Question MSI z690 Tomahawk vs z790 PRO-P

[zmihlrad]

What would be the better choice of board here?

Microcenter by me has both in stock, At $20 off with an intel Core i7 or i9 13th gen.

The PRO is $220 after discount
The Tomahawk is $250 after discount.


The pro is newer, has Wifi 6E however my mesh system does not support 6E.


The Pro has the ALC897 audio while the Tomahawk has the ALC4080 which I believe is far superior?

I don't think I actually need the features of a z790 over a z690 so I am not sure if theres really a reason to get it, other than not having the do the BIOS flash which doesn't seem like a big deal regardless.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/642647/msi-z690-mag-tomahawk-wifi-ddr4-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard

https://www.microcenter.com/product/660223/msi-z790-p-pro-wifi-d4-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard

 

[Lutfij]

I tend to look at audio as one of the driving feature sets in my board purchase(if I can't add a dedicated sound card to the build) among the need for quality componentry. Please don't let the Pro moniker in the board's naming/nomenclature fool you, that board is bottom of the barrel, entry level at best, since you're being paired with an audio chip/codec that's pretty old. Ofc, the audio chip here won't mean anything if your audio output equipment is either sub par or they need an amp/circuitry to drive(and produce good results).

Are these the only boards you have as options?

 

[zmihlrad]

I tend to look at audio as one of the driving feature sets in my board purchase(if I can't add a dedicated sound card to the build) among the need for quality componentry. Please don't let the Pro moniker in the board's naming/nomenclature fool you, that board is bottom of the barrel, entry level at best, since you're being paired with an audio chip/codec that's pretty old. Ofc, the audio chip here won't mean anything if your audio output equipment is either sub par or they need an amp/circuitry to drive(and produce good results).

Are these the only boards you have as options?

I mean I am honestly open to anything. It was just $20 off if I got it at microcenter, but their i7 and i9 are on sale to begin with.

There is no real rush because ultimatly I am waiting for the 7900XTX for my build to be finished,