• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

GIGABYTE Intros Aorus X299 Gaming Motherboard for Kaby Lake-X Processors

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,383 (7.68/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Intel created quad-core "Kaby Lake-X" processors for its latest HEDT platform as they provide an affordable entry to the segment, with a potential to upgrade to larger 6-core, 8-core, 10-core, 12-core, 16-core, and even 18-core processors. The two "Kaby Lake-X" SKUs launched are merely adaptations of the Core i7-7700K and i5-7600K for the LGA2066 socket, as they feature just 256 KB of L2 cache per core (and not 1 MB per core of "Skylake-X"), just a dual-channel DDR4 controller, even though the socket supports quad-channel memory; and just a 16-lane PCIe (while the platform supports up to 44 lanes). While the Core i7-7740X and i5-7640X are priced more or less on par with their LGA1151 twins, motherboards on this platform aren't cheap, with the cheapest LGA2066 motherboard priced a little over $200. GIGABYTE senses an opportunity in all this, in launching the Aorus X299 Gaming. This LGA2066 motherboard only supports the i7-7740X and i5-7640X, and no other LGA2066 Core i7 or Core i9 chip.

Built in the ATX form-factor, you could be mistaken for thinking the Aorus X299 Gaming to be a mainstream-desktop motherboard based on the Z270 chipset, were it not for the unmistakable LGA2066 socket. The board features four DDR4 DIMM slots, all towards the east of the socket, and so it only supports up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory. On boards with four DDR4 slots, yet quad-channel memory support, you typically find the memory slots split in groups of two, on either sides of the CPU socket. This "Kaby Lake-X" specificity carries over to even the PCI-Express slots, where there's only one slot with full x16 wiring, the second slot only features x8 wiring, while the third slot is x4. You can use up to two graphics cards in multi-GPU, where the first and second x16 slots configure as electrical x8/x8.



Keeping in mind that the board will only cater to 112W TDP "Kaby Lake-X" chips, GIGABYTE went easy on its electricals. The board draws power from a 24-pin ATX, and only one 8-pin EPS. Power is conditioned for the CPU using an 8-phase VRM with high-current chokes. Storage connectivity includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, and eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. The rear I/O lacks any display connectors, and gives you the feel of being on a high-end desktop platform, which lacks onboard graphics. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 gen 2.0 ports (both on the rear panel), and ten USB 3.0 ports (six on the rear panel, four by headers).

You get a high-grade onboard audio solution, which combines a Realtek ALC1220 8-channel HDA CODEC (120 dBA SNR), with ground-layer isolation, gold-plated audio jacks, and WIMA and Nichicon audio-grade capacitors. The sole networking option is a gigabit Ethernet interface, driven by an Intel i219-V controller. The board features a number of RGB LED headers driven by GIGABYTE RGB Fusion software. Available now, we expect the board to command a sub-$200 price.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Last edited:
Joined
Dec 10, 2015
Messages
545 (0.18/day)
Location
Here
System Name Skypas
Processor Intel Core i7-6700
Motherboard Asus H170 Pro Gaming
Cooling Cooler Master Hyper 212X Turbo
Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X 6GB
Storage Corsair Neutron GTX 120GB + WD Blue 1TB
Display(s) LG 22EA63V
Case Corsair Carbide 400Q
Power Supply Seasonic SS-460FL2 w/ Deepcool XFan 120
Mouse Logitech B100
Keyboard Corsair Vengeance K70
Software Windows 10 Pro (to be replaced by 2025)
Typo on CPU socket cover, LGA2011-3 instead of LGA2066
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2009
Messages
350 (0.06/day)
Location
NYC
Processor Intel Core i7 8700K
Motherboard ROG STRIX Z370-G GAMING AC
Cooling Corsair H115i Pro RGB
Memory G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB DDR4 3200Mhz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GTX 1070 G1
Storage Samsung 970 Evo 500GB
Display(s) Dell S2417DG 165Hz
Case NZXT H400i
Power Supply Corsair AX760
Mouse Razer Deathadder Chroma
Keyboard Cooler Master - Masterkeys Pro L RGB
Software Windows 10 Pro 64Bit
"and so it only supports up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR4 memory"

Who can even afford 128 GB right now? lol I mean the cheapest 128GB kit is $1055!

Thats more than a 7900x currently going for $899 at Mircocenter (unfortunately sold out)

These are horrible times for people needing a lot of ram.
 
Joined
Feb 5, 2016
Messages
171 (0.06/day)
Location
Sthlm
System Name Vamos
Processor Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard Gigabyte B450 I Aorus Pro WiFi
Cooling Dark Rock Slim
Memory 2x8GB XPG 3600MHz
Video Card(s) RX 5700 XT PowerColor
Storage WD SN550 1TB, Seagate 2TB HDD
Display(s) AOC CQ32G1
Case Jonsbo V8
Audio Device(s) Logitech G633, Presonus E3.5
Power Supply Fractal Design Ion SFX-L 650W Gold
Mouse Logitech G502
Keyboard Logitech G513 Carbon
Software Win 10 Home
What's the point? MoBo just for these two CPUs denies only thing these have - upgrade path to i9 CPUs. Soon every manufacturer will do the same and stop supporting 7640X and 7740X on full X299. Intel really lost their heads.
 
Joined
Apr 24, 2012
Messages
1,594 (0.36/day)
Location
Northamptonshire, UK
System Name Main / HTPC
Processor Ryzen 9 5900X / Ryzen 7 2700
Motherboard Strix B550i / B450i Aorus Pro
Cooling Lian-Li Galahad 360 / Wraith Spire
Memory Corsair LPX 2x16 3600MHz / HyperX Predator 2x8GB 3200MHz
Video Card(s) RTX 3080 FE / ARC A380
Storage WD Black SN770 1TB / Sabrent Rocket 256GB
Display(s) Acer Z301c / 39" Panasonic HDTV
Case Corsair 2000D / Cougar QBX
Audio Device(s) Yamaha RX-V379 / Realtek ALC1220
Power Supply Corsair SF600 / BeQuiet SFX Power 2 450W
Mouse Logitech G900
Keyboard Drop Sense75 with WQ Studio Morandi's
VR HMD Rift S
Software Win 11 Pro 64Bit
A useless motherboard for a useless CPU, this whole combo reeks of useless to me.
 

Solaris17

Super Dainty Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
25,887 (3.79/day)
Location
Alabama
System Name Rocinante
Processor I9 14900KS
Motherboard EVGA z690 Dark KINGPIN (modded BIOS)
Cooling EK-AIO Elite 360 D-RGB
Memory 64GB Gskill Trident Z5 DDR5 6000 @6400
Video Card(s) MSI SUPRIM Liquid X 4090
Storage 1x 500GB 980 Pro | 1x 1TB 980 Pro | 1x 8TB Corsair MP400
Display(s) Odyssey OLED G9 G95SC
Case Lian Li o11 Evo Dynamic White
Audio Device(s) Moondrop S8's on Schiit Hel 2e
Power Supply Bequiet! Power Pro 12 1500w
Mouse Lamzu Atlantis mini (White)
Keyboard Monsgeek M3 Lavender, Akko Crystal Blues
VR HMD Quest 3
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores I dont have time for that.
Intel really lost their heads.

This was gigabytes decision, not Intels.

Still though this was a bad decision. If anything board OEMs shouldnt worry about the work arounds needed to support the lesser CPUs
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
1,831 (0.36/day)
Location
London
System Name Jaspe
Processor Ryzen 1500X
Motherboard Asus ROG Strix X370-F Gaming
Cooling Stock
Memory 16Gb Corsair 3000mhz
Video Card(s) EVGA GTS 450
Storage Crucial M500
Display(s) Philips 1080 24'
Case NZXT
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Enermax 425W
Software Windows 10 Pro
Typo:

The two "Kaby Lake-X" SKUs launched are merely adaptations of the Core i7-7700K and i5-7600K for the LGA2066 socket, as they feature just 256 KB of L2 cache per core (and not 1 MB per core of "Skylake-X"), and just a 28-lane PCIe

Kaby Lake X only has 16 pcie lanes.
 
Joined
Sep 17, 2015
Messages
3 (0.00/day)
This was gigabytes decision, not Intels.

Still though this was a bad decision. If anything board OEMs shouldnt worry about the work arounds needed to support the lesser CPUs

But labeling a quad core as HEDT is an intel decision, a really bad one btw. Sounds like a bad joke.
 
Top