Asus PRIME X299-A (90MB0U40-M0EAY0)

snow white

If the design of computer components is as important to you as functionality, then take a closer look at the ASUS Prime X299-A motherboard. White PC builds are all the rage right now: for example, in the NZXT H440 case with a similar colour and a transparent side window. And ASUS Aura technology will allow you to synchronize the colour and intensity of the glow of the motherboard with other PC components: a graphics card, RAM and case LED strips.

Protective covers

If the cover of the rear interface panel of the Prime X299-A performs an exclusively decorative function (and makes it difficult to clean the computer from dust), then the large heatsink on the chipset is really useful. It cools two M.2 drives in parallel, which, in case of overheating, would reduce read and write speeds to the level of conventional SATA SSDs.

Graphics and sound

All three PCI-E x16 slots are reinforced and thus reliably protected from damage due to long and heavy video cards. The sound path bears the proud name of Crystal Sound 3 and consists of a top-end (by integrated standards) Realtek S1220A audio chip, a pair of headphone amplifiers (one for the front and back of the PC) and high-quality Japanese transistors that minimize noise and distortion. ASUS Prime X299-A costs about a third more than the cheapest LGA2066 motherboards. Its functional advantages are clearly not worth this surcharge, but the spectacular appearance, perhaps, is still worth it.