ASUS X99-PRO Motherboard
Conclusions
Contents
The ASUS X99-PRO lies inbetween the ASUS X99-A and the ASUS X99-DELUXE, both feature- and price-wise. It has the same slot configuration, number of USB 3.0 ports, storage options, and voltage regulator circuit than its simpler sister, but brings, additionally, a Wi-Fi module and a PCI Express M.2 adapter like the most expensive model.
As its sisters, the X99-PRO is a good motherboard for socket LGA2011-v3 systems, lacking a high-end PCI Express x16 slot configuration, with a PLX chip to automatically switch bandwidth to the slots that are requiring it; but this feature is only needed if you plan to build a very high-end gaming system with more than three video cards in SLI or CrossFireX configuration, which is not common.
The storage configuration is excellent, with ten SATA-600 ports and one SATA Express connector, which is more than enough even for the hardcore enthusiast.
The highlights of this motherboard are the audio section, which uses a high-end codec with an outstanding signal-to-noise ratio, and the presence of an IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi interface, with two MIMO antennas.
The only drawback we see with this motherboard is the lack of an M.2 slot compatible with SATA modules, since both M.2 slots offered (one on the motherboard and one on an add-on PCI Express card) are only compatible with PCI Express M.2 modules.
