Question Comparing Motherboards ( best value)

[SC11]

Hey everyone, To finish my build I've been working on now for months I need a Gpu, planning on a 7800xt just waiting on a good sale hopefully lol. A cpu I'm going with a 7600x and a motherboard. that where I'm raking my brain out lol. I'm not techy enough to know everything about them, there intricate workings. so looking for some guidance

This PC will be for Gaming pretty much only, I'm not a serious gamer so I don't need the best of the best by any means, but I would like something that can be upgraded down the road if needed and the motherboard is a big part of that. as CPU's and GPU's get cheaper maybe 2,3 or 4 years down the road I'll want to upgrade.

I kinda narrowed it down to 2-3 board because there in my price range and there in a combo deal with the 7600x.

the first one is a MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk wifi. Its combo price is $503 CDN

The second one is the ASRock x 870 Pro RS Wifi. Combo Price $523 CDN

Here's what I understand both have good VRAM, the MSI is only PCI -E4x16 no big deal I don't think,but it only has a M,2 4x4 slots but 3 of them, I will only use 1 PCI-E slot and 2 M.2 slots, I think PRO RS is better in this area as it has 5x16 and 5x4 and 4x4 slots

The MSi is 6 layer vs 8 layer PRO RS does that really matter?

Both has good audio I think
The MI has EZ Debug led the PRO RS does not

The PRO RS has 40gb USB-C port and Optical audio output is S-PDIF better then MSI

My understanding is the new ASRock BIOS is much better

Not sure what else I'm missing or what is relevant between these 2 boards but for the extra 20 buck do I jump up to the PRO RS I really don't know if either one is better then the other. I guess the Tomahawk is a higher B650 board where the X870 PRO RS is an entry level one, I'd assume the X870 would have a longer upgrade able life.

One other thing to throw out there is for $563 I can get a X870 Steel legend again is it worth that extra $60?

any advice would be great, I know its not a simple cut and dry answer. Thanks

 

[Lafong]

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...9O-y_6hv8sPs/edit?gid=755628141#gid=755628141

All 3 of those boards appear in the extensive and highly detailed list at the above link.

You might be able to find something you think is useful there. Or it just may add to your indecision?

"Worth" is always a personal choice.

How much importance can you attach to anecdotes or to a factoid found deep in a specification sheet?

I'd tend to be more worried about stuff largely beyond your control rather than the excruciating minutae of motherboard details.....quality control issues, random factors, software problems, and all the various subdivisions of PC Hell.

 

[CountMike]

Hey everyone, To finish my build I've been working on now for months I need a Gpu, planning on a 7800xt just waiting on a good sale hopefully lol. A cpu I'm going with a 7600x and a motherboard. that where I'm raking my brain out lol. I'm not techy enough to know everything about them, there intricate workings. so looking for some guidance

This PC will be for Gaming pretty much only, I'm not a serious gamer so I don't need the best of the best by any means, but I would like something that can be upgraded down the road if needed and the motherboard is a big part of that. as CPU's and GPU's get cheaper maybe 2,3 or 4 years down the road I'll want to upgrade.

I kinda narrowed it down to 2-3 board because there in my price range and there in a combo deal with the 7600x.

the first one is a MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk wifi. Its combo price is $503 CDN

The second one is the ASRock x 870 Pro RS Wifi. Combo Price $523 CDN

Here's what I understand both have good VRAM, the MSI is only PCI -E4x16 no big deal I don't think,but it only has a M,2 4x4 slots but 3 of them, I will only use 1 PCI-E slot and 2 M.2 slots, I think PRO RS is better in this area as it has 5x16 and 5x4 and 4x4 slots

The MSi is 6 layer vs 8 layer PRO RS does that really matter?

Both has good audio I think
The MI has EZ Debug led the PRO RS does not

The PRO RS has 40gb USB-C port and Optical audio output is S-PDIF better then MSI

My understanding is the new ASRock BIOS is much better

Not sure what else I'm missing or what is relevant between these 2 boards but for the extra 20 buck do I jump up to the PRO RS I really don't know if either one is better then the other. I guess the Tomahawk is a higher B650 board where the X870 PRO RS is an entry level one, I'd assume the X870 would have a longer upgrade able life.

One other thing to throw out there is for $563 I can get a X870 Steel legend again is it worth that extra $60?

any advice would be great, I know its not a simple cut and dry answer. Thanks

All have same "Upgradable life" AMD is committed to keep AM5 socket and chipsets compatible CPUs another 2-3 years and after that you'd need all new stuff.
Only difference between B650, X670 and x870 is capabilities of chipsets which is not connected with CPU.
Those layers are not indication of quality of parts.
Cheaper b650 MBs with large heat sinks usually have VRM up to 180W, X670/870 up to 230-250W.
Ryzen 7600 is using up to 65W so it would run on practically any AM5 MB exactly same, except R9 Ryzen which needs top VRM to run full tilt but tendency is to lower TDP and power requirements with every generation, So main things to look at half decent MB is equipment it comes with, Number and version of PCIe slots and lanes, same for M.2 NVMe, also USB, number and version, (X870 for instance has USB4 which others don't).
So, look and compare only by equipement pn the MB as to what you (think) you may need and of course price willing to pay for.

 

[SC11]

Thanks to both of you for the comments.

I never used either MSI or ASRock Motherboards in the past, My last couple build which goes back about ten years I used Gigabyte not sure why just did, and the PC i'm replacing is 6 or 7 years old anyhow.

So I think as far as quality goes they all have their flaws, and what I can see, I think either one is as good as the other quality wise, if I'm wrong please point it out lol

As far as wifi goes i don't use it now as i don't have it, not really sure if I'd need it on a motherboard or what I'd use it for so wifi 6 or 7 I don't think matters, same as USB4 my board now doesn't even have type c on it lol. what is USB-C mostly used for?

Here is a question the b650 has 80A SPS VRM vs x870 80A DRMOS VRMs are the DRMOS generally noted a better VRM?

After looking for a couple hours again last night I think the reality is the MSI B650 will do everything I need, It doesn't have some of the new features like ez latch etc, but it does have the EZ debug leds

The only question I'm not really sure of is, is there going to be a difference in performance between the 2 boards, will it be noticeable? from what I'm reading probably not between the B650 tomahawk and x870 PRO RS, But what about the X870 steel legend, would you guys expect to see much of a difference in performance between that the x870 steel legend and the B650 tomahawk?

There has been a price change over night as well
B650 Tomahawk /7600x combo is $463
x870 Pro RS / 7600x combo is $513
x870 steel legend / 7600x combo is $553 But if I'm going to spend that I might as well spend $568 and get the Riptide wifi, I'd rather have the black board and it comes with a ARGB splinter.

so I mean for a 100 buck do i just jump up to the Riptide lol, to many choices lol

Here is the rest of my build so far
NZXT H6 flow case
NZXT Kraken elite 280 RGB liquid cooler
Delta RGB DDR5 32 gb 6000MHz cl 30
WD black sn850x 1 tb to start , I'll add another one down the road
Be quite M12 850W PSU

Thanks