Joined on 12/27/13
Obsolete
Pros: None
Cons: Cannot detect the webcam. Says I don't have up to date USB drivers but I do. Useless.
Overall Review: NewEgg should not even sell this trash. 1 Star is generous but it won't let me give it ZERO STARS.
DOA ASUS X99-E motherboard
Pros: None. I'd like to say the NVMe M.2 SSD on the 32 GB/s MB was so fast, but the MB never worked so I couldn't test it.
Cons: 1. The component with "R11B1 1625" printed on top is broken off the PCB & held on by a single connection. It was flopping around when I took it out of the box & started to mount it on the motherboard plate. This part is located between the "Made in China" & "USB78" labels on the edge of the board next to a mounting hole. I'd attach a photo but NewEgg does not allow it. 2. The M.2 socket is located under a graphics card so it will always be overheated and have a greatly shortened life. 3. They put at least 4 childish LED lights on the MB including super silly lights in the PCIe locks. Sure wish they'd make some products for adults. 4. Instructions are in pidgin-english. 5. The CMOS battery is dead which is typical of most motherboards I've bought. 6. (Intel uses the worst technology to interconnect the CPU with these flimsy and extremely easily damaged pins.) 7. Returned for a refund and I won't risk trying this MB again.
Overall Review: 1. Strange that ASUS put a reinforced slot on PCIEx16_1 but not on PCIEx16_2 or PCIEx16_3. They should all be the same. 2. I never need more than 2 RAM slots so I cannot understand why they waste space having 8 slots.
No Temperature Report
Pros: Works well.
Cons: It does not report its temperature on Speccy or Win7 Device Manager. Since motherboard manufactures tragically place the M.2 socket under the second graphics card it's trapped in a Blackbody Cavity and gets extra hot. Since I cannot see the temperature I do not know if I'm getting any cooling air to it with my fans.
Overall Review: Heat is the enemy of electronics and accelerates electromigration and premature failure. I do not expect any M.2 SSDs to last very long sitting under the graphics cards. They're fast while they last.
Cannot run 6 vidoe cards
Pros: Cheap, the right idea, but...
Cons: I cannot get more than 3 HD 5970 video cards to run at once. Occasionally a fourth card works but it may have only one of its two GPUs listed in the Device Manager. Almost always when I add a fourth card it won't even boot to the BIOS. Tried swapping cards but even if a card works as 1st, 2nd or 3rd it will not work as the fourth. I'm using Windows 8.1 with AMD Catalyst 12.8 drivers. I also tried catalyst 13.12 but that works even worse. I'm going to try 7970s next.
Overall Review: I've built a dozen Win7 scrypt miners and the only problems have come with this motherboard, Win8 and Linux. This MB is a great idea for mining but could use some improvements: Add a 2nd ATX power plug as 6 cards inevitably require 2 PSUs and use of a splitter; Eliminate audio, serial and parallel ports and add a few more USB ports to support ASICs; Swap CPU and DRAM places and spread out the PCIe connectors over the length of the board to eliminate need for riser extension cords; and, Have 3 or more case fan connectors.