Short Mobo Rant

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

Enter: Gigabyte X470 AORUS GAMING 7 WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard

Can I stress how appreciative I am to Gigabyte for giving the vrm an actual finned heatsink. I personally find it very attractive and its basically the only reason that I'm purchasing the board. I dont even like the color orange. Honestly I actually tend to be a Asus or Msi boards shill, but just for this Ill give Gigabyte a chance.

How much do I have to pay for a Asus Hero quality board with an actual finned heatsink on the vrm and bridge? Ill drop 300 and not even bat an eye, 400 and barely scoff.

Please tell me that im not the only one who feels this way?

 

P.S. Those block vrm heatsinks are ugly and you manufacturers should feel bad.

 

End Rant

[TheGlenlivet]

I agree, it is beefy, and watching Buildzoid discuss this MOBO last night he agreed.  Basically said anything under the 8 core is a waste on this MOBO.

[BryceJonathan]

EVGA is also good when it comes to robust vrm design it is such a neglected thing when it comes to motherboards bu is so nice especially when you are a serious overclocker. 

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

3 minutes ago, BryceJonathan said:

EVGA is also good when it comes to robust vrm design it is such a neglected thing when it comes to motherboards bu is so nice especially when you are a serious overclocker. 

Your right about that, though I have yet to see a EVGA am4 motherboard so far. Though their Intel boards look nice.

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

6 minutes ago, M00NMUFFIN said:

My mobo has fins for the vrm I believe but I'm with you.
Money may be an object for me but I'm always willing to pay a small premium if it means my motherboard can handle more and last longer.
I feel like so many manufacturers are focused on shoving cosmetics into motherboards they're sacrificing things that improve quality and life.
For example I've seen motherboards that have RGB yet lack usb 3.0, or a decent amount of USB headers on the board. Makes no sense, gamer market I suppose.

Yea there is no reason why my z87 itx board has more usb ports (in general) than some atx boards. Its really passing the point of detriment when it comes to usability imo.

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

9 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

I agree, it is beefy, and watching Buildzoid discuss this MOBO last night he agreed.  Basically said anything under the 8 core is a waste on this MOBO.

Naturally, for any board with a vrm that beefy. But i'm thankful that he explained that there are actual benifits to a heatsink like that.

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

1 minute ago, M00NMUFFIN said:

I understand the marketing and R&D guys for motherboards are targeting gamers, 
rolling with that, gamers probably want more USB ports first, before cosmetic stuff.
They want the best performance, so don't go with sub-par cooling on anything.
I think 6 USB ports is "acceptable" I mean 2 of those are going for kb+m alone, then include controllers/wireless adapters for them. Then some headsets are USB, streamers are going to use webcams which are USB, what if they have a gaming laptop, maybe they want to transfer a game via external HDD or USB? (my friend is a pc gamer and we still frequently trade games over USB sticks since our internet is sub-par)

Then motherboard vendors are shipping motherboards with only 4 USB ports, or 6 which again is only "Acceptable" but they'll make sure we have eSata ports which I'll be honest I have never ever used. Why they do stuff like this, I will never even understand.

That specific Gigabyte board has 10, it makes me moist. I currently use 8 usb, as well as a few ports on a dongle. Between my Audio Interface, Webcam, Keyboard and two mice, phone charger, Steam Controller dongle, and usb hub. I couldn't imagine having to be limited to 4 or 6, thats a straight up downgrade in my case. 

 

WHO USES ESATA?

It maxed out a 6gbps, meaning usb 3.0 was only a tad bit slower and 3.1/tb3 are significantly faster.

Even when esata first dropped I doubt many people even bothered to use it.

 

I even am seeing some boards without a usb type c port, I though that was supposed to be the future of ports!

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

3 minutes ago, M00NMUFFIN said:

Now that you've pointed out how many ports that board has, and since it's Ryzen+.......
I think I know what my next mobo is gonna be.

The only thing that will likely challenge that board will be Asus's new Hero branded board, but that doesnt have the heatsink and is probably $100 more.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

15 minutes ago, NightBladeDK said:

 

WHO USES ESATA?

I'd take eSata and Bluetooth over USB-C and WiFi any day. I simply have a use for the former, none for the latter. Heck, I'd take two LAN ports over wifi.

 

Still, I agree wholeheartedly with your OP. There were a couple interesting boards for X370, but right now, if I were buying, the Gigabyte one would be the only one in my radar. Aesthetics are subjective, but from my subjectiveness those chunky heatsinks are not only horrendous, but give me the impression of being counter-productive (again, impression, not sure how effective they are, although I remember der8auer's comment on some X299 boards...).

Maybe I just have an old-fashioned taste for motherboards; still, that's my taste  

 

PS: forgot about USB 2.0. Unfortunately, backward compatibility between 3.0 and 2.0 was never perfect, nor fixed. But this one has plenty of headers, so it can be amended. 

[SpaceGhostC2C]

1 minute ago, M00NMUFFIN said:

What do you personally use E-sata for?

eSata external drives? It's not like it can be used for much else really  

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

8 minutes ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

I'd take eSata and Bluetooth over USB-C and WiFi any day. I simply have a use for the former, none for the latter. Heck, I'd take two LAN ports over wifi.

 

Still, I agree wholeheartedly with your OP. There were a couple interesting boards for X370, but right now, if I were buying, the Gigabyte one would be the only one in my radar. Aesthetics are subjective, but from my subjectiveness those chunky heatsinks are not only horrendous, but give me the impression of being counter-productive (again, impression, not sure how effective they are, although I remember der8auer's comment on some X299 boards...).

Maybe I just have an old-fashioned taste for motherboards; still, that's my taste  

Wana hear something funny, my Msi z87i ac board has two lans and my Asus z87 Hero board has 1. Talk about a downgrade. 

 

AND REAL BLUETOOTH SUPPORT, id take that in a heartbeat. Being able to stream music from my phone to my pc is a dream. 

 

And I bought the best pcie ac wifi adapter for a reason... I dont want the crappy wifi chips that come on some of these boards, this gigabyte one included. 

 

Tho while I agree eSata has uses, i'd say that for every 20 pc enthusiasts, maybe one uses eSata. It doesnt bother me when its on a board, only when they sacrifice other things like usb ports, or the Toslink connector (which I use with a few of my dacs).

 

In my early days of pc building EVERY board had a real vrm and southbridge heatsink.

 

Edit: the MSI board is ITX while the Asus is fully ATX, thats the "funny" point.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

1 minute ago, M00NMUFFIN said:

Have you ever had a need for 2 on a board, let alone 3-4 that some vendors have.

Nope, 1 would do for me.

 

1 minute ago, NightBladeDK said:

(...)

Yes, somehow we went from top chipset, midrangeboards that looked like this

Spoiler

(the "4" cover could be replace with an optional 40mm fan)

 

and high-end boards like these

Spoiler

 

to high-end boards like these?

Spoiler

and don't get me wrong, I know that the newer boards are better than the old ones in many dimensions. It's just this (subjective) impression that the older ones were giving you the best they had at the time, while the new ones seem to be saving a few tricks in the sleeves, or making more design vs. performance compromises.

 

Also, get off my lawn  

[ATrollAaaNnnnn]

1 minute ago, SpaceGhostC2C said:

Nope, 1 would do for me.

 

Yes, somehow we went from top chipset, midrangeboards that looked like this

  Hide contents

(the "4" cover could be replace with an optional 40mm fan)

 

and high-end boards like these

  Hide contents

 

to high-end boards like these?

  Hide contents

and don't get me wrong, I know that the newer boards are better than the old ones in many dimensions. It's just this (subjective) impression that the older ones were giving you the best they had at the time, while the new ones seem to be saving a few tricks in the sleeves, or making more design vs. performance compromises.

 

Also, get off my lawn  

Exactly!!!!!!!