EVGA X79 FTW X79 Motherboard Review

Taking a first glance at the packaging, it already seems that this board means business with a dark box and big, bold artwork in the middle. Some of the main features are scattered around the box including the CPU support.

Turning the box over is where we get our first view of the board. Also on the rear is a brief bit of information about the board and its key features and warranty/support details which EVGA are famous for.

Turning the box on its side we find a whole host of features listed down the box ranging from the passive cooling system, high quality capacitors and 12 phase PWM design.

Opening things up to reveal what goodies come included, we find a quick install guide, a full installation guide and driver installation disc.

For the hardcore gamers out there, EVGA also bundle in a variety of SLI bridges including a single bridge and two triple SLI bridges which vary in layout and size, depending on how you have your graphics card installed into the expansion slots.

The usual is also bundled in with an I/O panel shield plate and four SATA data cables. There is some more extras however, with a Molex to twin SATA power connector and Molex to three SATA power connectors.

They also like to offer you a lot of connectivity options with a twin USB 2.0 expansion bracket to give extra USB functionality.

A IEEE 1394a FireWire expansion bracket is also included, for those who still rely on this older technology.

For users who want the latest technology, a twin USB 3.0 expansion bracket is included to once again, extend your functionality by way of another two ports.

Other than this, a novel feature that we found was this little leaflet that was found attached to the CPU socket cover. Inside, it talks you through step by step on how to install your processor, as Socket 2011 based processors have a slightly different level mechanism to other Intel and AMD sockets.