There it is! I think this one is for me!
I want to upgrade my CPU this coming year, and really want to go with Zen 4, but motherboard prices have been a huge turnoff. Almost everything under $500 seems like a downgrade from my X570 ACE. But this has the features I already have, plus everything I want and a little more. Still expensive, but only 10% more expensive than my ACE, and is within my budget. I like it...
I've always shied away from ASRock, and I honestly have no idea why. I've had lots of good experiences with ASUS and MSI boards (and multiple bad experiences with GIGABYTE), so I guess I just stuck with what worked and haven't gone out of my comfort zone. Time to change that.
I need those 11 USB Type-A + USB4 and 3 M.2 slots. The high-end audio is a huge plus for me, as are the QoL features like power/reset/CMOS/BIOS-flash buttons and a digital debug code. The cherry on top is the really snazzy appearance.
I wish it had just one more M.2 slot... but I can live with that sacrifice. And I suppose I could buy an adapter card for the lower PCI slot. My graphics card won't mind running at x8.
Thanks so much for this review, Joe. And whoever made this the banner headline this morning.
You helped me figure out the missing link in my upcoming build.
One question - it's hard to tell from the photos... is the chipset cover with the gears just a sticker? Or are those gears actually three-dimensional?