As some may or may not have seen down in the Z170 section, I was going for a Z170 build, but that fell through as a seller showed an item in stock that wasn't.     I had been weighing the pros and cons between the two chipsets (Z170 vs X99) and price was somewhat the determing factor driving my decision to try and go Z170.   Well that point is now pretty much moot and I'm going X99.
 
I've looked at doing a 2011xx build more than once, but the expense always drove me towards Zxxx builds.  I mean, for the price of just a X99 (and earlier versions) motherboard and CPU, I could purchase most of the major PC components.  But I digress.  Im going X99.

The two boards I am looking at are the EVGA X99 Classified and the MSI XPower Titanium.   Just weighing the pros and cons between the two. 
 
CPU of choice will be a 6850K.
 
 

gtxjackbauer
If you're not doing extreme OCing, I mean you can on both FTW K and Classified, and funds are a matter, I'd go with the X99 FTW K because it was recently released and $100 cheaper. Its their newest and most updated MB.  Classified on one particular front is dated (M.2 PCIe 2.0) while the FTW K is updated (M.2 PCIe 3.0).

In real world usage (game load times and Windows boot times) there is exactly zero difference between a good quality SATA III drive and the latest NVME PCIE SSD at full bandwidth. File transfers are faster if the other drive(s) can keep up, and if you run a database that has deep queues you'll see a big jump over a SATA III SSD.

http://techreport.com/rev...o-512gb-ssd-reviewed/4
http://www.pcgamer.com/samsung-ssd-950-pro-review/

So going with a PCIE 2.0 X4 or a PCIE 3.0 X4 solution isn't going to matter much for a normal user.

And yes, I own a 950 Pro 512GB NVME M.2 drive in a PCIE 3.0 x4 expansion card in my X99 Classified, and those results are in line with what I see. And yes, I've got really flipping fast transfers to my 8 drive RAID 6 array.

I will not be doing extreme overclocking.   Light and or casual OC at best.   
 
Price isn't a huge issue. I think it's more a knee jerk "that's how much?!?" reaction to certain things.  Like 600.00 for an ASUS Rampage.  I can afford it, I just can't justify purchasing it.   That's kind of the issue I was running into with the X58/79/99 processors at the time.  Pretty much like the 6950x.   
 
Not likely I'll be using an M.2 drive.   If going simply by read/write numbers, I already have an SSD that's on par with most of the M.2 drives I've looked at.  
 
But comparing the FTW K to the Classified, it does tend to overshadow the Classy is some ways.  One thing about the FTW K that I'm not terribly fond of is the reason why it has the K designation.  Thankfully we still have the more reliable and stable Intel option.
 
 

3 way SLI setup.   

And good point.  I've been casually paying attention to the PCIe lanes.  So need to backtrack and look at all that.    
 
For the record, I've never needed to put MSI CS to the test.   But I have "tried" to get some information on the MSI forums.  

Dukman
PCIE lanes and and slot locations.  
 
Without getting into it too much, the best Im going to get is x16/x8/x16 and thats with the MSI boards.  XPower Titanium and XPower AC     If I am reading things correctly, the FTW K will only give me X8/X8/X8   But I suspect that I wont get even the x16/x8/x16 because I will need to use the bottom most PCIE slot for my sound card.  (x1)
 
Now how significant is the difference between 40 lanes being used and 24 lanes being used?  Or will I have to start crunching out benchmarks to actually see the difference?   My goal isn't to set high numbers in a benchmark.  My goal is to be able to run high to max settings on things while at 7680x1440 resolutions.  
 
 
 

(1-3% penalty with x8 ) - Benchmark kind of thing
 
Sound card ?  Most newer MB have decent sound on-board

Optical output to my surround sound receiver, has worked well enough for me
 
(edit typo)

OK considering I have some experience with MSI boards (not very good), I'll say this. You will see the difference between EVGA and MSI when it comes to RMA board or honoring warranties. On this point alone I pick EVGA every single time.
 
There are of course tiny little niggles where Classy is a bit out of shape because it's older: M.2 slot is connected to PCH not CPU so it's limited to Gen.2 transfers, there is also no Wi-Fi (if you need it...). On the other side MSI board has Realtek sound which is nowhere as good as Recon chip from Creative. 4 USB 3.0/1 ports are made by VIA which = total disaster. Much, much slower than Intel or ASMedia. 
 
Addition of U.2 port is pretty much (for the moment at least) pointless as the only drive which supports U.2 is Intel 750 and nothing else - excluding enterprise grade products of course which are in different price league.
 
Oh and when I look at MSI psychedelic BIOS I get dizzy and unwell really fast...

DukmanMy goal is to be able to run high to max settings on things while at 7680x1440 resolutions.

 
To maximize on the heavy loads, I would stick with a 40 lane CPU as the other won't have enough and go with x16/x16 lane negotiations because its shines on multi-screen high-resolution setups.

You snooze, you loose 

I just faced the same choice. I really wanted to go with the Classified, but in the end, I went with the FTW K. If they released a Classified K before I open the box I'd probably return the FTW K and get it. I just got the FTW K and my new RAM in last week, but haven't opened the FTW K yet. I don't have the cpu yet and may not for a couple more weeks (I'm getting a good deal from a friend on a i7 6900 - not paying $1000 for it), but my fingers are getting kind of itchy to break that shrinkwrap and fondle the new board, complete with ooos and aaaas.

As far as RAM goes, the various benchmark and DDR 4 review articles I read were from over a year ago, and were comparing the 2166 - 2666 MHz DDR 4 with CL14 or CL 15 against DDR 3200 and whatnot at CL 16 or CL 18, and showing only small differences in real world performance. The consensus of those reviews was that the lower speed at also lower CL would get you almost all of the bang for much less buck.

Thing is, though, now we have DDR 4 3200 ram that's been released with the same CL 14 or 15, which, looking at the effect of those settings on the lower-speed RAM, should result in a little more than the 1-3% typical real-world results of the DDR 3200. I ended up ordering the G.Skill Trident Z RAM at 3200 MHz CL 14. I still haven't seen any comprehensive RAM speed articles that factor in the new CL 14 DDR4 3200+ RAM, so this is a bit of a SWAG on whether it'll actually be measurably faster.

Sure, I could have gotten 64gb of slower RAM for the same price, but no workload I can reasonably anticipate putting on this machine in the next couple of years will likely break past 32gb of RAM and see any benefit from 64gb, whereas going with faster 32gb RAM will see improvements, if only maybe 2-5% for most real world usages, on most things I do.

Trying to decide if the Corsair Dominator Platinum is really worth it.  Im looking at PC3000 2x16 and the Dominator stuff is 20.00 to 40.00 more than all the other similar Corsair stuff.  50.00 more than the comparable GSkill Trident Z.  Plus Corsairs timings are all over the place.  15-17-17-35 vs the GSkill 15-15-15-35.
 
So I don't get it.  Why the big draw/demand for the Dominator RAM?   It's good looking RAM, but it seems thats about it.  

Dukman
I will not be doing extreme overclocking.   Light and or casual OC at best.   
 
Price isn't a huge issue. I think it's more a knee jerk "that's how much?!?" reaction to certain things.  Like 600.00 for an ASUS Rampage.  I can afford it, I just can't justify purchasing it.   That's kind of the issue I was running into with the X58/79/99 processors at the time.  Pretty much like the 6950x.   
 
Not likely I'll be using an M.2 drive.   If going simply by read/write numbers, I already have an SSD that's on par with most of the M.2 drives I've looked at.  
 
But comparing the FTW K to the Classified, it does tend to overshadow the Classy is some ways.  One thing about the FTW K that I'm not terribly fond of is the reason why it has the K designation.  Thankfully we still have the more reliable and stable Intel option.
 
 

The K is because of the Killer nic it has. It has one of each the Killer and a Intel nic controller. "Ethernet – 1x Killer NIC, 1x Intel Gigabit NIC"
 
http://www.evga.com/Products/Product.aspx?pn=151-BE-E097-KR
 

Dukman
I will not be doing extreme overclocking.   Light and or casual OC at best.   
 
Price isn't a huge issue. I think it's more a knee jerk "that's how much?!?" reaction to certain things.  Like 600.00 for an ASUS Rampage.  I can afford it, I just can't justify purchasing it.   That's kind of the issue I was running into with the X58/79/99 processors at the time.  Pretty much like the 6950x.   
 
Not likely I'll be using an M.2 drive.   If going simply by read/write numbers, I already have an SSD that's on par with most of the M.2 drives I've looked at.  
 
But comparing the FTW K to the Classified, it does tend to overshadow the Classy is some ways.  One thing about the FTW K that I'm not terribly fond of is the reason why it has the K designation.  Thankfully we still have the more reliable and stable Intel option.
 
 

I am not a huge Killer Networks fan, but I can tell you that DoubleShot Pro is nice, if and when it is working properly. I had a chance to use a PC with DSPro on my home network. I was in lust in a short amount of time. That said, I do normally prefer Intel networking solutions. The older (in age and usage)PCs utilizing I have at home running Intel based networking versus the two newer systems using Killer (not DSPro) solutions are no contest. The Intels load pages faster, games faster, connect to game servers faster and while neither has an abundance of disconnects, Killer does appear to "cut the cord" from time to time. The only exception to that was the weekend I had a chance to play around with DSPro.
 
Now, that having been said, I seriously enjoy my new EVGA X99 FTW K. Both the Intel Nic and Killer Nic are doing just fine. The FTW K is a great board. I watched a review of the MSI X99A XPOWER Gaming Titanium Review on OC3D and it had issues. Only one brand and model of DDR4 3200 RAM worked, period! ONE! My FTW K has run two models of G.Skill and one Corsair at rated speed without a hiccup.
 
Getting back to the DSPro feature. Officially it is not available on the FTW K, nor is it supported on the FTW by EVGA or Killer Networks. However, I created a thread with the help of others here on the EVGA forums on how to obtain this feature with the FTW K.  You can go here: http://forums.evga.com/UPDATE-July-11-2016-Killer-LAN-and-Doubleshot-Support-m2492532.aspx
 
 

gtxjackbauer
I thought the K was for Kingpin.  

 

If you didn't choose board for X99 than logic way is ASUS Rampage V Extreme - Edition 10TH.
Or you can find for 300$ or less used Rampage V Extreme in excellent condition.
Board is masterpeace of ASUS. To be honest maybe I would like to look as RVE only black and with new features but new board is excellent as well.
You can't imagine how they are heavy and well build, you will be shocked... You will think that inside box is 3 motherboards not one.
Board is EATX full of different features...no place for needle to fit. 
 

 
But look that board, 10 Intel SATA III, U.2, M.2, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, two different Intel Gigabit LAN, I218V and I211-AT, AURA RGB Strip Connector, option for disable PCI-E slot, option for enable two x16 slots for SLI only, option to disable empty memory slots, excellent sound card, USB 3.1 A and C, ASUS BIOS Flashback... You can flash BIOS on motherboard with PSU only, without hardware.
SICK BOARD. 
Best gaming combination at them moment, RVE10TH - 32GB 3200MHz and i7-6850K OC to 4.4GHz with GTX1080.