Product Showcase

Expansion slots include 5 x PCI-E x8/x16 (x16 or dual x8 or x8, x16, x16) and 1 x PCIe 2.0 x1  (on a physical x16 slot). We'll discuss them later though.

Rear IO connectivity then -- we spot 2 x eSATA 3Gb/s, 2 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)  6 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0, 6 x Audio jack(s), 1 x Clear CMOS button(s), and a firewire connector.

We notice lacking legacy PS/2 ports; stuff still preferred by hardcore gamers. A bit of a miss as well as a missing Optical S/PDIF out, especially considering there's plenty of space left on the rear IO block.

When we flip the board around we stumble into the processor area. Spacious enough for sizable coolers, you should have no issues with most heatsinks. Other than that, fairly clean looks surround the LGA 1155 socket alright, we see high-grade components all throughout the board, nice.

Keep in mind this is an e-ATX motherboard, meaning you'll need a large chassis that can handle this form factor.

To your lower right you can see two 8-pin CPU power header; the mobo is a high-end LGA1155 motherboard and comes with a 12-phase power design. The little red micro button to the lower right is a clear CMOS button (just below the rear IO panel). There's also a NEC Proadlizer just above the CPU socket to keep the power clean and filtered.

Components wise we only see quality really, solid capacitors, ferrite core chokes, digital PWMs, quality components and nothing else. This is based on a design strategy, which ensures stability -- but also reliability and extended lifespan. All manufacturers apply these standards these days.