Question 1

Can you boot to M.2 drive?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can boot to either slot, the only difference is the lower one (below chipset) runs off the chipset and the upper one (vertical by ram) runs off the CPU lanes.  I was able to boot Windows 7/8/10 and Server 2008r2/2012/2016 - with 7/2008r2 requiring custom install media.  Linux boots fine too as long as it's an EFI aware variant.

Question 2

I bought the motherboard and install the H100i cooler master, it requires usb header on the mother board which I cannot find that on the mother board, how should I resolve this? Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

If you mean USB 2.0 header v.s. USB 3.0, the way around it (I have never done water cooling so I'm taking a guess here) would be to use a converter of some kind (USB 3.0 male to female USB 2.0 ??).

This motherboard is really meant for builds that will be using exclusively >USB 3.0 connections. Hopefully this helps and congratulations on an awesome workstation motherboard.

Question 3

Has anyone booted one of these from a network? Network boot is mentioned in the docs but nothing about supported protocols (PXE, iSCSI, HTTPs etc). TIA

Accepted Answer

According to the handbook for users it states:

"The following items appear only when you set the Launch CSM to [Enabled]:

Boot from Network Devices - This item allows you to select the type of network devices that you want to launch. | Configuration options: [Ignore] [Legacy only] [UEFI driver first]"

I'm not sure about how exactly do you mean if HTTPS supported, because as far as browsing on the web goes with HTTPS, it's fine no problems. But if you mean HTTPS server-side support, then I assume that it should be fine but nonetheless, as far as the particular protocols that you have listed, and assuming you will be using an operating that will offer support for these protocols, and given the lack of specific mention on the owner handbook of the particular protocols supported; I would call ASUS customer service directly to talk to someone to go over the detailed specifications on what protocols are actually supported. I'm, again, presuming you're going to be using this for some server-side network application as most that have written reviews so far for this particular listing for this particular motherboard model, have cited client-side applications.

Question 4

Some of the new GTX 2080's Ti's come in an "Ultra" 3 slot format. Can these still do 2 way SLI in this format or do they have to go every other one in the traditional format?

Accepted Answer

You most likely can use slots 1 and 5 but you might have to buy a different NVLink or SLI bridge. Some previous generations of SLI you could use a 3 way bridge and put in just 2 cards in slots 1 and 5 and it would work. I don't know if that still applies. Since we can't post links, if you do a google search for "asus sage x299" the first result will be Asus site for this board and shows preferred population order. I personally opted for a pair of 2 slot 2080ti cards mostly for compatibility with my other current and possible future systems since I use video cards in varying capacities for many years (I still have 480's in use). It seems most boards only have 2 slot width with an occasional one having a single 3 slot, then rest are 2 slot.

Question 5

What happens if you run a couple of x1 boards in the x16 slots?  Will it cause the x16s to clock down?

Accepted Answer

The specifications mention that the PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots can operate in various configurations such as single x16, dual x16/x16, triple x16/x16/x16, or quad x16/x16/x16/x16. However, it does not provide specific information about the behavior when x1 boards are used in x16 slots. For detailed behavior, it is recommended to check the motherboard manual or contact ASUS support.

Question 6

How is the ASUS WS X299 SAGE as a duel propose board, be it gaming and video editing, while I understand it's work station board, but I'm wondering how well it can handle gaming as well working with HD video / Graphics editing, on a i9 10980xe.? I'm also looking at the ROG Rampage VI Extreme Encore and will be using a NVME ssd's with a few spinners for large storage?

Accepted Answer

This MB can walk and chew gum at the same time. Dual PLX chips means this MB has versatility and expandability for years. Simple answer is it’s fantastic. I do pretty much everything you mentioned in your question, including gaming in SLI and video creation/editing, which run great. I have 2 GPU’s in SLI, and 2 PCIe NVME drives, a M.2 drive, and several SATA and USB 3.0/2.0 ports all going at the same time. I haven’t read a head-to-head match up with ROG MB. Those MB’s are optimized for games, so I imagine the ROG boards have a slight edge in pure gaming mode. Look at the specs closely – the X299 SAGE will run 4-way SLI all with 16 lanes each. I’m not sure many other MB’s can claim that.

CPU Socket Type	LGA 2066
CPU Type	Core X series (LGA2066)
Supported CPU Technologies	* The Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 support depends on the CPU types

Number of Memory Slots	Intel Core X-series Processors (6-core above): 8 x DIMM Intel Core X-series Processors (4-core): 4 x DIMM
Memory Standard	DDR4 4200(O.C.)/ 4133(O.C.)/ 4000(O.C.)/ 3600(O.C.)/ 2666/ 2400/ 2133 * Hyper DIMM support is subject to the physical characteristics of individual CPUs. * Actual memory frequency differs from Intel CPU types and memory module. Please check Intel official site for more detail about the memory types supported by each CPU.
Maximum Memory Supported	Intel Core X-series Processors (6-core above): 8 x DIMM, Max. 128GB Intel Core X-series Processors (4-core): 4 x DIMM, Max. 64GB

Serial ATA (SATA)	8 x SATA 6Gb/s
M.2	1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x4 mode) 1 x M.2 Socket 3, with M key, type 2242/2260/2280 storage devices support (PCIE 3.0 x4 mode) 2 x U.2 connector* * The U.2 connectors are only supported on 44-Lane CPUs.
SATA RAID	0/1/5/10

Audio Chipset	Realtek ALC S1220A High Definition Audio CODEC
Audio Channels	7.1 Channels

LAN Chipset	Intel I210-AT
Second LAN Chipset	Intel I219-LM
Max LAN Speed	2 x 1Gbps

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ASUS WS X299 SAGE Workstation Motherboard LGA2066 DDR4 M.2 U.2 X299 CEB Motherboard for Intel Core X-Series Processors with quad-GPU support, DDR4 4200MHz, dual M.2 & U.2 support

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RJ45	2 x RJ45
USB 3.1	1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (teal blue) Type-A 6 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (blue)
USB 1.1/2.0	4 x USB 2.0 (one port can be switched to USB BIOS Flashback)
USB Type-C	1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (black) USB Type-C
S/PDIF Out	1 x Optical
Audio Ports	1 x 8-channel Audio I/O

Onboard USB	1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 front panel connector 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 port(s)
Other Connectors	1 x Aura Addressable Strip Header(s) 1 x AAFP connector 1 x Aura RGB Strip Header 1 x TPM header 1 x COM port(s) connector(s) 1 x VROC_HW_Key 1 x CPU Fan connector(s) 1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) 2 x Chassis Fan connector(s) 1 x AIO_PUMP connector 1 x Thunderbolt header(s) 1 x EZ XMP switch 1 x 5-pin EXT_FAN (Extension Fan) connector 1 x Power-on button(s) 1 x Reset button(s) 1 x Clear CMOS button(s) 1 x Water Pump header (4-pin) 1 x System panel connector 1 x Thermal sensor connector 1 x CPU_OV jumper 1 x MemOK! Button 1 x M.2 Fan Header

Form Factor	CEB
LED Lighting	RGB
Dimensions (W x L)	12.0" x 10.5"
Power Pin	1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s) 1 x 6-pin ATX Power connector 2 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)

Item#: 9SIA24GFVM0539