With the release of Intel’s Broadwell-E CPU, motherboard manufacturers are starting to release their refreshed X99 motherboards. Gigabyte’s G1 motherboards are geared towards gamers, and the latest addition to their stable is the X99 Phoenix SLI motherboard. This motherboard adds RGB LED lighting, U.2, dual Intel LAN adapters and built-in Intel WiFI. Gigabyte takes the refresh even further with the design and color of the heatsinks and the I/O shield. For so long we, as modders, have focused on the external look of the PC; hardware manufactures have started to release hardware that looks good on the inside as well. With the added features, the Gigabyte X99 Phoenix SLI is poised to make big waves in the enthusiast arena.

Review Sample Provided By: Gigabyte

Product Name and Website: GA-X99-Phoenix SLI

Product was given in exchange for work to produce review.

Packaging

The X99 Phoenix SLI is packaged in a black box with a brightly colored graphic that represents the RGB LEDs on the board and the name of the product is done in foil lettering. On the back of the box, Gigabyte goes into more detail on the features of the motherboard.

Opening the front flap, reveals the motherboard housed inside.



There are two boxes that need to be removed in order to gain access to the X99 Phoenix SLI motherboard. The first box is just the shell and contains the graphics and information on the motherboard. The second box is lined with a foam insert to keep the motherboard safe from damage. Under the motherboard you’ll find the motherboard accessories.

The accessories for the X99 Phoenix SLI include: user manual, quick installation guide, driver disk for both the motherboard and the wireless network card, (6) SATA cables, I/O Shield, one 2-way and one 3-way SLI connector, one RGB LED 4-pin extension cable, Velcro cable ties, a G connector, a 1-to-3 power connector, the WiFi antenna, door hanger, cable labels, and G1 case badges.



Specifications

CPU Support for Intel® Core™ i7 processors in the LGA2011-3 package L3 cache varies with CPU (Please refer “CPU Support List” for more information.) Chipset Intel® X99 Express Chipset Memory 8 x DDR4 DIMM sockets supporting up to 128 GB of system memory

* Support for up to 256 GB of system memory when using Registered DIMMs.

* Due to a Windows 32-bit operating system limitation, when more than 4 GB of physical memory is installed, the actual memory size displayed will be less than the size of the physical memory installed. 4 channel memory architecture Support for DDR4 3600(OC) / 3400(OC) / 3333(O.C.) / 3200(O.C.) / 3000(O.C.) / 2800(O.C.) / 2666(O.C.) / 2400(O.C.) / 2133 MHz memory modules Support for non-ECC Un-buffered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx16 memory modules Support for Registered DIMM 1Rx8/2Rx8/1Rx4/2Rx4 memory modules (operate in non-ECC mode) Support for Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory modules (Please refer “Memory Support List” for more information.) Audio Realtek® ALC1150 codec High Definition Audio 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel Support for S/PDIF Out LAN 2 x Intel® GbE LAN chips (10/100/1000 Mbit) Support for Teaming Wireless Communication module Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, supporting 2.4/5 GHz Dual-Band Bluetooth 4.2, 4.1, BLE, 4.0, 3.0, 2.1+EDR Support for 11ac wireless standard and up to 867 Mbps data rate

* Actual data rate may vary depending on environment and equipment. Expansion Slots 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2)

* For optimum performance, if only one PCI Express graphics card is to be installed, be sure to install it in the PCIEX16_1 slot; if you are installing two PCI Express graphics cards, it is recommended that you install them in the PCIEX16_1 and PCIEX16_2 slots.

* When an i7-5820K or i7-6800K CPU is installed, the PCIEX16_2 slot operates at up to x8 mode. 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1, PCIEX8_2)

* The PCIEX8_1 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16_1 slot and the PCIEX8_2 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16_2 slot. When the PCIEX8_1/PCIEX8_2 slot is populated, the PCIEX16_1/PCIEX16_2 slot operates at up to x8 mode.

* When an i7-5820K or i7-6800K CPU is installed, the PCIEX8_2 slot becomes unavailable.

(All of the PCI Express x16 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.) 1 x PCI Express x1 slot

(The PCI Express x1 slot conforms to PCI Express 2.0 standard.) 1 x M.2 Socket 1 connector for the wireless communication module (M2_WIFI) Multi-Graphics Technology Support for NVIDIA® Quad-GPU SLI™ and 3-Way/2-Way NVIDIA® SLI™ technologies Support for AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX™ and 3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFire™ technologies Storage Interface Chipset: 1 x SATA Express connector 6 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0~5), supporting RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (sSATA3 0~3), supporting IDE and AHCI modes only

(An operating system installed on the SATA3 0~5 ports cannot be used on the sSATA 0~3 ports.) 1 x M.2 connector (Socket 3, M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 PCIe x4/x2 SSD support) 1 x U.2 connector * When an i7-5820K or i7-6800K CPU is installed, the U.2 connector becomes unavailable. USB Chipset+Intel® USB 3.1 controller: 1 x USB Type-C™ port on the back panel, with USB 3.1 support 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) on the back panel  Chipset: 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports on the back panel 4 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports available through the internal USB headers Chipset+2 Renesas® USB 3.0 Hubs: 8 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports (4 ports on the back panel, 4 ports available through the internal USB headers) Internal I/O Connectors 1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector 1 x 8-pin ATX 12V power connector 1 x PCIe power connector 1 x CPU fan header 1 x water cooling fan/water cooling pump header (CPU_OPT_PUMP) 2 x system fan headers 1 x system fan/water cooling pump header (SYS_FAN3_PUMP) 1 x RGB LED strip extension cable header 1 x SATA Express connector 10 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors 1 x M.2 Socket 3 connector 1 x U.2 connector 1 x front panel header 1 x front panel audio header 1 x S/PDIF Out header 2 x USB 3.0/2.0 headers 2 x USB 2.0/1.1 headers 1 x Trusted Platform Module (TPM) header 1 x Thunderbolt™ add-in card connector 1 x Clear CMOS jumper Back Panel Connectors 1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port 2 x SMA antenna connectors (2T2R) 1 x USB Type-C™ port, with USB 3.1 support 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A port (red) 6 x USB 3.0/2.0 ports 2 x RJ-45 ports 1 x optical S/PDIF Out connector 5 x audio jacks (Center/Subwoofer Speaker Out, Rear Speaker Out, Line In, Line Out, Mic In) I/O Controller iTE® I/O Controller Chip H/W Monitoring System voltage detection CPU/System/Chipset temperature detection CPU/CPU OPT/System fan (pump) speed detection CPU/System/Chipset overheating warning CPU/CPU OPT/System fan (pump) fail warning CPU/CPU OPT/System fan (pump) speed control

* Whether the fan speed control function is supported will depend on the fan (pump) you install. BIOS 2 x 128 Mbit flash Use of licensed AMI UEFI BIOS Support for DualBIOS™ Support for Q-Flash Plus

* The USB flash drive used must be a USB 2.0 flash drive. PnP 1.0a, DMI 2.7, WfM 2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0 Unique Features Support for APP Center

* Available applications in APP Center may vary by motherboard model. Supported functions of each application may also vary depending on motherboard specifications.

3D OSD

@BIOS

Ambient LED

AutoGreen

BIOS Setup

Color Temperature

Cloud Station

EasyTune

Easy RAID

Fast Boot

ON/OFF Charge

Platform Power Management

Smart TimeLock

Smart Keyboard

Smart Backup

System Information Viewer

USB Blocker

V-Tuner Support for Q-Flash Support for Smart Switch Support for Xpress Install Bundle Software Norton® Internet Security (OEM version) Intel® Smart Response Technology cFosSpeed Operating System Support for Windows 10/8.1 64-bit Support for Windows 7 64-bit/32-bit Form Factor ATX Form Factor; 30.5cm x 24.4cm Remark Due to different Linux support condition provided by chipset vendors, please download Linux driver from chipset vendors’ website or 3rd party website. Most hardware/software vendors may no longer offer drivers to support Win9X/ME/2000/XP. If drivers are available from the vendors, we will update them on the GIGABYTE website.

Specifications are provided by Gigabyte and may change at any time without notice. For further information, please visit the product page located here