Pros: This is the third mATX ROG Asus motherboard I've used and they've only gotten better with each generation. I upgraded from the Z68 Gene-Z to this Z77 Gene board and couldn't be more satisfied. This board is what the Gene-Z should have been. Rock solid, granite stable, took my 2600K to 5GHz with 1.37V, something I couldn't get the Z68 Gene-Z board to accomplish with the same processor. System was built in a PC Design Lab QMicra V2 case with 16GB Corsair Dominator 2133 RAM, an Intel 510 350GB SSD, a Gigabyte 7970, and a Corsair AX750 ps. Watercooled the setup with a Thermochill 120.2 rad, dual DDC2 pumps and a Koolance 370 cpu block. The quality of the board's construction, including high end Japanese solid capacitors, is flawless.

Cons: Small size does require compromises, such as having to make the choice between going with an SLI/Crossfire setup and losing the single PCIe x1 slot, or keeping/using that slot and forgetting about SLI/Crossfire. Such is life with mATX boards. But that's really the only con with the board I've ever found.

Overall Review: I question one reviewer's comments about RMA's.....why would someone RMA what was described as "I sent in a perfectly fine motherboard"? Why RMA a perfectly fine motherboard? Hmmmm? True, some have had problems with RMA's to Asus.....just like hundreds have had problems with AsRock, Gigabyte, etc. Asus is not unique in this respect and having had to RMA a few boards in the past, Asus's RMA procedure is no better nor worse than the other Tier 1 manufacturers. But never have I had a motherboard RMA to Asus come back worse than sent in, only received properly repaired or replaced product. The last RMA I did resulted in a brand new, retail boxed unit returned via their advanced replacement RMA. The experience was outstanding. So, take the complaints with a huge pillar of salt, esp. when someone complains about horrible RMA's for "perfectly good" motherboards.

Pros: It's a fast card, but not perceptibly faster than a 7970. Nice graphics but wish the driver problems would get solved.

Cons: Driver crashes during several games, incl. Civ V. Fan isn't quiet but a tad quieter than a 7970's fan at full load, so guess that's a wash. The overclocking of the GTX 680 is difficult compared to the straightforward OC'ing of the 7970. With Nvidia putting in voltage locks and the like, overclocking has become much more difficult and tenuous.

Overall Review: Nice card. Overpriced just like the ATi choice.

Pros: This board is what it is, a budget solution for Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge processors. But for a budget board, it does have several nice features---all solid caps across the board, HDMI output in addition to DVI and VGA, gigabit LAN, PCIe 3.0 compatibility. Overall, a stable, solid budget motherboard for your kid's/father-in-law's/office computers.

Cons: Serious lack of fan headers. Guess budget means cuts somewhere, but come on! Fan headers aren't that darned expensive! No SATA 6GB/s ports and no USB 3.0, and that last item is almost inexcusable these days.

Overall Review: To the "knowledgeable" gent who posted this: "I have two of these boards both with an I5-2380P processor. On both of these boards I cannot get VGA, DVI or DHMI output to work. If anyone has a solution please post in a review here." Here's your solution......the i5-2380P processor has NO INTEGRATED GRAPHICS! DUH! You should have purchased an i5-2320 instead. Out of all the cpus that fit socket 1155, you stupidly picked one of the three that don't include integrated graphics in the cpu. And as you probably found out, the graphics on these chipsets are in the cpu, not the motherboard. Consequently, if you use one of the three cpus without graphics built in, you won't have video output from the onboard video outputs....at all....ever....never. Learn to read.......and mark your tech level down three notches for sheer ignorance.

Pros: Quite good sound for the sale price these routinely hit here on Newegg. Much stiffer cabinet than competing designs within its price point and beyond.

Cons: Sound is somewhat constrained in the upper end.....while decently good sound, the treble registers are not as crisp as the Energy CB-10's these Pioneers were compared with. The soundstage wasn't as wide and imaging wasn't as detailed. Bass was lacking, too, compared to the Energys, but the Pioneers suffered from a smaller mid-woofer (4" vs. 5.5"). While better than any other cheap speaker I've encountered, they just aren't in the same class as good, small bookshelf speakers, like the Energys, or a set of Mission M71's I have. And while the Pioneers are 6 Ohm speakers, they certainly aren't very efficient. Paired with an "ancient" 130wpc Kenwood receiver, while sounding good, they do need more power to achieve similar output levels compared to the Energy speakers, an 8Ohm set.

Overall Review: The Pioneers have found a home in our dog boarding kennel and are the foundation of a sound system out there. A pair of these for $50 with a used Kenwood receiver picked up for $25....can't beat that! The dogs will love 'em!