Another - Which motherboard for a 9800X3D Build Thread (Sorry)

[malccy]

Hi,

please, can I ask for a bit of help with motherboard recommendations and advice for an upcoming 9800x3d build?

I presently have a 5800x3d build, so some parts like psu (Corsair RM850X), gpu (4080), cpu cooler (Peerless Assassin 120), case (lancool 2) and m.2 drives will just be transferred over.

Also, I have the 9800x3d cpu and some Corsair 32gb 6000 cas 30 memory that I have already bought and received to fit into the new build.

I'm not wanting to overclock, and I am looking for an easy to set-up (including easy bios) and stable board with at least 3 m.2 slots, pcie 5.0 gpu slot, really good audio. Wifi is not important.

My thoughts so far are - MSI X670e Gaming Plus Wifi, MSI X670e Tomahawk Wifi, Asrock X870e Nova wifi (though this one looks a bit complicated for me).

The budget I have is about £350 though less spent is better. I have not had good experience with Asus boards, but my present MSI X570 tomohawk has been excellent, plus it has a relatively easy bios.


I used to enjoy pc building but now the whole idea of doing a bios update to enable the motherboard to see the 9800x3d, taking apart my present build and building a new one(not got much space in my small flat), setting up bios and of course re-installing Windows just gives me a nervous headache.

I'd appreciate peoples experiences, advice and recommendations on the best motherboard to choose (also compatible with the Corsair memory that i've bought).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Deathjester]

Without knowing exactly which RAM you have, I can't be 100% certain it's compatible, but I think that the MSI MAG Tomahawk looks like a great option for what you're trying to achieve.

 

[malccy]

Thanks Deathjester. The Corsair memory that I have bought is Corsair Vengeance 32gb (16gb X2) 6000mhz CMK32GX5M2B6000Z30.

 

[ProStreet]

Get b650e save yourself some money.

 

[Jamin280672]

Get b650e save yourself some money.

Agreed, and the ASUS B650E-i is a great board, just as good as X870E without the USB4, will also allow you to possibly downsize your case if you'd prefer a smaller PC.

Sorry missed the part where you want 3 m.2 slots, but if you can loose one then its an option, maybe sell one and get a bigger m.2 then partition it into 2 drives.

MSI for some reason didnt make any B650E boards........not sure why, they seemed to skip this chipset, and I was like you, had bad experience with ASUS before, but after buying the X670e Gene (not available anymore) I was that impressed, I built my Mrs a machine using the ASUS B650E-i and equally impressed, it would run what you want to put in it minus 1 m.2 with a breeze, I think you can even pick up the X670E version of this board fairly cheap now which comes with an external audio control device with all sort of USB ports and bios controls connected to it for ease of adjustments, plus USB4.

 

[malccy]

The B650i board you mention is similar price to the MSI x670e Tomahawk which Deathjester suggested from my own list. Does the X670e not have more pcie lanes and therefore better for my m.2 needs?

 

[Jamin280672]

The B650i board you mention is similar price to the MSI x670e Tomahawk which Deathjester suggested from my own list. Does the X670e not have more pcie lanes and therefore better for my m.2 needs?

Yes and no, the only difference between X670E and B650E really is you get 2 x Gen5 m.2 slots where on B650E you only Get 1

X670E Generally gives 1 Gen5 x16 slot of 2 x8x8 slots, 2 x Gen5 m.2 slots and 1 Gen4.
B650E Generally gives 1 Gen5 x16 slot or 2 x8x8 slots, 1 Gen5 m.2 slot and 2 Gen4.

So theres not a lot of difference, the price increases come from difference in features, im not so sure you would want to run 2 Gen5 nvmes right now with the heat they produce.

 

[mickyflinn]

B650E and x870 are virtually the same and around the same price, what you have to check is how the lanes are split on each board

This mite helps you decide

AMD AM5 chipsets explained (X870E, X870, B850, B840 & all the others)

Are you planning to build a PC using an AMD Ryzen processor? Maybe you want to buy one of the processors from the latest Ryzen 9000 series, or maybe you prefer an older Ryzen 8000 or Ryzen 7000 series CPU. No matter which processor you're choosing, you need a motherboard based on the AMD AM5 […]

www.digitalcitizen.life

 

[malccy]

I was just thinking that if similar price, then go for the X670e. I have two pcie 4.0 nvme drives that want to transfer over from my current build to my new one. I'm not really worried about USB4.0 so x870e is a no go. I'm just undecided I suppose on which is the best X670e board for me - am thinking that Deathjester suggestion for the msi x670e tomoahawk is best choice unless prices for other boards drop in the next three weeks. Does Overclockers do a New Years sale?

 

[Jamin280672]

I was just thinking that if similar price, then go for the X670e. I have two pcie 4.0 nvme drives that want to transfer over from my current build to my new one. I'm not really worried about USB4.0 so x870e is a no go. I'm just undecided I suppose on which is the best X670e board for me - am thinking that Deathjester suggestion for the msi x670e tomoahawk is best choice unless prices for other boards drop in the next three weeks. Does Overclockers do a New Years sale?

I wouldnt wait for the sales, I dont think OCuk have the X670 Tomahawk in stock, and with X870 and alike being available now, theres little to no chance of them getting it back in stock as is probably EOL, unless you can get it from elsewhere, they have the X670E carbon which is probably better in some ways and not in others, its one of those boards thats going to lane share.

 

[malccy]

I wouldnt wait for the sales, I dont think OCuk have the X670 Tomahawk in stock, and with X870 and alike being available now, theres little to no chance of them getting it back in stock as is probably EOL, unless you can get it from elsewhere, they have the X670E carbon which is probably better in some ways and not in others, its one of those boards thats going to lane share.

Thanks Jamin280672. Does the MSI X670e Tomahawk share lanes, and does it have decent sound (when I have checked specification, it just says 7.1 sound)?

 

[Jamin280672]

Thanks Jamin280672. Does the MSI X670e Tomahawk share lanes, and does it have decent sound (when I have checked specification, it just says 7.1 sound)?

Yes it does lane share too, very confusing too, and very strange layout, its more like a B650E setup, https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-X670E-TOMAHAWK-WIFI/Specification

You only get 1 x Gen5 M.2 Slot regardless of anything else.
All the other M.2 slots are connected at Gen4 to the chipset.
The 4th M.2 Slot shares lanes with the bottom X16 slot, so if nothing is installed in that slot, then the M.2 will run at full speed, otherwise it runs at half speed.
Seems like they dedicated the final 4 lanes from the CPU to the 2nd PCI x16 slot.

To make it easy, this is how its laid out:

 

[Jamin280672]

Thanks Jamin280672. Does the MSI X670e Tomahawk share lanes, and does it have decent sound (when I have checked specification, it just says 7.1 sound)?

As @mickyflinn suggested, it might be worth, if you really want MSI, going for the X870 Tomahawk, that layout makes much more sense to me.

MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard

Order MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Its just a case of waiting for it to come back in stock.

EDIT: no scrap that......AMD really buggered things up with X870 and using the lanes from the CPU instead of the chipset to control it.

4x M.2
M.2_1 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 22110/2280 devices
M.2_2 Source (From CPU) supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
M.2_3 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x2 , supports 2280/2260 devices
M.2_4 Source (From Chipset) supports up to PCIe 4.0 x4 , supports 2280/2260 devices
4x SATA 6G

M2_1 & M2_2 slots
• Supports up to PCIe 5.0 x4 (For Ryzen™ 9000/ 7000 Series processors)

** USB 40Gbps Type-C ports on the back panel and M2_2 slot share PCIe 5.0 x4 bandwidth. Both run at PCIe 5.0 x2 when a device is installed in the M2_2 slot. You can switch M2_2 to PCIe 5.0 x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable the USB 40Gbps Type-C ports
*** PCI_E3 slot will run at x2 speed when installing device in the M2_3 slot. You can switch PCI_E3 slot to x4 in the BIOS, but this will disable the M2_3 slot.
**** Please refer to the manual for M.2 SSD heatsink restrictions

 

[Bidley]

I got an X670E AsRock Steel Legend. No lane sharing, PCIe gen 5 etc.

I would've gone X870 but the USB 4 seems to complicate things in terms of lane sharing across most boards, and I have no use for USB 4.