With the P9X79 Deluxe, ASUS has a very well equipped X79 board in its portfolio regarding Intels upcoming new chipset. This board comes with a long feature list and it aims at power users and enthusiasts. 
The P9X79 Deluxe will be ASUS' high end motherboard regarding Intels upcoming X79 chipset. Therefore we're really curious what they've done from the layout and design perspective.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Spezifikationen / Lieferumfang
| CPU | Upcoming Intel CPUs |
| Chipset | Intel X79 |
| Memory | Upcoming multi channel memory interface |
| Multi-GPU | NVIDIA 3-Way SLI AMD Quad-GPU CorssFireX |
| Slots | 3 x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (dual at x16/x16, dual at
x16/x8/x8
mode) 1 x PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (single at x  2 x PCI-Express 2.0 x1 |
| Sound | Realtek ALC898 8-Channel HD Audio Codec |
| Storage | 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s (Intel, RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1) 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s (Intel, RAID 0, 1, 5, 0+1, JBOD) 2 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s (Marvell 912 2 x Power eSATA Gb/s (ASMedia 1061) 1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth v3.0 + EDR, ASUS BT GO! Utility & WiFi 80211 b/g/n |
| LAN | 2 x Gigabit LAN (Intel 82579V, Realtek 8111E) |
| I/O internal | 1 x USB 3.0/2.0 connector supports
additional 2 USB ports 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 connectors support additional 8 USB ports 4 x SATA 6 Gb/s connectors 4 x SATA 3 Gb/s connectors 1 x CPU Fan connector 1 x CPU Optional Fan connector 4 x Chassis Fan connectors 1 x Power-on switch 1 x Reset switch 1 x Bluetooth v3.0 1 x Front panel audio connector 1 x S/PDIF Out header 1 x Clear CMOS button 1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector 1 x 8-pin EATX 12V Power connector 1 x System Panel (Q-Connector) 1 x MemOK! button 1 x EPU switch 1 x TPU switch |
| I/O Back Panel | 6 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports 1 x USB BIOS Flashback button 1 x Bluetooth v3.0 + HS module 2 x Gigabit LAN 1 x Optical S/PDIF Out port 2 x Power eSATA 6 Gb/s ports 1 x 8-channel audio |
| Fan connectors | 6 header |
| Forfactor | ATX (30.5cm x 24.4cm) |
| BIOS | Bios (2 x 32 Mb flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS) |
- Manual
- 1 x ATX I/O bezel
- 4 x SATA 3.0 Gb/s cable
- 4 x SATA 6.0 Gb/s cable
- 2 in 1 Q-connector
- 1 x ASUS 3-Way SLI bridge
- 1 x ASUS SLI connector
- 1 x WiFi Ring moving Antenna
Regarding the delivery you'll find everything you need. There even is a triple SLI bridge. The only thing one might miss uner certain circumstances is a CrossFire Bridge.
Features
| EPU | If you activate the EPU this chip monitors all possible voltages and clock speeds and automatically sets them to guarantee an energy efficient operation of you system. |
| TPU | As soon as one activates the TPU this chips monitors all possible voltages and clock speeds using the according software. The difference to the EPU is that TPU will provide as much performance as possible. Therefore it can increase clock speeds and voltages. |
| Digi+ Power Control | Meanwhile ASUS also provides its boards with digital power designs. Using the the right software, in this case ASUS DIGI+ VRM Utility it is not only possible to adjust voltages whilst being in Windows on can now also control impedances. |
| SSD Caching | According to ASUS SSD caching can boost your system performance by a factor of three. Therefore it uses a small SSD as a caching drive and all the small data is being put onto the SSD which offers way more IOPS than a hard drvie. |
| BT GO! | BT GO! can be classified as a very typical gadget using which it is possbile to for example remote control your PC via your mobile phone. There is also some functionality to synchronize folders in fact one can do quite a lot using BT GO! |
| ASUS FAN Xpert | FAN Xpert allows you to adjust both the CPU and chassis fan speeds according to different ambient temperatures and your PC's system loading. The various fan profiles affer flexible controls of fan speed to achieve a quiet and cool system environment. |
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Layout
Already at a first glance the ASUS P9X79 Deluxe looks very good with its harmonic design. The colors suite nicely and the different blue tones on a black PCB are calming. The layout itself is well thought and there is for example plenty of space around the CPU socket to install even todays largest CPU coolers.
ASUS equipped the P9X79 Deluxe with a 16+4 phase current supply regarding the CPU. The memory gets an additional 2+2 Phases which should allow very reasonable overclocking capabilites. Furthermore ASUS implemented a digital power design which should emit less electromagnetic radiation than its analogue counterpart. Meanwhile ASUS uses their Digi+ Power Design in the third generation. ASUS claims that the system stability could be enhanced even further, especially during extreme overclocking.
Totally you'll find eight DIMM-slots on the P9X79 Deluxe. The official clock speeds that are supported will be disclosed after the NDA ended. There is engough space between the DIMM-slots and the CPU socket which means that you wont encounter compatibility problems with big coolers even when you choose to install RAM with big heatspreaders.
Northbridge, Southbridge as well as the current converters are being held at adequate temperatures via a passive heatpipe cooling solution. The cooling blocks haven been positioned wisely, which means that they don't collide with memory or CPU cooler.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Anschlüsse und I/O
Totally ASUS provided the P9X79 Deluxe with eight angled SATA ports which should be enough for any office PC or gaming system. You'll also find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons. You'll also find a debug display which would be very useful if you should once have issues with one of the components in your system.
Totally you'll find five fan header on the P9X79 Deluxe which is more than enough, to provide a well equipped midrange or high-end-system with fresh air. The fanheaders are located around the CPU socket as well as at the bottom edge of the mainboard.
Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel ASUS equipped the P9X79 Deluxe with six USB 3.0/2.0 ports, two Power eSATA ports, a bluetooth transmitter/receiver, two gigabit ethernet ports, an optical out as well as an analogue audio panel.
| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
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Fazit
| Allgemein | + | - | |
| At a first glance ASUS leaves a good impression with its P9X79 Deluxe. There even is plenty of space around the CPU socket to install large coolers comfortably. Furthermore we liked that ASUS equipped this board with a total of three PCI-Express x16 3.0 slots. Considering this the P9X79 Deluxe will be a future proof choice and more than just ready for next-gen GPUs. | - Design - 3 x PCI-Express 3.0 Slot |
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| Layout | + | - | |
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Generally the ASUS P9X79 Deluxe's Layout has been very well thought. Once more practical are the angled SATA connectors as well as the power- and reset-buttons. There even is a debug display which is very useful in case you should have issues with a component in your system or the board itself. Even the placement of the PCI-Express x16 is very well chosen. If you should choose to intall a graphics card in the last PCI-Express x16 slot you wont block the connectors at the bottom edge of the board. Antohter thing which we think is worth mentioning is, that ASUS manages to put an awful lot of features on an ATX PCB whereas other manfacturers need an eATX PCB for this many features. |
- Angled SATA connectors - Power/Reset-Button onboard - Debug display - Spac around the CPU socket - Placement of the PCI-Express slots |
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| Page 1 - Introduction | Page 4 - Connectors and I/O |
| Page 2 - Specifications / Delivery | Page 5 - Conclusion |
| Page 3 - Layout |
Discuss this article in the forums
Author: m.buechel@ocaholic.ch