X99 on mITX: ASRock X99E-itx/ac

I am a bit confused as to which air coolers are compatible with this motherboard... Can anyone help me out?
 
exhale said:
Doing something a bit ridiculous. Hopefully the board is still alive now let alone after painting in completed. Wish me luck.

9RGoOT3.jpg
Click to expand...
Just make sure you have paint that won't eat the plastic, and you protect the slots from the paint!
 
I just received my board -- first of all, it is a thing of beauty. Much credit and respect to ASRock for being the first and only company to do this. You can tell they poured engineering passion and love into it.

I'm slightly worried, however, because the box was unsealed. Both the cardboard box of the motherboard which had no shrink wrap, and the motherboard itself was in an antistatic bag which was not sealed, just folded. Is this normal? Did you guys receive the same? I ordered from SuperBiiz, which I'd never done before. It was $10 cheaper compared to Newegg, so I thought I'd try it, now I kind of wish I'd gone with Newegg. I hope they didn't send me a refurbished unit... I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks.
 
Dynatron
exhale said:
Doing something a bit ridiculous. Hopefully the board is still alive now let alone after painting in completed. Wish me luck.

9RGoOT3.jpg
Click to expand...

Did you manage to spray paint the connections shut? I hope it went okay... Please let us know what happened.

Daniel Minzi said:
I am a bit confused as to which air coolers are compatible with this motherboard... Can anyone help me out?
Click to expand...

The motherboard uses the LGA 2011-v3 Narrow ILM socket. There are 3 coolers from Noctua that offer native support -- NH-U12DX i4, NH-U9DX i4, and NH-D9DX i4 3U. Technically, any Noctua cooler can work, but you need to request a narrow ILM bracket when you order from them. Additionally, there are server coolers, mostly from Dynatron -- one is included with the board, but they're meant for servers and hence they use 40mm fans that spin up to 7000 RPM! which is insanely loud, so it's not recommended for consumers (though ASRock apparently thought it was).

For liquid cooling, the board comes with a bracket that works perfectly with the Seidon 120V and 120V Plus from Cooler Master, and also can be made to work with some older square-shaped Corsair units. Otherwise, any Asetek-based cooler will work if you order an Asetek Narrow ILM bracket from Asetek's EBay store. Here's a list of all available Asetek-based coolers -- LGA 2011-V3 Narrow ILM and All In One Liquid Cooler Compatibility

Good luck!
 
QuantumBraced said:
Dynatron


Did you manage to spray paint the connections shut? I hope it went okay... Please let us know what happened.



The motherboard uses the LGA 2011-v3 Narrow ILM socket. There are 3 coolers from Noctua that offer native support -- NH-U12DX i4, NH-U9DX i4, and NH-D9DX i4 3U. Technically, any Noctua cooler can work, but you need to request a narrow ILM bracket when you order from them. Additionally, there are server coolers, mostly from Dynatron -- one is included with the board, but they're meant for servers and hence they use 40mm fans that spin up to 7000 RPM! which is insanely loud, so it's not recommended for consumers (though ASRock apparently thought it was).

For liquid cooling, the board comes with a bracket that works perfectly with the Seidon 120V and 120V Plus from Cooler Master, and also can be made to work with some older square-shaped Corsair units. Otherwise, any Asetek-based cooler will work if you order an Asetek Narrow ILM bracket from Asetek's EBay store. Here's a list of all available Asetek-based coolers -- LGA 2011-V3 Narrow ILM and All In One Liquid Cooler Compatibility

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Painted it just now. Used Rustoleum black primer. Great paint to work with I must say. Hoping it's not dead by the end of it :s
 
Qrash said:
If you need to use the 3.5 inch drive cage on the front half of the side bracket this is not possible with the NH-C14.
Click to expand...

No, I can confirm the 3.5 in drive cage works with the NH-C14 + X99e ITX + Ncase M1 V4. The cage doesn't even touch the cooler (tips of the heatpipes line up perfectly with drive cage's holes). There's about 2mm from the drive mounting thumbscrew to the fins.

But if you want to mount a second drive on the cage you'll only be able to use the cage's center screw slot on the side closes to the cooler.

NDVwaybl.jpg
 
Last edited:
keyeh said:
No, I can confirm the 3.5 in drive cage works with the NH-C14 + X99e ITX + Ncase M1 V4. The cage doesn't even touch the cooler (tips of the heatpipes line up perfectly with drive cage's holes). There's about 2mm from the drive mounting thumbscrew to the fins.

But if you want to mount a second drive on the cage you'll only be able to use the cage's center screw slot on the side closes to the cooler.

NDVwaybl.jpg
Click to expand...

Well what do you know! I was repeating what the case designer had stated. I wonder if he knows the drive cage can fit?
 
Sp33ls said:
So, then I thought to update the BIOS firmware. After completing this, I noticed that now every single time, it goes through a terribly long boot cycle before reaching my SSD. And, when I want to enter into the UEFI, that also takes a good 20-30 seconds after pressing "Del" or "F2". I've checked my BIOS settings regarding bootup, I've also loaded the defaults. Anyone else have any problems after updating?

[Edit: despite the long bootup, it does reach my MBR (Windows) at least]
I've dealt with many a PC problems, but this a new one for me. Has anyone experienced anything like this before...? Any suggestions would be very welcomed.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Disable UEFI compatibility mode (i think it's called) I have a previous post on this thread about it - have a search.

Nox
 
Looks like I have to RMA this motherboard again. Both ram slot seem to have died
 
Last edited:
Alexreffand said:
Did you confirm that the stick(s) you were testing with works?
Click to expand...
Yeah, they work fine on my z170. I have 4 different stick of ddr4. Two for my x99 itx and two for my z170 itx. All four work on the z170, ran memtest on all of them last night with no problem. Seems the ram slot on my asrock x99e-itx just randomly died since it doesn't detect any of them. I hooked up a speaker to the motherboard and get 3 beeps which indicates memory read/write error according to asrock manual. Hopefully asrock RMA it since this was a replacement they sent me on my last RMA
 
Guys, I have a few questions regarding the Wi-Fi. I will be using Wi-Fi a lot with this board, so I want to get the best config possible. Is the Intel 7260 the best Wi-Fi+Bluetooth module I can get for the board? There are several variants of it. Seems like the plain 7260, and the 7260.HMWG.R are the ones that will fit in the board? Is the latter better? It has more letters after the name, so I assume it's better? I don't know much about Wi-Fi. I also want to get a pair of quality high-gain dual-band medium-sized antennas, preferably badass looking. Would anyone care to recommend some? I like the SilverStone WAD17. Would a pair of those work for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth? In the Amazon reviews some people are saying the antennas don't support Bluetooth, I'm not sure if they mean their modules don't support it, or the antennas themselves don't support it. I thought all antennas worked for both Wi-Fi and BT if the card supported it. Could you confirm if that's right? Also, are the pigtail connections included with the board decent? One of the connections on the included ASRock antenna randomly disconnected, so I am questioning the quality of everything... Sorry, a ton of questions. Any input is appreciated, thanks.


Here is my board by the way, currently living in an SG13, soon to be moved to an NCase M1.

SrioqR7.jpg
 
Last edited:
I'm not sure how an antenna could "not support" Bluetooth, as antennas are typically just runs of wiring. There's optimal lengths of wiring for different frequencies. Bluetooth, since it's in the 2.4 GHz range, would have an optimal antenna length of 12cm, but quarter antennas are very common, so 30 mm works well too.

Newer antennas may be optimized for 802.11AC at 5 GHz, however. So while that length isn't optimal for 2.4 GHz technically, doesn't mean it won't work.
 
keshley said:
I'm not sure how an antenna could "not support" Bluetooth, as antennas are typically just runs of wiring. There's optimal lengths of wiring for different frequencies. Bluetooth, since it's in the 2.4 GHz range, would have an optimal antenna length of 12cm, but quarter antennas are very common, so 30 mm works well too.

Newer antennas may be optimized for 802.11AC at 5 GHz, however. So while that length isn't optimal for 2.4 GHz technically, doesn't mean it won't work.
Click to expand...

My reasoning was the same, but as it turns out antennas do differ in their support. I've confirmed with SilverStone that their antennas don't support Bluetooth. Also, one of them is only single-band, while the other supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz. So there's clearly more to antennas than just extensions of wiring.

What I'm wondering is -- the two antennas that come off of the the mini PCIe card -- is one of those for Bluetooth and the other for WiFi or are both for WiFi? Because there are cards with no Bluetooth support that also have two antennas. And I almost never see Bluetooth support mentioned when browsing for antennas on Amazon. And when I browse for Bluetooth modules, none of them have antennas. So deductive reasoning leads me to suspect that both of the antennas are for WiFi and the Bluetooth is just integrated into the chip and doesn't need/use an antenna. I feel like an idiot, but I can't find the answer online, maybe it's so obvious that it's not mentioned anywhere. But if someone could confirm if both antennas are for WiFi, I'd appreciate it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Qrash
like this
Boil said:
Would the 32GB DIMMs be server RAM / ECC RAM…? I am not seeing any two stick kits of 'regular' DDR4 DIMMs on Newegg…
Click to expand...
Yes, ECC only, so you'd require a Xeon CPU as well. Presumably 64/128GB DIMMs work as well (though you need E5-26xx CPUs for that, so no overclocking), but I've not heard of any reports thus far.
 
Last edited:
QuantumBraced said:
My reasoning was the same, but as it turns out antennas do differ in their support. I've confirmed with SilverStone that their antennas don't support Bluetooth. Also, one of them is only single-band, while the other supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz. So there's clearly more to antennas than just extensions of wiring.
Click to expand...

Antennas like the ones we're talking about don't have any kind of active electronics in them, they really are just runs of wire. My take on their comment is they've never tested it with Bluetooth, not that it won't work. It's possible that in dual antenna setups, one antenna is for WiFi, and one for Bluetooth, but that just seems like a waste to me. If in doubt, get one that's certified for Bluetooth, as it'll be an appropriate length for 2.4GHz, and you'll get better signal strength/less noise.

I highly doubt there's an internal antenna for the Bluetooth, particularly since so many cases are metal nowadays. Metal will hinder the signal, so an internal antenna wouldn't work very well.
 
Hi!

I am thinking of buying this build:

Chassi: Fractal Design Define Nano S
PSU: Corsair SF600
PSU SFX-to-ATX adapter: Corsair
Motherboard: Asrock X99E-ITX/ac
CPU: Intel Xeon E5-2620 v4
CPU cooler: Noctua NH-U12DX i4
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX Black DDR4 PC17000/2133MHz CL13 2x16 (CMK32GX4M2A2133C13)
Chassi fans: 2 * NF-A14 PWM, NF-S12A PWM

Is everything compatible?
Will everything fit together?
Is there anything else to consider?

With kind regards

Edit:
Graphics Card: MSI Geforce GTX 960 Gaming 2G LE
 
Last edited:
Why are you wanting that CPU? You would get considerably better performance with an i7 6800K even if you don't overclock for the same price. Generally the only reason to get a Xeon is if you need ECC RAM (which you don't seem to) or want a high core count (14-22).
 
Blue Fox said:
Why are you wanting that CPU? You would get considerably better performance with an i7 6800K even if you don't overclock for the same price. Generally the only reason to get a Xeon is if you need ECC RAM (which you don't seem to) or want a high core count (14-22).
Click to expand...

I believe that my usage pattern will benefit from more cores with lower frequencies than fewer cores with higher frequencies. I will not play any games on my machine, only do network emulations. So 8 Xeon cores are cheaper than 6 Core i7 Extreme cores. Please correct me if I am wrong.

The Xeon has a lower TDP (85 W) compared to the i7 6800K (140 W) and I believe the CPU cooler will be much quieter.

That is why I chose that processor.

In the future I will probably upgrade to 64 GB RAM, and it is my understanding that you must have ECC RAM if you 64 GB or more. Is that correct?

With kind regards
 
keshley said:
Antennas like the ones we're talking about don't have any kind of active electronics in them, they really are just runs of wire. My take on their comment is they've never tested it with Bluetooth, not that it won't work. It's possible that in dual antenna setups, one antenna is for WiFi, and one for Bluetooth, but that just seems like a waste to me. If in doubt, get one that's certified for Bluetooth, as it'll be an appropriate length for 2.4GHz, and you'll get better signal strength/less noise.

I highly doubt there's an internal antenna for the Bluetooth, particularly since so many cases are metal nowadays. Metal will hinder the signal, so an internal antenna wouldn't work very well.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. I hope you're right. There is no reliable information on this online, it seems like the vast majority of people who buy these SMA antennas get them for Wi-Fi routers, so Bluetooth is almost never mentioned by customers nor by manufacturers in the specifications. There are a few antennas on Amazon that are Bluetooth-certified, but they have either technical or aesthetic shortcomings... It's true that Bluetooth operates in 2.4GHz, but it's different power and range, and possibly other differences... I'm not sure. It's true that antennas are extensions of wire, but they're built differently and optimized for different things, for instance a 2.4GHz antenna can't pick up 5GHz. I'm not knowledgeable about this. I really dig the SilverStone's WAD17 oar design and it has decent reception for both 2.4 and 5GHz. I think I'll get it and just hope the Bluetooth works.

Right now, without any antennas attached, WiFi actually works almost perfectly, though my router is like 3 feet away. Bluetooth, however, only works if I put my phone literally right on top of the antenna. 2 centimeters away and it drops the signal.
 
Original, that is just down right professional and sexy looking.
 
That's spectacular! I grew up watching watching F1 and absolutely love what you did here to capture Ayrton's 97T in computer form. Please tell me the Stop/Start button plays engine sounds when the system turns on... :D
 
Thanks. Unfortunately the button only starts and stops the computer. No sounds. ;(
 
Original
Looks good, tell me more about those ramsinks, did you just not adhere one side specifically to flare them out like that or what?
 
Both sides are on. You can orient them either way on the RAM stick. They're fairly rare to see in builds, and always used in the same direction. (they're designed to overlap).

I decided to mount them opposing each other, which looked better in my opinion.
 
Ah, ok.
Come to think of it I do remember seeing those ramsinks when I was looking to replace mine at one point.
I agree, they look really nice opposed.
 
keshley said:
Antennas like the ones we're talking about don't have any kind of active electronics in them, they really are just runs of wire. My take on their comment is they've never tested it with Bluetooth, not that it won't work. It's possible that in dual antenna setups, one antenna is for WiFi, and one for Bluetooth, but that just seems like a waste to me. If in doubt, get one that's certified for Bluetooth, as it'll be an appropriate length for 2.4GHz, and you'll get better signal strength/less noise.

I highly doubt there's an internal antenna for the Bluetooth, particularly since so many cases are metal nowadays. Metal will hinder the signal, so an internal antenna wouldn't work very well.
Click to expand...

I just received the antennas and I can confirm that they work with Bluetooth quite well! Before, the only way I could pair my phone was if I kept it less than 2cm away from the connector. Now, I can walk around my apartment wearing a Bluetooth headset and I have no issue with reception. You were right, it seems like all 2.4GHz antennas work with Bluetooth.

I highly recommend the Silverstone WAD17 antenna. It's a bit expensive at $10 a piece, but it has very solid construction, great reception at 5dBi 2.4GHz \ 7dBi 5GHz, and it looks sexy.
 
This was most probably said,but if i put those 2x32gb cucial in the x99e-itx/ac pared with let say a e5-2690 v4 and a high end gpu shoud i be expecting some bottlenecking or decreased performance thanks to the dual channel memory?+2 ssd (its a workstation).
 
X99 can do ~20GB/sec bandwidth with good DDR4 dual-channel, going by my recent Memtestx86+ testing mishap.
1 DIMM DDR4-3333 17500MB/s
2 DIMM DDR4-3333 19500MB/s
3 DIMM DDR4-3333 21000MB/s
4 DIMM DDR4-3333 22500MB/s
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top