At that price point you really should be considering an X99-platform system. You're scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to diminishing returns.
Lot of talking up the gigabyte 4 way SLI, which was never even tested... As a reviewer wouldn't you wonder if it even works? Curious about the performance? Isn't that the whole reason for this website? To see how the latest and greatest tech performs? Anyways 500 bucks. Nah.
I was thinking that same thing. Why are motherboards going up so much in cost when the Processors have taken over most if not all of what used to be the Northbridge functions?
If anything the motherboards should be worth less than they were before because for the most part, they aren't providing as much functionality. Granted, some have better voltage control and over-clocking capability, but that shouldn't add much to the cost comparatively. And this isn't the enthusiast lineup either. Not sure what these companies expect.
your paying for the software on most of this high dollar hardware stuff. i know you are probably no interested in that stuff, but asus see's it differently. their magins will always be more than Asrock, so they have to differentiate somehow.
Medical equipment is notoriously overpriced for what it is, but it uses custom software that nobody else makes, so they can get away with jacking up the price 2000% over the bill of materials.
Medical business is a different animal. The standards and certifications they have to meet/pass means even the basic functions must be implemented in a different (more expensive) way. Things that are acceptable on a consumer product might be totally unacceptable on a medical one where a BSOD might actually involve a death ;).
The NB functions were integrated into the CPU but then again motherboards didn't always have 2 NICs, WiFi, tricked up audio, bundled OC panels, etc. And don't forget about the 80/20 rule. You get 80% or results with 20% of the cost but then hang on to your sit because the cherry on top comes at a price. Optimizing the board layout and traces costs and if you want it you'll have to dish out the $500. It's always been the same, the closer you get to the top the quicker the costs pile up.
I for one would never buy ROG again. Half of the stuff it offers is just wasted on me and I considered most features to be overkill and wasteful. I realized that after I started using (or not using) them. But then again there's always a market for this so why not? :)
If you want the best quality product, then you will pay for it. That is true of any product. The best ones generally take more work to create. It is not simply the cost of the goods to create it. The labor costs can be very high. If you are satisfied with lower quality, then so be it. But there are some who simply want the best and are willing to pay for it. A $500 motherboard is nothing compared to the $25,000+ cost of a high end PC which may include a $2000 CPU, $1200 GPU, $1000 SSD, $8000 data storage system, $5000 professional monitor, etc.
The processors that work with Z170 have a newer architecture and better performance per-core, while X99 can support processors with more cores (and tons of memory), but generally less per-core performance.
It depends on what you need. Gaming, for example, still has trouble scaling even to four cores and can benefit quite a bit from more per-core performance. That said, spending $500 on a motherboard (X99 or Z170) is something I'll never understand.
Well if you dump a grand on an extreme processor and not half a grand on a board you could get 8 cores that OC up to the same as the K series parts. Double the threaded performance but same single threaded performance.
I would have to agree, unless you are a hardcore overclocker. For those interested in hugely powerful graphics setups, this doesn't really cut it (dual GPU SLI only). For those who want huge storage arrays, this doesn't cut it either (half dozen SATA ports). Those interested in liquid nitrogen overclocks and need those last few mhz would find a use for it though...
Normally I would have agreed, spending more than 250$ on Z/P series chipsets is useless and its better to go to X platform. But in this case there seems to be a good value in terms of bundle. That 10G Nic is worth the extra. There are no X99 boards below $500 mark that come with 10G nics.
"The cost of an i7-6700K plus a $500 motherboard comes in at $750 MSRP, "
These prices seem really off. As of today, Amazon has the list price of the i7-6700k as $419.99. Simple math gets you to $919.99 with a $500 mobo, not $750.
Box price for 6700K is $350 (we've been covering the ups and downs of the price of the Skylake parts, see the link on the first page, where from time to time it is hitting MSRP), making it more $850, so I'm $100 out :) Updated. It's sill a big jump between the two, for sure.
So now I had to check Intel's "Recommended Customer Price" for the i7-5820k. Intel's site says box price is $396. So that + a $250 m/b would make the combo around $650, not $550. That would lower the different to more around $200. Still not insignificant, as that is the price of a decent m/b, but less than the previous cited difference.
Also, thanks for adding in the pricing info. It helps to give a measure of worth to the end-user to know the premium they are paying & what essentially you are buying over a more standard board.
Yes, $500 isn't exactly a princely sum, but I don't see value in spending that much on a single component of a computer. That's a week's play money for outings, shopping, and casual dining. Using it instead to buy a motherboard of all things only demonstrates to others in your social circles that you don't quite have your priorities sorted out. So thanks for the effort ASUS, but no thanks.
Yes, blowing that much money on frivolous casual dining, outings and shopping is obviously a demonstration of financial brilliance! Priorities are as different among people as personal beliefs or political views. I won't pay the premium for this motherboard either, especially without dual M.2 slots to RAID NVMe SSDs. The OC Panel is unwanted bling to me as well, but I can see other people finding the M8E to be their "thing."
"Yes, blowing that much money on frivolous casual dining, outings and shopping is obviously a demonstration of financial brilliance!"
It most certainly isn't wasted money and is part of my "fun cash" allotment to myself after bills are paid and my savings and retirement funds are given their budgeted amounts. So what you're effectively seeing is the result of financial planning and numerous years strictly sticking to a budget. It's not brilliance, but it is a very regimented commitment to a monetary standard.
I don't think you actually read the chain of posts above yours fully before replying. It doesn't seem like you've comprehended the nuances of the discussion prior to developing feelings about it.
As with most things, the rationality of spending that much on a motherboard really depends on how much money you have to spend. If you make 500k a year and like this stuff, why the hell not.
yeah people who buy this stuff, besides a few extreme overclockers, are usually rich kids who get into this stuff and just buy the best. They're paying a premium but that premium isn't too much for them so that's good for asus and everybody else.
Well, I have old Extreme board and the best part is that it has been a trouble free instrument in my setting. The Mother board is now 8-9 years old and still working perfectly! You pay for quality components. I have done only very minor overclocking and preferred stability and durability over maximum performance.
I just built my Mom a new computer. The last one lasted 7 years. The new one has a Maximus VIII Hero from Fry's. If Fry's stocked the extreme I would have bought that, but limited time meant not waiting for an Amazon delivery. Assuming the same 7 year life span (old comp still worked, just not compatible with 8TB drives), it is less than $100 a year for the MB. Like the old one it is not overclocked and the extra lifespan from better components means I do not have to worry about it like I used to when she got Dells. Does she need 64GB of memory, nope. 2TB Samsung Pro? Nope. 2 8TB HGST He8 drives for the raid, nope. Netgear M4100-D12G switch with all shielded CAT7 cabling? Nope. Thermaltake Core 71 case? Nope, but she wanted a taller case so it is easier to put stuff on top of it and 71 sounds like better quality than 51.
Is it worth maxing as much as possible? Yep. I anticipate that this machine will last 10 years and never break, unless 4k VR home movies suddenly becomes a thing and she gets into it and I have to fill up a few more drive bays or get a stupid expensive NAS. Oh yeah and Ashes of the Singularity is gonna scream.
Do these sort of mobos have particularly high end audio integrated? I could see an argument for paying more if you e.g. replaced a $100+ high end audio card.
Ditto I guess for the wifi, given a lot of mobos don't seem to have this build in (something I never quite understood why).
The Z170 deluxe has the same 3x3 MiMo WiFi ac built in and costs much less. I don't think there are 3x3 MiMo cards you can buy. The best I could find was the 2x2 intel one for around 70$.
Don't know about sound quality, but it should be good.
I really wish Anandtech would test the headphone out with maybe 32 ohm headphones rather than just the line out. I'd gladly pay extra for a board with good headphone out, but right now it is almost impossible to know which manufacturers are skimping and which are providing a quality output.
For someone wanting better headphone out performance than a high end motherboard, I would not recommend an Audigy FX. The ALC 898 is a downgrade from either the Sabre in this Asus or the ALC1150 found on most good mobos, and for that price, I doubt its ability to drive high end headphones.
The included Sabre chip on this Asus board is a quality component, but there are still likely some limitations to integrated audio solutions. For the few people desiring greater performance on their headphone out line, a USB or TOSLINK based dedicated headphone DAC & amp can be had. Decent ones start around $100 and scale up from there.
I would expect the only reason to buy additional equipment in this case would be if you need to provide greater than 2V RMS that the Sabre line driver can provide which is already quite decent.
He didn't say he wanted more than a $500 motherboard, he said he wanted to know the performance. I pointed out that the performance is pretty meaningless since the Audigy FX exists. Why would you spend $500 on a motherboard when you can grab a $120 one and throw a $25 card in there that will not only be an upgrade over the ALC892 (or worse) that it will have, but has a headphone driver as well. There will be no discernible difference between an ALC898 and a 1150.
>if you care about audio you're exiting it on hdmi anyway
Maybe for speakers, but not headphones. Good headphone amps on receivers are surprisingly rare. HDMI replaces line out for a lot of people, which is why its unfortunate that reviewers typically test line out and ignore headphone out.
If you're only using headphones you can still do TOSlink out to an excellent outboard DAC/amp for $150-300 (less than an AVR) and it'll blow away anything that could be built into a mobo... Or just get a Xonar STX for $150, still pretty solid and the amp will still be better than anything on a mobo.
For headphone equipment, most are using USB audio or TOSLINK in my experience, but the idea is the same. I still respect the effort that Asus put into the audio system.
Even a $300 pro-level Asus board has exceptional on-board sound; better than many soundcards even in the $100-$150 range. In my opinion, the price on most sound cards is way too high, though the low demand due to people using great on-board sound might be the reason for the high price.
This motherboard only makes sense for people who need low DPC latency, so mostly people in the audio/music industry. Otherwise the market is flooded with excellent 150 $ motherboards, which leave 350 $ to spend on a better graphic card, NVMe SSD, more memory or whatever makes sense for the user.
I know you guys are hard at work on all the different articles and reviews and I appreciate it, but just wondering where is the article you guys promised 2 months ago on a review and ipc analysis of the Athlon x4 845? I'm really looking forward to that since depending on how big of an improvement Excavator is it could also affect Zen (since AMD said Zen is Excavator+ 40% or more), and I'm super excited for Zen. It's been nearly 2 months, and I know the x4 845 wasn't out then but it's been on the market for at least a month now. Just curious on how far you guys are on that and if it is coming out soon. If you don't know what I'm talking about and somehow completely forgot about it, here is the link to the original comment: http://www.anandtech.com/comments/10000/who-contro...
On page one, the Motherboard Comparison table is all screwed up. If you pick Asrock Z170 Extreme 7+, you get the stats for the MSI Gaming M7. If you pick the MSI Gaming M7, you get the stats of something else. If you pick the Asus Z170A you get the stats for the Asrock Extreme 7+. Please fix!
Given that this ASUS board has no PLX chip, might as well get the ASRock Z170 OC Formula instead. It doesnt have the Alpine Ridge / TB3, or the 3x3 Wifi. But then few people use such things anyhow.
It seems no review of the OC Formula here because at the time it wasnt out yet, and also because you reviewed the ASROCK Extreme 11 instead... yet the OCF is a great board.
There are no new astons for under 100K, not USD. You might find a stripped one for less than 100K British pound, but since you referenced USD thats a no go.
2x U.2 NVMe + 6x SATA-3 (able to run all 8 ports simultaneously, SATA-3 needs to be able to run RAID-5 or 5e) No wifi, no integrated sound (waste of cash for me) integrated Intel NIC (1Gbps+) 2+ USB 3.1 type C ports 6 USB type A ports (2 of those USB3.0) 4x DDR4 1xDisplayPort, 1xHDMI 2.0 3-4 PWM for fans (ideally at least one powerful enough to drive water pump) 2x PCIe 16x (can be in 8x/8x mode) 1x PCIe 4x 1-2x PCIe 1x (one should be sound card low latency friendly) LGA 1151
That would fit exactly my requirements for currently ideal mobo.
Best bet is the ASRock Z170 Extreme 7 -- it has 3x M.2 ports which you can get the adapters and convert them to U.2 -- there are no boards out with more than one U.2 built in right now.
Also, can't believe there is SATAe on this board. WHEN WILL IT DIE!!
agreed, SATAe is useless... So far the only board with 2xU.2 I found is Asus's Maximus VIII Hero Alpha... but then there are lots of features on it I could live without without giving me a wrinkle :-)
I had an older Maximus Formula and was way overdue for an update to my rig. I opted for the Asus Z170 Deluxe with dual-LANs. I am not a gamer and wanted a current tip of the technology top-dog with the hopes that it will last me as long as my previous ROG rig lasted, once setup. Massive learning curve prior to build. Everything worked fine but my only regret is the fact that these high-end MoBo types require much maintenance. I don't know >> seems like there at least 10 Asus applications that are installed in Win10, and one that is called "EZUpdate" but even if it worked properly to tell me the available updates, it still takes a lot of time to maintain the beast. You have been warned!
Your choice of GPU's is baffling, to say the least... Why not, test using more common-place/popularly used GPU's for more realistic testing.
I am not saying or advocating that this will shame the Maximus Extreme, but at least use up-to-date GPU's, as you are running the latest CPU/RAM/Motherboard layout(s) for this...
Asus pricing this motherboard so high is just a move to raise the prices of the their more mainstream motherboards in the future. Nvidia does it too and soon everybody will do it. You were used to upgrade a certain PC component with n amount of money in the past years? Well, how about you try this next-gen pricing: TWICE what you used to pay :)
I bought one of these boards back in June because I'm building a No Compromise RIG Only problem is that the board has been back to Asus 3 times now with failure to post. Customer service at ASUS is the worst with phone support not talking with tech support and complete lack of follow thru or ability to communicate what work if any has been done.
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Flunk - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
At that price point you really should be considering an X99-platform system. You're scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to diminishing returns.xthetenth - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
This board does make sense for people who need a set of high end features that precludes any other boards, but that's few and far between.dsumanik - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Lot of talking up the gigabyte 4 way SLI, which was never even tested... As a reviewer wouldn't you wonder if it even works? Curious about the performance? Isn't that the whole reason for this website? To see how the latest and greatest tech performs? Anyways 500 bucks. Nah.jameskatt - Saturday, May 14, 2016 - link
That is the whole point. ASUS makes this motherboard for the few and far between.Ubercake - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
I was thinking that same thing. Why are motherboards going up so much in cost when the Processors have taken over most if not all of what used to be the Northbridge functions?If anything the motherboards should be worth less than they were before because for the most part, they aren't providing as much functionality. Granted, some have better voltage control and over-clocking capability, but that shouldn't add much to the cost comparatively. And this isn't the enthusiast lineup either. Not sure what these companies expect.
willis936 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
You don't want to see the BOM of a $500 non server board.jasonelmore - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
your paying for the software on most of this high dollar hardware stuff. i know you are probably no interested in that stuff, but asus see's it differently. their magins will always be more than Asrock, so they have to differentiate somehow.Medical equipment is notoriously overpriced for what it is, but it uses custom software that nobody else makes, so they can get away with jacking up the price 2000% over the bill of materials.
close - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Medical business is a different animal. The standards and certifications they have to meet/pass means even the basic functions must be implemented in a different (more expensive) way. Things that are acceptable on a consumer product might be totally unacceptable on a medical one where a BSOD might actually involve a death ;).The NB functions were integrated into the CPU but then again motherboards didn't always have 2 NICs, WiFi, tricked up audio, bundled OC panels, etc. And don't forget about the 80/20 rule. You get 80% or results with 20% of the cost but then hang on to your sit because the cherry on top comes at a price. Optimizing the board layout and traces costs and if you want it you'll have to dish out the $500. It's always been the same, the closer you get to the top the quicker the costs pile up.
I for one would never buy ROG again. Half of the stuff it offers is just wasted on me and I considered most features to be overkill and wasteful. I realized that after I started using (or not using) them. But then again there's always a market for this so why not? :)
jameskatt - Saturday, May 14, 2016 - link
If you want the best quality product, then you will pay for it. That is true of any product. The best ones generally take more work to create. It is not simply the cost of the goods to create it. The labor costs can be very high. If you are satisfied with lower quality, then so be it. But there are some who simply want the best and are willing to pay for it. A $500 motherboard is nothing compared to the $25,000+ cost of a high end PC which may include a $2000 CPU, $1200 GPU, $1000 SSD, $8000 data storage system, $5000 professional monitor, etc.chlamchowder - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
The processors that work with Z170 have a newer architecture and better performance per-core, while X99 can support processors with more cores (and tons of memory), but generally less per-core performance.It depends on what you need. Gaming, for example, still has trouble scaling even to four cores and can benefit quite a bit from more per-core performance. That said, spending $500 on a motherboard (X99 or Z170) is something I'll never understand.
willis936 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Well if you dump a grand on an extreme processor and not half a grand on a board you could get 8 cores that OC up to the same as the K series parts. Double the threaded performance but same single threaded performance.bill.rookard - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
I would have to agree, unless you are a hardcore overclocker. For those interested in hugely powerful graphics setups, this doesn't really cut it (dual GPU SLI only). For those who want huge storage arrays, this doesn't cut it either (half dozen SATA ports). Those interested in liquid nitrogen overclocks and need those last few mhz would find a use for it though...Chaitanya - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Normally I would have agreed, spending more than 250$ on Z/P series chipsets is useless and its better to go to X platform. But in this case there seems to be a good value in terms of bundle. That 10G Nic is worth the extra. There are no X99 boards below $500 mark that come with 10G nics.romrunning - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
"The cost of an i7-6700K plus a $500 motherboard comes in at $750 MSRP, "These prices seem really off. As of today, Amazon has the list price of the i7-6700k as $419.99. Simple math gets you to $919.99 with a $500 mobo, not $750.
Ian Cutress - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Box price for 6700K is $350 (we've been covering the ups and downs of the price of the Skylake parts, see the link on the first page, where from time to time it is hitting MSRP), making it more $850, so I'm $100 out :) Updated. It's sill a big jump between the two, for sure.romrunning - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
So now I had to check Intel's "Recommended Customer Price" for the i7-5820k. Intel's site says box price is $396. So that + a $250 m/b would make the combo around $650, not $550. That would lower the different to more around $200. Still not insignificant, as that is the price of a decent m/b, but less than the previous cited difference.romrunning - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Also, thanks for adding in the pricing info. It helps to give a measure of worth to the end-user to know the premium they are paying & what essentially you are buying over a more standard board.ImSpartacus - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
I think he meant a 6600K.BrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Yes, $500 isn't exactly a princely sum, but I don't see value in spending that much on a single component of a computer. That's a week's play money for outings, shopping, and casual dining. Using it instead to buy a motherboard of all things only demonstrates to others in your social circles that you don't quite have your priorities sorted out. So thanks for the effort ASUS, but no thanks.Questor - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Yes, blowing that much money on frivolous casual dining, outings and shopping is obviously a demonstration of financial brilliance! Priorities are as different among people as personal beliefs or political views. I won't pay the premium for this motherboard either, especially without dual M.2 slots to RAID NVMe SSDs. The OC Panel is unwanted bling to me as well, but I can see other people finding the M8E to be their "thing."BrokenCrayons - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
"Yes, blowing that much money on frivolous casual dining, outings and shopping is obviously a demonstration of financial brilliance!"It most certainly isn't wasted money and is part of my "fun cash" allotment to myself after bills are paid and my savings and retirement funds are given their budgeted amounts. So what you're effectively seeing is the result of financial planning and numerous years strictly sticking to a budget. It's not brilliance, but it is a very regimented commitment to a monetary standard.
sweenish - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
What you're failing to understand is that "wasted" money to you is not necessarily wasted money to someone else.You're way of doing things is not universal, and neither is how you decide to spend your money for fun. Get over yourself.
BrokenCrayons - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
I don't think you actually read the chain of posts above yours fully before replying. It doesn't seem like you've comprehended the nuances of the discussion prior to developing feelings about it.A5 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
I don't think anyone buying a $500 motherboard runs in social circles that have the same priorities as you do.It's obviously an insane product, but I assume it brings in a decent profit at low volumes.
ASEdouardD - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
As with most things, the rationality of spending that much on a motherboard really depends on how much money you have to spend. If you make 500k a year and like this stuff, why the hell not.Murloc - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
yeah people who buy this stuff, besides a few extreme overclockers, are usually rich kids who get into this stuff and just buy the best.They're paying a premium but that premium isn't too much for them so that's good for asus and everybody else.
haukionkannel - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Well, I have old Extreme board and the best part is that it has been a trouble free instrument in my setting. The Mother board is now 8-9 years old and still working perfectly!You pay for quality components. I have done only very minor overclocking and preferred stability and durability over maximum performance.
Azethoth - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
I just built my Mom a new computer. The last one lasted 7 years. The new one has a Maximus VIII Hero from Fry's. If Fry's stocked the extreme I would have bought that, but limited time meant not waiting for an Amazon delivery. Assuming the same 7 year life span (old comp still worked, just not compatible with 8TB drives), it is less than $100 a year for the MB. Like the old one it is not overclocked and the extra lifespan from better components means I do not have to worry about it like I used to when she got Dells. Does she need 64GB of memory, nope. 2TB Samsung Pro? Nope. 2 8TB HGST He8 drives for the raid, nope. Netgear M4100-D12G switch with all shielded CAT7 cabling? Nope. Thermaltake Core 71 case? Nope, but she wanted a taller case so it is easier to put stuff on top of it and 71 sounds like better quality than 51.Is it worth maxing as much as possible? Yep. I anticipate that this machine will last 10 years and never break, unless 4k VR home movies suddenly becomes a thing and she gets into it and I have to fill up a few more drive bays or get a stupid expensive NAS. Oh yeah and Ashes of the Singularity is gonna scream.
Gastec - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Get outta here! 500 bucks is pocket change, I pay more to fill up my Reventón every week :)arayoflight - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Is there anything meaningful that it offers over Z170 deluxe, which is I guess the only option of you want fast onboard WiFi.romrunning - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Yes - Thunderbolt3Jon Tseng - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Do these sort of mobos have particularly high end audio integrated? I could see an argument for paying more if you e.g. replaced a $100+ high end audio card.Ditto I guess for the wifi, given a lot of mobos don't seem to have this build in (something I never quite understood why).
arayoflight - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
The Z170 deluxe has the same 3x3 MiMo WiFi ac built in and costs much less. I don't think there are 3x3 MiMo cards you can buy. The best I could find was the 2x2 intel one for around 70$.Don't know about sound quality, but it should be good.
extide - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
You could read the review, but yes, they have pretty good onboard audio.saratoga4 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
I really wish Anandtech would test the headphone out with maybe 32 ohm headphones rather than just the line out. I'd gladly pay extra for a board with good headphone out, but right now it is almost impossible to know which manufacturers are skimping and which are providing a quality output.DominionSeraph - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
You can get an Audigy FX for $28. $25 from AmazonWarehouseDeals. (price goes up and down a tad -- I got mine for $22)The ALC898 it uses is no slouch.
extide - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
That would be a downgrade.jptech7 - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
For someone wanting better headphone out performance than a high end motherboard, I would not recommend an Audigy FX. The ALC 898 is a downgrade from either the Sabre in this Asus or the ALC1150 found on most good mobos, and for that price, I doubt its ability to drive high end headphones.The included Sabre chip on this Asus board is a quality component, but there are still likely some limitations to integrated audio solutions. For the few people desiring greater performance on their headphone out line, a USB or TOSLINK based dedicated headphone DAC & amp can be had. Decent ones start around $100 and scale up from there.
I would expect the only reason to buy additional equipment in this case would be if you need to provide greater than 2V RMS that the Sabre line driver can provide which is already quite decent.
DominionSeraph - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
He didn't say he wanted more than a $500 motherboard, he said he wanted to know the performance. I pointed out that the performance is pretty meaningless since the Audigy FX exists. Why would you spend $500 on a motherboard when you can grab a $120 one and throw a $25 card in there that will not only be an upgrade over the ALC892 (or worse) that it will have, but has a headphone driver as well.There will be no discernible difference between an ALC898 and a 1150.
Murloc - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
if you care about audio you're exiting it on hdmi anyway, so it'd be a waste of money.saratoga4 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
>if you care about audio you're exiting it on hdmi anywayMaybe for speakers, but not headphones. Good headphone amps on receivers are surprisingly rare. HDMI replaces line out for a lot of people, which is why its unfortunate that reviewers typically test line out and ignore headphone out.
Impulses - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
If you're only using headphones you can still do TOSlink out to an excellent outboard DAC/amp for $150-300 (less than an AVR) and it'll blow away anything that could be built into a mobo... Or just get a Xonar STX for $150, still pretty solid and the amp will still be better than anything on a mobo.jptech7 - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
For headphone equipment, most are using USB audio or TOSLINK in my experience, but the idea is the same. I still respect the effort that Asus put into the audio system.Ubercake - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Even a $300 pro-level Asus board has exceptional on-board sound; better than many soundcards even in the $100-$150 range. In my opinion, the price on most sound cards is way too high, though the low demand due to people using great on-board sound might be the reason for the high price.Silma - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
This motherboard only makes sense for people who need low DPC latency, so mostly people in the audio/music industry.Otherwise the market is flooded with excellent 150 $ motherboards, which leave 350 $ to spend on a better graphic card, NVMe SSD, more memory or whatever makes sense for the user.
willis936 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Dude it's 2016.Dr. Swag - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
I know you guys are hard at work on all the different articles and reviews and I appreciate it, but just wondering where is the article you guys promised 2 months ago on a review and ipc analysis of the Athlon x4 845? I'm really looking forward to that since depending on how big of an improvement Excavator is it could also affect Zen (since AMD said Zen is Excavator+ 40% or more), and I'm super excited for Zen. It's been nearly 2 months, and I know the x4 845 wasn't out then but it's been on the market for at least a month now. Just curious on how far you guys are on that and if it is coming out soon.If you don't know what I'm talking about and somehow completely forgot about it, here is the link to the original comment:
http://www.anandtech.com/comments/10000/who-contro...
ghanz - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Seconded.extide - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
On page one, the Motherboard Comparison table is all screwed up. If you pick Asrock Z170 Extreme 7+, you get the stats for the MSI Gaming M7. If you pick the MSI Gaming M7, you get the stats of something else. If you pick the Asus Z170A you get the stats for the Asrock Extreme 7+. Please fix!extide - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
I am sure they are all messed up, those are only the ones I knew were wrong off the top of my head.Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
$500 for +1% fps? Sounds like a really smart buy.extide - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
No... that's not why you buy this board...Gunbuster - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Same as $700 phones when a $200 or even $30 handset does the job 95% as well...Gastec - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
But if the phone is gold plated and encrusted with diamonds it does the job A LOT better. Now I dare you to name the job ;)dreamcat4 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
Given that this ASUS board has no PLX chip, might as well get the ASRock Z170 OC Formula instead. It doesnt have the Alpine Ridge / TB3, or the 3x3 Wifi. But then few people use such things anyhow.It seems no review of the OC Formula here because at the time it wasnt out yet, and also because you reviewed the ASROCK Extreme 11 instead... yet the OCF is a great board.
dreamcat4 - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
... Extreme 7+ was what I meant to say at the end there.extide - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Yeah the Asrock Z170 Extreme 7+ is my fav Z170 board out right now. Dual (good) nic's, 3 m.2, no other extra BS, reasonable price, etc etc.HideOut - Thursday, April 7, 2016 - link
There are no new astons for under 100K, not USD. You might find a stripped one for less than 100K British pound, but since you referenced USD thats a no go.HollyDOL - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Ok... and now somebody could make a mobo for me:2x U.2 NVMe + 6x SATA-3 (able to run all 8 ports simultaneously, SATA-3 needs to be able to run RAID-5 or 5e)
No wifi, no integrated sound (waste of cash for me)
integrated Intel NIC (1Gbps+)
2+ USB 3.1 type C ports
6 USB type A ports (2 of those USB3.0)
4x DDR4
1xDisplayPort, 1xHDMI 2.0
3-4 PWM for fans (ideally at least one powerful enough to drive water pump)
2x PCIe 16x (can be in 8x/8x mode)
1x PCIe 4x
1-2x PCIe 1x (one should be sound card low latency friendly)
LGA 1151
That would fit exactly my requirements for currently ideal mobo.
extide - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
Best bet is the ASRock Z170 Extreme 7 -- it has 3x M.2 ports which you can get the adapters and convert them to U.2 -- there are no boards out with more than one U.2 built in right now.Also, can't believe there is SATAe on this board. WHEN WILL IT DIE!!
HollyDOL - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
agreed, SATAe is useless...So far the only board with 2xU.2 I found is Asus's Maximus VIII Hero Alpha... but then there are lots of features on it I could live without without giving me a wrinkle :-)
shineproductions - Saturday, April 9, 2016 - link
ASRock Z170 Extreme7+ is an excellent board.pseudoid - Friday, April 8, 2016 - link
I had an older Maximus Formula and was way overdue for an update to my rig. I opted for the Asus Z170 Deluxe with dual-LANs.I am not a gamer and wanted a current tip of the technology top-dog with the hopes that it will last me as long as my previous ROG rig lasted, once setup. Massive learning curve prior to build. Everything worked fine but my only regret is the fact that these high-end MoBo types require much maintenance.
I don't know >> seems like there at least 10 Asus applications that are installed in Win10, and one that is called "EZUpdate" but even if it worked properly to tell me the available updates, it still takes a lot of time to maintain the beast.
You have been warned!
Oxford Guy - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
"Option"Oxford Guy - Tuesday, April 12, 2016 - link
Yes, medical tech actually has to work reliably.olePigeon - Thursday, April 14, 2016 - link
Is there any reason why they don't use tantalum capacitors? They'd be much lower profile and, in my opinion, would look nicer.vacavalier - Sunday, April 24, 2016 - link
Your choice of GPU's is baffling, to say the least... Why not, test using more common-place/popularly used GPU's for more realistic testing.I am not saying or advocating that this will shame the Maximus Extreme, but at least use up-to-date GPU's, as you are running the latest CPU/RAM/Motherboard layout(s) for this...
Just saying...
jp209087 - Monday, September 5, 2016 - link
No doubt this is one of the best gaming system to buy, but its also costly too. Also consider review this <a href="http://www.ezydeal.net/Category/DESKTOP-and-MONITO...Gastec - Thursday, September 22, 2016 - link
Asus pricing this motherboard so high is just a move to raise the prices of the their more mainstream motherboards in the future. Nvidia does it too and soon everybody will do it. You were used to upgrade a certain PC component with n amount of money in the past years? Well, how about you try this next-gen pricing: TWICE what you used to pay :)north0019 - Thursday, October 6, 2016 - link
I bought one of these boards back in June because I'm building a No Compromise RIGOnly problem is that the board has been back to Asus 3 times now with failure to post.
Customer service at ASUS is the worst with phone support not talking with tech support and complete lack of follow thru or ability to communicate what work if any has been done.