One has the MAC in the chipset (meaning you only need to pay Intel for some licensing (reportedly) and place a PHY, while the other is a full embedded NIC over a PCIe 1x lane.
If you want more integrated ports, you have to go down to either the Avoton or Xeon-D platforms. Meanwhile, at the high end, no integrated ethernet, you plug in your NICs (or trust your OEM to put something good onto your motherboard).
my guess the smaller form factor did not allow them to added an PLX chip for more pci-e lanes. All 40 cpu pci-e are dedicate to the 3 pci-e slots. which leaves only the 8 chipset pci-e 2.0. 1X for pcie 2.0 expansion slot, 1X wifi, 1x lan1,1xlan2,x2 usb 3.1 which leave only x2 for the m.2 slot.
x99 still using DMI 2.0 limits options without adding a PLX chip for addition pci-e lanes.
if you want more bandwidth dedicated to the M.2. slot they going to have to sacrifice something else.
Might be no good solution to this situation for the micro form factor if you want a intel cpu with greater then 4 core till skylake-e platform is release 2016/2017.
With current hardware limited to about 1GB per second (Samsung M.2 SSDs) and ASUS states up to 32Gb/s, that is 4x the theoretical limit. I don't think its practical to go higher than that.
I would like to find a 1TB M.2 first and foremost.
You know, I was thinking this exact same thing, and almost decided to get the new EVGA Micro 2. Then I realized, the only M.2 ssd that is out right now that this can't handle is the SM951. The SM951 get's so hot anyways that it throttles, that I'm not entirely sure that that's the SSD I'd want then. So I'm looking at the Intel 750. Something to think about. I recommended the SM951 to a friend who video edits and with it being behind the mobo in an mITX build, it's constantly throttling. Something to think about.
You seem to be trolling or joking, Asus has never had a good enough reputation to be used in the same sentence as "best", not in the last decade anyway. Good: sure. Best: no way. The lemons and lacking quality control, together with weird design choices that prefer marketing features over real benefits has been their problems for a while now.
I think ASUS is the arguable best motherboard vendor, depends how you define "best". They made high configurable and performance motherboards, but not as stable as Intel's Desk Boards. Like BMW is known for its performance but quality-wise it's far behind Toyota.
Asus is fine when it works, but when it doesn't... well let's just say they don't admit there is a problem for weeks, then when they finally admit there is a problem, they take months to get you a replacement.
oh, and I forgot to add, sometimes they will say your product didn't have any problems, and just send you back your faulty device, which you have to attempt to RMA again.
I can't speak for all their motherboards since there is no way I can try out all their models. My P6T Deluxe v2 has always been rock solid. I received my new Z97-WS with some defective ram slots. After receiving the replacement from Amazon it has been rock solid. My dealings with Asus' customer service was similar to others.
A customer of mine had a Asus board that was always having issues. I think the board's problems were due to the crappy chipset.
I use a Foxconn mobo in my file server. It was cheap and does the job (once I was able to get it configured). I put a Gigabyte board in my wife's 7850K build. I used to be an Abit man, but that is no longer an option. :)
P5W-DH deluxe, some USB ports and flaky NIC TF101, faulty wifi/bt X202E, two broken keyboards, two bursted batteries P8Z77-I deluxe, fails to boot when DVI port is used H97-I plus, fails to boot when memory is set beyond 1333Mhz
Asus support? Pitiful and lacking. They don't stand behind their products.
Gigabyte gave me the run-around over an obvious BIOS bug recently. I told them all that needed to be done to find the problem was to change one setting off of "AUTO" and they kept demanding that I give them more information.
I just stick to MSI when I can. They actually stand behind their products and their RMA process is much faster and effective. The only unfortunate part about MSI is that their boards don't exactly have the best designs or most features for the money.
The bug is so obvious that all one has to do is change the setting from AUTO to anything else, including the value that AUTO sets and the board won't post.
I sent Gigabyte three e-mails with detailed information and their response was more questions and more demands for info. At that point I just gave up. There is nothing complicated about changing ONE SETTING off of AUTO to replicate the bug.
Oh, and the first thing they tried to do was hand-wave the problem by saying "overclocking results are not guaranteed". The problem has nothing to do with overclocking when the only thing you're doing is manually setting the same value that AUTO says it's inputting -- the default value for the chipset!
I've got a P8Z77-I and it boots fine for me with DVI, so I'm a bit surprised with that issue. One issue I do have is that the Intel USB 3.0 ports don't work reliably with some of my USB devices. The other USB ports work fine.
Two of those aren't motherboards, one of your issues is a bad DVI cable and the other issue is poor quality\incompatible RAM.
ALL of those Asus products are bottom barrel consumer products, there will be defects like in any low-end consumer product. Take a look at owners of the P6T boards from 5+ years ago, they have quite a reputation.
NO AND NO. I hate people who assume I haven't done all the necessary troubleshooting steps already.
DVI port simply causes the board to not boot. It doesn't matter what cable I use or what monitor I connect it to. It just doesn't work.
The RAM issue has been tested with about 10 different kits, and they all don't work beyond 1333Mhz in that board, when they work just fine at 1866Mhz and 1600Mhz in other boards.
I said "Asus products" not "motherboards only", so please read.
IDK what you are on, but any Asus product with "Deluxe" or "Plus" in them is not a bottom of the barrel board. Sure, they aren't server grade stuff, but you have got to be kidding me if you think those are bottom of the barrel, because they sure don't cost that.
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27 Comments
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DanNeely - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
"The dual I210-AT and I218-LM Intel network ports "I've seen this before, but WTH is the point in using two different Intel NICs?
olafgarten - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
The 218 is lower power, and smaller.Gigaplex - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
So why not use two of them?extide - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
Because the 210 is already partially there from the chipset.ZeDestructor - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
One has the MAC in the chipset (meaning you only need to pay Intel for some licensing (reportedly) and place a PHY, while the other is a full embedded NIC over a PCIe 1x lane.If you want more integrated ports, you have to go down to either the Avoton or Xeon-D platforms. Meanwhile, at the high end, no integrated ethernet, you plug in your NICs (or trust your OEM to put something good onto your motherboard).
extide - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
WTF is with the use of a PCIe 2.0 x2 M.2 slot ..?!?Seriously, that is just about a deal breaker for me on this board. What a shame.
cyrand - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
my guess the smaller form factor did not allow them to added an PLX chip for more pci-e lanes. All 40 cpu pci-e are dedicate to the 3 pci-e slots. which leaves only the 8 chipset pci-e 2.0. 1X for pcie 2.0 expansion slot, 1X wifi, 1x lan1,1xlan2,x2 usb 3.1 which leave only x2 for the m.2 slot.x99 still using DMI 2.0 limits options without adding a PLX chip for addition pci-e lanes.
if you want more bandwidth dedicated to the M.2. slot they going to have to sacrifice something else.
Might be no good solution to this situation for the micro form factor if you want a intel cpu with greater then 4 core till skylake-e platform is release 2016/2017.
crimsonson - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
With current hardware limited to about 1GB per second (Samsung M.2 SSDs) and ASUS states up to 32Gb/s, that is 4x the theoretical limit. I don't think its practical to go higher than that.I would like to find a 1TB M.2 first and foremost.
RitiFamily - Sunday, August 16, 2015 - link
PCIe 2.0 x2 M2 vs PCIe 3.0 x4 DOES make a difference in "practical" numbers. See this article: http://www.anandtech.com/show/8045/asrock-z97-extr...828 MBps peak sequential VS 1.35 GBps on the PCIe 3.0 x4.....
rakunSA - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
You know, I was thinking this exact same thing, and almost decided to get the new EVGA Micro 2. Then I realized, the only M.2 ssd that is out right now that this can't handle is the SM951. The SM951 get's so hot anyways that it throttles, that I'm not entirely sure that that's the SSD I'd want then. So I'm looking at the Intel 750. Something to think about. I recommended the SM951 to a friend who video edits and with it being behind the mobo in an mITX build, it's constantly throttling. Something to think about.dsumanik - Monday, August 3, 2015 - link
Agreed.@Anandtech, also could you change the name of "pipeline stories" to 'paid advertisements"
Seriously wtf.... it is just getting blatant.
meacupla - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
It looks good on paper, but Asus does make expensive lemons every now and then, and they don't ever admit they sold you a lemon...Samus - Friday, July 31, 2015 - link
You joking or trolling? Asus has made the best motherboards in the world for decades...Phuncz - Saturday, August 1, 2015 - link
You seem to be trolling or joking, Asus has never had a good enough reputation to be used in the same sentence as "best", not in the last decade anyway. Good: sure. Best: no way. The lemons and lacking quality control, together with weird design choices that prefer marketing features over real benefits has been their problems for a while now.bkydcmpr - Saturday, August 1, 2015 - link
I think ASUS is the arguable best motherboard vendor, depends how you define "best". They made high configurable and performance motherboards, but not as stable as Intel's Desk Boards. Like BMW is known for its performance but quality-wise it's far behind Toyota.meacupla - Saturday, August 1, 2015 - link
Asus is fine when it works, but when it doesn't... well let's just say they don't admit there is a problem for weeks, then when they finally admit there is a problem, they take months to get you a replacement.meacupla - Saturday, August 1, 2015 - link
oh, and I forgot to add, sometimes they will say your product didn't have any problems, and just send you back your faulty device, which you have to attempt to RMA again.bigboxes - Saturday, August 1, 2015 - link
I can't speak for all their motherboards since there is no way I can try out all their models. My P6T Deluxe v2 has always been rock solid. I received my new Z97-WS with some defective ram slots. After receiving the replacement from Amazon it has been rock solid. My dealings with Asus' customer service was similar to others.A customer of mine had a Asus board that was always having issues. I think the board's problems were due to the crappy chipset.
I use a Foxconn mobo in my file server. It was cheap and does the job (once I was able to get it configured). I put a Gigabyte board in my wife's 7850K build. I used to be an Abit man, but that is no longer an option. :)
meacupla - Saturday, August 1, 2015 - link
nope, list of Asus things that have failed on me:P5W-DH deluxe, some USB ports and flaky NIC
TF101, faulty wifi/bt
X202E, two broken keyboards, two bursted batteries
P8Z77-I deluxe, fails to boot when DVI port is used
H97-I plus, fails to boot when memory is set beyond 1333Mhz
Asus support? Pitiful and lacking. They don't stand behind their products.
Oxford Guy - Saturday, August 1, 2015 - link
Gigabyte gave me the run-around over an obvious BIOS bug recently. I told them all that needed to be done to find the problem was to change one setting off of "AUTO" and they kept demanding that I give them more information.meacupla - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
yeah, I've gotten that from gigabyte as well.I just stick to MSI when I can. They actually stand behind their products and their RMA process is much faster and effective. The only unfortunate part about MSI is that their boards don't exactly have the best designs or most features for the money.
Oxford Guy - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
The bug is so obvious that all one has to do is change the setting from AUTO to anything else, including the value that AUTO sets and the board won't post.I sent Gigabyte three e-mails with detailed information and their response was more questions and more demands for info. At that point I just gave up. There is nothing complicated about changing ONE SETTING off of AUTO to replicate the bug.
Oxford Guy - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
Oh, and the first thing they tried to do was hand-wave the problem by saying "overclocking results are not guaranteed". The problem has nothing to do with overclocking when the only thing you're doing is manually setting the same value that AUTO says it's inputting -- the default value for the chipset!Oxford Guy - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
So, they showed me that they didn't actually read what I wrote and are just parroting back a list of stonewalling rationalizations.Gigaplex - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
I've got a P8Z77-I and it boots fine for me with DVI, so I'm a bit surprised with that issue. One issue I do have is that the Intel USB 3.0 ports don't work reliably with some of my USB devices. The other USB ports work fine.Samus - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
Two of those aren't motherboards, one of your issues is a bad DVI cable and the other issue is poor quality\incompatible RAM.ALL of those Asus products are bottom barrel consumer products, there will be defects like in any low-end consumer product. Take a look at owners of the P6T boards from 5+ years ago, they have quite a reputation.
meacupla - Sunday, August 2, 2015 - link
NO AND NO. I hate people who assume I haven't done all the necessary troubleshooting steps already.DVI port simply causes the board to not boot. It doesn't matter what cable I use or what monitor I connect it to. It just doesn't work.
The RAM issue has been tested with about 10 different kits, and they all don't work beyond 1333Mhz in that board, when they work just fine at 1866Mhz and 1600Mhz in other boards.
I said "Asus products" not "motherboards only", so please read.
IDK what you are on, but any Asus product with "Deluxe" or "Plus" in them is not a bottom of the barrel board. Sure, they aren't server grade stuff, but you have got to be kidding me if you think those are bottom of the barrel, because they sure don't cost that.