Layout, Design and Features …
When looking at the ASRock X99M Killer Socket 2011-3 packaging we clearly see that this is a mATX motherboard for gaming:
A look at the back of the box already shows some more features:
We now open the box and get a first look at the content:
The ASRock X99M Fatal1ty high density fiber board is very high-quality processed and is like the previously tested ASRock X99 Extreme6 and X99 Extreme4 equipped with very durable Nichicon 12K Platinum Caps capacitors, 12 Power Phase Design, Digi power and Purity Sound 2 using the new Nichicon Fine Gold capacitors:
Also the ultra fast M.2 slot for PCIe Gen3 x4 modules with up to 32 GB/s is integrated on the X99M Killer:
Here you can see again the Ultra M.2 slot, which we already have tested extensively on the X99 Extreme6 and Z97 Extreme6 motherboard with some M.2 PCIe and SATA SSDs:
Of course this Gaming motherboard also offers the Dr. Debug 7-segment LED post code display, two LED illuminated buttons for power and reset and the useful HDD saver power connector, which let you switch on and off up to two data drives during operation per software is also available:
ASRock even integrated the two UEFI BIOS ICs with switch on this micro ATX board, but more later in the UEFI part of this review:
Here you can see the internal USB3.0 connectors, besides a few high-quality 12K Platinum capacitors, the 24-pin ATX power connector and the TPM header:
Here is a side view of the motherboard with the large XXL aluminum alloy heatsinks, which are very carefully assembled and connected with a heatpipe on the MOSFETs and the chipset:
Contrary to the LGA1150 Socket, the Sockel 2011 and this Sockel2011-3 have two levers, ensuring an optimum contact pressure of the CPU on the socket contacts:
For the X99 motherboard tests we have installed an Intel Core i7-5930K Haswell-E CPU with 15 MB smart cache in the LGA2011-v3 Socket. Here you can see the test system along with the four DDR4 memory modules supporting quad channel mode:
Equipment and other features …
The ASRock X99 Extreme6 motherboard came with a manual, software setup guide, one DVD, four SATA data cables, a SLI bridge, a HDD saver cable, a screw for the M.2 socket and an ATX I/O shield. USB Slot brackets or the ASRock 3.5-inch USB 3.0 frontpanel are optional available.
The ASRock X99M Killer offers numerous features like for example the ASRock F-Stream Tool, ASRock Instant Flash, ASRock Internet Flash, ASRock APP Charger, ASRock Fast Boot, ASRock Restart to UEFI, ASRock XFast USB, ASRock XFast LAN, ASRock XFast RAM, ASRock Crashless BIOS, ASRock Online Management Guard, ASRock UEFI System Browser, ASRock Dehumidifier Function, ASRock Easy RAID Installer, ASRock Easy Driver Installer, ASRock UEFI Tech Service, ASRock Good Night LED, ASRock USB Key, ASRock Home Cloud, Purity Sound 2, Secure Backup UEFI, 12 Power Phase Design, Digi power, ASRock FAN-Tastic Tuning and HDD Saver Technology.
Expansion cards …
The Board has two PCI Express 3.0 slots for AMD CrossFireX or nVidia SLI, whereby either one graphics card with x16 bandwidth or both graphics cards with x16 lanes bandwidth can be installed, at least if a CPU with 40 lanes will be used. When a CPU with 28 lanes is installed, the PCIe1 is connected with x16 and PCIe2 with x8 lanes. The motherboard comes with a SLI bridge card. More SLI/XFire switch cards are not required to obtain optimum performance for the single or CrossFireX operation. Additionally to the two PCI Express 3.0 slots there is one more PCIe 2.0 x16 slot.
Memory …
The ASRock X99M Killer can be equipped with up to four DDR4 modules and is expandable depending upon operating system used (see list) up to maximally 64 GB memory.
Here you can see a picture of the four DDR4 memory slots with quad channel support:
The Intel LGA2011-3 motherboard supports DDR4 memory modules and can be optimized in the BIOS for DDR4-2133 Quad Channel modules with an Intel Haswell-E processor. UEFI offers the selection for DDR4-800, DDR4-1000, DDR4-1066, DDR4-1200, DDR4-1333, DDR4-1400, DDR4-1600, DDR4-1800, DDR4-1866, DDR4-2000, DDR4-2133, DDR4-2200, DDR4-2400 und DDR4-2666 and higher clock-rates are currently possible with Intel BCLK overclocking or from DDR4-2600 to DDR4-3500 by OC Presets (see on the next page in the UEFI OC test part).
Thanks to XMP support (Intel eXtreme Memory Profiles), XMP memory modules are set correctly with one mouse click in the UEFI and of course there are far more memory adjustments and even more OC-options, but more on that later. You can also check the officially supported modules at ASRock’s memory support page.
Hard disk drive connectors …
The ASRock X99M Killer offers all 10 angled SATA3 ports and an eSATA3 port on the I/O Panel.
Here you can see the ten SATA3 ports, whereby you should connect the boot device to SATA3_0:
The SATA 3 ports SATA3_0 to SATA3_5 are supporting RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10, Intel Rapid Storage Technology 13 and Intel Smart Response Technology, NCQ, AHCI and the Hot Plug function in AHCI mode (AHCI stands for Advanced Host Controller Interface and can be selected in the UEFI). Thanks to the UEFI BIOS also drives with more than 2 TB for the installation of Windows 8, Windows 7 x64 or Vista x64 can be used.
Drivers for Windows 8 and Windows 7 32-Bit and 64-Bit can be installed over the Easy Driver Installer or Easy RAID Installer button in the UEFI, are provided on the DVD, and can be downloaded at the ASRock support page.
Another feature is the HDD saver function, which we already know from the X99 Extreme6 and Z97 Extreme6 motherboard and no longer like to miss. At the HDD saver connector can be operate up to two hard drives in AHCI mode, which can be power on or off over the UEFI or in Windows. This not only saves electricity, but also allows e.g. the independent operation of a backup HDD, which can be also protected with a password. The HDD saver function can be called after F-Stream installation over the supplied ASRock F-Stream tool or by using the key combination CTRL + ALT + S.
USB and FireWire …
The motherboard features four 3.0 ports and three USB 2.0 ports on the ATX Panel. Internally are two USB 2.0 ports for up to four optional USB ports and one USB 3.0 port for up to two optional USB3.0 ports available. The 20-pin connector can either connected to an optional USB3.0 front panel or to an enclosure with USB3.0 support.
Furthermore this Fatal1ty Killer motherboard offers a special USB 2.0 Fatal1ty mouse port, which you can configure by the supplied F-stream software, to set the mouse sample rate from 125 Hz to 1000 Hz.
Network …
The ASRock X99M Fatal1ty Killer motherboard is again even equipped with two LAN connectors. One is provided by the Intel I218V and the other by the Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2200 chip, to provide both 10/100/1000 network connections at the ATX Panel. The Intel LAN connection is capable of WoL, provides LAN cable detection, supports the 802.3az energy efficient Ethernet standard and supports Intel remote wake technology. The Killer E2200 LAN connection is also capable of WoL, provides LAN cable detection, supports Qualcomm Atheros Security Wake On Internet Technology, PXE, as well as the 802.3az energy efficient Ethernet standard. The Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2200 also has a very low latency and allows traffic prioritization via the supplied killer network manager.
Serial port and parallel port …
This motherboard does not provide a parallel port. The serial COM port is available as internal connector on the motherboard.
Sound …
The ASRock X99 Extreme6 motherboard is equipped with the ALC1150 audio codec with content protection, 115dB SNR DAC, TI NE5532 Premium Headset Amplifier and Purity Sound 2, which supports 7.1 surround sound for example analog over 5x 3.5mm connectors on the ATX panel or over an internal frontpanel audio connector. Additionally, there is an optical digital SPDIF output and premium Blu-Ray audio support. So most users do not need to buy an additional sound card with digital outputs.
ATX back panel connectors …
From left to right, you can see 1x USB 2.0 Fatal1ty Mouse Port, 1x USB 2.0 and 1x PS/2 connector for a PS/2 keyboard or PS/2 mouse, Clear CMOS button, 2x USB2.0, eSATA3, Intel RJ45 Gigabit LAN and 2x USB3.0, Killer E2200 Gigabit LAN and 2x USB3.0, optical SPDIF output and 5x 3.5mm jacks for sound.
ASRock X99M Killer BIOS and Overclocking …