*** AMD "Zen 4" thread (inc AM5/APU discussion) ***

[DFroN]

Looking at AM5 mobos and I’m willing to spend a little bit more if it means getting something nicer as the plan is to get a 7800x3D now and then whatever the fastest gaming CPU is when AM5 becomes EOL, so want to keep the platform for a while. But some of the cheapest AM5 boards are really well spec’d it makes me wonder why bother spending more. The Asrock B650 Lightning for example has a beefy enough 14+2 VRM, tons of USB headers, (need for sim rig) even a PCIE 5 m2 slot for £220. I could pay £120ish more for an x670E TUF for example but all that gets me is the same VRM config, less USB, and a PCIE 5 GPU slot which is probably irrelevant for a many years to come.

Am I missing something? I’m sure overal component quality will be better on the TUF but I mean… the Lightning ain’t gonna just fall apart after a couple years is it?

 

[ShiWarrior]

Looking at AM5 mobos and I’m willing to spend a little bit more if it means getting something nicer as the plan is to get a 7800x3D now and then whatever the fastest gaming CPU is when AM5 becomes EOL, so want to keep the platform for a while. But some of the cheapest AM5 boards are really well spec’d it makes me wonder why bother spending more. The Asrock B650 Lightning for example has a beefy enough 14+2 VRM, tons of USB headers, (need for sim rig) even a PCIE 5 m2 slot for £220. I could pay £120ish more for an x670E TUF for example but all that gets me is the same VRM config, less USB, and a PCIE 5 GPU slot which is probably irrelevant for a many years to come.

Am I missing something? I’m sure overal component quality will be better on the TUF but I mean… the Lightning ain’t gonna just fall apart after a couple years is it?

Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard

Order Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

 

[uscool]

Looking at AM5 mobos and I’m willing to spend a little bit more if it means getting something nicer as the plan is to get a 7800x3D now and then whatever the fastest gaming CPU is when AM5 becomes EOL, so want to keep the platform for a while. But some of the cheapest AM5 boards are really well spec’d it makes me wonder why bother spending more. The Asrock B650 Lightning for example has a beefy enough 14+2 VRM, tons of USB headers, (need for sim rig) even a PCIE 5 m2 slot for £220. I could pay £120ish more for an x670E TUF for example but all that gets me is the same VRM config, less USB, and a PCIE 5 GPU slot which is probably irrelevant for a many years to come.

Am I missing something? I’m sure overal component quality will be better on the TUF but I mean… the Lightning ain’t gonna just fall apart after a couple years is it?

Ideally I would want at least 2 X m.2 gen 5 slots as I will be expecting to keeping the board for long time and be covered , one for windows and one for games and some of the boards that do have 2 gen 5 m.2 slots if you populate both can reduce the PCIe speed

 

[FredFlint]

Ideally I would want at least 2 X m.2 gen 5 slots as I will be expecting to keeping the board for long time and be covered , one for windows and one for games and some of the boards that do have 2 gen 5 m.2 slots if you populate both can reduce the PCIe speed

Think you will need a X670E to get 2 M.2 gen 5 slots that don’t drop the GPU to 8x as the X670E have 8 extra lanes. Gen 5 m.2's will probably be expensive for 2+ years and the benefit to an OS drive might not be worth it over a relatively cheap fast gen 4 drive.

 

[ShiWarrior]

yeah to get more M2 PCI-E 5 slots running at full speed, X670E is the way to go

 

[uscool]

Think you will need a X670E to get 2 M.2 gen 5 slots that don’t drop the GPU to 8x as the X670E have 8 extra lanes. Gen 5 m.2's will probably be expensive for 2+ years and the benefit to an OS drive might not be worth it over a relatively cheap fast gen 4 drive.

Yeah I have been looking around and looking at the manual's what gets disabled or reduced x670e-f which seems the one and at £364 I found Asus offer the most compared to the other brands when both are similarly priced

 

[ShiWarrior]

Yeah I have been looking around and looking at the manual's what gets disabled or reduced x670e-f which seems the one and at £364 I found Asus offer the most compared to the other brands when both are similarly priced

if it was me,

id be ordering this as a "minimum"

Asus ROG Strix X670E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard

Order Asus ROG Strix X670E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

 

[uscool]

if it was me,

id be ordering this as a "minimum"

Asus ROG Strix X670E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard

Order Asus ROG Strix X670E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Same I see it going for cheaper though

 

[FredFlint]

Yeah I have been looking around and looking at the manual's what gets disabled or reduced x670e-f which seems the one and at £364 I found Asus offer the most compared to the other brands when both are similarly priced

At ~£365, that looks to be the best option, think it was > £450 when I was looking with almost the same stuff as the B650E but £100+ more.

 

[SilverCider]

I've read somewhere that the one bundled with the 7700 is a bit underspecced. Dunno about the 7900, but you'd hope they'd have stepped up to a beefier one! Need to find some proper reviews of them with stock cooling, if it's "good enough" and not too loud, that's actually a significant amount of added value

It's the 7600 supplied cooler that's a little weaker as it's the Wraith Stealth, the 7700 and 7900 have the Wraith Prism cooler. Both are fine at stock settings with reduced power draw but the Wraith Prism cooler will better support PBO usage.

 

[rare]

At ~£365, that looks to be the best option, think it was > £450 when I was looking with almost the same stuff as the B650E but £100+ more.

I did also look at the B650E-E myself, it looks a good board for the money, it even comes with a code display which the Strix-F should 100% have but there we go…only reason I didn’t go for it was the same as all the other b650e boards, and that’s the compromise you make when you start filling up the Nvme slots it reduces the PCIE slot speed from 16 to 8.

 

[eddiew]

It's the 7600 supplied cooler that's a little weaker as it's the Wraith Stealth, the 7700 and 7900 have the Wraith Prism cooler. Both are fine at stock settings with reduced power draw but the Wraith Prism cooler will better support PBO usage.

Ahh, thank you for the correction! Need to do my research and figure out whether anything I do scales above 8 cores... if a 7700 is all I need then I'd definitely give the stock cooler a fair trial to see if it can stay quiet enough for me. 90% of the time it'd probably only be running 2-4 major threads, it's just a question of whether the other 10% annoys me

 

[FredFlint]

I did also look at the B650E-E myself, it looks a good board for the money, it even comes with a code display which the Strix-F should 100% have but there we go…only reason I didn’t go for it was the same as all the other b650e boards, and that’s the compromise you make when you start filling up the Nvme slots it reduces the PCIE slot speed from 16 to 8.

It does not bother me much as a GPU in 8x gen5/4 would not be affected much, I was running my 6900X in 16x gen 3 before the upgrade.

 

[rare]

It does not bother me much as a GPU in 8x gen5/4 would not be affected much, I was running my 6900X in 16x gen 3 before the upgrade.

Yeah that’s fair enough. Something just doesn’t feel right with me spending so much money and then running my 4090 in 4x 8 (even though logically I know it barely impacts the performance).

 

[FredFlint]

Yeah that’s fair enough. Something just doesn’t feel right with me spending so much money and then running my 4090 in 4x 8 (even though logically I know it barely impacts the performance).

The ASUS X670E-E should have been < £400, would have made the choice easy as it has everything, Q-Code + Start button on board for testing and the extra lanes, maybe it will drop in price also.

Edit:
You have a 4090, you should get the HERO, if you can drop 2K on a GPU

 

[rare]

The ASUS X670E-E should have been < £400, would have made the choice easy as it has everything, Q-Code + Start button on board for testing and the extra lanes, maybe it will drop in price also.

Edit:
You have a 4090, you should get the HERO, if you can drop 2K on a GPU

I looked at the hero but what’s the point? It doesn’t seem to offer anything I need over a X670E-F. I was tempted but the extra spec seems minimal and pointless to me. I think the hero should have been more special. It doesn’t look as good as the Z790 version. And for that money it should have a backplate as well.

I agree the E-E is the best all round spec, it’s essentially a Hero without the Hero branding. But it’s still massively expensive.

 

[FredFlint]

I looked at the hero but what’s the point? It doesn’t seem to offer anything I need over a X670E-F. I was tempted but the extra spec seems minimal and pointless to me. I think the hero should have been more special. It doesn’t look as good as the Z790 version. And for that money it should have a backplate as well.

I agree the E-E is the best all round spec, it’s essentially a Hero without the Hero branding. But it’s still massively expensive.

I wanted the HERO, Still regret not getting it. My old PC has a X370 Hero (cost £260) and it’s been rock solid for 5+ years. I told myself it will last 5+ years but £650 was just like been mugged. I got the B650 just to stop myself getting the HERO and I can say, well it was 300 cheaper. I ended up bumping up the CPU to a 7950 to further comfort myself

Bonnie Tyler - I Need a Hero (Lyrics)

Bonnie Tyler - I Need a Hero (Lyrics)

www.youtube.com

 

[jack.mitchell]

Be careful with the Asus boards, I had one on order but cancelled it due to issues they've had with the Intel NIC. Working with developing hardware and using the machine for work an anywhere near dodgy NIC was a complete no go. Now flirting with the steel legend x670e/b650e but I've been trying to decide for a week now..... it's an absolute nightmare.

 

[rare]

I wanted the HERO, Still regret not getting it. My old PC has a X370 Hero (cost £260) and it’s been rock solid for 5+ years. I told myself it will last 5+ years but £650 was just like been mugged. I got the B650 just to stop myself getting the HERO and I can say, well it was 300 cheaper. I ended up bumping up the CPU to a 7950 to further comfort myself

Bonnie Tyler - I Need a Hero (Lyrics)

Bonnie Tyler - I Need a Hero (Lyrics)

www.youtube.com

Exactly see that makes way more sense to me. These end the extra on the CPU or the GPU that’s the logical thing to do. I feel like the hero just isn’t worth 600+ to me, it should be a £500 board.

I would have gone for an X670E Master but they stupidly made it EATX!

All the boards on AM5 that I want all seem like they are too expensive for what they are, or something weird with them, like EATX only, or GPU bandwidth limitations. It’s a nightmare haha.

 

[rare]

Be careful with the Asus boards, I had one on order but cancelled it due to issues they've had with the Intel NIC. Working with developing hardware and using the machine for work an anywhere near dodgy NIC was a complete no go. Now flirting with the steel legend x670e/b650e but I've been trying to decide for a week now..... it's an absolute nightmare.

I thought most of this had been cleared up now with that chipset?