Which overkill X670E board should I get (for 7950X3D)

[PDifolco]

Got some more money recently, so will finally go AM5 top gun 7950X3D, 64GB  RAM and a nice X670E board

At that budget level I won't skimp on the board, yet the top end 800-1000EUR range seems ludicrously expensive, so I've settled for the 500EUR range ($400-450 cause we have 20% VAT and a weak EUR)

Now I can't really decide between

- MSI Carbon Wifi

- Asus Strix E-E

- Asus ProArt

- Aorus Master

(Asrock Taichi is out because I can't find it below close to 600EUR)

All of them have everything I need and even more, so tell which one you would get and why !

[jaslion]

I mean the thing is that unless you need a 670e feature you simply wont notice any differece between a gigabyet b650 ds3h or ax elite.

 

So my vote would be none of these or if I have to the cheapest one since they all are overkill for what you need.

 

I also assume this is more than just a gaming pc?

[ulookuglynoob]

tbh, there really isn't a huge difference between the 4. maybe the asus rog strix has like a few more USB 3.2 headers, but there would be no difference in performance if you bought a cheaper x670e mobo. unless you really need a good looking mobo or a few more USB 3.2 headers.

[YoungBlade]

If you really want to go overkill for the sake of it, I'd go with the Aorus Master out of those, as it probably has the best VRMs on the platform - absolutely overkill for even a theoretical future 400W part, let alone for any current option at stock.

 

However, it certainly isn't a value pick.

[Slizzo]

I chose the Carbon Wifi when I purchased back when. Running only 32gb memory, but it's at 6400MT/s with no effort on my part. And not having any Intel LAN is a good thing at this point (my requirement when searching out boards this past time).

[GuiltySpark_]

I wish I didn't go X670E simply because I could and thought it would be cool. The lighter weight B650 boards seem to boot faster. My completely unverified assumption is the lack of the second chipset saves a few seconds during POST. 

 

7 minutes ago, YoungBlade said:

If you really want to go overkill for the sake of it, I'd go with the Aorus Master out of those, as it probably has the best VRMs on the platform

X670E Taichi would like a word. 

 

 

[Tan3l6]

Any of em would look fine with: https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-Contact-Anti-Bending-Buckle-Secure/dp/B0BLS198XQ

[Agall]

X670e Pro Art is the most interesting, its got some extra features like USB4 and type-c with 60W PD from the front header (with the use of the 6pin nearby the 24pin).

 

VRM is nice and all, but the 7950x3D is at most a 150W CPU.

 

I got the X670e Aorus Master because I already had a Gigabyte 4090, who's included anti-sag bracket was designed around that series of motherboards. It was totally worth buying a motherboard around. I also like the fact that it has a backplate, which comes from my mITX days where that actually matters.

[YoungBlade]

4 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

X670E Taichi would like a word. 

The Taichi also has an overkill VRM, that's true, but the Aorus Master ended up 4C cooler in Hardware Unboxed's testing.

With that said, had the OP given the Taichi as an option, I would have mentioned it. The difference is small enough that the two are basically equivalent in terms of the VRMs.

[PDifolco]

Ok thanks mates, but out of 5 replies I got 3 different choices and 2 telling me I don't need X670E (which I knew already, it's like why buying a Mercedes where a Dacia works too ?  )

 

[PDifolco]

4 minutes ago, Tan3l6 said:

Any of em would look fine with: https://www.amazon.com/Thermalright-Contact-Anti-Bending-Buckle-Secure/dp/B0BLS198XQ

Sure that's already in my cart  

[OddOod]

I personally run all MSI boards but that's just because I've never had an error with one and I know the BIOS layout pretty well. 
But I will point to what Linus says about top tier boards: They are never worth it. Their low production volume means you pay an even larger premium *and* they are last in line for firmware bug fixes.

[GuiltySpark_]

2 minutes ago, OddOod said:

They are never worth it.

So far into the ownership experience, I completely agree. 

 

When I built this AM5 rig the week it launched I made a decision that I just wanted to own high end overkill motherboard for once just for the hell of it. Money wasn't a concern and I certainly could have spent even more but even at $500 for a board was absurd. Its neat to think about, but I'm not making use of it whatsoever. 

 

Plus, again, I still feel like B650 boards POST faster. Someone remind me, was B650 available during launch week for Zen4? I can't remember. 

[jaslion]

18 minutes ago, OddOod said:

They are never worth it. Their low production volume means you pay an even larger premium *and* they are last in line for firmware bug fixes.

Yup made 3 builds with the asrock x570 aqua ultra limited run product.

 

All 3 are EXTREMELY picky about power cables (stock rm1000? sure EXCEPT the 8pin that needs to be cablemods HOWEVER dont you dare use it for the 24!!!) also the rgb is like randomly inverted for some elements and the acrylic is extremely fragile.

 

Also an ass for when you use multiple m.2's as sometimes it just doesnt work

[Agall]

18 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Plus, again, I still feel like B650 boards POST faster. 

People turn off their computers?

 

24 minutes ago, OddOod said:

They are never worth it.

My Z97 Impact VII was a $212 board back when motherboards were like $100. It was well worth it since it outlasted anything in its tier with a PCIe 3.0 4x M.2 slot, which was considered unnecessary back in 2014. Even in 2015 when I got my first AHCI PCIe 3.0 4x drive, the Samsung SM951 AHCI 512GB, it wasn't even 'commercially available' and wasn't until 2016 where we saw viable commercial options with NVMe's release.

 

That board is actually sitting next to me, still able to do a 4.6GHz OC on the 4790k its had and 2x8GB 2400MHz kit of RAM, and a Corsair AIO from 2016 with that SM951 still as its boot drive. (I still have the sound card, just not worth using in this form).

 

 

44 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Ok thanks mates, but out of 5 replies I got 3 different choices and 2 telling me I don't need X670E (which I knew already, it's like why buying a Mercedes where a Dacia works too ?  )

 

Why the X670e Creator/Pro Art gets my vote. USB4 (including Thunderbolt), 60W PD to the front header type-c or a rear I/O that you can charge your mobile device from, dual LAN with 2.5Gb and 10Gb. Just the most feature rich board that I would buy if I had to choose right now.

[OddOod]

45 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Ok thanks mates, but out of 5 replies I got 3 different choices and 2 telling me I don't need X670E (which I knew already, it's like why buying a Mercedes where a Dacia works too ?  )

 

It's more like buying a Jaguar in the 70s. You need two because they'll spend half the time in the shop. 
But when you give 4 options and get 3 responses all different, that means it *doesn't matter* which you choose. 

[Tan3l6]

Yeah, no Dacia in these choices imo. All modern boards, more like Volvo, BMW, Mecedes or Chevrolet. 

In most cases it's just about features you really need.

[PDifolco]

4 minutes ago, OddOod said:

It's more like buying a Jaguar in the 70s. You need two because they'll spend half the time in the shop. 
 

That's a bit worrying,  didn't see any report of  issues  specific to X670E (after the early BIOS post issues) ?

 

6 minutes ago, OddOod said:

But when you give 4 options and get 3 responses all different, that means it *doesn't matter* which you choose. 

Still each have certain advantages and disadvantages, that was my question !

[GuiltySpark_]

1 minute ago, PDifolco said:

That's a bit worrying,  didn't see any report of  issues  specific to X670E

Realistically I don't think there are? Been running it since the week the platform launched. 

[OddOod]

1 minute ago, PDifolco said:

That's a bit worrying,  didn't see any report of  issues  specific to X670E (after the early BIOS post issues) ?

 

Not that you would. The public reporting rate of problems in consumer electronics is microscopic. You need hundreds of people having the same problem at the same time to really hear about it. 
This is just a common story: Top end boards are finicky and their long term support is garbage

 

2 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Still each have certain advantages and disadvantages, that was my question !

Aside from the fact that we don't know anything about your usecase, we also aren't you. You are equally likely to have a good time with any of them, I'd go with the cheapest

[Somerandomtechyboi]

aorus master has eclk if you wanna overclock the cache cores on the 7950x3d same goes for the e-e but for whatever reason the carbon wifi has no eclk

 

still pretty stupid to get a high end board as they really arent worth it unless youll use the features or i/o in which case the only real thing that differentiates the lowend and highend is mostly eclk and usb 4 ports

 

it was more important back in the fsb oc era where youd want a high end board to run high fsbs but even that has its diminishing returns, best thing at the end of 775 for max fsb was the giga ep45 ud boards and even then youd probably hit cpu or ram limit before boardlimit on a non ud board (could not boot past 620fsb on my best e8400 on both a ud3r and ds4p probs cpu limit as my xtreem dark will do 1500+) and on the previous generation there was the p5k and giga g33 boards. bclk era on x58 and 1156 made high end irrelevant aside from frequency records or benching when youd be stuck at 220 ish bclk without slowmode, id definitely notice the switch from my x58a ud3r to an x58a oc for clocking triple channel as this thing flakes out past 2800 on the 3rd channel where the x58a oc should do 3000+ easy, but an average joe that isnt gonna be running 3000+ (probs some slow ass ~2000 ddr3 or slower) or a golden sample chip would not notice any difference whatsoever, and funnily enough the best board for bclk on 1156 is an h55m ud2h of all things not even a p55 board let alone a high end one, after that high end only affected ram oc and that still remains true nowadays

 

nowadays you get a high end board for features and i/o, overclocking wise youd be looking at 2dimmers and thats about it, literally only affects ram overclocking which almost noone does atleast not any serious overclocks especially not for daily so this is pretty much irrelevant for everyone but me

 

 

if money was of no concern id probably get an x670e gene just because its a top end 2dimmer, maybe it isnt that much better than the hdv atm since they seem to be imc limited for now at 10800 and 11000 respectively looking at hwbot but it might shine once the next gen apus launch with better imcs and hopefully 12000+ ddr5, also has some extra stuff like postcodes and i assume eclk aswell since its a crosshair board, then stuff id probably never use like dual usb4 on the rear i/o

[PDifolco]

6 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Not that you would. The public reporting rate of problems in consumer electronics is microscopic. You need hundreds of people having the same problem at the same time to really hear about it. 
This is just a common story: Top end boards are finicky and their long term support is garbage

 

Aside from the fact that we don't know anything about your usecase, we also aren't you. You are equally likely to have a good time with any of them, I'd go with the cheapest

My usecase is mostly gaming (non competitive, graphics intensive 3440x1440p), office work, browsing etc, nothing really intensive

The build is obviously as much overkill as a Maserati in countries limited to 130km/h at best, I admit, but hey that's not a fault

I'm  also sure all of them are good, that's  why I  can  decide, wanted to hear from people about what they think about them or  the experience they have with

Prices are all in a 40EUR range, so no significant difference

Regarding support  my X570 is still well supported  after 4 year, aren't  you referring to Intel ?

[Agall]

4 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

aorus master has eclk if you wanna overclock the cache cores on the 7950x3d same goes for the e-e but for whatever reason the carbon wifi has no eclk

 

still pretty stupid to get a high end board as they really arent worth it unless youll use the features or i/o in which case the only real thing that differentiates the lowend and highend is mostly eclk and usb 4 ports

 

it was more important back in the fsb oc era where youd want a high end board to run high fsbs but even that has its diminishing returns, best thing at the end of 775 for max fsb was the giga ep45 ud boards and even then youd probably hit cpu or ram limit before boardlimit on a non ud board (could not boot past 620fsb on my best e8400 on both a ud3r and ds4p probs cpu limit as my xtreem dark will do 1500+) and on the previous generation there was the p5k and giga g33 boards. bclk era on x58 and 1156 made high end irrelevant aside from frequency records or benching when youd be stuck at 220 ish bclk without slowmode, id definitely notice the switch from my x58a ud3r to an x58a oc for clocking triple channel as this thing flakes out past 2800 on the 3rd channel where the x58a oc should do 3000+ easy, but an average joe that isnt gonna be running 3000+ (probs some slow ass ~2000 ddr3 or slower) or a golden sample chip would not notice any difference whatsoever, and funnily enough the best board for bclk on 1156 is an h55m ud2h of all things not even a p55 board let alone a high end one, after that high end only affected ram oc and that still remains true nowadays

 

nowadays you get a high end board for features and i/o, overclocking wise youd be looking at 2dimmers and thats about it, literally only affects ram overclocking which almost noone does atleast not any serious overclocks especially not for daily so this is pretty much irrelevant for everyone but me

 

 

if money was of no concern id probably get an x670e gene just because its a top end 2dimmer, maybe it isnt that much better than the hdv atm since they seem to be imc limited for now at 10800 and 11000 respectively looking at hwbot but it might shine once the next gen apus launch with better imcs and hopefully 12000+ ddr5, also has some extra stuff like postcodes and i assume eclk aswell since its a crosshair board, then stuff id probably never use like dual usb4 on the rear i/o

I don't think overclocking on the 7950x3D is a good idea unless you're delidding. Regardless of CCD configuration, CCD0 will reach thermal throttling at 4.8-4.9GHz all core.

 

I've considered delidding mine and buying the NH-D15 delid kit just to prove this point. Delidded, I suspect I'd see that 5.25GHz boost almost always, where doing bclk OCing might be worth it.

 

 

[PDifolco]

5 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

aorus master has eclk if you wanna overclock the cache cores on the 7950x3d same goes for the e-e but for whatever reason the carbon wifi has no eclk

 

still pretty stupid to get a high end board as they really arent worth it unless youll use the features or i/o in which case the only real thing that differentiates the lowend and highend is mostly eclk and usb 4 ports

 

it was more important back in the fsb oc era where youd want a high end board to run high fsbs but even that has its diminishing returns, best thing at the end of 775 for max fsb was the giga ep45 ud boards and even then youd probably hit cpu or ram limit before boardlimit on a non ud board (could not boot past 620fsb on my best e8400 on both a ud3r and ds4p probs cpu limit as my xtreem dark will do 1500+) and on the previous generation there was the p5k and giga g33 boards. bclk era on x58 and 1156 made high end irrelevant aside from frequency records or benching when youd be stuck at 220 ish bclk without slowmode, id definitely notice the switch from my x58a ud3r to an x58a oc for clocking triple channel as this thing flakes out past 2800 on the 3rd channel where the x58a oc should do 3000+ easy, but an average joe that isnt gonna be running 3000+ (probs some slow ass ~2000 ddr3 or slower) or a golden sample chip would not notice any difference whatsoever, and funnily enough the best board for bclk on 1156 is an h55m ud2h of all things not even a p55 board let alone a high end one, after that high end only affected ram oc and that still remains true nowadays

 

nowadays you get a high end board for features and i/o, overclocking wise youd be looking at 2dimmers and thats about it, literally only affects ram overclocking which almost noone does atleast not any serious overclocks especially not for daily so this is pretty much irrelevant for everyone but me

 

 

if money was of no concern id probably get an x670e gene just because its a top end 2dimmer, maybe it isnt that much better than the hdv atm since they seem to be imc limited for now at 10800 and 11000 respectively looking at hwbot but it might shine once the next gen apus launch with better imcs and hopefully 12000+ ddr5, also has some extra stuff like postcodes and i assume eclk aswell since its a crosshair board, then stuff id probably never use like dual usb4 on the rear i/o

Gene is an ITX board, it'll  look ridiculous in my P600S case, nah

Will use 2 DIMMs (2x32)  anyway,  know my Ryzen

[Agall]

1 minute ago, PDifolco said:

Gene is an ITX board, it'll  look ridiculous in my P600S case, nah

Will use 2 DIMMs (2x32)  anyway,  know my Ryzen

Its Micro ATX, it was the first board I was considering, but its just way too expensive.

 

ROG CROSSHAIR X670E GENE | Gaming motherboards｜ROG - Republic of Gamers｜ROG Global (asus.com)

 

Last board in this series I had was the X79 gene that I ran SLI 780ti's on. It was after this board I downsized to mITX with a single GTX 980 and bought that Z79 Impact VII.