Is not contradictory since the `gaming` brand really took off. Many people are unaware and do not bother with real tweaks, nor will make a SLI/crossfire setup. In this view they can build a cheaper motherboard and charge for aesthetic and logos/colors plastic shield where for them the real income is.

I agree with Asturur, if you're in the market for a quality board but don't plan on SLI/Crossfire or overclocking then something like this makes the most sense. That said, I really, really like the look of this board. It's very clean and the I/O port cover is very sleek compared to some of the offerings from other companies where it's just massive and gaudy. I wish they offered a mini ITX version of this. It would be a lateral move for me but it's gorgeous enough that I think I could justify it.

Maybe Hilbert knows this: Why are MoBo manufacturers moving away from having RAM on both sides of the processor? As I understood it having Ram slots symmetrical on either side shortens the circuit and improves distribution between the ram and CPU. However, almost all new generation mobo's I see are not doing that anymore and just placing RAM slots on one side of the CPU.

Advertised...NewEgg Walmart, Amazon has it for ~$110... https://www.msi.com/asset/resize/image/global/product/product_2_20170113172229_58789c55785e3.png62405b38c58fe0f07fcef2367d8a9ba1/1024.png https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/H270M-MORTAR-ARCTIC.html

Maybe Hilbert knows this: Why are MoBo manufacturers moving away from having RAM on both sides of the processor? As I understood it having Ram slots symmetrical on either side shortens the circuit and improves distribution between the ram and CPU. However, almost all new generation mobo's I see are not doing that anymore and just placing RAM slots on one side of the CPU.

X58, P55, Z68 Z87 were on one side. It goes back and forth. As layout designs vary widely, I'm not sure you could say that one favors the other to an appreciable extent.

Maybe Hilbert knows this: Why are MoBo manufacturers moving away from having RAM on both sides of the processor? As I understood it having Ram slots symmetrical on either side shortens the circuit and improves distribution between the ram and CPU. However, almost all new generation mobo's I see are not doing that anymore and just placing RAM slots on one side of the CPU.

it depend on where are the connection on the CPU and/or on the socket, sometime it is impossible to do and sometime it is more easy... but i agree it is more cute. BTW i love the white PCB with white led (a bit fed up with red "gaming" light).

Maybe Hilbert knows this: Why are MoBo manufacturers moving away from having RAM on both sides of the processor? As I understood it having Ram slots symmetrical on either side shortens the circuit and improves distribution between the ram and CPU. However, almost all new generation mobo's I see are not doing that anymore and just placing RAM slots on one side of the CPU.

Good question, I don't have a clear answer for that, neither do I remember a lot of motherboard that actually had that ? Traditionally you have two types, dual-channel almost always four positioned to the rear side of the PCB. And for quad-channel four DIMM sockets on the front and rear (which is still the case). Basically the manufacturers will always position DIMM slots in as short of a path towards the memory controllers as possible - in such a way that it cannot create too much latency. Thus short data-paths, depending on where the memory controllers are located on the CPU that might benefit from the bottom side. However I do not think it is that simple of an answer. More likely, colder is better. I can imagine that if you spread out the DIMM slots on both sides the 'front' side would get more heat far from the VRM area while the circuits traces move through the PCB, and thus that can impact signal-strength. Then again, it might be even simpler of an answer, aesthetics. Everything grouped in one position looks better then spread out all over the place.

Thank you both for the input, interesting to hear this. Concerning aesthetics, personally I prefer the symmetrical look, although that is only true when there is at least 4 Ram slots (8, 4 on either side looks much better though). I'll just wait and see if any symmetrical board are to be released, out of curiosity. I'm not going to upgrade my mobo/cpu/ram till at least 2018 in any case, so it is more of an interesting detail to me. Bedankt!