When i finally want to build a new system, there are no perfect motherboards

[Artas1984]

After siting his ass on Intel systems since 2012 (from Nehalem to Broadwell), Artas1984 finally drops his Z97, his DDR3 and his Core i7 5775C. After the conclusions of my own benchmarks, the recent price increase for Intel processors, and the fact that Intel now only supports Windows 10, i have decided to go with an X370 motherboard and Ryzen X1700X CPU. The problem is that i can not find a proper motherboard. What i need is:

1. X370 or X470 chipset for 6 SATA3 ports and decent overclocking.
2. at least one PCI slot is an absolute must.
3. At the very least 5 USB 2.0 and 2 USB 3.0 at IO must be present.
4. 5.1 audio support must exist.
5. full ATX size with 9 mounting holes is a preferable thing.
6. I guess there is no question that at least one M.2 slot should be present, supporting nvme.

So far the only board that fits my needs is Asus Prime X370-A. But it has flaws. It is not a full ATX board, so that pisses me of - always risky to force the 24 pin power supply cable downwards... Next thing is Realtek ALC887, that has existed since 2008 - should expect nothing more from a budget motherboard. I would buy a high end feature board if it had just one PCI slot. The PCI slot is crucial - it's a shrine for my Asus Xonar ST, which provides me with the joy of singing/recording through my dynamic mic and listening to music through my DT 990 Pro studio headphones.

I just can not believe this. I have seen Z370 boards with PCI and decent audio chips, but the Core i7 CPU price increase means there is no way i want to afford that.

Most important, as i make a lot of video editing, nothing less than Ryzen 7 1700 and Core i7 8700 will be good. I would buy an Asrock X99 board too if one had a PCI.

I just remembered that B350 boards also support OC. This changes things. Need to search more.

 

[GLD]

I wanted an AM4 board with pci. The first gen. 3xx boards had some. I didn't want first gen. I don't think any second gen 4xx boards have pci. You may just have to give up your pci card(s) as I did for the sake of a kick azz Ryzen build. I say good luck, but also get used to saying good by to pci.

 

[Thefumigator]

@Artas1984 May I ask you what PCI card do you need to install on the board? You could install an adapter (pci-e to PCI)
I don't like audio chips on ANY motherboard. They lack native ASIO 2.0 so I usually disable it (ASIO4ALL is not the same thing, sorry) I own a sound blaster RX PCIe worth 45 bucks maybe more, and I had for several years an E-mu 0404 which unluckly died. Those sound cards blow anything out of the water, specially the E-mu, which is a pro card anyway.

 

[John Naylor]

I'm not sure will find a PCI slot on a X470 ... The prime has an low low budget ALC 887. Id want at least 1220 whuch Asus claims is = to their $75 - $90 sound cards.

 

[cucker tarlson]

x370gt5 has two pci slots, but I doubt it meets your needs.What do you need that pci for anyway ?

 

[Gasaraki]

Forget the PCI slot and you get a lot more choices. Get a new sound card.

https://us.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blaster-zx

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Or a pcie to pci converter, I have one i got by mistake.

 

[Artas1984]

Or a pcie to pci converter, I have one i got by mistake.

Actually, great idea.

I have ordered this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-PCI-Ex...h=item56b7a35bfa:g:ti4AAOSw0ItbqiqK:rk:3:pf:0

Now, why on earth is the an additional 12 volt power link? Does not it get power from the PCI-E 1X interface?

Forget the PCI slot and you get a lot more choices. Get a new sound card.

https://us.creative.com/p/sound-cards/sound-blaster-zx

It's a shit compared to Asus Xonar Essence XT, and i will never buy anything from Creative anyway...

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Actually, great idea.

I have ordered this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-PCI-Ex...h=item56b7a35bfa:g:ti4AAOSw0ItbqiqK:rk:3:pf:0

Now, why on earth is the an additional 12 volt power link? Does not it get power from the PCI-E 1X interface?

No it's seperate ,good luck with it ,tell me how it goes , I've not used mine.

 

[TheGuruStud]

Customer wanted Asus ROG Strix X370-F with their 1700 (I only use Asrock meow). I had no issues and OCing was great, b/c the VRMs are actually good. Even OCed to 4 GHz (hard wall at meh V) the VRMs were barely warm. It's been several months and they use it practically 24/7 for gaming and everything else. It's 100% stable (I torture tested the shit out of it, package power was at 175W).

So Taichi or Strix would be good.

You have to give up on PCI, it's over lol. I remember when ISA was killed, sad times. The cards worked just fine, but windows wasn't having it.

 

[Artas1984]

No it's seperate ,good luck with it ,tell me how it goes , I've not used mine.

It works good. I am really pissed that it needs an additional power source though.. The audio card inserted into PCI-PCI-E 1X converted now has got a high clearance. I did not consider the fact how due to increased height some of the IO would be blocked, but the two most important are still accessible - 6.3 mm headphone out and 6.3 mm line in.

Bu they way, i've decided to drop the new motherboard idea now that i have my audio fixed. I am using a Xeon E3-1245 V5 workstation and was forced to move to Windows 10 for the first time ever, because on Windows 7 many things would not work - USB 3.1 not working, Creative (i told you it was piece of shit) control panel not working, Epson V370 scanner not working, also native NVME support is something that can not be missed. Also i just found out that Windows 7 support will be officially closed in January 14 2020.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

It works good. I am really pissed that it needs an additional power source though.. The audio card inserted into PCI-PCI-E 1X converted now has got a high clearance. I did not consider the fact how due to increased height some of the IO would be blocked, but the two most important are still accessible - 6.3 mm headphone out and 6.3 mm line in.

Bu they way, i've decided to drop the new motherboard idea now that i have my audio fixed. I am using a Xeon E3-1245 V5 workstation and was forced to move to Windows 10 for the first time ever, because on Windows 7 many things would not work - USB 3.1 not working, Creative (i told you it was piece of shit) control panel not working, Epson V370 scanner not working, also native NVME support is something that can not be missed. Also i just found out that Windows 7 support will be officially closed in January 14 2020.

I wouldnt go back to 7 now , have thought about doing a server with it but nah , could you not mod the case a bit .

 

[Artas1984]

Under the audio card i've got myself a plate to support it's weight. It is locked with two screws so tight that not only the audio card can not drop, but can not move at all, unless unscrewed. This could have been a gheto mod thread post, but whatever.. Notice how the IO extends now?

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Perhaps a precision hole or two could allow more outputs but its tidy as is.

 

[TheGuruStud]

Perhaps a precision hole or two could allow more outputs but its tidy as is.

There's cases with a vertical mount if he wants to switch.

 

[Artas1984]

Ended up with Biostar X370GT5. Wanted MSI X370 Gaming Plus or MSI B350 Gaming Plus, but out of order. Asus Prime X370-A and Prime B350-PLUS boards have only 6 mounting holes, which i absolutely hate, besides i've heard horrible feedback on those boards in the internet... Biostar was my last choice, but whatever... 9 mouting holes and PCI support. Not going to overclock my soon to be bought Ryzen anyway. The best thing about AMD is that with BIOS updates this board will support Ryzen 3 generation processors! How crazy is that!

Nothing matters to me more than keeping my Asus Xonar Essence ST PCI audio card. Asus Xonar Essence STX II PCI-E costs 230 EU, and nothing less would satisfy me. There is no way in hell i am to sell my old card for 80 EU just to get basically the same quality ''new'' card for 150 EU more for some additional features, which i do not need!

Instead of wasting 150 EU on a the audio card replacement, i bought a new (bulk) Biostar X370GT for 60 EU and can actually buy a Ryzen 5 1600 for 90 EU!

 

[Frick]

Nothing matters to me more than keeping my Asus Xonar Essence ST PCI audio card. Asus Xonar Essence STX II PCI-E costs 230 EU, and nothing less would satisfy me. There is no way in hell i am to sell my old card for 80 EU just to get basically the same quality ''new'' card for 150 EU more for some additional features, which i do not need!

I understand the problem (had the same one) but sooner or later you will have to drop that nearly 30 year old bus.

 

[TheLostSwede]

If only you had waited a bit longer

BIOSTAR Unveils Racing X470GTA Motherboard: Ryzen 3000 Support and Legacy PCI

Motherboard manufacturers seem to be rushing the fill the void of cost-effective motherboards with out of the box Ryzen 3000 support, as AMD X570 motherboards start at $170. The latest entrant is the Racing X470GTA by BIOSTAR, priced around the $120-mark, and packing an interesting mix of...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Artas1984]

If only you had waited a bit longer

BIOSTAR Unveils Racing X470GTA Motherboard: Ryzen 3000 Support and Legacy PCI

Motherboard manufacturers seem to be rushing the fill the void of cost-effective motherboards with out of the box Ryzen 3000 support, as AMD X570 motherboards start at $170. The latest entrant is the Racing X470GTA by BIOSTAR, priced around the $120-mark, and packing an interesting mix of...

www.techpowerup.com

Interesting... Though i don't see any available so far.. Just strange that they would still release X470 at this point? Do companies still make X470 boards or have they totally switched to X570 boards?

 

[moproblems99]

Interesting... Though i don't see any available so far.. Just strange that they would still release X470 at this point? Do companies still make X470 boards or have they totally switched to X570 boards?

MSI relaunched a whole new line of X470 with larger bios chips.

 

[TheLostSwede]

Interesting... Though i don't see any available so far.. Just strange that they would still release X470 at this point? Do companies still make X470 boards or have they totally switched to X570 boards?

No, they're not stopping, as X470 is now the mainstream chipset, with B450 being the budget option, until the B550? comes out.

 

[Kapone33]

With the prices of some X570 boards and the fact that it has been established that you don't need PCI_E 4.0 to game. I totally understand why these boards are being released. They should be some measure cheaper than the X570. Especially the smaller board partners like MSI and Biostar. It would not surprise me to see As Rock do the same evne though they seem to be doing quite well on the AM4 platform.

 

[TheLostSwede]

With the prices of some X570 boards and the fact that it has been established that you don't need PCI_E 4.0 to game. I totally understand why these boards are being released. They should be some measure cheaper than the X570. Especially the smaller board partners like MSI and Biostar. It would not surprise me to see As Rock do the same evne though they seem to be doing quite well on the AM4 platform.

A bit off topic, but MSI is a lot bigger than ASRock as a company...

 

[Kapone33]

A bit off topic, but MSI is a lot bigger than ASRock as a company...
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Again why I love this site.