MSI X79 Big Bang XPower II

[DwarfAdigginAhole]

MSI as we all know has been trading blows with Gigabyte ever sense the PCIE GEN3 scenario and before that as well. With the release of the Gigabyte G1 Assassin 2 you would think that MSI would have released something similar, no, they are making something better(and also a better heat sink style). One of my many problems with the G1 Assassin was the fact that it is a top tier board with only 4 ram slots, the new MSI X79 Big Bang XPower II has not only 8 ram slots but is a much larger and better looking board IMO but as they say a single picture is worth a thousand words so here ya go me lovelies

http://www.techpowerup.com/154769/MSI-Big-Bang-XPower-II-X79-Monstrosity-Smiles-For-The-Camera.html

I have to say I really like the ammo clip heatsink vs the little green water gun on the Assassin

 

[sheroo]

They are both making motherboards with aesthetics that would appeal to 15 year olds, but unfortunately SB-E is out of most 15 year olds price bracket. I think they are utterly pointless. Put these "toy heatsinks" on the lower end boards and they would sell like hot cakes. I think the marketing boys got this one wrong. If I was gonna drop a wedge on an SB-E build I wouldn't be using that tacky crap. That Intel board with the skull on is no better....

 

[DwarfAdigginAhole]

They are both making motherboards with aesthetics that would appeal to 15 year olds, but unfortunately SB-E is out of most 15 year olds price bracket. I think they are utterly pointless. Put these "toy heatsinks" on the lower end boards and they would sell like hot cakes. I think the marketing boys got this one wrong. If I was gonna drop a wedge on an SB-E build I wouldn't be using that tacky crap. That Intel board with the skull on is no better....

I personally disagree with you on that, the original X58 G1 series was brilliant and the heat sink design was nice and I honestly have to say I like this design for the Big Bang XPower as well. Although beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[SparkleDJackson]

They are both making motherboards with aesthetics that would appeal to 15 year olds, but unfortunately SB-E is out of most 15 year olds price bracket. I think they are utterly pointless. Put these "toy heatsinks" on the lower end boards and they would sell like hot cakes. I think the marketing boys got this one wrong. If I was gonna drop a wedge on an SB-E build I wouldn't be using that tacky crap. That Intel board with the skull on is no better....

Word. I thought the first version of the Assassin range was gay as flip. And the intel skull just looks plonkerish

 

[yassarikhan786]

I prefer the normal heat sinks. They have an air of professionalism about them, unlike these so called "Military styled" heat sinks. If they reduced the prices of the boards I wouldn't mind as much, but with the addition of these tacky heat sinks the prices seem to rise, which doesn't make any sense to me at all.

 

[SparkleDJackson]

Are the sabretooths military styled or military grade

 

[mrDMxtreme]

personally i like the layout of the big bang (the fact that it has 8 ram slots and room for 2 triple slots cards WITH a space in between) but i don't like the styling :S

so its not even that its for a 12 year old, (i like the first gen G1 assassin) but with this board it stands out tooooo much and the top barrel machine gun thing... too taky i think.

BUT its ok --> why? because when your are spending that much money (like 400+ on a mobo and 1000 on a cpu, 200 on ram.....) you MOST LIKELY will have the money to wc, therefore just choose a mobo that has the layout you want, and has blocks. done.

Sparkle, i believe the sabretooth's military grade , not styled (well the color are military, but no gun heat sinks and such) look :

 

[Ya93sin]

The heatsinks look like something out of a K'nex set

 

[Solidarity]

Why can't companies just use heatsinks similar to the one's on the x79 ud-5? It looks pretty good, I can only assume it cools quite well, and isn't really tacky.

 

[Lollipop]

I love the colours of the sabertooth

 

[adamjamesroe]

I can't wait for the MSI BigBang XPower 2 to come to the UK. This board looks awsome!

 

[AdrianD2]

Dual 8-Pin? Will the overclocking ever stop!? I do think the heat sink does look rather cheesy... I think gigabyte makes the most visually pleasing motherboards, this heatsink looks absolutely amazing:

 

[UFN]

Honestly I would say that putting guns and ammo on a motherboard doesn't make it Military styled, IMO Styling is about making something look like it belongs within the theme it has chosen. Sabertooth boards are military styled because they fit the bill of "Military"; It looks like it has been built for superior function over fashion and keeping the well known "Camo" colours. Sabertooth boards look like you could throw them out of windows and survive ridiculous strain.

I would say that the Gigabyte board is "Action Man Styled" whilst the MSI board is "Call of duty styled", both themselves attempting to pass themselves off as "Military" but it just ends up as a caricature toy. I would not be surprised if they phrase "Ages 8+" appeared on the box.

I would have loved to see some care and pride go into the aesthetics, rather than just "Lets slap a gun on, pew pew pew!". Good quality aesthetics can make a mediocre board appear a more quality product over all, likewise cheap, half arsed aesthetic attempts can make a great board look (you guessed it), cheap and half arsed.

 

[DwarfAdigginAhole]

Honestly I would say that putting guns and ammo on a motherboard doesn't make it Military styled, IMO Styling is about making something look like it belongs within the theme it has chosen. Sabertooth boards are military styled because they fit the bill of "Military"; It looks like it has been built for superior function over fashion and keeping the well known "Camo" colours. Sabertooth boards look like you could throw them out of windows and survive ridiculous strain.

I would say that the Gigabyte board is "Action Man Styled" whilst the MSI board is "Call of duty styled", both themselves attempting to pass themselves off as "Military" but it just ends up as a caricature toy. I would not be surprised if they phrase "Ages 8+" appeared on the box.

I would have loved to see some care and pride go into the aesthetics, rather than just "Lets slap a gun on, pew pew pew!". Good quality aesthetics can make a mediocre board appear a more quality product over all, likewise cheap, half arsed aesthetic attempts can make a great board look (you guessed it), cheap and half arsed.

How on earth do the heat sinks make the board look "Half assed, cheap, and etc" I mean personally I think it is nice to see some Gun heat sinks, I mean not the Assassin 2 style of guns, but it is nice none the less. I mean in all honesty, even if you do not like the heat sinks of the board the performance is what really counts in the end.

 

[yassarikhan786]

How on earth do the heat sinks make the board look "Half assed, cheap, and etc" I mean personally I think it is nice to see some Gun heat sinks, I mean not the Assassin 2 style of guns, but it is nice none the less. I mean in all honesty, even if you do not like the heat sinks of the board the performance is what really counts in the end.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion at the end of the day. If someone doesn't like something, then you can't make them like that thing by outlining why you like it.

 

[sheroo]

I mean in all honesty, even if you do not like the heat sinks of the board the performance is what really counts in the end.

Performance is the most important thing but we all love our nerd porn. I just don't think the design of these boards are consistent with the demographic that can afford them. Squirt guns and skulls - say no more....

 

[UFN]

How on earth do the heat sinks make the board look "Half assed, cheap, and etc" I mean personally I think it is nice to see some Gun heat sinks, I mean not the Assassin 2 style of guns, but it is nice none the less. I mean in all honesty, even if you do not like the heat sinks of the board the performance is what really counts in the end.

Because they look like plastic toys that have merely been glued onto the board, IMO. To echo the same sentiment of the first commenter on the article you linked, they look more like yellow crayons than bullets.

And yes performance is what counts, you're quite right, but I was specifically talking about the aesthetics which are also obviously important; MSI and Gigabyte wouldn't have attempted to do this if they didn't think aesthetics were important.

Think of it like food, the first bite is with the eye. The most amazing tasting food can be on your plate in front of you, but if it's sitting there looking like someone else has already eaten it then you're probably going to lose your appetite.

I'm glad you like the look of the heat sinks, but I was just voicing my opinion, and reasoning behind, why I don't

 

[DwarfAdigginAhole]

Because they look like plastic toys that have merely been glued onto the board, IMO. To echo the same sentiment of the first commenter on the article you linked, they look more like yellow crayons than bullets.

And yes performance is what counts, you're quite right, but I was specifically talking about the aesthetics which are also obviously important; MSI and Gigabyte wouldn't have attempted to do this if they didn't think aesthetics were important.

Think of it like food, the first bite is with the eye. The most amazing tasting food can be on your plate in front of you, but if it's sitting there looking like someone else has already eaten it then you're probably going to lose your appetite.

I'm glad you like the look of the heat sinks, but I was just voicing my opinion, and reasoning behind, why I don't

Hmmmm true, very true actually.....I feel so terribly immature for liking the heat sinks now

but then again I am sure this board's performance will shine out once someone takes those heat sinks off and throws on a full board liquid cooling block

I actually plan to use this board for that around June-July for my build, I am apparently getting a few pieces of kit for Christmas(Case, Powersupply, and RAM) so I figured I could save up a bit and buy the rest of my system. So it will be fun to liquid cool this board and bring out its true performance side.