Well, it all started when i wanted to buy a 2600k setup, so i basically started from scratch, and i picked up this and a 2600k.
The PROS
Great design, looks good
Very easy to mount after marker coolers
Thermal Armour and Temp Sensors are great
Software it comes with is great (for monitoring temps)
UEFI replaces Bios
SLI/Crossfire READY
The Cons
Some Pci cards will not clear the thermal armor and those they wont fit.
Example: NZXT color strips LED
Sometimes it will do "post" cycling.
So far this has been a great mother board, so far ive tuned my OC stable at 1.3v and 4.3ghz with no problems pretty much what so ever.
i should mention that the standard form factor of the NZXT light strips is "lower" then the average sound card, and this is probally why it wont fit on this board.
It's a great motherboard. If you are going to be using this platform or upgrading to ivy bridge and sticking with it for awhile, then go with this board because at least you'll be able to upgrade your gpu to either AMD or Nvidia and not have a problem with SLI/Crossfire if you chose to do so. Overclocking is a breeze on this thing, you won't have any problems with it. The thermal armor can get annoying, like when mounting it into a case, but after that it's not really a problem, plus if you have to take it off, the board still looks great!
If you're sticking with this platform or going IVY and sticking with it for awhile, then get this board. Because GPU upgrades if you're using 2 cards will be a breeze because you won't need to get SLI or Crossfire hacks for your motherboard.
Pros
Cons
UEFI Bios, Takes Crossfire AND SLI, Easy to mount coolers, thermal armor for extra air cooling if you don't need/want water cooling
some gpu's won't fit in the board without the thermal armor taken off, sometimes the boot screen appears twice before starting windows
First off let me say this review wont be too in depth because i only had the Mobo for a month. However in the time i had it i did notice some great aspects and some other not so great.
First off the sleak design is really a plus. It is probably one of the best looking mobos i have used. As well the thermal armor really does keep components cooler. My cpu ran about 5c cooler then on my new asus maximus mobo (prior to water cooling).
Second the bios is really fantastic. It is sleek, well designed, informative and user friendly.
The reason i am giving this Mobo 4 stars and also the reason i returned it is because of the lack of availability for sli/crossfire. Let me explain.
When i got this Mobo i had dual 7850s. The mobo has 3 x16 pcie lanes however only the first 2 are sli/crossfire capable. You cannot sli or crossfire when using the third bridge for one gpu. This would be fine however having to use 2 bridges that are right next to each other creates alot lf problems. The 7850s were so close to each other that unless i liquid cooled both they would overheat almost instantly when being pushed by a game that demands a good gpu. when i traded my 7850s for 670s i found that they litteraly could not fit in the first and second lanes.
All in all this is a great Mobo with amazing cooling capabilites, sleek design and a fantastic bios. However i wouldnt reccomend this board if you plan on xfire/sli. Space becomes a huge issue with this Mobo so be wary if you have or are planning on getting 2 gpus.
Pros
Cons
Sleak design. Amazing bios
Difficult to run crossfire/sli with newer larger gpus
Asus Sabertooth P67 has 2 PCIE x16 slots not 3,Z77 has 3 PCIE x 16 slots!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Ask a question
Ask a question
Overclock.net
27.8M posts
541.2K members
Since 2004
A forum community dedicated to overclocking enthusiasts and testing the limits of computing. Come join the discussion about computing, builds, collections, displays, models, styles, scales, specifications, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!