Crashman :
ttt_2017 :
I miss the old days when motherboards came without onboard sound ... Today Motherboards come with everything onboard that you almost never use the expansion slots ...
What is the point of 7 slots when you never use all of them ? I think it is better to let us choose the sound card , the LAN card instead of forcing us to accept what the company put onboard when it comes to 7 slots motherboards (ATX)
The fun is gone all together.
IMO onboard components should be on mATX and ITX mobos , because it is hard to add cards .. but for ATX ? make them cheap and let us choose the other hardware parts please. much more better .
For Example , Creative Z cards used on this motherboard are good , but what If I want Asus Xonar high end card ? and still want this motherboard ? Why pay twice for audio chip ?
What if I want better Lan chip ? Wifi ? Etc ?
What is the point in buying a motherboard with 7 slots other than adding hardware of choice ?
What if I want a better USB3.1 chip ? instead of Asmedia I get Intel ?
we want High END motherboard (best OC , RGB leds , Best cooling) but Empty as well so we add the hardware we want as we wish. like the old times.
But if you wanted 4-way SLI, you wouldn't have any slots left. If you wanted 3-way SLI, you'd only have one slot left. And half of the top-model graphics cards I'm seeing have coolers that are just a little more than two-slots thick, so if you wanted to have two of those on a six-slot board, you'd have no slots left. Why only six slots? Because manufacturers figured out way back in the old days that omitting the top slot gave them much more room around the socket, and many reviewers actually PRAISED motherboard manufacturers for doing this because it freed up space around the DIMM latches.
I was always dubious of leaving out the top slot, because that same idea destroyed the market for slim ATX cases. You know, the ones that used a riser card. In the top slot.
Thanks for your reply ,
I am not saying cancel the Multi GPU (3 and 4) Motherboards concept with onboard chips .. I am saying give us one FREE OPEN and BEST Quality Motherboard as well .
That is , when you release a Motherboard like this one reviewed here , make two of them , one for Multi GPU people , and one OPEN and cheap for the rest. but the SAME MOTHERBOARD Quality .. not entry level .
For example , The Z270 Chipset has 24 lanes ...
I would expect an Empty motherboard like this :
Slot 1 : X4 PCIe to Z270
Slot 2 : X4 PCIe to Z270
Slot 3 : X16/X8 PCIe to CPU
Slot 4 : X4 M2 to Z270 (so 2 slots GPU can fit)
Slot 5 : X16/X8 PCIe to CPU
Slot 6 : X4 M2 to Z270 (so 2 slots GPU can fit)
Slot 7 : X8 PCIe to Z270
as you see this configuration takes advantage of ALL 16 CPU lanes , and ALL Z270 24 Lanes , while giving you x8 slot , and two X4 slots and two X4 M2 slots... 24 total !!!
and no one needs stupid X1 pcie slots ... X4 can take x1 cards ... putting x1 slots means not all Z270 lanes are connected !!! and means no USB3.1 cards , no Multi LAN cards , etc
As for the spacing you talked about , it is easy to solve ,
Once there is not much onboard devices , the Back I/O will be VERY SMALL and TINY , the whole I/O Space can be used for space around Dimm Latches !!!
in an Empty Motherboard the i/o Area moves to the SLOTS .
or if you insist on 6 slots only for space , cancel slot 1 or make it another M2
This is the Motherboard I want to see ...
where I can use ALL the 24 lanes of the chipset and choose any hardware I want. PLUS 2 dual slots GPU !!!
people who want 3 and 4 GPU are almost 0.1% .... they can have their expensive Motherboard ...
Edit : Actually using this idea , by eliminating the back i/o ports andmoving them to slots , they can make DUAL XEON ATX motherboard as well with ease and more DIMM SLOTS on a small ATX motherboard instead of EATX or EEATX . that is 4 dimms per Xeon , dual xeons , no need for narrow sockets , proper cooling , AND on ATX only