Connectors and I/O

Totally ASRock equipped the X99 WS with ten angled SATA ports. All ports offer 6Gbps bandwidth and they've been wired directly to the X99 PCH. There is also a M.2 x4 expansion slot, which has been connected through four PCI Express 2.0 lanes. If you decide to use the M.2 slot you should keep in mind, that the third full-size PCI Express slot will be deactivated. Overall there is good storage flexibility with the motherboard and workstations as well as rigs for enthusiasts can be equipped with plenty of drives. On this PCB you'll also find practical onboard power- and reset-buttons in the top right corner of the board and there is also a debug display.

 

Totally you'll find six fan headers on the ASRock X99 WS which is more than enough, to provide a well equipped high-end system or also a workstation with fresh air. The fan headers are located around the CPU socket as well as spread over the motherboard. Unfortunately not all headers offer 4 pins which means that you can't regulate fan speeds in BIOS or Windows for alle fans attached to the board.

  

Looking at the external connectors directly at the back-panel ASRock equipped the X99 WS with one PS2 mouse/keyboard connector, four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, four USB 2.0/1.1 ports, two gigabit ethernet ports, an eSATA connector as well as an optical out and an analogue audio panel. Furtheremore you'll also find a clear CMOS button.