X99 Motherboard Preview Roundup

EVGA X99 Micro

RRP: £182

Specifications

• Expansion slots: Three PCI-E 16x (Two x16, One x8)
  
• Networking: Intel i217
  
• SATA Express support: NO
  
• M.2 Support: YES - Type 2230
  
• Storage: 1 x M.2, 6 x SATA 6Gbps
  
• USB: 6 x USB 3 (2 via X99 headers), 8 x USB 2 (2 via headers)
  
• Audio: Realtek ALC1150
  
• Extras: I/O cover

Micro-ATX LGA2011 motherboards have been comparatively rare, but several manufacturers have dipped their toes in. Of course, EVGA's effort - the X99 Micro does defeat the purpose of buying either Intel's Core i7-5960X and Core i7-5930K as you won't be able to take full advantage of the extra PCI-E lanes on offer, but the latter CPU would still allow for a x16/x16 or three-way x8/x8/x8 setup using its three 16x PCI-E slots. If you're not looking to own a pair of GPUs and can also cope with only four DIMM slots then the EVGA X99 Micro is worth considering for a smaller system and it looks pretty good too.

The lower price compared to many other motherboards being showcased today does mean it's not quite as feature-laiden though. There's no SATA Express support and only Type 2230 M.2 devices are supported - nothing larger. It has most bases covered when it comes to overclocking tools though. There are power, reset and CMOS clear buttons, a combined CPU temperature and POST code readout display and well as voltage read points.





Head over the page to see the EVGA X99 Classified