EVGA X99 Classified Motherboard Review
Final Thoughts & Conclusion
The EVGA X99 Classified proved itself to be a great board during the time that I’ve been using it. When it comes down to it, the performance of the EVGA X99 Classified was right where it should be. There is only so much that can be achieved from the motherboard itself for the overall performance of the system. What does make a motherboard stand out from the crowd is the features, does it do what you need it to do, and of course price. The EVGA X99 Classified As I write this, the EVGA X99 Classified is available for $399.99, while that may be a bit of a deterrent to some, the X99 Classified is meant for extreme systems.
When it comes to features, the EVGA X99 Classified is pretty well stacked. EVGA didn’t use much in the way of third party controllers, for the bulk of the features they stuck to what is native to the Intel X99 chipset. Some companies add in extra SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports with ASMedia controllers, but EVGA is running with the native six USB 3.0 ports, four on the I/O panel and two through an internal USB 3.0 header. All 10 of the SATA III 6GB/s ports are native to the Intel X99 chipset as well. Although they did not include SATA Express on the X99 Classified, the did include a pair of M.2 ports. One of the M.2 ports is designed to be used with an add in card for WLAN, and the other is geared for an M.2 SSD. The only issue that I have with the M.2 ports, is that there is only one mounting screw location for each one. If you are planning on using the M.2 SATA port, you will need an SSD that is 80mm long (M.2 type 2280).
Although I’m still working on figuring out some of the finer points of overclocking my Intel Core i7-5960X, I was very impressed as to how easy it was to overclock it with the EVGA X99 Classified motherboard. Overall it isn’t much different than overclocking the previous generations, a little bit of voltage and increase the multiplier. While this is only the second Intel X99 motherboard to come across my bench, the first board I tested was only able to push the 5960X to 4.4GHz regardless of how much voltage I pushed. The EVGA X99 Classified was easily able to hit 4.5GHz at only 1.33 Volts on the CPU vCore!
While EVGA motherboards have always been great for me in the past, there’s always the chance of running into issues at some point. If that happens to be the case with your EVGA X99 Classified motherboard, it is covered by a three year warranty right off the bat. As long as you complete the product registration within 30 days from the time of purchase, you’re eligible to extend the warranty period.
Legit Bottom Line: The EVGA X99 Classified Intel X99 motherboard pushed our Intel Core i7-5960X further than we’ve previously done. Whether you’re looking for a great board for gaming that can run quad SLI or CrossFireX, or that will stretch the limits of your processor the EVGA X99 Classified motherboard is going to be a great choice!