Great review Boss. There are some hot cpus on that platform without deliding ( 9960x fixed that problem with solder Tim ) , nevertheless the performance it's great. The mobo fell short on the pci express department in my opinion ( should it have at least 4 pci express @ 8x8x8x8 )

chispy:

The mobo fell short on the pci express department in my opinion ( should it have at least 4 pci express @ 8x8x8x8 )

Yeah, I was battling that idea in the review as well. From the mindset of 'hey, I pay for it, so I want as many PCI slots as possible' I agree. However realistically, who still actually uses four PCIe slots with SLI and Crossfire dying a slow death? Wouldn't you rather have extras on the board like an extra M2 (just an example) slot over a 4th PCIe slot?

Hilbert Hagedoorn:

Yeah, I was battling that idea in the review as well. From the mindset of 'hey, I pay for it, so I want as many PCI slots as possible' I agree. However realistically, who still actually uses four PCIe slots with SLI and Crossfire dying a slow death? Wouldn't you rather have extras on the board like an extra M2 (just an example) slot over a 4th PCIe slot?

Sure is a conundrum , some people will have the need to run a few cards on those slots , example 2xRTX 2080Ti in sli + 1 Areca Raid controller 1680 + Sound Card , etc ... or for WR benchmarks 4x sli or 4x cfx still a thing ( but we are in a minority , but still relevant today ), same for mining and other stuff that requires as many pci express slot as a mobo can fit 🙂 i can think of a 100 set ups to fill those pci express slot , otherwise people can make choices based on their needs. Overall great mobo , i like it , i like it a lot.

Hilbert Hagedoorn:

Yeah, I was battling that idea in the review as well. From the mindset of 'hey, I pay for it, so I want as many PCI slots as possible' I agree. However realistically, who still actually uses four PCIe slots with SLI and Crossfire dying a slow death? Wouldn't you rather have extras on the board like an extra M2 (just an example) slot over a 4th PCIe slot?

Indeed... With the multi GPU death for mainstream consumer, and the Audio equipment that rise in quality on the latest board, there is less need in PCIe slot. I still have my twin xeon 2011V2 somewhere in my garage... 10 PCIe slot X16 and the missing lanes were provided by extra chip... It was another era 🙂

I can't find an excuse to buy a 2066 setup. Motherboard aside, a 9800X is like 130-150 euro more than the 9900k. I'd like a Rampage VI Extreme Omega for a 9900k and i'm sold.

Hilbert Hagedoorn:

Yeah, I was battling that idea in the review as well. From the mindset of 'hey, I pay for it, so I want as many PCI slots as possible' I agree. However realistically, who still actually uses four PCIe slots with SLI and Crossfire dying a slow death? Wouldn't you rather have extras on the board like an extra M2 (just an example) slot over a 4th PCIe slot?

Perhaps, but M.2 can be as well used within PCI-e card that can have way better cooling and give another option This would not be 1st mobo where primary PCI-e slot or NIC can die, in which case its better to have some spare PCI-e. HEDT mobo with only 3 full PCI-e slots at almost 700 eur is pretty much unacceptable for me.

Hilbert Hagedoorn:

Yeah, I was battling that idea in the review as well. From the mindset of 'hey, I pay for it, so I want as many PCI slots as possible' I agree. However realistically, who still actually uses four PCIe slots with SLI and Crossfire dying a slow death? Wouldn't you rather have extras on the board like an extra M2 (just an example) slot over a 4th PCIe slot?

I wholeheartedly agree. Very few of us enthusiasts have a need for more than two PCIE slots these days and for people who need those this is obviously not the board for them. A lack of high end mATX board for Ryzen still bothers me to no end. I really hope when Zen2 Ryzen lands later this year we get some high end mATX boards.

Can't help but look at my Rampage V and 5820K, which are hitting the 4 year mark now. On one hand, I'm surprised that I still didn't upgrade and on the other, scared when looking at today's prices. It's not like I payed in 2015 was cheap (on the contrary), but I don't know, I guess I slipped out the high-end market, it just seems too much now (especially if I were to add a 2080Ti to replace my 1080Ti). Anyway... enough of my rant. Great review and great looking and performing piece of hardware. I still hold to my belief, that when it comes to motherboards, ASUS is #1.