Question Help picking z690 board.. cant decide .

[elkido122]

Iam looking for a decent board for gaming. I have a 12900k, considering ddr5 since I can get it at a reasonable price. But my question is, is the msi z690-a pro ddr5 board good or junk for a 12900k and gaming ? I wanted yo go gigabyte but I'm not sure how there boards are with ddr5... suggestions ? Was trying to stay under 350 for a board. Thanks

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

I saw GamersNexus review the MSI Z690 boards and my take on it was that the £190 MSI PRO Z690-A (mine is the DDR4 version) "is fine" for mild overclocking but if you want to do anything extreme and push the CPU K series, you should buy a more expensive board as the VRMs and everything is better suited to aggresive overclocks.
So, if you intend to run the 12900K at stock (which is going to be absolutely great for any gaming) then the MSI PRO Z690-A is "fine".
The price of DDR5 and availability and the fact that I already had 2 sticks for DDR4 3600 made me buy the DDR4 mobo version.

 

[elkido122]

What board should I get that's a good step up from the msi z690-a then?? Whether it be msi or asus.. thanks

 

[Nine Layer Nige]

I think you will have to do some youtube watching on Z690 series boards to decide based on how hard you want to overclock.
Are you going to be doing liquid nitrogen on the overclocking ?