I am also considering this board because of the great price and the fact that the Noctua NH-D15 doesn't block the first PCIe slot.
There is one question though. I am planning to go with 970 SLI, but I have read that the spacing of the first two PCIe x16 slots is a little too close and won't be optimal for cooling. I was wondering if I could just skip the second x16 slot and put the second 970 is the third x16 slot, using a longer SLI bridge. Will that be possible?
This is what the board's manual says:
So, must I do E1 and E3? What happens if I put the second 970 is E5? Card doesn't get used? No boot?
Forgot to mention that I intend to use the 5820k.