mobo analysis guy here. Bit drunk cause thanksgiving so will do my best.

This is high end top tier board, but is it worth it at 280?

It has the highest end lan chip and audio chip that a MOBO can have. However, you can typically get these chips on much cheaper MOBOs like the Asrock Steel Legend, which has worse VRMs (only good enough for an OC on a 3900x), and overclocking support, but thunderbolt 3, Gigabyte Elite, which has excellent VRMs for the price that are good enough for an OCed 3950x, but bad overclocking support, and the elite lacks enough fan headers (only 3 total worse then many low end B450s) for modern 4 fan 3x1 setups.

As I said above, it has killer VRMs and Overclocking support. The important features is the Overclocking Support over say an Asus Prime X570 Pro or Gigabyte Elite is the Post code and debug LEDs (which the cheaper boards lack although the prime pro has debug leds) that will help any extreme overclocker or person who wants to really experiment with OCing ensure their able to easily diagnose problems with their OC and how to fix them.

VRM wise, with the rumors ( and almost complete confirmation by an AMD main dude) that AM4 will last past ryzen 4000, it may be a consideration to future proof for Ryzen 5000. BUT we don't know anything about those CPUs or power draw (they could have lower power draw on the VRMs for all we know), and something like a Gigabyte Elite would provide similar future proofing at a much cheaper price.

As for I/O and internal connectors, this has every thing you would want, Type C on both the back panel and internally so you can connect to a case with Type C, 2 12v RGB connectors, and 2 5v RGB connectors for excellent RGB support.

Special features wise, it's wifi chip is stupid good, better then any 400 series MOBO, and wifi 6 rated and it as a 2.5 GB lan chip. The problem with the 2.5 GB lan chip is that very few people can benefit from it.

The biggest problem is price. This board is a perfect example of what I said would be a common black Friday deal. A high end part whose sale is still out of most people's price range.

This board is the kind of board that is designed for specific people. Most users aiming for a 3600, 3700x, or 3800x would be better off with say an Asrock x570 Steel Legend which is perfect for those CPUs, and has the same high end chips, outside of the 2.5 GB lan.

So who is the board for? Extreme Overclockers, or people who really want to try OCINg for the first time and want safety/or experimentors with overclocking. It's overclocking support through both debug leds, postcodes, and a hole for temperature readings on the CPU will make this a fun MOBO to OC with.

The other group that will enjoy this board, is home business and small business users who can't quite afford Threadripper, and are aiming for 3950x for rendering, and those who can take advantage of the 2.5 GB Lan chip will really like the board. These are users who make money with their computers will get a rock solid top tier board that will pair very well with their 3950x.

People aiming for a 8 core can do almost as good for much cheaper. 3900x users will find decent value here also, but could go cheaper easily.

Conclusion: This is damn good board, but the vast majority of users would do better with a steel legend. If you are aiming for the highest end AM4 CPUs like a 3950x, this board would be a great purchase, but for the most part, even with $50 off, this board is still not necessary for the vast majority of users.

VRM is Definitely more than capable, good choice :)

Info on the VRM setups can be found here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wmsTYK9Z3-jUX5LGRoFnsZYZiW1pfiDZnKCjaXyzd1o/htmlview#

It's a bad board when compared to the competition. Buildzoid did a video on what to purchase. I'd watch the video itself on why:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=%23&ved=2ahUKEwjC35efrLzjAhWQbs0KHeLgDvcQwqsBMAF6BAgGEAU&usg=AOvVaw0VTJzWxrN8ZFOD4xbU2nov

If you're getting a 3090 for gaming you'd better be getting the best motherboard on the market. Surely nothing less than a Crosshair VIII. But don't kid yourself, motherboards don't affect gaming performance.

And seriously, if you're getting a 3090 for gaming you absolutely should be getting a 5950X instead of a weak ass 5900X.

Ask yourself one question: Do I have a price limit?

If the answer is no, buy the best of everything instead of selectively cheaping out.

If the answer is yes, don't buy a 3090.

Posts like this drive me nuts.