.
Today we turn to GIGABYTE for a detailed look at what they have to offer in the recently released GA-X99-Ultra Gaming. This Intel X99 motherboard carries with it a long list of features which include numerous storage options by way of SATA, SATA Express, U.2 and M.2. With RGB LEDs dominating the market, GIGABYTE has also furnished this board with a multitude of LEDs for users to take completely control over the style of their configuration!
About GIGABYTE
Founded in 1986, GIGABYTE is committed to providing top-notch solutions that “upgrade your life”. We are regarded as a pioneer in innovation with groundbreaking excitements such as Ultra Durable™ — a revolutionary technology that redefines the industry, WINDFORCE™ — exclusive heat dissipation design that builds for extreme performance, G1™ Gaming series—the perfect solutions for gamers and enthusiasts, P series — a powerful gaming laptop less than an inch thick, and BRIX series—a versatile mini-PC in the palm of your hand. GIGABYTE has continuously brought unique new ways of digital world and created marvelous products that empower you with meaningful and charming experiences.
Technical Specifications
Below are the technical details surrounding the GA-X99-Ultra Gaming obtained from GIGABYTE:
CPU
Intel® Socket 2011-v3 Core™ i7 Processors
Supports Intel® 14 nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 3.0
Chipset
Intel® X99
Memory
8 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 3600(OC) / 3400(OC) / 3333(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2133 MHz Memory
Quad Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Multi-GPU Support
Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ Technology
Expansion Slots
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16, x8, x8)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x1
Storage
New Intel® Core™ i7 X-Series Processors :
2 x M.2 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 s
1 x U.2 port, support PCIe 3.0 x4 NVM Express storage
Intel® X99 chipset :
1 x SATA Express port,
4 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s),
Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Recovery Technology*2
LAN
Intel® I218V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller
Killer E2400, 1x Gigabit LAN Controller
Audio
Realtec ALC 1150 codec
7.1 channel with S/PDIF Out
USB Ports
Chipset+Intel® USB 3.1 controller:
1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support
1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel
Chipset+2 Renesas® USB 3.0 Hubs:
8 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)
Chipset:
2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the back panel
4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports available through the internal USB headers
Internal I/O Ports
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x PCIe power connector
1 x CPU fan header
1 x water cooling fan/water cooling pump header (CPU_OPT_PUMP)
2 x system fan headers
1 x system fan/water cooling pump header (SYS_FAN3_PUMP)
1 x RGB LED strip extension cable header
1 x SATA Express connector
10 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector
1 x U.2 connector
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
1 x S/PDIF Out header
2 x USB 3.0/2.0 headers
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
1 x Thunderbolt™ add-in card connector
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
Accessories
1x User’s manual
1x I/O Shield
6 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
1 x Supporting DVD
1 x LED Strip Cable
2 x Cable ties pack(s)
1 x Door Hanger
2 x SLI Bridge (Flexible + Rigid)
1 x G-Connector
1 x 8pin adapter
BIOS
2x 128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS.
Q-Flash Plus Support
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor
30.5cm x 24.4cm
Intel® Socket 2011-v3 Core™ i7 Processors
Supports Intel® 14 nm CPU
Supports Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 3.0
Chipset
Intel® X99
Memory
8 x DIMM, Max. 128GB, DDR4 3600(OC) / 3400(OC) / 3333(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2133 MHz Memory
Quad Channel Memory Architecture
Supports Intel® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)
Multi-GPU Support
Supports NVIDIA® 3-Way SLI™ Technology
Supports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX™ Technology
Expansion Slots
4 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16, x16, x8, x8)
1 x PCIe 2.0 x1
Storage
New Intel® Core™ i7 X-Series Processors :
2 x M.2 Socket 3, with M Key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 s
1 x U.2 port, support PCIe 3.0 x4 NVM Express storage
Intel® X99 chipset :
1 x SATA Express port,
4 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s),
Supports Intel® Smart Response Technology, Intel® Rapid Recovery Technology*2
LAN
Intel® I218V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller
Killer E2400, 1x Gigabit LAN Controller
Audio
Realtec ALC 1150 codec
7.1 channel with S/PDIF Out
USB Ports
Chipset+Intel® USB 3.1 controller:
1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support
1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel
Chipset+2 Renesas® USB 3.0 Hubs:
8 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers)
Chipset:
2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the back panel
4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports available through the internal USB headers
Internal I/O Ports
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x PCIe power connector
1 x CPU fan header
1 x water cooling fan/water cooling pump header (CPU_OPT_PUMP)
2 x system fan headers
1 x system fan/water cooling pump header (SYS_FAN3_PUMP)
1 x RGB LED strip extension cable header
1 x SATA Express connector
10 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors
1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector
1 x U.2 connector
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
1 x S/PDIF Out header
2 x USB 3.0/2.0 headers
2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers
1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header
1 x Thunderbolt™ add-in card connector
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
Accessories
1x User’s manual
1x I/O Shield
6 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
1 x Supporting DVD
1 x LED Strip Cable
2 x Cable ties pack(s)
1 x Door Hanger
2 x SLI Bridge (Flexible + Rigid)
1 x G-Connector
1 x 8pin adapter
BIOS
2x 128 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS.
Q-Flash Plus Support
Form Factor
ATX Form Factor
30.5cm x 24.4cm
Intel X99 Features
First and foremost, Intel’s latest chipset is aimed at the home ‘power’ user, be this performance enthusiast (read overclocker), extreme gamer or indeed for those who require the ultimate media encoding platform. So whatever your vice, Intel have all the bases covered with their latest chipset. This isn’t, of course, to say the Z97 based chipset is poor by comparison (it’s not), but if you want the ultimate – the very best of the best supporting Intel’s 8 core processor (5960X) – then X99 is the only option.
So what’s new with X99?
DDR4 Quad Channel Memory
The above block diagram shows us that DDR4 is natively supported. Note that DDR3 is NOT supported (more on this later). While the block diagram shows a rated speed of up to 2133MHz, our test bench happily ran 16GB (4x4GB) Quad channel Corsair Vengeance LPX at 2666MHz. More recently niche 3000MHz and even 3333MHz DDR4 DIMMs are entering the market requiring high voltages and far deeper pocket, but it’s anticipated that eventually 4GHz DIMMs will be the high watermark at retail.
40 x PCI Express (PCIe) Lanes
Depending on CPU choice, the X99 chipset can support up to 40 lanes of PCIe in combinations of 2×16, 1×8 or 5×8. We also expect this figure to increase on some motherboards with the addition of PLX chips given sufficient demand. All of the PCIe lanes are now PCIe 3.0 compliant; while current generation GPU’s rarely saturate PCIe 2.0 it is nice to have that future proofing available, especially for SLI/Crossfire configurations.
USB 3.0
One of the heaviest criticisms of X79 was the lack of natively support USB 3.0 ports, especially when compared to its Z87/97 brethren. We are now happy to report that X99 will support 6 USB 3.0 ports along with 8 USB 2.0 ports. Of course, most motherboard manufacturers will also add the usual ‘aftermarket’ USB 3.0 support from components such as ASMedia and Marvel so transfer speeds of up to 5GB/s and port numbers in the double-digits can theoretically be achieved.
SATA 3.0 And Next Generation Storage
Despite having huge computational benefits, X79 was oft criticised by the lack of high speed SATA 6Gbps ports. This has been rectified with the X99 chipset supporting 10 x SATA 3.0 ports attaining a theoretical speed of 6Gb/s which can be enhanced using the latest Intel Rapid Storage driver to speeds of 10 Gb/s!
SATA of course has its limitations, which is where newer next generation storage technologies come in. First seen in limited quantities on Z87 and more widely on Z97, M.2 and SATA Express technologies unlock transfer speeds far in excess of SATA III. Support for PCIE storage remains sporadic – M.2 is starting to pick up but SATA Express is exceptionally rare – but it’s slowly proving to be a valid alternative to SATA 3 and mSATA. Many X99 motherboards support M.2 X4, which makes use of four PCIE lanes for up to a stunning 32Gbps bandwidth; however, few M.2 drives come close to saturating even Gen 1’s ~8Gbps.
We must say that Intel have pulled out all the stops here. Clearly they have taken on board user feedback regarding the deficiencies of X79 by incorporating more modern storage and expansion options. No longer is the Enthusiast flagship the poor I/O brother to Z87/97. Perhaps the biggest draw though is the introduction of DDR4. This will see huge speed gains in almost every aspect of personal computing. With 8x8GB DIMMS supported a mammoth 64GB of DDR4 will make the X99 chipset massively future proofed.
We will cover the overclocking capabilities of the new chipset and each motherboard specifically in the overclocking section but this area failed to disappoint too.
Overall, there is little to criticise here. While we would have liked 40 PCIe lanes regardless of CPU, we understand there has to be some compromise to keep costs down for the budget conscious so how many PCIe lanes you have available will be dictated by CPU choice and not the motherboard. The entry level 6 core i7-5820 will have 28 PCIe lanes at a cost of £299 (At the time of release), while the flagship 8 core i7-5960X and 6 core i7-5930K will both have the full blown 40 lanes available. Aside from lanes, cores cache and clockspeed, all of the X99 features will be available regardless of CPU choice and to this end we are grateful. We suspect that future additions to the CPU range will hit the middle ground while the 5960X will receive a speed bump although this is pure speculation at this point.
Which chip would we go for? Obviously if money was no object then the i7-5960X is the way to go, not only does it have the full 40 lanes available but it is a true 8 core (16 threads) CPU. The 5930K would be the obvious choice for the consumer and the CPU that we think will prove most popular due to the balance of speed vs. cost.
Whichever CPU you opt for though; you can be assured that the X99 chipset offers the very best available. It is powerful, feature packed and as you will see, the unrivalled component of choice for enthusiast users.
Packaging & Closer Look
For this review we’ve produced a video which reveals the packaging, bundle and a close, detailed overview of the motherboard. Please check out the video below for a comprehensive look at the feature-set:
Test Setup, Methodology & Overclocking
Test Setup
CPU Intel Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-X99-Ultra Gaming
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 @ 2666MHz
Graphics NVIDIA GTX 760
Storage Samsung 840 EVO 750GB
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU
Cooling Corsair H100i GTX
Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-X99-Ultra Gaming
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 @ 2666MHz
Graphics NVIDIA GTX 760
Storage Samsung 840 EVO 750GB
PSU Corsair HX1050 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU
Benchmarks
Cinebench R15 – CPU/OpenGL Score
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA 2014 – CPU & Memory benchmarks
HandBrake – Encoding Performance
Pov-Ray – 3D Image processing Performance
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks
PCMark 8 – Creative Suite
3DMark FireStrike – DX11 3D Benchmark
Games – BF4, THIEF Company of Heroes 2
x264 HD 4.0 – 1st and 2nd pass encoding
SiSoftware SANDRA 2014 – CPU & Memory benchmarks
HandBrake – Encoding Performance
Pov-Ray – 3D Image processing Performance
AIDA64 – CPU benchmarks
PCMark 8 – Creative Suite
3DMark FireStrike – DX11 3D Benchmark
Games – BF4, THIEF Company of Heroes 2
Other Software
Stress Testing Software: AIDA64 Stability Test
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z
CPU Specification Monitoring: CPU-Z
Overclocking
Overclocking with X99-Ultra Gaming is very easy thanks to the UEFI BIOS with overclocking and voltage settings in specific categories. This board also boasts a strong, flexible hardware spec to allow for a decent overclock. We managed to achieve the very best result for our Intel Core i7-5960X. In the past 4.9/5GHz is the milestone and X99-Ultra Gaming had no problems achieving this – this required 1.4v of CPU core voltage.
Benchmarks: Power Consumption
It’s interesting to note the power consumption across all motherboards. Although they are using the X99 chipset, energy results can fluctuate between manufacturers due to the features and specifications that are integrated. First of all, for the idle tests the system is cold booted into Windows and no additional applications are executed – the watts are noted on the external energy monitor we use and then the system is loaded with 3DMark FireStrike – watts are again monitored for the duration of the test and the highest rated wattage result is then noted down. Below are the results of this energy test.
Benchmarks: AIDA64
AIDA64 Product PageThis simple integer benchmark focuses on the branch prediction capabilities and the misprediction penalties of the CPU. It finds the solutions for the classic “Queens problem” on a 10 by 10 sized chessboard. At the same clock speed theoretically the processor with the shorter pipeline and smaller misprediction penalties will attain higher benchmark scores. For example — with HyperThreading disabled — the Intel Northwood core processors get higher scores than the Intel Prescott core based ones due to the 20-step vs 31-step long pipeline. CPU Queen test uses integer MMX, SSE2 and SSSE3 optimizations.
Benchmarks: Cinebench R15
CINEBENCH is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Iron Man 3, Oblivion, Life of Pi or Prometheus and many more.
Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA
SANDRA isn’t always a benchmark that is included in hardware reviews but I believe it shouldn’t be ignored. SANDRA provides a vigorous package that tests your system in a rather large array of benchmarks. There are many aspects of benchmark that can be executed. We will be considering – CPU and memory tests.
Benchmarks: 3DMark FireStrike
3DMark FireStrike Product PageFire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.
Benchmarks: PCMark 8
PCMark 8 combines performance benchmarking with battery life measurement and includes tests based on popular Adobe and Microsoft applications. Whether you are looking for long battery life, or maximum power, PCMark 8 will help you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance for your needs. It’s the complete PC performance benchmark for home and business.
Benchmarks: POV-Ray 3.7
The Persistence of Vision Raytracer, or POV-Ray, is a ray tracing program which generates images from a text-based scene description, and is available for a variety of computer platforms. It was originally based on DKBTrace, written by David Kirk Buck and Aaron A. Collins for the Amiga computers.
Benchmarks: Handbrake 0.9.9.1
HandBrake is an open source transcoding tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs. Strong multi-threading support tends to favour high core counts and hyperthreading support.
Gaming Benchmarks: BF4, COH2, GRID 2, THIEF
It’s important for us to perform a number of game benchmarks as well as the synthetic tests because gamers will want to know if there are any significant benefits. So here we have two popular and recent gaming titles which feature a dedicated benchmark tool within them to display results.
Conclusion
Along a similar vein to that of the Z170X-Ultra Gaming, this X99 variant is another stunning motherboard from GIGABYTE.
With heavy emphasis on RGB LEDs within the industry, GIGABYTE have been keen to bring to market their Ultra Gaming motherboards, and the revival of the Intel X99 chipset is an excellent opportunity to showcase this. X99-Ultra Gaming is not only well-mapped out and a rather attractive motherboard in terms of aesthetics but the RGB LED system has been carefully implemented to compliment the overall design. Our video demonstration highlights just how effective this configuration is, with its varied colours and lighting effects.
Bringing our attention to the other aspects of X99-Ultra Gaming, we have a strong lineup of features which include steel reinforced PCI express and memory slots, along with an all-digital power delivery and Ultra Durable components such as 10K black solid CAPs. All of these details underline build quality. Storage is a particular strength for this motherboard, with four standards being supplied courtesy of SATA, SATA Express, U.2 and M.2. Such a varied supply of standards means X99-Ultra Gaming is ready for current and future storage needs.
It isn’t all too common to have dual x16 mode on a motherboard but our X99-Ultra Gaming arrives with this; helping those with multi-GPU configurations to get the most out of their hardware.
Turning to the performance there is no disappointment here either. X99-Ultra Gaming delivers consistent performance, matching or even outshining the competition in a range of benchmarks. Although some in some areas the differences are marginal, it is the overclocking arena where weak boards are easily identified and we’re pleased to report our X99-Ultra Gaming managed to take the 5960X to the heights of 4.9GHz without any hassle at all. Thanks to well-designed BIOS layout and power delivery, achieving good overclocking results is relatively easy.
X99-Ultra Gaming is priced at £250 GBP / $270 USD – placing this board slap, bang in the middle of the X99 lineup in terms of pricing. On offer are some great features which users should find very useful – all of this is backed by a 3 year warranty.
GIGABYTE present a visually stunning motherboard in the X99-Ultra Gaming. This motherboard is equipped with useful and innovative features throughout and we highly recommend it!
VIDEO REVIEW – VORTEZ TV
Pros
+ Striking design which is distinct
+ x16/x16 multi-GPU support
+ Numerous storage options inc. U.2
+ Provides good overclocking results
+ Includes a good selection of USB 3.1 ports
+ Well-designed LED lighting system
+ Great build quality
Cons
– Lacks WiFi support
+ Striking design which is distinct
+ x16/x16 multi-GPU support
+ Numerous storage options inc. U.2
+ Provides good overclocking results
+ Includes a good selection of USB 3.1 ports
+ Well-designed LED lighting system
+ Great build quality
Cons
– Lacks WiFi support
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
