The media could not be loaded.
*Asus Reliablity and features!
*Modern UEFI BIOS with backup & full overclocking abilities. Great!
*RGB Lighting on the chipset is very cool and you do get full control through the Asus Software Suite.
*Solid build quality and the layout is very well thought out. You should have no problem using your existing Ram and cooler combo.
*The software suite allows access to every aspect of your system without having to go into the BIOS. Experienced no problems doing so.
*USB 3.1, Intel NIC, Lots of USB ports on the rear, SLI capabilities, and improved Audio solution. A great way to modernize your FX platform.
*M.2 PCIE SSD slot! You truly can modernize this old horse.
Cons:
*A bit on the pricey side. After all was said and done I think the total cost was 117 bucks. Ouch. Especially for such an old platform. But I still think it's worth it in certain in scenarios!
*Unfortunately, if you have an existing 970 chipset board and you are looking to this to upgrade and swap over. Be aware it won't be that simple.
Conclustion: ASUS hit another home run with this board. I am THOROUGHLY IMPRESSED. Enough so that I'm considering purchasing one for my FX8350 system that is currently running with it's trusty old Biostar TA970 board. Eventually it will be harder and harder to find boards for this old platform now that Ryzen is out. So it couldn't hurt to pick this up as a backup for all you AMD faithful.
Now what I mean by, this is a pricey board and can only be recommended in certain scenarios... I'll explain. In 2013 I built one of my clients an FX 8320 based system for photo & video editing duty. With her budget the FX was the best bang for the buck at the time. Fast forward to last week and the board had finally had enough and bowed out. And that is where the Pro Gaming Aura comes in. Not only did I choose it for it's modern feature set but also that I should be able to drop it in, boot up Windows 10 and my client keep on as if nothing happened. The Aura was the perfect candidate to replace the aging Biostar TA970. Unfortunately that didn't happen.
WARNING: Your existing 970 based board boot drive WILL NOT BOOT in this ASUS board. Crap Baskets! lol So, thinking it could be a fluke I broke out my old FX8350 system, pulled the boot drive out and plugged it into the Aura. Again... nothing... Windows boot loop... can't get into windows. But, my clients original boot SSD did work on my 8350 system as they had the same Biostar TA970 board. So I used it to uninstall all AMD & board drivers. Took it out, plugged it back into the Aura and it booted right up! So, for some reason the old 970 / discreet graphics drivers didn't play nice with the Aura. After that, it's been flawless. I then broke out the Asus Driver disc, installed all the software, then hit up AMD for graphics drivers and the rest is history. Also, Windows says that it is now "not activated" but hasn't given the "please activate windows" watermark. A simple call the Microsoft can fix that. They usually aren't sticklers about licenses when you explain the board died.
Can I recommend spending this much on a NEW FX build with Ryzen out now? No. Can I recommend it if you like where you are and just want modern features? ABSOLUTELY! Also, if you have an FX based system and the board dies and you don't want / need to upgrade to a newer platform this is the way to go! It's pricey but you do get a lot for your money + Asus reliability. I'm really thinking about ordering one for my FX8350 as well. Very impressed.
