Future-ish proof (6/7+ years) MoBo headache. Help, please!

Dark_Knight

Dark_Knight

Dark_Knight

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28 Dec 2015
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Hi all. My knowledge is pitiful when it comes to these things, so forgive me if I sound like a noob :confused:

I’ve been plagued by PC issues over the years (BSD galore, lack of RAM, HDDs failing, dodgy cabling, maxing out storage/RAM-causing windows/devices not to function properly).
I want to build a system that’ll last 6+ years minimizing the risk of the above issues with decent components, with no major need to upgrade later unless I want to, not need to.

I’ve just bought a processor and RAM on recommendation (discounted). I’ll be content with these for next few years:

-PNY DDR4/3200mhz/32gb
-AMD Ryzen 5 3600

Will retain from current PC:
-Windows 10 Pro (64 bit)
-Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty (ancient)
-ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series

Overall purpose: Gaming (not likely to become a big gamer), Graphics 2D/3D, basic video editing, entertainment, music, work.

Budget: £209.99 (based on MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk’s popularity)

I’d be willing to spend that at a push, but I’m open to suggestions for something cheaper. Struggling with the B550 or X570 dilemma that even experts seem to be conflicted about. That being said, I’d prefer not to consider below B550 or entry level B550s.

Features:
-ATX
-Adequately future-proof.
-WiFi (preferable)
-Bluetooth (preferable)
-2x M.2 slots (1TB SSD for OS, 1TB SSD for storage. I may keep another internal HDD for back-up).
No idea if I should go for SATA or NVMe.
-7+ USB ports. 1-2 latest type (would be nice, but not essential)
-Capable of running 2x Graphics Cards (not essential)
-No interest in overclocking.
-Is PCIe 4.0 something worth considering if I don’t plan to buy another MB for 6+ years?

Finally, it has to be popular board (nothing obscure), so there’ll be plenty of fellow owners out there, lots of help/trouble-shooting guides, etc. An old ASUS Rampage I had sadly seemed to be one such obscure MB.

Sorry this is long. Any help deciding would be much appreciated. Thanks :)
 
I went to the same board as you are looking at (msi mag x570) and a 3600 I think it should last probably 5 or 6 years with a view to upgrade to the 5 Series processors at some point, I would say it's a good choice

Why do you want to run two gpu's?
 
Rexxar said:
I went to the same board as you are looking at (msi mag x570) and a 3600 I think it should last probably 5 or 6 years with a view to upgrade to the 5 Series processors at some point, I would say it's a good choice

Why do you want to run two gpu's?
Click to expand...

I don't have any immediate plans for 2x GPUs (Would I need 2 if I required 3-monitor setup?) I thought it might be a nice option should I want to, considering I was hoping not to buy another MB for some years yet. X570 feels like something that'll give me peace of mind, but torn whether to save some money in case X570 is overkill.

Cooler running said:
No motherboard bought today is going to be future proof, given that DDR4 PCIE3 (which is the current standard) is end of life.
We will likely see DDR5 and PCIE 4/5 motherboards become the norm by this time next year, maybe earlier.

I'd just go for something cheap and cheerful in the B550 range, such as:

My basket at Overclockers UK:


​

​
Click to expand...

Ah, I was hoping that wouldn't be the case, but, can't afford to wait a year or thereabouts. No doubt the newer boards will be out of my budget anyway.
Thanks for those suggestions. Hoping there might be ample responses from others who might fully agree with either of those two B550s. The Edge one looks tempting.
 
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Dark_Knight said:
Will retain from current PC:
-Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty (ancient)


-2x M.2 slots (1TB SSD for OS, 1TB SSD for storage. I may keep another internal HDD for back-up).
No idea if I should go for SATA or NVMe.


-Capable of running 2x Graphics Cards (not essential)
Click to expand...
You won't be retaining it:
There are no modern boards with PCI and haven't been in long time in higher end with legacy PCI having been obsolete decade ago.


SATA drives belong to end of cable and there's zero sense to waste limited M.2 slots for them.
Especially when SATA M.2s aren't really even cheaper than competent NVMe/PCIe drives.

And better to buy single 2TB drive than filling slots with two smaller ones.
Partitioning is for keeping OS separate from rest in case of needing to nuke OS for fresh install.


Multi-GPU is and has been dead on water for gaming for long time, because of need for game specific tweaks from drivers causing extra work for GPU maker.
And DX12 made it responsibility of game developer to utilize multiple GPUs.
Again if purpose is to just have multiple cards for connecting more monitors, that doesn't need any specific support from mobo for as long as there's fitting slot for both cards.


If you're intending to add say lots of drives over the years, then X570 has advantage with all slots being PCI v4 supporting.
B550 chipset itself is PCIe v3 based and only CPU connected PCIe lanes support v4.
 
EsaT said:
You won't be retaining it:
There are no modern boards with PCI and haven't been in long time in higher end with legacy PCI having been obsolete decade ago.


SATA drives belong to end of cable and there's zero sense to waste limited M.2 slots for them.
Especially when SATA M.2s aren't really even cheaper than competent NVMe/PCIe drives.

And better to buy single 2TB drive than filling slots with two smaller ones.
Partitioning is for keeping OS separate from rest in case of needing to nuke OS for fresh install.


Multi-GPU is and has been dead on water for gaming for long time, because of need for game specific tweaks from drivers causing extra work for GPU maker.
And DX12 made it responsibility of game developer to utilize multiple GPUs.
Again if purpose is to just have multiple cards for connecting more monitors, that doesn't need any specific support from mobo for as long as there's fitting slot for both cards.


If you're intending to add say lots of drives over the years, then X570 has advantage with all slots being PCI v4 supporting.
B550 chipset itself is PCIe v3 based and only CPU connected PCIe lanes support v4.
Click to expand...
There is not really much difference between X570 and good B550 mobos unless you go all the way up to 500+ Eur boards like Dark Hero or Gigabyte x570 master.

As for SATA it's going to stay for at least another decade, it will take at least another 10-15 years for SSD to catch up with price and capacity, plus you don't need all disks to be PCI-e Gen4, 1 is more than enough for the normal person, data can still be stored on slower SSD or HDD.

@OP
Drop that x-fi, integrated audio is way better now than in past.
Check Asus ROG Strix B550-E, it's better than any entry-level x570 unless you want to spend a lot more than 200 on x570.

BTW, there is a google spreadsheet with very nice MB comparisons: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...FnsZYZiW1pfiDZnKCjaXyzd1o/edit#gid=2112472504
 
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