Hardware ASRock Fatal1ty X99M Killer Review

Red and black... shudders

Still, can't blame them, people buy red and black stuff by the truckload.

 

Looks like a perfect board for a "budget" mATX X99 build.

Getting somethin like a Corsair 350D, i7 5820K and a single GTX 970/980 lets you bypass the PCI layout issues on the board and the PCI lanes on the "budget" Haswell-E.

 

And people who do have windows, or like to theme their builds, do. I don't quite see the point in the statement?

This is Bit-Tech, a site primarily focussed around people who like to mod their PCs and where aesthetics are usually important. Is it really unreasonable to make a comment about a colour trend that is now so prevalent, that it could be deemed as boring or uninspiring?

Now I'm not saying we should go back to neon orange paired with green pcbs and brown accents. But if people constantly build with black and red, and manufacturers make more black and red, you do lose a bit of variety. I mean what distinguishes this board from a RoG board, appearance wise? If you weren't looking for differences, you'd have no idea.

 

Exactly what are the choices? You can only buy what is available. Sure, some of the other motherboards have different colour schemes such as blue and silver but then go find other hardware and peripherals that match the same colour scheme. There are dozens of keyboards with red backlighting but very few with blue and almost none with other colours, that is until the recent advent of RGB LEDs.

Not everyone has your time and skill when it comes to modding to create cool looking PCs.

 

Fatal1ty? Really? Has the guy even played anything during the last decade?

 

We're only in that position where black/red is so prevalent because the major players have decided it as so. Asus have very strong brand recognition with their RoG products, they're instantly recognisable and good quality to boot (certainly component wise at least). People now associate red/black with quality, so it will continue to sell well.

My disappointment mostly lies with how other manufacturers haven't really launched upon the same idea to the same extent as Asus. There are plenty of other themed boards out there, but as you mentioned, try finding the other matching pieces for them.

It's not as if they couldn't either. Sure I can understand Asrock as they stick to motherboards. But Gigabyte, EVGA, MSI etc. all make both motherboards and graphics cards, with EVGA also making peripherals and even cases. These guys could have settled on other colour schemes in an effort to try and drive the market much like Asus did. Remember they only need to do this on their top-end products where people are usually more willing to invest in aesthetics.

White and black, for example, is a striking colour scheme that also usually looks pretty good (just see the X99 Deluxe). It also fits well with white cases, of which there are plenty from big name brands, and a number of peripherals too. White also definitely has a premium feel to it when done right (guess that goes for anything though).

One bonus of everything being red and black I guess is that it gives the consumer more choice. Loads of motherboards, graphics cards, RAM sets, fans etc. will match.

 

And? There are loads of people here for different reasons, many not related to PC modding at all. I'm just saying that on a site where modding is very much a focus, it's entirely reasonable for somebody to critique a motherboard's appearance. Sure you may not mind because you don't have side panel windows etc. but I do mind. I wouldn't be very pleased if this were the only µATX X99 worth buying for instance, or if every board was the same colour combo (given two of the 3 out are, that's not unreasonable).

In any case, you don't have to have a window to want the inside of a build to look nice. An upcoming build I'm planning doesn't have any windows, in fact it's about as non-descript and minimalist as it's possible to be, but I still want the inside to look good. That's just what I value. That's why I thought your comment was irrelevant, it doesn't really address mine, it just states you have a different preference. Interestingly, one that doesn't even directly conflict with mine either, you'd be just as happy if my own preference was realised.

 

That's what I think when I see Fatal1ty-branded products, even though it seems maybe it's just down to his deal with AsRock. Why is this jackass still getting paid on a name that hasn't meant anything for the past however many years?

We're not talking Michael Jordan here - a lot of kids probably don't even realize Fatal1ty's some guy, rather than just some silly-sounding branding on AsRock's part.