Tweet
I have a few suggestions for any future revisions of the 990FX Fatal1ty Killer Mobo. After owning this mobo for a while I have noticed a few things that have become sort of an issue or just not very effective.
1st:
Heat Sinks:
2nd:
SLI/Crossfire Power Connector - The placement of this is pretty bad. First off in the case I have this mobo in right now, NZXT Phantom) I had to design my own custom Right Angle Molex Power Connecter just for it to fit and I still had to install it before tightening the Motherboard into place with the screws. In many case the distance between that bottom end of the mobo and where it rest in the case their is something there. Be it the bottom of the PC Case or in my case the PSU itself. It would be much better if place on the side toward the front of the cases where Sata ports usually are. It just seems like that side of the mobo makes a lot more sense and is usually less of a hassle to deal with in connecting things. Heck you could even look at making in straight plug instead of Right Angle like it right now. That would even help out but still, even in that situation it is a tight fit being at the bottom of the mobo. So I suggest that in any future revision or new mobo that you all think about relocating the SLI/Crossfire Power Connector to a easier accessible location.
3rd:
M.2 Socket - This is a great addition to the mobo but the way you implemented could have been a little better in regards to its placement and how you removed the use of one slot area. Basically you could have put a PCI-E x1. I think the issue here is that the South Bridge Heat Sink keeps the M.2 Socket from being place a little further in. You have it accept up to 110mm. A good thing but with that in mind it could be further in so that you do not loos the use of that slot. I have seen other mobos since the release of this one that has placed it like that but still kept the use of the slot area with a PCI-E x1. No reason as to why you all could not as well. So in any future revision of this mobo or any new mobo maybe you can look into re positioning the M.2 Sockets so that you do not loos the use of any slots. Heck you could probably even look into a way to have them installed vertically into the Motherboard with would cut the space down considerably if you can do this. ASUS did this with the use of a Bracket for the X99 Deluxe mobo. You all could look into designing something similar to save space. You also need to have more of these M.2 Sockets on youre Future mobos. Having more is better in my opinion. :)
4th:
Power LED - It is not a very important thing to have but I am just so use to having them on the mobo's that I find it odd that this mobo does not have one.
5th:
Smart Switches: (It would be great to see you add these switches to this is mobo in any future revisions. You all know what these switches are but I will talk about two directly and suggest a new one if possible.)
6th:
Dr.Debug - Always a nice feature to have. So please add this to any future revision of this mobo as well. :)
Anyways that is about it for now. Hope you all at ASRock take these suggestions into consideration. Also, if anyone wants to add to this then please feel free. :)
1st:
Heat Sinks:
- North Bridge - The design of the North Bridge Heat Sink is very inefficient. The 990FX is a Chipset that gets very hot out of the box but with this Fatal1ty Killer mobo it gets unusually hot. Just looking at it you can tell that it is very inefficient. It is a very smooth and flat. It only has three groves diagonally through it. The angled shape of it also makes for the Airflow to roll or flow right over it with very little contact for absorption. In fact its angled design make me wonder if the groves in it are able to even catch the air in an efficient manor. If you look at most heat sinks you will notice that they are designed to catch the air and have it flow over as much surface area as possible. For this Fatal1ty Killer Mobo it looks like they designed it for looks as it does look pretty sleek. But Sleek is not very efficient. SO I propose that they change the design of the Heat Sink in future Revisions of it or any other new mobo so that it is efficient. Damn the looks, as being functional is more important.
- South Bridge - This Heat Sink has the very same issues as the North Bridge but it is even less efficient as it is not only just smooth and flat but also thinner and has less of a set of groves in it. In fact the Groves are just on the lower right corner. So it to needs to be resigned for any future revisions or new mobos.
- MOSFET - This Heat Sink is a lot more efficient than the North and South Bridge but it still could be better. It needs more Groves in it for better Airflow through it. So it to could be resigned for future revisions and new mobos.
2nd:
SLI/Crossfire Power Connector - The placement of this is pretty bad. First off in the case I have this mobo in right now, NZXT Phantom) I had to design my own custom Right Angle Molex Power Connecter just for it to fit and I still had to install it before tightening the Motherboard into place with the screws. In many case the distance between that bottom end of the mobo and where it rest in the case their is something there. Be it the bottom of the PC Case or in my case the PSU itself. It would be much better if place on the side toward the front of the cases where Sata ports usually are. It just seems like that side of the mobo makes a lot more sense and is usually less of a hassle to deal with in connecting things. Heck you could even look at making in straight plug instead of Right Angle like it right now. That would even help out but still, even in that situation it is a tight fit being at the bottom of the mobo. So I suggest that in any future revision or new mobo that you all think about relocating the SLI/Crossfire Power Connector to a easier accessible location.
3rd:
M.2 Socket - This is a great addition to the mobo but the way you implemented could have been a little better in regards to its placement and how you removed the use of one slot area. Basically you could have put a PCI-E x1. I think the issue here is that the South Bridge Heat Sink keeps the M.2 Socket from being place a little further in. You have it accept up to 110mm. A good thing but with that in mind it could be further in so that you do not loos the use of that slot. I have seen other mobos since the release of this one that has placed it like that but still kept the use of the slot area with a PCI-E x1. No reason as to why you all could not as well. So in any future revision of this mobo or any new mobo maybe you can look into re positioning the M.2 Sockets so that you do not loos the use of any slots. Heck you could probably even look into a way to have them installed vertically into the Motherboard with would cut the space down considerably if you can do this. ASUS did this with the use of a Bracket for the X99 Deluxe mobo. You all could look into designing something similar to save space. You also need to have more of these M.2 Sockets on youre Future mobos. Having more is better in my opinion. :)
4th:
Power LED - It is not a very important thing to have but I am just so use to having them on the mobo's that I find it odd that this mobo does not have one.
5th:
Smart Switches: (It would be great to see you add these switches to this is mobo in any future revisions. You all know what these switches are but I will talk about two directly and suggest a new one if possible.)
- Clear CMOS - I have already had to Clear my CMOS with this mobo a few times. Not sure the exact reason as to why but I suspect it was the overheating of the North Bridge Chipset that caused this. Which is why I suggested changing the heat Sinks in the first place. I had RMA'ed this broad because of that once but now I think all they did when I RMA'ed it was cleared the CMOS and sent it back to me. Go figure. :) So if I would have had this it would have been nice and a lot easier to do than having to use the Jumper.
- Direct Key Button - I always liked this option as well.
- Mem OK - ASUS has a button like the Direct Key but it resets or tunes the Memory Timings if you ever have them set wrong or an issue with the memory to were it has boot failure. I have used that before on my Sabertooth 990FX and I loved having that feature. If you all could add something like that as well it would be nice to see in future revisions of this mobo and any new mobo. I know I am suggesting something from another vendor here but it is a great feature so why not add something similar.
6th:
Dr.Debug - Always a nice feature to have. So please add this to any future revision of this mobo as well. :)
Anyways that is about it for now. Hope you all at ASRock take these suggestions into consideration. Also, if anyone wants to add to this then please feel free. :)