Yep the slot arrangement is a strong disappointment. Won't keep me totally away from buying one but I'll definitely look over the varying boards before finalizing given the layout. Don't know why they don't stick the final x16 slot out on the end or at least basically plan on having 1-2 cards using dual slot coolers and still leaving 2 pci-e slots free after that.

Color scheme is also "addressable" before retail and should be. Purple? Black and purple and no other color, fine. Blue and black, fine too. But purple and orange? Ick! Of course, getting rid of ALL the orange would be fine in my book. Red is ok, but the orange is not so much.

On the technical side, I'm thinking even if the mounting holes are the same size, we're all going to need new water blocks, for the larger die.

And I sure hope they make the chipset die more removeable on at least the top end boards. It shouldn't be rocket science to make a block have good contact yet still come off easily enough to replace with an enthusiast air or water option.

Lots to address on this board but all of it is addressable. And remember the SLI board isn't likely to get here before Christmas so really for the first round of purchasers, it's not even a viable option.