Sanity check for mobo + question about RAM (build targeted to 5600X)

[DarkosCY]

Hey folks! Reaching out to preserve my sanity because if I spend another day watching comparison videos and searching through parts lists, I'm gonna flip out 

 

I'm planning a build with a 5600X and an RTX 3080, so I should be able to put it together before this time next year. Jokes aside, I need help settling on a mobo, and had a question about RAM timings. I'm in the UK, since that has a bearing on component availability.

 

I've narrowed the field to 3 (4?) options based on what I'm seeing available:

1. MSI MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI for 120 pounds - Cheapest board that is still of a certain quality based on all the reviews I've seen so far. My concern with this one is the sparse I/O. It'll be ok with what I have now, but that's just about it.

2. This is the question mark as it's really close to the above. Asus TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS (WI-FI) for 130 pounds - This has a  much better I/O selection, but it 'only' has 4 SATA connections. I currently have 3 SSDs and 1 mass storage drive, so that would instantly fill them up. Granted, my next SSD will probably be an M.2, but that also slightly worries me given that there will be a not-so-slim RTX card right next to it on the cramped board.

3. Asus TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (WI-FI) for 154 pounds - Full sized ATX, so no worries about cramped area, and plenty of I/O. But slightly more expensive and don't know if it's worth it considering the next pick.

4. MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI for 190 pounds - The mother of all X570s, this thing is awesome, no compromises. But it's also quite expensive, and considering this is probably the last line of AM4s, it won't give me the future-proofing that it would be usually good for. That being said, this would probably allow for a bit of overclocking to bridge the gap.

My inner gamer is screaming "BUY THE FLASHY ONE", but rationally speaking, it's not like 80 pounds are make or break, but it's not pennies either, especially since it won't actually add to the build's longevity. Just for comparison's sake, my current build is 5 years old.

 

Now for the memory question. After watching SO MANY videos, I've come to the conclusion that 3600MHz CL16 is the best option here. 2x16 seems to be  the consensus of best performance (I know 16 is plenty for now, but I want 32). Except I can't seem to find a single bloody option selling that; it's either 3200 CL16 or 3600 CL18, or it's out of stock for months. I also checked for 3800Mhz in case I'd be able to get the FCLK to 1900 stable, but those are even rarer. So my question is: should I keep waiting and hunting for CL16s, or would CL18 be imperceptibly worse and I should suck it up and go for it?

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this

[Jurrunio]

Even the TUF boards could deal with a 5950X, so no need for the X570 tomahawk if you dont need more PCIe cards.

 

4x8gb is the best because you cant guarantee 2x16gb to give you two ranks of memory per channel. There's also 3733C17 to look for. Otherwise, downgrade to 3600C18 is still better than 3200C16

[DarkosCY]

2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

Even the TUF boards could deal with a 5950X, so no need for the X570 tomahawk if you dont need more PCIe cards.

 

4x8gb is the best because you cant guarantee 2x16gb to give you two ranks of memory per channel. There's also 3733C17 to look for. Otherwise, downgrade to 3600C18 is still better than 3200C16

I can't really think of anything I'd need besides the GPU and (potentially) an M.2 SSD. Haven't needed anything else in my current build, except maybe a SATA extension card, but since I'm unlikely to need an optical drive anymore, so I'd be down to 4 SATA connections, which they could both handle.

 

So you're recommending the TUF full ATX board? Even if the tomahawk is only 36 pounds more? Not trying to be contrary or anything, just using you as a sounding board if that's ok

 

4x8 are nowhere to be seen either; it's like the whole of the damn UK has collectively run out of low latency memory. I have found a 2x16 kit of 3733C17 though, for 255 pounds, where the 2x16 3600C16 shows a price of ~160 pounds (but unavailable). No easy choices it seems. How hard would it be to underclock the 3733 and push that towards tightening the latency?

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond by the way

[Jurrunio]

1 hour ago, DarkosCY said:

So you're recommending the TUF full ATX board? Even if the tomahawk is only 36 pounds more? Not trying to be contrary or anything, just using you as a sounding board if that's ok

yup, that's 36 pounds for something that wont be useful. That's already enough for things like better case fans, a better case, faster memory etc.

 

1 hour ago, DarkosCY said:

4x8 are nowhere to be seen either; it's like the whole of the damn UK has collectively run out of low latency memory. I have found a 2x16 kit of 3733C17 though, for 255 pounds, where the 2x16 3600C16 shows a price of ~160 pounds (but unavailable). No easy choices it seems. How hard would it be to underclock the 3733 and push that towards tightening the latency?

that price though, I wont bother with that kit. changing 3733 17-21-21 to 3600 16-19-19 is easy, most of them can do it.

 

what about this?

https://www.newegg.com/global/uk-en/ballistix-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820164150?Item=N82E16820164150&nm_mc=AFC-RAN-COM&cm_mmc=AFC-RAN-COM&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=afc-PCPartPicker&AFFID=2558510&AFFNAME=PCPartPicker&ACRID=1&ASID=https%3a%2f%2fuk.pcpartpicker.com%2f&ranMID=44583&ranEAID=2558510&ranSiteID=8BacdVP0GFs-WHAX3leexq9P09cjuRYVfA

[DarkosCY]

2 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

yup, that's 36 pounds for something that wont be useful. That's already enough for things like better case fans, a better case, faster memory etc.

That's fair enough actually! Good way of putting it.

 

2 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

that price though, I wont bother with that kit. changing 3733 17-21-21 to 3600 16-19-19 is easy, most of them can do it.

 

what about this?

Yup, for some reason what retailers do here is take the US price, take off the dollar sign, slap a pound sign in its place, and call it a day. It's immensely frustrating.

 

I found quite a few memory kits on Newegg that I wouldn't mind ordering, especially if I some other kit from there as well to get free shipping. The thing that's holding me back is concern about support. If for example I get a dud RAM stick, I'm concerned it'll be harder to get a replacement/RMA/fix/whatever from a company that has no presence in the country. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

[Jurrunio]

47 minutes ago, DarkosCY said:

I'm concerned it'll be harder to get a replacement/RMA/fix/whatever from a company that has no presence in the country. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

You contact whoever branded the stick, i.e. Crucial for the one I linked. Make sure that brand exists in your country is enough. All this wont do is refund.

[DarkosCY]

32 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

You contact whoever branded the stick, i.e. Crucial for the one I linked. Make sure that brand exists in your country is enough. All this wont do is refund.

Just realised that ordering from Newegg means I need to pay an additional 20% markup as import duty. Well that's not fun  Guess my best option is to keep my eyes peeled for decently priced 3600CL16s/3733CL17s over the next few weeks as I'm hunting for a CPU and GPU to be stocked.

 

Thanks for the input Jurrunio