ASUS Rampage IV Gene LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Has very nice options, too bad I didnt get to enjoy them.

Cons: The board had a bent CPU pin. When I sent it back to NewEgg, because I didnt include the plastic cover, they blamed me. Well after reading all of this feedback, particulalry with the replacement ASUS board I bought. It seems ASUS quality is gone and these will be the last ASUS products I purchase. Should have bought the MSI or Intel boards.

Pros: This more than just X79 on a micro-ATX form factor. It's the entry-level into the ROG X79 boards. So, if you don't need anymore than 2 video cards, and 99.9% of us don't and you want X79 with good features then this is the board for you. Fits just fine in a full ATX chassis. Like the black and red scheme; easy to make it look good with red Gskill memory, ASUS GTX 680, Enermax fans & power supply.

Cons: Cheaper is always a plus, wish it would be less but you get what you pay for when it comes to ASUS's higher end line.

Other Thoughts: If they can make a mini-ITX version of this it would be awesome. You just wouldn't be able to do 4 DIMM slots.

Pros: Fast and Great for Overclocking, when it worked.

Cons: The board worked great for about 3 months. I RMA'd the original board back to ASUS after troubleshooting with a tech online. All they claimed to have done was flash the BIOS. I got the board back and it was in worse shape. I have to send the board back AGAIN. They are GLAD to take your board back because you are paying out of pocket every time to ship it back to them. I've been an avid fan of ASUS motherboards for over 15 years, but this board has put a very bad taste in my mouth and I probably won't use their boards again.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Sorry to hear that you had an issue with your board. Please provide me with your RMA number and serial number so I can look at your previous case to see what I can do for you.

If you have any questions or comments you can email me again at cl-jeffrey@asus.com which I reside in the U.S

ASUS strives to meet and exceeds our customer expectations within our warranty policy.

Regards,

Jeffrey

Pros: fast and stable, easy install. this is update to my review I had this board for almost a year now and no problems at all. super fast and stable crushes all my older computers easily with just a Intel Core i7-3820 in it

Cons: noda

Other Thoughts: aside from my ASUS P9X79 WS with a Intel Xeon E5-1660 this motherboard fast stable no issues at all. Simply crushes all my older computers.

to the reviews that states all sata ports become raid when set the sata control to raid in bios,-
don't worry-
You can have hard drives or ssd's running as a single drive but you will have to set up that drive in the raid bios to a JBOD drive, this is normal for raid controllers

Pros: Options, features, simplicity, supports high end builds

Cons: It's a Micro-ATX, so not recommended for system builds that need lots of expansion slots. And of course the price

Other Thoughts: I've been building custom gaming machines since 1998, so I know what I'm doing. Just sayin'. OK, so the first board ariives DOA. Start button lights up but when the power switch is pressed, the fans won't even turn! Not even a beep! Checked and rechecked everything, posted the board, nothing. Called ASUS and they reccomended the RMA request, said it was the board. Newegg RMAd no problem. Second board arrives, same thing! DOA! Start button is lit, but nothing beyond that! Very disappointed, ASUS! Done with it... Refunded and getting a different board.

Just sharing to help out fellow builders with their purchasing decision and hopefully avoid some frustration. My new i7 3820 and GeForce GTX 670 4GB have been sitting here waiting for a board that works for over 4 weeks now!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We're sorry for the experience with the motherboard. The issue may be power-related. Please try pressing the Start button onboard instead of power switch from chassis. If no change, check the power connections, try another PSU, and test with only basic components outside of the chassis. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me below. Thank you.

For support information, please visit http://support.asus.com. For service, visit http://service.asus.com. For motherboard warranty, visit http://www.service.asus.com/warranty.aspx#!Motherboard%20Warranty/c1c20; Refurbished products/accessories: http://www.service.asus.com/warranty.aspx#!refurbished-warranty/c16us. For RMA status, visit: http://am.eservice.asus.com/rmaweb/search/rmCustomerQueryAction.do?.

Regards,
Benson
ASUS Customer Loyalty
cl-benson@asus.com

Pros: Easy to overclock, you can even put your own pic for the bios screen. cool!

I also like the fact there are buttons on the board itself in case you get really drunk and decide you're going to try to overclock to 10 ghz or something crazy.

Cons: none.

Pros: Small, compact, plenty of USB 2/3 ports, highly configurable in the BIOS, great BIOS recovery options.

Cons: First board failed within 10 minutes, never even got to install Windows. It reset several times while I was in the BIOS and refused to post after that. Wasn't even overclocking, just configuring the drives and boot options. But Newegg RMA'd it and the new board is running perfectly. No big deal, it happens.

But the only real con that I have is that the dimm slots only have clip levers on one side - the other side is fixed. When you install the dims, you just push them straight down and they clip in just fine. But when removing them, you push the side lever to release, and then you have to pivot the entire dimm around the fixed side. It works fine as long as nothing is obstructing the memory, but if there is, you can't remove the dimms without removing the obstruction first. If there were the standard memory slot levers on both sides, you could remove the memory with as little as about 5mm of clearance.

It's not a huge issue, but can be a hassle when testing components. When trying to pinpoint a problem, I had to remove the memory several times, and each time necessitated removing and reseating the CPU cooler. There was enough clearance between the memory and the cooler to remove and replace the memory if I was able to lift it straight up, but having to pivot it around the fixed size made it impossible. But once everything is up and running, it doesn't matter.

Other Thoughts: It's not stated (or stated clearly) in the manual, but you CAN run a single video card from the #3 PCI slot. The #1 slot would put the video card very close to a large CPU cooler, and the manual only shows a video card running from the #3 slot in a dual card setup. I only have one card and wanted to keep it away from my CPU cooler, so I put it in #3 and it's working fine.

Pros: IT has some very nice features to it that would make you think is mATX the way to go? I used to own nothing but gaming laptops after my very first Pentium socket 478 build from back in 2003. This is my second Desktop build and it is by far the greatest PC I have ever used. This motherboard really keeps it simple while providing the user some great features and options. It auto overclocks the CPU, to 4.3Ghz safely. However, be mindful of the case you use. I am using the A30 Thermaltake case to keep the small formfactor consistency and it is creating some cooling issues. The fans connections that come with this are more than enough. 3 case fans 1 cpu and 1 cpu optional slot.

Cons: So far I have 1 con to this motherboard, it usually requires a second restart to get past post and recognize the drives. This is certainly an issue if you use WOL or use remote configurations as a restart when you are not present may require physical attention.

Other Thoughts: plenty of PCI 3.0 and 2.0 slots. up to 32gbs of memory, mem can overclock to 2400. Make sure you have a good cooling solution. I may beusing a pump in water block setup on a 93mm radiator placed at the front of the case.

Pros: 32GB of memory on a Micro ATX. 4 SATA 6 GB. UEFI BIOS, but really not that big a deal... I find it no more functional than normal BIOS.

Cons: Only recognizes 1/2 of the memory I have. I accidentally ordered 8x4GB and had to wait on my 4x8GB (Both G.Skill). Unfortunately the board only fully recognizes 1/2 my RAM, whether I'm using the 4 or 8GB sticks. The bios reports 16GB on the Main page but shows all for 8GB sticks detected under the Tool / ASUS SPD Information page. No idea yet why. I might assume user error except that it's occuring with both sets of memory on the same two slots. Very frustrating -- I really wish I hadn't switched to this board at the last minute without reading reviews after carefully researching my first choice -- I switched solely for the extra 6GB SATA ports.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We're sorry to hear about the experience you had with the motherboard. Please try to reseat the DIMMS that are not detected, check the condition of the slots, and update the BIOS, which may improve memory compatibility. You may also want to check that there is no damage on the socket pins. If no change, please contact Newegg for replacement or us for RMA service. Thank you.

For support information, please visit http://support.asus.com. For service, visit http://service.asus.com. For motherboard warranty, visit http://www.service.asus.com/warranty.aspx#!Motherboard%20Warranty/c1c20.

Regards,
Benson
ASUS Customer Loyalty
cl-benson@asus.com

Pros: Looks Good

Cons: Got a defective board. Returned to new egg. Even though the board is defective they are not ready to accept it and blaming me,and sent back to me. Now I have to deal with Asus. New egg don't know what is the real problem with the board and simply blaming the customer to escape from their responsibility .

Other Thoughts: Never buy a mother board from new egg. Buy mother board from your local store. Even though you have to pay a few bucks more it is worth. You don't need to pay shipping charges. After this I bought few mother boards and computer parts from my local store. I did return one item without any hesitation.I think new egg is selling broken and refurbished items. Any way no more purchase from new egg

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

We're sorry to hear about your experience with the motherboard. Did the motherboard have physical damage? Have you received a RMA # from us? Please contact me at cl-benson@asus.com (reference #C1037-7664 in the email subject line or call 1-812-282-2787. Thank you.

For support, please visit http://support.asus.com. For service, visit http://service.asus.com. For motherboard warranty, visit http://www.service.asus.com/warranty.aspx#!Motherboard%20Warranty/c1c20.

Regards,
Benson
ASUS Customer Loyalty