Asus X99-Pro Review

Overclocking

We're finding that newer EFIs are making improvements to overclocking a few months after the X99 launch and the X99-Pro is no exception, plus it boasts Asus's unique OC Socket, tapping in to additional voltage controls for the CPU and offering enhanced memory overclocking. It booted straight into Windows at 4.3GHz with a vcore of 1.3V using a CPU strap of 100MHz and we even managed to coax it up to 4.35GHz by raising the vcore to 1.31V and increasing the memory voltage a little to compensate too.

With water cooling, its likely there's more headroom available here as heat was our enemy as usual with our Core i7-5960X. One thing we should note is that at stock speed, the X99-Pro appeared to be limited to a CPU multiplier of 28x and clearly wasn't boosting high enough under load. As such, we enabled the XMP profile which brought things back into line although it also saw the stock speed power consumption rise from around 80W to 126W too.

EFI

We have no complaints about the X99-Pro's EFI, though, and other motherboard manufacturers, with the possible exception of MSI, should take note here. There's not quite as many features as you might see on an ROG board but what there is is well laid out, clear and makes overclocking a breeze.

In fact, as we said with the X99 Deluxe, it would be good to see additional features here given the high price of these motherboards. Secure Erase for example would be a useful addition but in any event, whether you just want to to set it and forget it, or spend a few days fine-tuning your overclock, the X99-Pro's EFI is a pleasant place to be.









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