Product Showcase

The Zenith Extreme Alpha is to be considered an enthusiast class solution in that extreme segment of X399 series motherboards. The motherboard is still built using ASUS ROG standards, assuring high reliability and proper components usage, as well as being flabberghasting eye candy.

 
The motherboard includes all of the standardized X399 enhancements with an M.2 SSD slot (and an extra two through a DIMM2 add-on board) and will support SLI and Crossfire. The board follows a 12 in. x 10.9 in. (30.5 cm x 27.7 cm) size, meaning this is the E-ATX form factor. Please do be aware of the fact that your PC case/chassis needs to support this.

The I/O panel is LOADED with connectivity, many 3.1 ports with one type-c connector. Intel does not have native USB 3.1 Gen 2 support from the processor, hence the motherboard manufacturers make use of external 3rd party controllers such as ASMedia's 3142. USB 3.1 (5 Gbps) is coming from the chipset though.

The motherboard features four PCIe x16 Gen 3.0 expansion slots and a single x4 also being Gen 3.0. The 4 x PCIe 3.0 x16 configuration looks something like this when fully utilized: (x16, x16/x16, x16/x8/x16, x16/x8/x16/x8). A Realtek ALC1220 audio codec is the source for audio which will use enhanced quality capacitors, used on most motherboards these days.

• 1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)
• 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (black) Type-C
• 3 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (red) Type-A
• 8 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (blue) 
• 1 x Optical S/PDIF out
• 1 x Clear CMOS button(s)
• 1 x USB BIOS Flashback Button(s)
• 1 x ASUS Wi-Fi GO! module (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth v5.0)
• 5 x LED-illuminated audio jacks
• 1 x Aquantia AQC-107 10G LAN port

The board gets 1 x Intel I219-V Gigabit LAN controller and a sweet Aquantia 10G LAN controller as well. That's next to the Intel Wireless-AC 9260 module offering 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band (2.4GHz, 5GHz) up to 1.73 Mbps speed and Bluetooth 5.

 
The board is powered by two 8-pin ATX power headers to the processor, you could just use one, the other is optional but recommended when tweaking the proc. Depending on your preference you can opt for dual and quad channel memory. This board features support for up to DDR4 3600 MHz memory (overclocked), you may install up to 128 GB of it. If you look at the overview of the board you'll spot a nice black design with dark styled shielded elements on the heatsinks, IO and slots. The x16 PCI-Express slots all have metal shielding, making them more sturdy for heavy graphics cards as well as adding a certain aesthetic appeal.

Included in the bundle is standard kit as well as a WIFI antenna, many cables, incl. a RGB extended LED cable. Also included is an SLI bridge, this is the HB (high-bandwidth) version. I do wonder when and if motherboards are going to include an NVLINK connector at some point. Also included, a DIMM2 M.2 add-in board as well as a LED/FAN HUB. 

The entire accesories list is this:

• User's manual
• 6 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)
• 1 x ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antenna (Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac compliant)
• 1 x Fan Extension Card II (6 x 4-pin Chassis Fan connectors, 3 x RGB headers, 3 x 2-pin Thermal sensor header)
• 1 x Fan Extension Card II power cable
• 1 x Fan Extension Card II NODE connector cable
• 1 x Fan Extension Card II screw package
• 1 x SLI HB BRIDGE (2-WAY-M)
• 1 x ROG big sticker
• 1 x Q-Connector
• 1 x M.2 screw kit (long screw and mount)
• 2 x M.2 screw kit (short screw and mount)
• 1 x DIMM.2 extension card with 2 x M key, type 2242/2260/2280/22110 storage devices support (SATA & PCIE 3.0 x4 mode)
• 1 x ROG Logo Sticker(s)
• 1 x Extension cable for RGB strips (80 cm)
• 1 x Extension cable for Addressable LED
• 3 x Thermistor cable(s)
• 1 x USB drive with utilities and drivers 
• 1 x ROG coaster(s)
• 1 x ROG weave SATA 6G cable
• 1 x ROG thank you card