ASUS ROG STRIX X299-E Gaming Motherboard Review

A Closer Look

The ASUS X299-E Gaming is a great looking motherboard. Straight away we can see that it has a neat and tidy design, with mostly black or dark grey hardware, giving it a nice aesthetic that’s sure to provide a nice background for the built-in RGB LED lighting.

The massive LGA2066 socket, making way for the latest Core-X series of CPUs. Of course, that CPU socket demands a lot of power, so you’ll find a robust power delivery setup at the top, which should allow for stable and clean voltages for those who are overclocking. Meanwhile, the heavy-duty metal cover at the top will provide a good amount of passive cooling for the capacitors and chokes.

Complimenting that heat sink, there’s also a built-in shroud no the rear I/O. Of course, this comes with built-in RGB LED lighting for some added flair.

However, there’s also a smaller block below the CPU with a gorgeous RoG logo etched into a clear block.

There are 8 x DDR4 DIMM slots on this motherboard, with support for quad-channel memory kits.

Power delivery looks rock solid on this motherboard. The 24-pin is on the right side, and a few capacitors there will help clean up the levels before it goes through the board.

The same is true at the top, where you’ll find the standard 8-pin that the CPU requires, plus an additional (optional) 4-pin. Of course, more power in will allow better voltage regulation from the motherboard, which should allow for better overclocks.

It’s All About the Armour!

All three of the full-sized PCIe slots come with armour. Having armoured slots not only looks great but they will help the board handle hefty modern GPUs without fear of the slot snapping. Next, we have SupremeFX audio, which is mounted on a shielded section of the motherboard. Of course, you’ve got some lovely gold caps and a powerful on-board amplifier.

M.2 support is another welcome addition. However, it’s the extended chipset mount that forms the M.2 heatshield that I love the most. It looks very sleek, and the angular graphics on the metal cover look fantastic.

Connectivity?

Connectivity is robust too, with 8 x SATA 6gbps, USB 3.0, 3.1, and more all taken care of here.

The bottom row as a simple power control button, as well as a BIOS LED. It’s not the most comprehensive on-board control setup, but it’ll still be a big help for problem-solving your system when overclocking.

Around the back, you’ll also find a BIOS reset button, which will come in handy when you push things too far. There’s a decent amount of USB ports, a USB Type-C, and the usual networking connection. There’s not a huge amount here, but it’s about right for the mid-range board of the series.

Finally, at the back of the motherboard, you can see a thick metal mount, which helps keep the VRM heat sink firmly mounted over the chokes/caps on the CPU power delivery hardware. There’s only one big thing left, and that’s performance, so let’s plug it all in and see what it can do!