Getting Ready To Buy New Mother Cpu Wanted To Make Sure Is Compatible

[thesavvycow]

Im buying a a i7 8700k Coffee Lake 6 Core Possessor. Im looking for a compatible motherboard and wanted to make sure im buying the right one. This is the one im planing on buying: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157809

Are they compatible?

 

[bmockeg]

You WILL NOT be able to overclock and will have limited features with that board, however it will "work". You really need a z370 motherboard to get the full capability out of that processor.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Motherboard: MSI - Z370 GAMING PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($89.99 @ Newegg Business)
Total: $89.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-03 00:21 EDT-0400

This is the cheapest I would use.

 

[DSzymborski]

It's compatible, but it makes zero sense to marry the top Coffee Lake, with an unlocked multiplier, with the most basic budget board you can find. Either come back down to a a 65W locked i5 or go up to a proper Z370 motherboard.

 

[thesavvycow]

It's compatible, but it makes zero sense to marry the top Coffee Lake, with an unlocked multiplier, with the most basic budget board you can find. Either come back down to a a 65W locked i5 or go up to a proper Z370 motherboard.

Okay thanks first time buying a motherboard. Is there a certain one thats cheap and will work great with it that you would recommend? Like the one bmockeg suggested. I just dont wanna spend a couple hundred dollars on something that doesn't seem that important.

 

[DSzymborski]

It's compatible, but it makes zero sense to marry the top Coffee Lake, with an unlocked multiplier, with the most basic budget board you can find. Either come back down to a a 65W locked i5 or go up to a proper Z370 motherboard.

Okay thanks first time buying a motherboard. Is there a certain one thats cheap and will work great with it that you would recommend? Like the one bmockeg suggested. I just dont wanna spend a couple hundred dollars on something that doesn't seem that important.

The one suggested would work, even if you may not be able to eke as much out of the CPU as you might with one designed to really push it. The motherboard you picked would mean no overclocking at all!

 

[owhansson]

1. Your CPU WILL work with that MoBo, but you will not have the option of overclocking.

2. When looking for a MoBo, it is a good idea to look for reviews that include info on the VRM. You want to at least know how many power phases a MoBo has. More is usually better, though there are exceptions. The better the VRM, the longer the life of MoBo and CPU.

3. If your case supports an ATX-motherboard, don't go with any less. Micro ATX is cramped and will have way worse upgradability.


For perspective:

- The MoBo you linked to has only two slots for RAM, you want four so that you can add RAM later.
- It has only one PCI-E 3.0 x16 and not even one more current gen PCI-E slot. If you're planning on using a discrete GPU, the x16 will be occupied by that.
- It has ZERO m.2 slots, you want at least one. With no m.2 and PCI-E slots open, that leaves only SATA for storage, which will severely limit any build in 2018.
- It has 5 power phases, which should be sufficient for lower end CPUs, but I wouldn't risk an i7-8700K with it.

A typical ATX MoBo will have four slots for RAM, several PCI-E slots as well as at least one m.2 slot. And usually 8+ power phases. The cheapest Z370 ATX MoBo from the same manufacturer goes for 111$ on Newegg and has just that, as well as WiFi-functionality.

I'm a bang-for-buck guy, so I would love recommending "less", but a build has to be balanced to be good. Any build with 8700K has to be built around it.


All the best,

O