Since the release of Intel's latest Broadwell-E architecture, motherboard vendors have compiled a number of intriguing designs which cater towards the HEDT user. Unlike the majority of Haswell-E creations which opted for an understated theme, Broadwell-E motherboards tend to employ a more aggressive styling. This is probably due to the popularity of RGB lighting and prosumers willing to pay a premium to go beyond the typical 4-core/8-thread solution. Judging by the early Kaby Lake details, it seems the X99 platform is the only option for content creators and professionals who work with heavy multi-threaded workloads.

One suitable product which comes to mind is the Gigabyte X99-Ultra Gaming featuring a rather fetching red and white colour scheme. Not only that, the motherboard has a 2X copper PCB, 10K black capacitors, dual BIOS functionality, anti-sulfur resistor design and all digital power delivery. Also, the Gigabyte X99-Ultra Gaming includes two RJ45 ports and allows the end-user to select either the Killer E2400 or Intel I219V NIC. On another note, the motherboard supports extremely fast NVMe storage devices and USB 3.1 as well as a spectacular lighting system. More specifically, the RGB illumination emanates around the I/O cover, audio section PCH, DIMM slots, power circuitry and PCI-E connectors. Given Gigabyte's previously strong showing compared to the competition in X99 testing, I?m expecting the motherboard to excel and easily justify its current £249.99 asking price.