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Expensive Mainstream Boards, whats going on?

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There are so many Overpriced Boards in the last few Years and every one got a Hype after another in German Platforms.

Today i critisized them for this supid Hype and i got 5 Banns on 5 Platforms for only 2 Critics on 2 Platforms.

This have nothing to do with independently.

This is strange, on the oldest Platform i'm registered is since 2013
 
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There are so many Overpriced Boards in the last few Years and every one got a Hype after another in German Platforms.

Today i critisized them for this supid Hype and i got 5 Banns on 5 Platforms for only 2 Critics on 2 Platforms.

This have nothing to do with independently.
If you look around and or compromise on features , some are reasonably priced, vote with your wallet I say and overpriced mainstream might get more realistic.
Do remember though, a modern mid range processor can have quite high power requirements so VRM sections have had to improve, plus new versions of network chip's etc didn't get cheaper.
 
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I found this post VERY helpful at explaining some of the reasons. :p:rolleyes:
 
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My Mainboard is Aorus B450 ITX for about 120€ it have WiFi AC , 2 HDMI and 1 Diplayport.

I critisized them they praised Mainstream Boards with much more less then mine for 150€ and more.

But they praise those are great Boardso_O
Last Week they Praised a Board with B550 for 164€ with nothing more than a B550 Board for about 75€, only the Boardcolor was different.

The Germans say this is a musthave:
For only 164€ u get a great Board (that can the same like a Board for 75€, only the Color is different) :kookoo:
 

TheLostSwede

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I guess you're not following what's going on very well then.

People have wanted more power phases for years and reviewers have complained if a board can't pull a crazy amount of power, so now we have boards with 20+ power phases.
Adding what arguably is unnecessary power phases to a board costs money, which means the boards cost more. That said, modern CPUs needs much more advanced power regulations than they did just 10 years ago, so this isn't likely to change.

PCIe 4.0 requires more advanced PCB materials, re-drivers and a bunch of other components that adds cost, PCIe 5.0 will also require this.

The chipset costs have also gone, plus there are now things like 2.5Gbps, USB 3.2 etc. which adds costs here there and everywhere.

So if the cost to the board maker is €100, you end up paying €180 once you add in shipping, import duties, distributor margin, reseller margin and VAT.

On top of all that, there's a pandemic going on right now, unless you've missed that part, which has lead to very tight supply of hardware in general, as all of a sudden people discovered they had a really old computer at home. This quickly meant that the retailers put up their prices, as they realised they could make money on the back of this.

You should also be aware that Intel has a program called MDF or Marketing Development Funds, which AMD doesn't have. Long story short, this means that the board makers gets kickback from Intel, but not AMD. As such, they put higher margins on AMD products, as they don't get cash on the side from AMD.

I also very much doubt that the only difference was the PCB colour, but as you don't provide any details, I can't really comment on that.

Anyhow, you seem to be very disconnected from the market and clearly don't understand how a lot of this works and just want to moan about the increasing costs, which you are free to do, but it's not going to change anything.
 

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@seth1911 You are getting a fair bit more for your money. I used to have your board, the B450I Aorus. It was the first AM4 board I owned, and it was alright. ALC1220 (which I don't use), 1Gbe Intel LAN, 802.11ac Wave2 wifi, and a VRM with an IR controller and IR PowIRstages that (very nicely) provide temperature and current monitoring.

I moved onto the direct successor, the B550I Aorus AX. It's sitting around waiting for a CPU right now, but you can tell it's quite a step up. Two M.2 slots (one 4.0 + SATA, one 3.0 + SATA), a much stronger and better cooled VRM, a better PCB with better memory support, a step up to the 32MB BIOS size (finally), more fan headers, Realtek 2.5Gbe LAN, AX wifi, a full metal backplate on the entire backside of the board...the list goes on. And it's the cheapest fully featured B550 ITX board (the ASRock budget one doesn't count, terrible value considering it's almost a downgrade from a number of the B450 boards).

The VRM in particular was my main gripe with the B450; Gigabyte firmware on that board grossly underreports current draw, which leads to higher clocks and benchmark scores but makes that poor 4 true phase 50A IR3556 run pretty damn hot. The B550I never breaks a sweat even under P95 because it runs on 6 x 90A ISL99390s and has a better heatsink, not to mention reports accurate power monitoring.

I paid about $180 for the B450 (including a BIOS flash, it doesn't have flashback), and $259 for the B550. Considering everything, it's not too unwarranted.

That said, you're right that this last generation of AM4 boards is getting expensive. Lots of external factors aside from the component choice, but it's not entirely without reason. If you don't have any particular needs or problems with the B450I Aorus, no reason to dump it. Apart from the VRM, it's still better than ASRock's cheaper B550 offering (lol). Keep gaming and stay happy.
 
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I miss the days of UD3, Gaming 5 and so on when there was a hint at the "level" of a motherboard. What does Bazooka, Steel Legend, or TUF do to tell me how the motherboard is outfitted?
 
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and $259 for the B550.
You sure it's not too much? I paid 220 euro for X570 I Aorus Pro, and the same B550 counterpart goes for around 180
 

tabascosauz

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You sure it's not too much? I paid 220 euro for X570 I Aorus Pro, and the same B550 counterpart goes for around 180

$259CAD is about $200US. 220EUR is closer to $350 in Canuckistan pesos.

X570 Aorus launched at $299CAD and is at $309CAD now. Complete with older heatsink w/o heatpipe, active cooled PCH (not necessarily bad, but extra lanes offer no advantage for ITX), no backplate, and the old, small 16MB BIOS chip. Part of me regrets deciding against buying that board when I was first deciding between the B450I and X570I, but I did sell my B450 so it wasn't much difference in the end. Plus, that B550 backplate :love: the full coverage plate along with the 90A SPSes on the B550I and Z490I that GB did this generation are some of the best decisions they've ever made.
 
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Space Lynx

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I don't know, pricing makes sense to me. I paid $220 for my x570 tomahawk and it beats out some 300-400 dollar boards in vrm's, build quality, etc.
 
D

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If you want a good board, they cost more. My z390-f gaming was £194.
 
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Well, people called me crazy when I paired a 4790K with a $75 Asus H81i board back in 2014, even though it has all the functionality I ever needed and the CPU itself stock clocked to 4.4GHz that made OCing pointless. Both are still going strong as of today with much better CPU longevity than an equivalently priced 4C/4T Haswell + Z97.
 
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My Mainboard is Aorus B450 ITX for about 120€ it have WiFi AC , 2 HDMI and 1 Diplayport.

I critisized them they praised Mainstream Boards with much more less then mine for 150€ and more.

But they praise those are great Boardso_O
Last Week they Praised a Board with B550 for 164€ with nothing more than a B550 Board for about 75€, only the Boardcolor was different.

The Germans say this is a musthave:
For only 164€ u get a great Board (that can the same like a Board for 75€, only the Color is different) :kookoo:
Can we see what boards was those B550 75 and 164€?
 
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