ASUS X99-DELUXE Motherboard

Slots

Socket LGA2011-v3 processors have a maximum of 40 PCI Express 3.0 lanes (some models have only 28 lanes) for video cards. This allows a very high-end configuration for the PCI Express x16 slots when a CPU with 40 lanes is installed, but the exact configuration used will depend on the model of the CPU that will be installed.

The ASUS X99-DELUXE comes with five PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots. With a 40-lane processor installed, the board supports x16/x0/x16/x0/x0, x16/x0/x16/x0/x8, x8/x8/x16/x0/x8, or x8/x8/x8/x8/x8 configurations. With a 28-lane CPU, the board supports x16/x0/x0/x0/x0, x16/x0/x8/x0/x0, or x8/x8/x0/x8/x0 configurations. With a 28-lane processor, two of the PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots work as PCI Express 2.0 x1.

The motherboard supports three-way SLI arrays, and CrossFireX with up to four video cards.

When installing dual-slot video cards, you “kill” the slot immediately to the left (looking at the motherboard with its rear connectors facing up) of the slot being used. Therefore, if you install a dual-slot video card in the second, third, or fourth PCI Express x16 slot, you will be unable to use the slot to its immediate left.

There is also a PCI Express 2.0 x4 slot, which shares bandwidth with one of the SATA Express connectors, so the SATA Express port will be disabled when this slot is in use.

Figure 3: slots

THe X99-DELUXE comes with two M.2 slots. One of them uses a vertical stand, shown in Figure 4. However, this slot supports only PCI Express M.2 cards, being not compatible with SATA M.2 modules. This slot shares bandwidth with the fifth PCI Express x16 slot. The other M.2 slot is available as a PCI Express x4 add-on card, also not supporting SATA devices.

Figure 4: M.2 slot