[SOLVED] Can't decide which board to go with for a 3700X

[nobetteridea]

Hey,
So I'm about to build my first ever PC, my overall budget is €1450. I'm going to use it for Machine Learning mostly, this is my build so far:

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (€367.00)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Predator 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€173.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€86.73 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Black Video Card (€456.90 @ Alza)
Case: NZXT H500 ATX Mid Tower Case (€79.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: EVGA 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (€104.00)
Total: €1268.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-08-01 00:17 CEST+0200


I can't decide which board to go with. Things worth considering:

• I'm not in need of PCIe 4.0, therefore an X570 board would be overkill for me, not to mention they being overpriced as well.
• I'm not planning on buying a CPU for the next 3-4 years. By that time X570, X470 and X370 boards will be equivalently outdated IMO.
• I'd like to get an SLI-capable board to stick a 2nd GPU in later on (multi-GPUs are stupid for gaming, for my purposes they are beneficial however).
• All manufacturers are having problems with 3rd gen Ryzens, in my eyes MSI seems to be the worst one so far, I'm not willing to troubleshoot their BIOS. I just want my build to get the job done.
• I'm not planning on doing heavy OC, I would like to have nice VRM setup though. Also therefore if the difference between X470 and X370 boards are some OC-related features, I'd rather go with a more feature-rich X370.
• BIOS Flashback isn't a must, can be a deciding factor though.

I'm going to be buying at my local store. My options are:

• Asus ROG CROSSHAIR VI EXTREME - on sale, €190
• Asus CROSSHAIR VI HERO - on sale, €162
• MSI X470 GAMING PRO CARBON - €200
• Asus ROG STRIX X470-F - €200
• ASROCK X470 Taichi - €211
• Asus Prime X470-Pro - €165

Suggestions apart from these are welcome as well. Thanks!

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

In my experience, I would go with the Strix X470-F (or even B450-F). The Ryzen CPUs will limit themselves before the motherboard becomes a limitation.

 

[DMAN999]

All of the motherboards you listed will require a BIOS update to support a Ryzen 3000 series CPU.
I have an Asus ROG Strix B450-F Gaming MB and with a Ryzen 5 2600 OC'd to 4 GHz and 3200 MHz RAM running at 3400 MHz.
I am very happy with this MB and if I was looking for a good X470 MB, I would buy the ROG Strix X470-F Gaming.
As for RAM, I would recommend that you use the G.Skill Memory Configurator to choose a kit that is 100% compatible with whichever motherboard you choose.
https://www.gskill.com/configurator...524725352&chipset=1532079592&model=1532079659


Just FYI,
I will almost certainly be upgrading to a Ryzen 7 3700x sometime next year and I am very confident that my current ROG Strix B450-F Gaming will have no problem running it.
So if you want to save some money you could get a good B450 board.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

If you arent budget-constrained much, id suggest a lower end (but decent) x570 for pcie4 and hopefully fewer bios issues. They are expensive, but not terrible for a decent one.

If you only can get what's available in the store:
I would not buy anything X370, so that gets rid of the crosshairs.

I would go for the Strix 470-F Gaming or the Asus Prime X470-F.
7nm is pretty efficient and doesn't require a lot of power so you dont need a more expensive board and can save the money.

 

[DMAN999]

PS
Regarding updating the BIOS, I would check around and see if a local PC shop will update the BIOS for you for a small fee.
Or you can buy an older compatible AMD CPU.
Or contact Asus for a loaner CPU.
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/pa-100#faq-Short-Term-Processor-Loan-Boot-Kit

And as far as SLI goes, the B450 boards don't support it but IMO SLI is no longer a viable option.
A good single GPU will usually perform at least as well as if not better than a dual GPU setup.