Gigabyte X299-WU8, Intel X299 motherboard - Socket 2066 [GAX299WU8-00-GA]

This chipset, codenamed "Lewisburg", proves to be a true all-rounder, with up to 30 HSIO lanes (high-speed input / output) and the maximum 24 PCI Express 3.0 lanes to use Connections allowed.

The features of the Gigabyte X299-WU8 at a glance:
- 7 × PCIe (3.0) x16 (4 × x16 / 3 × x8)
- 2 × USB 3.1 Gen 2 (1 × Type-C, 1 × Type-A)
- 10 × USB 3.1 Gen 1 (6 × Type-A external / 4 × internal) & 2 × USB 2.0 (external)
- 1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 × 4) / 8 × SATA 6G
- 8 × DIMM slots for DDR4 RAM (128 GB maximum with 28 or 44 lane CPU)

The Gigabyte X299-WU8 in detail

The Gigabyte X299-WU8 is a high-quality ATX format enthusiast board designed for power users and hardware fools who have opted for an X299 & Skylake-X or Kaby Lake-X team. The extremely stylish, black board has seven PCIe x16 slots, four of which are connected to the chipset with a full 16 lanes, while the other three are electrically connected to eight data lines. This allows even NVIDIA 4-way SLI or AMD 4-way CrossFireX configurations when using a 28 or 44 lane CPU.

Equipped with a total of eight DIMM slots for DDR4 memory, a CPU with 28 or 44 data lines, all slots in quad-channel operation and up to a maximum capacity of 128 GB can be used. A 16-lane CPU supports dual-channel operation of four slots with a maximum capacity of 64 GB. Officially DDR4 modules with up to 2.666 MHz can be used, whereby after clocking much higher clock rates are possible.

For data carriers, the board provides extensive features with an M.2 slot for ultra-fast NVMe M.2 SSDs and eight SATA 6G ports for 3.5 "or 2.5" hard disks and SSDs ( including RAID support). The M.2 port is connected to the chipset via four PCIe lanes in the 3.0 standard and, in combination with the NVMe protocol, enables a data transfer rate of just under 4 GB / s. This makes M.2 PCIe SSDs up to eight times faster than SATA 6G SSDs!
External connections
There are many useful ports on the I / O panel of this performance motherboard to make life easier for the user. The board has two backward compatible USB 3.1 ports, one of which is equipped with a modern Type-C connector. The ASMedia 3142 USB 3.1 controller even achieves maximum speeds of up to 16 Gbps, which is more than three times faster than conventional USB 3.0 ports. Of course, the board for input devices and other gaming peripherals also has six USB 3.0 ports on the I / O panel and two USB 2.0 ports.

For unrestricted network connections, the X299-WU8 Pro also has a Gigabit LAN port. The Realtek ALC1220-VB codec and the five audio ports with gold-plated connectors, which are complemented by an optical S / PDIF-Out connector, ensure decent sound.

Technical details:
Format:
- ATX form factor

chipset:
- Intel X299 ("Lewisburg")

Base:
- 2066 (for Intel CPUs of the Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X generation)

R.A.M:
- 8 × DDR4 (Skylake-X: DDR4-2.666, up to 128 GB with a CPU with 44 or 28 lanes)
- 4 × DDR4 (Kaby Lake-X: DDR4-2.666, up to 64 GB with a 16-lane CPU)
- Quad-Channel (Skylake-X, supports CPUs with 44 or 28 lanes)
- Dual Channel (Kaby Lake-X, supports 16-lane CPUs)

Slots (physical):
- 4 × PCIe 3.0 x16
- 3 × PCIe 3.0 x16 (electric x8)
- Compatible multi-VGA configurations: 4-way SLI * (quad GPU), 4-way CrossFireX * (quad GPU)

Internal connections:
- 8 × SATA 6G
- 1 × M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 & SATA, 2242/2260/2280)
- 4 × USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1, two headers)
- 1 × CPU fan (4-pin)
- 5 × system fan (4-pin)
- 1x fan / water cooling (3 A)
- 1 × TPM header (Trusted Platform Module)
- 1 × Thunderbolt add-in card connector
- 1x header for digital LED strips
- 2 × header for RGB LED strips
- 1 × Intel VROC Upgrade Key Header
- 1 × front panel header
- 1 × front panel audio header

External connections:
- 1 × USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C)
- 1 × USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-A)
- 6 × USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Type-A)
- 1 × RJ45 LAN port
- -6 × Audio (Realtek ALC1220-VB)

Power supply:
- 1 × 24-pin ATX
- 2 × 8-pin ATX 12V
- 1x 6-pin ATX 12V