Once You Go White...

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
Staff member
Joined
May 18, 1997
Messages
55,535
MSI has a new series of motherboards out with an arctic theme, Ice Cold Arctic Gaming...pretty cool. Get it? Also they had a picture of matching Geil DIMMs as well. Thanks HAF72 for the links.
 
Last edited:
I think red soldermask is my favorite for a pcb. They never let me use red at work :( something something 'green is slightly cheaper'. pssh
 
I think red soldermask is my favorite for a pcb. They never let me use red at work :( something something 'green is slightly cheaper'. pssh
It's cheaper to QC, easier to follow traces, clean up flux, silkscreen prints come out ready and readable. Green is just common because it makes the most sense. Although that muddled yellow of older times tends to work very sensibly as well but no one ever chooses that now of days. Red you tend to need a good eye or some amount of magnification for fine traces. I mean if you really hate yourself a glossy black or white is pretty much the worst thing in the world for QC outside of final looks. That being said White tends to make traces near damn impossible to see which is an interesting look in itself as it just looks like the components are just there, especially if there is minimal silk-screening.
 
Not bad. Gray on white looks okay. But I think the old ATI reference boards looked sharper with their red on white theme:

grouper.jpg
 
Just had to work that GD dragon in there somehow didn't they? At least Gigabyte has stepped up to take the crown with do you even lift bro Aorus Eagle...
 
Last edited:
I think red soldermask is my favorite for a pcb. They never let me use red at work :( something something 'green is slightly cheaper'. pssh

All my Post-RoHS stuff is Blue, Old stuff is Black on a Black PCB material, lol.

I get boards delivered from Shanghai cheaper than I can buy the parts in the US...
 
Just had to work that GD dragon in there somehow didn't they? At least Gigabyte has stepped up to take the crown with do you even lift bro Aorus Eagle...

That was my first thought..... enough with the dragons already!

Dragons are a cultural thing with a lot of countries where computer parts are made, I get that.
But in the U.S. we're not into the dragons so much. Most of us at least.

It would be nice if they went dragon free for the North American market.
Or at least make the dragon logo much smaller and not all over everything.

.
 
Twin Turbo M.2
Just wish they'd come up with better descriptions for this stuff. I have yet to see even a single turbocharger on anything electronic advertised with it.
 
Meh, I stopped looking inside my cases years ago. I still care about aesthetics, but just of the box itself and am not really into windows (and definitely not lights).
 
Not bad. Gray on white looks okay. But I think the old ATI reference boards looked sharper with their red on white theme:

grouper.jpg

Hah, never seen this one but it looked almost like Abit or Soyo board (anyone remember them? I used to swear by their boards). They had a white motherboards. Personally not a fan of the color scheme but I'm all for the extra choices and component color diversity, so thanks MSI for the bold move! I think it's been well over 10 years since last white mobo. RIP Abit, Soyo, BFG, EPoX!
 
White might make it easier to see inside the case. I used flashlights a lot during the build (ongoing).

What's up with Toslink fading out though? Lots of the newest boards don't have it. Optical is just plain superior to copper. Am I supposed to buy a USB DAC or something?
 
White is right...in a black case with a full glass panel, thats just my game. As long as they arent going with an ECS color pattern...those boards look like an ecstasy filled bisexual orgy at Burning Man
 
Just wish they'd come up with better descriptions for this stuff. I have yet to see even a single turbocharger on anything electronic advertised with it.

I have seen a few rigs that certainly sounded like there was a turbocharger in there somewhere.

What's up with Toslink fading out though? Lots of the newest boards don't have it. Optical is just plain superior to copper. Am I supposed to buy a USB DAC or something?

They are replacing it with regular electrical SPDIF. Optical SPDIF (toslink) didn't catch on as much as regular SPDIF, mostly because you can use any RCA cable made in the last 50-60 years for electrical SPDIF, instead of having to buy a new toslink cable. And since both are digital, the more expensive toslink cable doesn't provide any additional audio quality (or additional benefit at all, really).
 
They are replacing it with regular electrical SPDIF. Optical SPDIF (toslink) didn't catch on as much as regular SPDIF, mostly because you can use any RCA cable made in the last 50-60 years for electrical SPDIF, instead of having to buy a new toslink cable. And since both are digital, the more expensive toslink cable doesn't provide any additional audio quality (or additional benefit at all, really).

Benefits:
  • Electrical isolation - no ground loops or voltage potential on longer runs
  • No pops and crackles from corrosion on the terminals
  • Longer runs
  • RFI and EMI immunity

The Toslink cable I'm using right now is about $2 from Monoprice. The copper version is even lessl, but not enough to worry about with a $100+ motherboard.
 
That was my first thought..... enough with the dragons already!

Dragons are a cultural thing with a lot of countries where computer parts are made, I get that.
But in the U.S. we're not into the dragons so much. Most of us at least.

It would be nice if they went dragon free for the North American market.
Or at least make the dragon logo much smaller and not all over everything.

.

But...Game of Thrones...
 
Meh, I stopped looking inside my cases years ago. I still care about aesthetics, but just of the box itself and am not really into windows (and definitely not lights).
I care how my wiring looks, but only so I can keep my fans spinning slightly slower :)
 
Back
Top