At first glance, the ASRock X99 OC FORMULA/3.1 makes a good impression. Fitted with the latest technologies, the sure-fire success of any overclocking attempt is guaranteed given the hardware and options available. The CPU VRM is vastly over-built, and the OC socket helps in making sure you can push CPU and memory speeds just as far as your little heart desires provided you have the cooling and the guts.

If we want to take the opposite approach and just mount a huge 18-core XEON beast and some ECC ram, we can do that too, and the same parts that ensure a great overclocking experience also ensure a reliable long-term solution for those with the ultimate in stability in mind—you get the best of both worlds.

There are some caveats, of course, since the board's fan options could be better, and perhaps this board could be a little better equipped when it comes to CPU cache overclocking, but be that as it may, it is hard to knock the abilities of ASRock's X99 OC FORMULA/3.1. It has all the drive connectivity you could ever want. Add in the ultra-fast USB 3.1 ports to fill out those options, and the ASRock OC FORMULA/3.1 stands proud as the culmination of Nick Shih's grand efforts. Just got one and need help setting it up? Let me know in the forums!