ASRock Fatal1ty X99 Professional Motherboard Review

ASRock ships the X99 Professional in the company’s typical red and black Fatal1ty packaging. The front of the box outlines some of the key features, while a more detailed look at the specifications is found on the rear.

The usual affair of documentation is provided – relevant manuals and a driver CD. ASRock also provided a case sticker and a license key for a 3-month trial of XSplit Premium, worth $24.95.

Given the board’s premium pricing, it comes as no surprise to see a healthy accessory bundle. The supplied cables are formed of six for SATA data and one for ASRock’s HDD Saver power connector. I would like to see the HDD Saver cable coloured purely black at some point in the near future – multi-coloured cables are ugly.

Three screws are used for the pair of M.2 connectors and the mini-PCIe slot. The rear IO shield is colour coded and features pre-positioned holes for three antennas should users decide to install an internal WiFi card. ASRock supplies four rigid SLI bridges which aren’t quite pure black – they’re a dark brown.

While there is a dedicated bridge for 3-card SLI, a 4-card setup relies on three separate connectors. This is bit of a ‘cheap-out’ measure that I would prefer to see stopped.

When paying this much for a motherboard which is 4-way SLI capable, a dedicated 4-way bridge should be included. It’s a ‘cleaner’ solution.

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