Mobo decision help

chimimoryo · October 18, 2020

Hello, I currently have an i7 940 system that's 9 years old, almost 10. Since last winter I have been trying to put a new system together. Finally decided to pull the trigger after the launch of the new ryzens and upcoming navi gpus.

I think I'll be getting either a 5800 or 5900 cpu, haven't 100% decided yet. I have already bought a gen 4 m.2 drive, there was a great deal last week, so I couldn't pass it up. Since last year, I had it in my head I was going to get the asus hero viii. At that time it was about 300us. Now prices are going crazy up. I bought my current sabertooth x58 for about 250ish. I can reconcile paying 300 for a motherboard, but over that just seems silly.

Since I want gen4 ssd speeds, I'd need the 570 or 550 chipsets. I saw the announcement of the dark hero, but an msrp of 399 makes that not part of the conversation. So the accompanying 550 board and the subsequent announcement of the 550 asrock razer board seem intriguing. But is the expected 300 price tag worth it for a 550 board.

I do not particularly want an msi board, due to their current douche baggery. I have a gigabyte board in my htpc. I have always been partial to asus boards. Never owned an asrock product, but I understand they are an asus spin off brand.

Any suggestions? Of course I realize that any talk on unreleased products is purely speculation.

chimimoryo · October 21, 2020

Any suggestions? Probably have to wait more until the new announced boards get released though

mrdoubtfull · October 21, 2020

Just installed my first ever Asrock, I got the B550 Taichi for $259 from Microcenter (which is great as I consider it better than the X570 variant, just with less M2 options but not really a big deal honestly)..

I've used the VIII Hero, MEG ACE and Tomahawk, as far as X570 goes. I'm currently using the B550 Gaming Carbon (fathers build) and the B550 Taichi..

You don't need a super high end board.. After using probably over 10 AM4 boards, I've realized features are more important than worrying about VRMs (yes VRMs are important but it's not the end all be all that some would lead you to believe). Almost all B550/X570 boards are more than adequate..

I chose this Taichi specifically because of the headers, IO and because the X570 variant was praised quite well and this board only builds on top on that (besides the M2). My case requires 2x USB 3.0 headers for 4x 3.1 gen 2 USB ports (you can always get a splitter or hub if need be).. The X570 Taichi didn't have that and after looking at them both in store, the B550 just looked better than every single AM4 board I've tried (even than the Hero VIII/ACE)!

Currently on the Taichi I'm running my RAM at 3733MHz 16-16-16-36 and my 3800XT is running at 4.5GHz and scoring over 5400 in Cinebench.. Many boards can accomplish this, though, and while I like the MSI BIOS WAYYYY more, the Asrock one does the job and will be great for 5000 series..

Check out the VRM tier list on the forum and just pick a decent board that has the features you need/desire.. You don't need to spend a ton at all, even the ~$200 boards are great! The X570 Tomahawk is a beast!

A part of me regrets not getting the X570 Taichi or Aorus Master (could have gotten it for a similar price) but I'm happy with my choice as it'll handle next gen with ease and has plenty of storage options if I need to add more later..

Chiyawa · October 21, 2020

For me, Gigabyte X570 Aorus Pro WiFi is pretty much quite decent. So here is the list if you want to know more about it:

Notable feature and internal ports:

- Intel Wi-Fi AX 200 on board (for the Wi-Fi variants)

- Intel I211 1Gbps ethernet

- 1 USB-C Gen 2 header

- 2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 header (4 ports)

- 2 USB 2.0 (4 ports)

- Q Flash button without the need of CPU (which mean even if the motherboard has a BIOS that didn't support your CPU, you can flash it without needing a compatible CPU)

- 4 diagnostic LED (CPU, RAM, GPU, Boot). Not the best debug feature, but it at least give you a rough idea where your system is stuck.

- Good VRM (Can support up to 3900X OC no issue, 3950X however can still be use, but achieving maximum OC is quite hard due to power VRM limitation)

- Many fan headers (CPU, CPU Opt, Sys 1, Sys 2, Sys 4, Sys 5 Fan/WPump, Sys 6 Fan/WPump)

- 2 aRGB and 3 12VRGB

- Thunderbolt 3 support with Gigabyte Thunder Ridge or Alpine Ridge add-in card (only for motherboard version 1.1 onwards, 1.0 has no Thunderbolt 3 support)

PCIe and M2 slots:

2x M2 NVMe slots (all dedicated, 1 from CPU, 1 from chipset)

2x PCIe x16 slot (1 x16 or 2 x8 from CPU, crossfire or SLI capable)

1x PCIe x16 slot (running x4, from chipset)

2x PCIe x1 slot (from chipset)

Back panel:

- 4 USB 2.0 ports

- 2 SMA port (only for Wi-Fi model)

- 1 HDMI (can only be use if you install APU processor)

- 3 USB 3.2 Gen 1 (from CPU)

- 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps (1 from CPU, 1 from chipset)

- 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-C