Purchased this to replace the stock mobo that came with the HP I purchased a few years ago (an h8-1114) so that I could upgrade my video card (old mobo was legacy bios only - so I was stuck using nothing newer than GTX 500 series). Replacing everything (ram & cpu) just wasn't in the budget and I feel like at this time my cpu has a little life left in it for my gaming needs & my budget. When this set does need to be replaced or my budget allows I figure it will make a fantastic setup for the kids (Minecraft, Sims, etc.) making it worth the investment to have a decent mobo to go along with the hardware I already have. We'll get a lot of use out of it in the long run as a family. I may even consider upgrading the ram to the full 16 gb that this mobo supports.
Installing & initial setup of this mobo went smoothly with no problems. I found the manual well written and clear. Games are running fantastic with my new GTX 960 FTW.
Two things I'd like to note for potential buyers:
1. It does not come with screws. So if you're considering this for a "from scratch" build where you cannot use the screws from the mobo you're replacing you will need to pick those up.
2. It comes with 2 sata cables but only one is L shaped. If you plan on using this for a large video card you're almost certainly going to need two L shaped sata cables (possibly more depending on the card size and if you're using an after market cooling system) due to the location of the sata connectors on the mobo. I used two L shaped connectors at the top and my big video card fit just fine. (I have a mid-sized HAF tower so chassis room is a non-issue, but if you're using something smaller consider this as well when upgrading a video card).
| Processor | core_i7 |
|---|---|
| RAM | 16 GB DDR3 1600;DDR3 1333; DDR3 1066;DDR3 2133 |
| Memory Speed | 1600 MHz |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 6 |
