Author: phantommaggot
Subject: Where are the E series ITX boards?
Posted: 09 Jun 2017 at 4:29am
I've taken literally all that you've said into consideration before making the post. I've watched and waited 2 generations now.
I was more than prepared to make this post when Z170 launched but Z270 was so close that I thought it was worth waiting.
The x299E ITX and some pics of the AM4 ITX boards(which don't look all that great right now either) that have popped up are what made me decide to post.
I can't agree that the z170/270 boards are too complex or expensive to make the E version. All you have to do is look at the x99E-itx to see that's nonsense. The x299 ITX (and the EPC612D4I for that matter) blow that hypotheses out of the water. So I don't really think there were design compromises. More like money grab compromises.
I'd argue the main reason they dropped the E series is to boost sales of the less than impressive Fatal1ty boards which are geared more towards gaming and less towards 'do it all'. 'Do it all' is what I want the E series for.
If you look back through the years the M has always been the scaled down version of the z series ITX board with the E being the full feature part.
Z97 is the best comparison in this case since it's the newest and they even added an HDMI in on the E board.
If I was looking at a z270m The main feature I'd say was missing would be the audio connectors and gold caps. And I see NO reason why they couldn't sacrifice the DVI port for the audio space, buff the heatsink, Ditch that dated ps/2 port, put the strengthened PCIE slot in and call it an E board. Isn't the E basically the 'extreme' series of ITX anyways. Kind of like the difference between the current z270m extreme 4 and z270m pro 4.
For the question of weather or not I'd buy a motherboard if it wasn't all that nice to look at.
I have, plenty of times LOL. Didn't you read where I said I regret selling my z97m OC formula. I fell in love with the color, it was nicer than the previous board and IMO looks better then the new yellow ones as well. By the time I finished that build, with blue ripjaws and a red GPU it looked like a clown car but I rocked it hard. Doesn't mean I'm gonna be a fan of all the new PCB graphics. For example, i like the pro4 pcb but hate the board layout, I love the extreme 4 but hate the PCB lol. I like the taichi.. but there is no matx taichi... blah blah. none of which really matters.
Now, if ASRock, or any company for that matter, spits out a nice x370 AM4 board set up like the current z270 extreme 4 (full compliment of audio connectors, lots of USB, m.2 above the pcie, and full PCIE in the 3rd position) I'll buy it on the spot no matter what it looks like.
Subject: Where are the E series ITX boards?
Posted: 09 Jun 2017 at 4:29am
I've taken literally all that you've said into consideration before making the post. I've watched and waited 2 generations now.
I was more than prepared to make this post when Z170 launched but Z270 was so close that I thought it was worth waiting.
The x299E ITX and some pics of the AM4 ITX boards(which don't look all that great right now either) that have popped up are what made me decide to post.
I can't agree that the z170/270 boards are too complex or expensive to make the E version. All you have to do is look at the x99E-itx to see that's nonsense. The x299 ITX (and the EPC612D4I for that matter) blow that hypotheses out of the water. So I don't really think there were design compromises. More like money grab compromises.
I'd argue the main reason they dropped the E series is to boost sales of the less than impressive Fatal1ty boards which are geared more towards gaming and less towards 'do it all'. 'Do it all' is what I want the E series for.
If you look back through the years the M has always been the scaled down version of the z series ITX board with the E being the full feature part.
Z97 is the best comparison in this case since it's the newest and they even added an HDMI in on the E board.
If I was looking at a z270m The main feature I'd say was missing would be the audio connectors and gold caps. And I see NO reason why they couldn't sacrifice the DVI port for the audio space, buff the heatsink, Ditch that dated ps/2 port, put the strengthened PCIE slot in and call it an E board. Isn't the E basically the 'extreme' series of ITX anyways. Kind of like the difference between the current z270m extreme 4 and z270m pro 4.
For the question of weather or not I'd buy a motherboard if it wasn't all that nice to look at.
I have, plenty of times LOL. Didn't you read where I said I regret selling my z97m OC formula. I fell in love with the color, it was nicer than the previous board and IMO looks better then the new yellow ones as well. By the time I finished that build, with blue ripjaws and a red GPU it looked like a clown car but I rocked it hard. Doesn't mean I'm gonna be a fan of all the new PCB graphics. For example, i like the pro4 pcb but hate the board layout, I love the extreme 4 but hate the PCB lol. I like the taichi.. but there is no matx taichi... blah blah. none of which really matters.
Now, if ASRock, or any company for that matter, spits out a nice x370 AM4 board set up like the current z270 extreme 4 (full compliment of audio connectors, lots of USB, m.2 above the pcie, and full PCIE in the 3rd position) I'll buy it on the spot no matter what it looks like.