It took me a while to find an AM5 board I was happy with (spec vs price). I really struggled this time around (vs AM4) finding a board that came with an optical out. Something so simple, yet most don't have one. So that was frustrating as I personally think it should be on every board for better audio quality.
Why so anti AMD?
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Soldato
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Have noticed this too and thought that the AM5 ITX options actually looked decent if expensive.
I’d probably get an MATX for my next build but it really depends on pricing in 2025 or so.
But who uses optical any more? Gamers use headsets, HTPC users pass sound through HDMI, audio engineers and producers aren't using ITX, everybody else has sound as a low priority.
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Soldato
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I personally wish onboard audio was scrapped apart from the optical out.
Onboard audio is often terrible and people end up using USB audio adapters instead anyway.
Honestly, I'd wager the lack of decent high-end ITX boards is because nobody in their right mind should be cramming CPUs with this much thermal output (both vendors) into silly small boxes, so vendors this time around just aren't investing the resources supporting a niche that's already not viable. And I say this as a big lover of ITX.
There's nothing more hilarious to me than seeing SFFPC on Reddit filled with posts of "14900K and 4090 overheating in Fractal Terra. HELP!"
There's nothing more hilarious to me than seeing SFFPC on Reddit filled with posts of "14900K and 4090 overheating in Fractal Terra. HELP!"
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I just don't see the need to go as small as possible. I would rather it be easy to work on.
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Most peoples thermal "problems" are imaginary, usually it's just a case of not liking high numbers. I don't baby my PC and will happily let my hardware run up to the limit. 
Not sure about a 14900K at full tilt but a 7950X/4090 rig is trivial to cool in a NR200 for example which is ~18L. GPU temps are often superior to mid/full tower cases and as good as open air.
Not sure about a 14900K at full tilt but a 7950X/4090 rig is trivial to cool in a NR200 for example which is ~18L. GPU temps are often superior to mid/full tower cases and as good as open air.
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I use optical to my external amp and then my 2.1 setup. I guess I'm more "audiophile", than casual gamer.
I guess people don't pay enough attention to what DAC is on the board - they probably just skim over that part of the spec sheet.
Guru3D did some sound testing on the ASRock board I have (this is the X670E model but the audio is the same). Seems like it is rated very well and they say in their conclusion it has a nice audio solution.
ASRock X670E TAICHI review (Page 14)
Extremely capable Ryzen 7000 motherboards from ASRock's X670E series are now available. We look at the X670E TAICHI, a powerful motherboard with PCI Express 5.0 lanes, a robust VRM design, numerous M...
www.guru3d.com
I used to have add-in cards but this time round I've not felt that it was necessary (yet). I do agree though a USB DAC will always prevail.
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I think onboard audio has been mostly fine for ages now. Unless you need extra power or have ground loop issues etc I don't think there's much point in an external DAC/AMP.
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Yeah, I don't have problems with 'good/modern' onboard, and I'm feeding some desktop PC speakers (creative t20) for gaming/casual listening, plus an external amp that feeds a 2.1 active sub & bookshelf speakers (Tannoy M1's and a Paradigm 10" 100w woofer)for home cinema/ music.
I do look at the audio capabilites when speccing up motherboards though...my current Asus z790, and my outgoing but still in use Gigabyte z170, were chosen partly because of the better than average audio capability, as in the audio part of the motherboard is kind of isolated, and had better spec Realtek chips than some of the competition.
I do look at the audio capabilites when speccing up motherboards though...my current Asus z790, and my outgoing but still in use Gigabyte z170, were chosen partly because of the better than average audio capability, as in the audio part of the motherboard is kind of isolated, and had better spec Realtek chips than some of the competition.