Is the taichi worth the extra 50 bucks over the killer sli/ac? I know the vrm'S are better but is that the main difference. Specially if im gonna use my own sound card?
And after readig what you guys said, is the 3200 c14 that big of a difference over say 2400 c15?
Im getting closer to getting all the funds together. Saving a couple bucks here and there will speed up the process.
I can save about 100 bucks if i got killer sli/ac and 2400c15. With that i could get a corair 100i v2 or is that needed?
Hang on now, what CPU are you going to mix this with?
For memory, on Intel I'd say price/perf is optimal at 3000c16, 3000c15. 3200c14 is expensive mode for negligible gains most of the time. I would never pay more than 10% premium on faster memory compared to what is 'mainstream'. It just won't pay off unless you're benching/OCing primarily.
Generally, about the Taichi, its in the top row of high end boards in terms of VRM, features and quality. That said, nobody needs it, unless again, you're in the enthusiast bench/OC crowd. Out of the high-midrange boards for Intel CFL I would opt for the Fatality K6, or the Asus Prime-A.
Go lower (midrange), and the Extreme4 is a nobrainer - dont even consider the other brands unless they have something specific you really want because most of them cheap out on features or quality or are priced too high.
In the lowest segment, say around 100-120 EUR/dollar mark, get anything - just don't go for more than a mild OC on these boards.
AsRock has a really strong line up this year, on either AMD or Intel. MSI does not, Asus is hit or miss (and almost all boards above low end carry the Asus premium), same for Gigabyte, though they are more competitive on price vs features.