GIGABYTE Intros X299-WU8 Motherboard Capable of 4x PCIe x16

[btarunr]

GIGABYTE introduced the X299-WU8, a high-end desktop motherboard being sold as a quasi-workstation-class board, in the CEB form-factor (305 mm x 267 mm). Based on Intel X299 Express chipset, it features out-of-the-box support for Intel's socket LGA2066 Core X 9000-series processors, in addition to existing Core X 7000-series. A design focus with this board is on PCIe connectivity. The board employs two PLX PEX8747 PCIx gen 3.0 x48 bridge chips, which convert two gen 3.0 x16 links from the processor to four downstream x16 links, which can further be switched to x8. All seven expansion slots are PCI-Express 3.0 x16 physically, which are electrically "x16/NC/x16/NC/x16/NC/x16" or "x16/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8/x8." The topmost slot stays x16, while the other six share three x16 links depending on how you populate them. The board has certifications for 4-way SLI and CrossFireX.

The GIGABYTE X299-WU8 draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and two 8-pin EPS connectors, conditioning it for the CPU with an 8+1 phase VRM. An additional 6-pin PCIe power input, which is optional, stabilizes slot power delivery to the graphics cards. The CPU socket is flanked by eight DDR4 DIMM slots, supporting up to 128 GB of quad-channel DDR4 memory. Storage connectivity is surprisingly sparse, with just one M.2-2280 slot that has PCIe 3.0 x4 wiring, and eight SATA 6 Gbps ports. USB connectivity includes USB 3.1 gen 2 (including a type-C port), a number of USB 3.1 gen 1 ports, both on the rear panel and via headers; high-end onboard audio including an ALC1220 CODEC and headphones amp; and two 1 GbE networking interfaces. Expect this board to be priced around $600, given that the PEX8747 isn't cheap these days, and this board has two of it.



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[Upgrayedd]

I was wondering is there anyway to do double 2-way SLI?

 

[er557]

No way in hell that would be ever possible or supported

 

[Flaky]

Assuming you'd run pairs of cards in separate virtual machines... why not.

But... does this motherboard support kaby lake-X?

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

i bet this board would take over 60 seconds just to post

 

[er557]

not necessarily, my mainboard, asrock ep2c612 ws, which has native 7 pcie 3 x16 slots, linked to both cpus, providing 80 lanes combined from both cpus,
posts in under 10 seconds, and that's with uefi and csm activated.

 

[Frick]

No way in hell that would be ever possible or supported

Not for games, but other applications can use all the GPU power you have.

 

[Th3pwn3r]

Workstation boards always look the best these days. Thanks to the lack of 'gamer' crap. Wish more boards looked like this, plus, I love symmetry.

 

[dinmaster]

i thought if Directx 12 was properly implemented in a game it could be used as all gpu's are pooled as one and not sli/crossfire.

 

[Upgrayedd]

No way in hell that would be ever possible or supported

Why though? Just curious

 

[er557]

well, due to SLI currently being limited to two cards, not three and certainly not four(dual double sli or quad singles- it does not matter).
There are simply way too much technical issues with this, that's why nvidia decided to move forward in such manner.
Of course, outside of sli, be it dx12 or virtual machines, that kind of pooling would be supported, as mentioned above, but does cost tons of $$$ and not very power efficient.

 

[hat]

I appreciate the lack of RGB and big, bulky "heatsinks" all over the board for no apparent reason...

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Workstation boards always look the best these days. Thanks to the lack of 'gamer' crap. Wish more boards looked like this, plus, I love symmetry.

Cheak out EVGA and Supermicro motherboards.

 

[Th3pwn3r]

I haven't had great luck with EVGA motherboards or video cards but that was 17 years ago ha. Might give them another chance .

 

[Ruru]

I appreciate the lack of RGB and big, bulky "heatsinks" all over the board for no apparent reason...

Those actually act like heatsinks, unlike those chunks of aluminium in most "gamer" crap motherboards.

 

[hat]

Those actually act like heatsinks, unlike those chunks of aluminium in most "gamer" crap motherboards.

That's what I mean. This board seems about function over form... If you can call that gamer crap form at all...

 

[Ruru]

That's what I mean. This board seems about function over form... If you can call that gamer crap form at all...

I have a high-end premium gamer MB (Rampage V Extreme) and this has those stupid heatsinks. Things were better back in the day..

 

[ypsylon]

Uh this is nice. Waiting for some more real solid news on it. Certainly going back to Intel (unless AMD shows some real improvement with Zen2 which is doubtful), as TR simply doesn't cut it for me. Memory bollocks is just total joke. Software (work and older games) which worked great on x99 suddenly developed issues for no other reason than platform swap. And no realistic TB option is 2nd reason.

Look at that lovely heatsink. It is a heatsink, not fashionable slab of [RGBized] aluminium.

And no. This board is not looking exactly like Asus' WS motherboard on X99 (down to the M.2 slot, battery and 6-pin PEG connector!). This is hysterical! Ha, ha. Seems like there is copycat division at Gigabyte (snapped from Thermaltake perhaps?). First they copied design of Rampage 6 Extreme on new X399 board and now Asus X99-E WS got the copycat treatment too. I wonder if old Asus monoblock will fit?