Power Consumption

We measure CPU power consumption since one of our first tasks is to truly verify system stability. I isolate the power coming through the 8-pin ATX connector using an in-line meter that provides voltage and current readings, and total wattage passed through. While this may not prove to isolate the CPU power draw in all instances, it does serve as a good indicator of board efficiency and effective VRM design. Total system power consumption is no longer reported as this figure can change depending on what VGA is installed. The sole board-only power measurements possible without physically modifying a motherboard are those taken via the 8-pin CPU connector, making it the only figure of value worth reporting. I use wPrime with eight threads selected in the options since it provides a consistently high workload throughout the full length of the test and runs long enough for the VRM and CPU to produce a fair bit of heat. Most average workloads will draw far less than that, although distributed computing applications are quite similar. This is not supposed to test stability since I use several other applications to do so, but merely serves to provide repeatable power draw numbers anyone can replicate. The meter used is an off-the-shelf Zalman unit that has been on the market for some time. In my test environment, it provides results similar to a FLUKE 337 clamp meter.


The ASRock X99E-ITX/ac's VRM design is pretty tasty, I must say. Placed directly in front of the CPU fan, it gets a large amount of airflow to stay cool, which has it hold its own even when pushed a bit. At stock clock frequencies, it'll yawn at the meager workload you've given it.

Fan Control

Fan control is pretty good. It's the same as on many ASRock product, with full control over fan speeds and fan-speed curves through its user friendly interface. Allowing for full-speed adjustments that range from 0%-100%, it's more than most will need. Since all fan headers are 4-pin, PWM fans can also be attached to every port.