Choosing the Perfect Motherboard to Complete My PC Build

[andrei-pulva]

Hi everyone,

I’m finalising my PC build, mainly for gaming, productivity, video editing, and sound production. Here’s my current configuration:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black
• Motherboard: Still looking for the right one
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 (AMD optimized)
• SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 4TB M.2 PCIe 4.0
• GPU: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16GB
• Case: Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW ATX Full Tower
• PSU: Corsair RM850e 850W 80+ Gold Fully Modular

I need help choosing a motherboard. Looking for a high-end, reliable option with no hardware or driver issues. It should have the latest technologies, good connectivity (Wi-Fi 7, etc.), and be future-proof. I also prefer a simple black design with no RGB.

Budget: Around 400€. Do you have any recommendations?

Here’s my full config: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/r48ndb

Many thanks,
Best

 

[Harlow]

A very close match to my 7950X, NH-D15, RTX 4070 (non Ti), RM850 video rig, built in December 2022.

The main difference is I'm using 2 x 32GB Kingston Fury DIMMs. I have 4 x 16GB Corsair Vengeance in a 3800X rig, but some people warn against using Vengeance with AMD CPUs.

Motherboard is an Asus Prime X670P WiFi. You'll see lots of negative comments about Asus, but my 3800X is on another Asus board and it's still working fine.

I have three 1TB M.2 NVMe drives (OS & apps, Adobe scratch, Work-in-progress) and 5 hard disks for archive. Backup to RAID-Z2 TrueNAS and LTO tape.

You might consider splitting your 4TB M.2 into a couple of 2TB drives, especially if you work on 4K video or higher resolutions. Split the work load between drives.

I don't use the WiFi on the Asus mobo (it's switched off and not Wi-Fi 7). Instead I use a separate 10Gigabit NIC for speed and an LSI SAS controller card with the tape drive.

 

[andrei-pulva]

Hey there thanks a lot for your feedback. Much appreciated.

Re the motherboard, I am currently looking into different models:

What do you think of the following options?
-ASUS ROG STRIX X870-F
-MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi
-Gigabyte X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7
-Asrock B850 Riptide Wifi

 

[Kapone33]

It all depends on what you want. WIFI 7 also comes in 2 flavours. One of them is 320mhz and the other is 160. For the money I would actually recommend the As Rock but look for the X870E Taichi. The thing with AM5 is that because of socket support, getting the best board for the money is a great way of future proofing on AM5. If my board had not borked I would not have gotten a new one.

 

[andrei-pulva]

Thanks a lot
I could also read that among:
-ASUS ROG STRIX X870-F
-MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi
-Gigabyte X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7
-Asrock B850 Riptide Wifi
The only one that does not have sharing lanes issues is the Asrock. My only concern is on the quality and reputation of Asrock.

 

[andrei-pulva]

I think I did my final choice here: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/LdH92x

- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor
- CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52
- Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING WIFI ATX AM5
- Memory : Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory AMD optimised
- SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME
- Video card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16 GB 256bit
- Case: Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW ATX Full Tower Case
- Power supply: Corsair RM850e 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX

Potential upgrade on the PSU on a later stage.

 

[3838]

the roundup.... your strix motherboard reached the 8,000 limit without compromising stability. Do you think that Ram you chose can do the same? I haven't looked into that corsair DDR-6000 yet

X870E Motherboard Roundup: 21 Motherboards Tested​

 

[AMF]

Hi everyone,

I’m finalising my PC build, mainly for gaming, productivity, video editing, and sound production. Here’s my current configuration:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black
• Motherboard: Still looking for the right one
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 (AMD optimized)
• SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 4TB M.2 PCIe 4.0
• GPU: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16GB
• Case: Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW ATX Full Tower
• PSU: Corsair RM850e 850W 80+ Gold Fully Modular

I need help choosing a motherboard. Looking for a high-end, reliable option with no hardware or driver issues. It should have the latest technologies, good connectivity (Wi-Fi 7, etc.), and be future-proof. I also prefer a simple black design with no RGB.

Budget: Around 400€. Do you have any recommendations?

Here’s my full config: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/r48ndb

Many thanks,
Best

www.amazon.com/ASUS-ROG-X670E-Motherboard-Front-Panel/dp/B0DDZSP2BG?th=1 u can turn off RGB get this board increase your budget

 

[andrei-pulva]

Hi guys,
Just a quick update and review. Regarding the motherboard, I am considering switching to the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi instead of ASUS, as the latter seems to have general reliability issues.
On a side note, I am also thinking of replacing my initial CPU cooler, the Noctua NH-D15, with a high-end liquid cooler. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[andrei-pulva]

Hi guys, regarding the GPU: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16 GB 256-bit.

It seems that it is no longer available/in stock in most stores. Do you have any alternative recommendations for a GeForce GPU with 16GB and a 256-bit memory? Ideally still from Gigabyte or possibly MSI, NVIDIA—within a maximum budget of €1000.

What about the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 Ventus 3X 16G OC or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?

 

[3838]

a good look at the 40 or 50 series is here if interested, might help you decide https://www.techspot.com/article/2957-nvidia-dlss-4-vs-dlss-3/

 

[andrei-pulva]

Here is my final build: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/GkWbcx

 

[blinnbanir]

If you want better Memory support X870E. If you want more PCIe support X670E. Keep in mind that Wifi 7 only works with Windows 11.

 

[andrei-pulva]

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/mgJBD3/msi-mag-x870e-tomahawk-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-mag-x870e-tomahawk-wifi

This one is better choice than my initial model for memory you mean?

 

[Sol_Badguy]

Here is my final build: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/GkWbcx

Hello,

Regarding the 7950X3D, the current 763 € price is a bad joke.
Honestly get the 9950X for about 120 € less:

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/T6GhP6/amd-ryzen-9-9950x-43-ghz-16-core-processor-100-100001277wof

Or for about 70 € more the 9950X3D:

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/Pk62FT/amd-ryzen-9-9950x3d-43-ghz-16-core-processor-100-100000719wof

Look here for 1440p gaming relative performance (7950X3D vs 9950X).

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Review - Great for Gaming and Productivity

The new AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D brings Zen 5 with 3D V-Cache to the high-end. This new $700 flagship offers the best application performance, beating even the 9950X, and at the same time you get a fantastic gaming experience that's better than any other non-X3D processor on the market.

www.techpowerup.com

About the mobos a highly coveted one, myself included, is this:

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/4bFmP6/asrock-phantom-gaming-x870e-nova-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-x870e-nova-wifi

The price however is all kinds of nasty.
So as a secondary option: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product...7-atx-am5-motherboard-x870e-aorus-elite-wifi7
But that MSI MAG X870E Tomahawk is a fine choice also.

Another component I would seriously consider changing from that list is the case.
I'm not saying that the Corsair 7000D is a bad choice. But it's possible that you could get most of what it offers for less money.

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/p4DnTW/phanteks-eclipse-g400a-atx-mid-tower-case-ph-ec400ga_dbk01

Again I'm not saying that the 7000D isn't superior to the G400A, but it costs more than twice and you have to admit that you're not really getting double of everything are you?
Yes it's true that saving ~150 € isn't that much considering the total cost of the build, but still that 150 € could go somewhere else where it makes a bigger difference than the one between these two cases. Hint -> CPU change.
Just saying, it's food for thought. If you REALLY like the 7000D then it's fine.

Regarding the GPU, 1200 € for 5070 Ti is pure insanity, what more red flags do you need? Unfortunately you'll have to wait, like the rest of us for the prices to come down and closer to sane levels. 900 € would be reasonable (in this day and age) for a good 5070 Ti -> that means very good cooling coupled with very good acoustics. Lower than that would be ideal but we can't have our cake and eat it too, right? Yes having patience is hard, that's what these retailer-scalpers are betting on.

But that doesn't mean that you can't start buying the parts that are reasonably priced. The AMD CPUs also have an iGPU so eventually when you get everything minus the GPU you can use your system and at least check that everything is fine with all the other components and they're running as supposed. Well there will be no gaming or other 3D applications that require a powerful discrete GPU but eventually you'll get that one too.

 

[OkieDan]

I like an AIO that has liquid temp sensor you can adjust fan speed from instead of CPU temp to avoid frequent fan speed fluctuations. They don't make mine anymore though.

I just installed X870E Tomahawk yesterday to replace failing x670 aorus elite ax. Happy to have USB4 even if it reduces speed of an m.2 slot. Too soon to recommend but pretty sure it had good ratings for the non-E version. I'm just assuming the E version will be the same.

 

[andrei-pulva]

Guys, thanks a lot for your help, much appreciated

Regarding the CPU recommendation, my initial choice was the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D at 750€.
I also seen a newer version with better perks which is the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D for 850€. I will go for this one since it will be a better long term investment.

For the motherboard, I also changed the MSI X870E version instead of X870.

Here is the updated build: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/WCp7yW

It does show compatibility issues thought re the bios version...

 

[andrei-pulva]

Another question re the CPU, it says for the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D

"This high-TDP processor requires a high-performance cooling system capable of dissipating at least 200W (sold separately). The use of a liquid cooling system (All-In-One water cooling) is recommended. A BIOS update for your motherboard may be necessary to ensure compatibility with this processor; check the manufacturer's website before attempting installation."

Will my ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 56.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler be fine for that?

 

[OkieDan]

Will my ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 56.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler be fine for that?

Should work just fine.

 

[andrei-pulva]

Thanks again for your help. Now my biggest hesitation is between air and liquid cooler:

Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/84MTwP/noctua-nh-d15-chromaxblack-8252-cfm-cpu-cooler-nh-d15-chromaxblack

ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 56.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/product/XgyH99/arctic-liquid-freezer-iii-360-563-cfm-liquid-cpu-cooler-acfre00136a

What would you recommend?

 

[Lost_Troll]

The ARCTIC, as it would allow for a higher boost with PBO.

 

[andrei-pulva]

Is there really a point if I don't do overclocking? Risk of liquid leak etc.

 

[blinnbanir]

Is there really a point if I don't do overclocking? Risk of liquid leak etc.

Pre built AIOs are basically leak free unless you buy a Garbage unit which Arctic is not.

 

[andrei-pulva]

Good to know, thanks mate. Is there a point to still go fo liquid if no overclocking?