Connectivity: USB
The X99 chipset offers 6 USB 3.0 and 8 USB 2.0 ports. Most manufacturers seem to think this is not enough as ideally you would have two internal USB 3.0 connections. There are quite a few cases on the market alraedy that feature four USB 3.0 ports on the front panel, which would only leave two ports on the back, not really a lot.
There are two ways to implement extra ports on a board, either use a hub or place an extra controller. Both ASMedia and Renesas have 2 port USB 3.0 controllers that are connected through an internal PCI-Express x1 connection. VIA has the VL805 which is actually a four port controller.
The second option is using an onboard hub, like the Asmedia ASM1074 chip that transforms one USB 3.0 port into four. This does mean however that not all ports can operate at maximum speed simultaneously. If you plan to use you external USB 3.0 drives or SSDs at the same time, a hub solution is not the most ideal. Not something that we view as a disadvantage, but it is something to take into account.
Some boards feature ten external USB 3.0 ports. What would you use all those for?
The new boards lay out
The ASRock X99 Extreme6 and X99X Killer both have six USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel. Four of these are provided trough a ASMedia hub, two are provided by a separate ASMedia controller. The four internal ports on these boards are all "native", and are provided by the Intel chipset.
The ASUS X99-A and -Pro also feature six USB 3.0 ports on the I/O panel and as ASRock they have chosen to use a ASMedia hub and a separate ASMedia controller. ASUS' solution is slightly more sofisticated however as one of the six ports is a native Intel X99 USB 3.0 port, where ASRock chooses not to use the last native USB 3.0 port at all.
| Motherboard | USB 3.0 external (Intel) | USB 3.0 external (extra) | USB 3.0 internal (Intel) | USB 3.0 internal (extra) | USB 2.0 external (Intel) | USB 2.0 internal (Intel) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASRock X99 Extreme4 | 4 | - | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| ASRock X99 Extreme6 | - | 4 (Asmedia ASM1074 hub) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 |
- |
2 | 4 |
| ASRock X99 WS | 4 | - | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| ASRock X99M Killer | 4 | - | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| ASRock X99X Killer | - | 4 (Asmedia ASM1074 hub) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| ASUS X99-A | 1 | 3 (Asmedia ASM1074 hub) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 4 | 4 |
| ASUS X99-Pro | 1 | 3 (Asmedia ASM1074 hub) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 4 | 4 |
| ASUS X99 Deluxe | - | 8 (Asmedia ASM1074 hubs) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| ASUS X99-E WS | 4 | 4 (Asmedia ASM1074 hub) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | - | 4 (ASmedia ASM1074 hub) | - | 4 |
| ASUS Rampage V Extreme | - | 8 (Asmedia ASM1074 hubs) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| Gigabyte X99-UD3 | 2 | 4 (Reneasas uPD720210 hub) | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| Gigabyte X99-UD4 | 2 | 4 (Reneasas uPD720210 hub) | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| Gigabyte X99-UD5 WiFi | - | 8 (2x Renesas uPD720210 hubs) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| Gigabyte X99-UD7 WiFi | - | 8 (2x Renesas uPD720210 hubs) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| Gigabyte X99-Gaming 5 | 2 | 4 (Reneasas uPD720210 hub) | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| Gigabyte X99-Gaming G1 | - | 8 (2x Renesas uPD720210 hubs) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| Gigabyte X99-SOC Force | - | 8 (2x Renesas uPD720210 hubs) | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| MSI X99S SLI Plus | 2 | 4 (VIA VL805 controller) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| MSI X99S Gaming 9 AC | 2 | 4 (VIA VL805 controller) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 2 | 4 |
| MSI X99S Xpower | - | 8 (Asmedia ASM1074 hubs) + 2 (Asmedia ASM1042 controller) | 4 | - | 2 | 5 |
