I'm a first time builder, but installation was a breeze with the help of the manual and Youtube. A little skimpy on details for proper fan header usage, but that could be more related to my noob builder status (despite probably falling well into the "old man" category for PC gamers) more than the documentation itself. Installing an i5-10600K, high-end Noctua air cooler, 4 memory sticks for 64GB total, and 1 m.2 drive all went off easily, as did the necessary power and I/O connections. Everything worked properly the first time.
From a feature perspective, it has all I could possibly need and more. Wifi 6, 2.5gbe (though not very useful until someone starts building 2.5gb routers), Bluetooth 5.1, all easy to use and good reception. Occasionally I pick up the wifi from a nearby hotel that's gotta be at least a quarter of a mile away. I'll probably never use all the available USB ports, but it's got loads of them in every flavor that's relevant in 2020. (At least one good thing to say about 2020.) I'm strictly a headphone user, but it's got superb 7.1 audio available, too. I can't even think of something I would like to have that isn't there.
Overclocking is a piece of cake, especially for newbies. I've got my proc running at 4.8GHz, and 3200MHz on the memory and it's completely stable. Could probably do even better if I really knew what I was doing, but I'm just relying on the AI overclocking for now.
Conventional wisdom is that the LGA1200 socket is going to support at least up to 11th Gen when it comes out (and Intel's 7nm woes make that even more likely), so future drop in upgradeability is built in. Also a good chance (but no guarantees) that it will support PCIe 4.0 when it shows up on the processors, though I'm not sure how useful that will be until several generations down the line.
If gaming is your primary concern, this MB paired with the 10600K is where it's at today. For a productivity heavy workload, AMD is probably still a better bet, but personally I'll only be using some light to moderate Photoshop work, and possibly future personal/youtube video editing so I have no need to push things to the productivity limit with the radical price increases involved in doing so. YMMV.
Overall, a strong recommend from me on this product.
(Disclosure: By posting this review I am eligible for a 90 day warranty extension, but as the base is 3 years that's not a big deal. The opinions herein are my own and were not influenced by this bonus, just happy timing as I was planning to post a review anyway.)
| Processor | 4000 MHz |
|---|---|
| RAM | DDR4 |
| Memory Speed | 4600 MHz |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ax |
