It's a great looking motherboard and I would love to build a new system with one, but.... I can imagine the terrible feeling I'd have next year once the 8-core Haswell-E X99 motherboards hit the streets. If there was ever a time to exercise a little patience....it's now.
The urge to order one of these is becoming harder to resist. I'd love to bench this with a 4930K. There's always going to something new and improved "just around the corner" so when is a good time to buy?
When you're not nearing the end of a platforms life cycle? Especially one that was feature gimped to begin with.
I think this argument is even stronger for Intel's enthusiast/prosumer platforms (X58, X79, X99) that typically have much longer lifespans than its mainstream platforms.
Can anybody explain to me how to operate the release lever for the first PCIe slot with a dual or triple-slot GPU installed? It's hard enough with most CPU-coolers installed, but with this badly placed cooler-block on this board it looks to be rather impossible.
Systems that have a heatsink in the way like this (there are a few), I basically end up using a screwdriver or a pen in the gap, making sure I don't slip and damage something on the motherboard. Perhaps use the eraser end of a pencil.
I have seen boards that instead of having just a pull pin on the "underside" (the side that has gpu and heatsink etc) which will be hard to reach for a double or triple slot gpu, it alsp has a pull pin on the other side too. But for a >=2 long(ish) pcb card setup that would be hard to use too. http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/product/2/2500/...
Looking at additional images of the board on Newegg; it appears that board just has a slightly wider version of the old single side release mechanism that has been replaced by the one on this ASUS board because they were all but impossible to release with 2 slot cards. The heatsink placement on this board will make pressing it with a finger difficult at best; but pushing strait down with a plastic spatula or the eraser end of a pencil should be much easier than trying to maneuver something under the card to hit a side latch.
Nice board but not worth buying, always was an Asus fan since the original Crosshair/Striker Extreme boards came out. There is no point in this whatsoever, the fact it does not natively support USB 3.0 and Sata 3 means the board is at a serious disadvantage from the get go let alone the next gen is right over the hill. There is just no point in investing in a dying platform, unless intel would have revamped the chipsets and allowed newer revisions of the motherboard to be equal with the Z87 platform.
X79 does not offer USB 3.0 via a native controller but it is provided via an add on controller. The controller used is actually the latest ASMedia 1042A which is XHCI 1.0 compatible meaning it requires no drivers under Windows 8 and offers the benefit over the native Intel controller of offering UASP performance under Windows 7 and WIndows 8. Additionally SATA6G is native to the SATA controller for X79. 2 Ports in addition there are supplemental controllers. Hopes this clarifies things for you.
This, Native USB 3 and Non-Native show hardly any performance degradation. Only non-native sata 6g is lacking. This has 2 ports, while i agree it's not enough, it's enough to put up a dual SSD RAID 0 Array, and use the 3rd part controller's for large media storage HDD's
I am fan of ASUS mobos since the X48. My trusty P5Q Deluxe still works!
This motherboard is a piece of art. However, even for an enthusiast like me and a die-hard ASUS fan, buying this mobo is hard to justify with new tech DDR4 and Haswell-E coming out in a few months. When the first DDR4 boards hit the market, everything before them would be obsolete and old tech. Waiting for the equivalent DDR4 new ASUS mobo.
i hate you "wait till next gen" type of guys. I purchase for features and available technologies, not for any other reason. In the enthusiast realm, there IS NO future proofing. And i actually love to purchase at the end of a generation not the start of a new one where the all the bugs dont get worked out until halfway through the lifecycle. I like stable established chipsets in the deluxe form. The only problem i have with this board is its not deluxe, meaning onboard video for backup. when Haswell comes out then blahwell-E 12 core will only be a year or 2 away. do i wait again? its neurotic,and completely misses the point of a consumer/prosumer market like this one. Its not cars that we are buying. its TOYS.
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TEAMSWITCHER - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
It's a great looking motherboard and I would love to build a new system with one, but....I can imagine the terrible feeling I'd have next year once the 8-core Haswell-E X99 motherboards hit the streets. If there was ever a time to exercise a little patience....it's now.
odwillia - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
I agree....waiting for Haswell-E. Nice motherboard though tempting...tw33k - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
The urge to order one of these is becoming harder to resist. I'd love to bench this with a 4930K. There's always going to something new and improved "just around the corner" so when is a good time to buy?dragonsqrrl - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
When you're not nearing the end of a platforms life cycle? Especially one that was feature gimped to begin with.I think this argument is even stronger for Intel's enthusiast/prosumer platforms (X58, X79, X99) that typically have much longer lifespans than its mainstream platforms.
ShieTar - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
Can anybody explain to me how to operate the release lever for the first PCIe slot with a dual or triple-slot GPU installed? It's hard enough with most CPU-coolers installed, but with this badly placed cooler-block on this board it looks to be rather impossible.IanCutress - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
Systems that have a heatsink in the way like this (there are a few), I basically end up using a screwdriver or a pen in the gap, making sure I don't slip and damage something on the motherboard. Perhaps use the eraser end of a pencil.LauRoman - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
I have seen boards that instead of having just a pull pin on the "underside" (the side that has gpu and heatsink etc) which will be hard to reach for a double or triple slot gpu, it alsp has a pull pin on the other side too. But for a >=2 long(ish) pcb card setup that would be hard to use too. http://www.gigabyte.com/fileupload/product/2/2500/...DanNeely - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
Looking at additional images of the board on Newegg; it appears that board just has a slightly wider version of the old single side release mechanism that has been replaced by the one on this ASUS board because they were all but impossible to release with 2 slot cards. The heatsink placement on this board will make pressing it with a finger difficult at best; but pushing strait down with a plastic spatula or the eraser end of a pencil should be much easier than trying to maneuver something under the card to hit a side latch.1Angelreloaded - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
Nice board but not worth buying, always was an Asus fan since the original Crosshair/Striker Extreme boards came out. There is no point in this whatsoever, the fact it does not natively support USB 3.0 and Sata 3 means the board is at a serious disadvantage from the get go let alone the next gen is right over the hill. There is just no point in investing in a dying platform, unless intel would have revamped the chipsets and allowed newer revisions of the motherboard to be equal with the Z87 platform.ASUSTechMKT - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
X79 does not offer USB 3.0 via a native controller but it is provided via an add on controller. The controller used is actually the latest ASMedia 1042A which is XHCI 1.0 compatible meaning it requires no drivers under Windows 8 and offers the benefit over the native Intel controller of offering UASP performance under Windows 7 and WIndows 8. Additionally SATA6G is native to the SATA controller for X79. 2 Ports in addition there are supplemental controllers. Hopes this clarifies things for you.Morawka - Saturday, November 9, 2013 - link
This, Native USB 3 and Non-Native show hardly any performance degradation. Only non-native sata 6g is lacking. This has 2 ports, while i agree it's not enough, it's enough to put up a dual SSD RAID 0 Array, and use the 3rd part controller's for large media storage HDD'ssna2 - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
one Question:Cant they use 2 chipsets? the X79 and the Z87 on the same motherboard to use the USB3 and extra Sata 3 ports ?
extide - Friday, November 8, 2013 - link
No.Achaios - Friday, November 15, 2013 - link
I am fan of ASUS mobos since the X48. My trusty P5Q Deluxe still works!This motherboard is a piece of art. However, even for an enthusiast like me and a die-hard ASUS fan, buying this mobo is hard to justify with new tech DDR4 and Haswell-E coming out in a few months. When the first DDR4 boards hit the market, everything before them would be obsolete and old tech. Waiting for the equivalent DDR4 new ASUS mobo.
Sladeofdark - Friday, January 3, 2014 - link
i hate you "wait till next gen" type of guys. I purchase for features and available technologies, not for any other reason. In the enthusiast realm, there IS NO future proofing. And i actually love to purchase at the end of a generation not the start of a new one where the all the bugs dont get worked out until halfway through the lifecycle. I like stable established chipsets in the deluxe form. The only problem i have with this board is its not deluxe, meaning onboard video for backup. when Haswell comes out then blahwell-E 12 core will only be a year or 2 away. do i wait again? its neurotic,and completely misses the point of a consumer/prosumer market like this one. Its not cars that we are buying. its TOYS.