vandalblue

Distinguished
Jun 25, 2015
171
3
18,695
Hello, i have a question, hope ya can help me:

Well, i want to upgrade my pc, my rig setup is below, i do a lot of gaming and a lot of production, since i use blender and make ehavy rendering, i'm looking to upgrade the cpu, to an i7 12700F, i don't have plans to overclock, so it is necessary to have an expensive ddr4 z690 for this processor? or could i go down to make it work with a cheaper but good quality one? like h670 or b660? also i'll keep my gtx 1080 Ti, i have it since launch, but prices are just too high to upgrade the gpu (anyways, due to time, should i consider to change thermal paste?) also planning to jump from 16 gb to 32 gb, and keep going ddr4, as ddr5 is a little overpriced.

Normally play at 1080P and 60 fps, sometimes 4k 60 (when i have the time) but mostly 1080p and a lot of 3D rendering, so, what are you toughts? i'm planning to buy the processor at this month and then do a mobo hunting, should i go for z690 or a more basic one for it?
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Do the mobo first and learn what CPU's and other components the mobo supports.

Work out the required PSU wattage:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-psus,4229.html

Use the calculators.

Wattage is important but so is PSU quality and reliability. Do not skimp on the PSU.

In my mind the key is to find, to read, and to study, the applicable User Guides/Manuals for all system components. Starting with the motherboard.

Pay attention to the warnings, fine print, and all details.

Take a close look at the hardware specs for any software that you plan to run. Most software products provide a listing in the form of "minimal", "recommended", or "best".

You do not want "minimal" and you do want as much "best" as you can afford. What is your upgrade budget?

Plan it all out in advance before ordering anything., Leave room for growth.
 
Hello, i have a question, hope ya can help me:

Well, i want to upgrade my pc, my rig setup is below, i do a lot of gaming and a lot of production, since i use blender and make ehavy rendering, i'm looking to upgrade the cpu, to an i7 12700F, i don't have plans to overclock, so it is necessary to have an expensive ddr4 z690 for this processor? or could i go down to make it work with a cheaper but good quality one? like h670 or b660? also i'll keep my gtx 1080 Ti, i have it since launch, but prices are just too high to upgrade the gpu (anyways, due to time, should i consider to change thermal paste?) also planning to jump from 16 gb to 32 gb, and keep going ddr4, as ddr5 is a little overpriced.

Normally play at 1080P and 60 fps, sometimes 4k 60 (when i have the time) but mostly 1080p and a lot of 3D rendering, so, what are you toughts? i'm planning to buy the processor at this month and then do a mobo hunting, should i go for z690 or a more basic one for it?
What country are you located and what is your budget?
 

vandalblue

Distinguished
Jun 25, 2015
171
3
18,695
This board has 12+2 power phase and should handle the 12700F with ease. Pair it up with a set of 2x16GB DDR4 3200mhz CL16 RAM.

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144531
MSI PRO B660M-A DDR4 $139.99

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-B660M-A-DDR4/Overview


Well, i have access to the whole asus prime lineaup, are these good enough? also, i'm from Chile, so i ned to convert chilean pesos to USD, instead of importing, the marked here offer me all asus prime models, and some others that are high tier z690 's
 
  • Like
Reactions: Why_Me

vandalblue

Distinguished
Jun 25, 2015
171
3
18,695
Alright! Thank you so much ^^ one last thing, ddr5 worth it over ddr4 right now? just in case to grab a ddr5 motherboard instead, planning to upgrade to 32 gb, but don't know if ddr4 or ddr5, and just as a reminder that i do gaming at 1080 - 1440 and doing a lot of 3d modeling and render
 

vandalblue

Distinguished
Jun 25, 2015
171
3
18,695
Not if you aren't overclocking.............unless it might be something to brag about or you are indifferent to budget or have very unusual requirements related to the Z690 chipset specifically.


Alright! Thank you so much ^^ one last thing, ddr5 worth it over ddr4 right now? just in case to grab a ddr5 motherboard instead, planning to upgrade to 32 gb, but don't know if ddr4 or ddr5, and just as a reminder that i do gaming at 1080 - 1440 and doing a lot of 3d
 
Alright! Thank you so much ^^ one last thing, ddr5 worth it over ddr4 right now? just in case to grab a ddr5 motherboard instead, planning to upgrade to 32 gb, but don't know if ddr4 or ddr5, and just as a reminder that i do gaming at 1080 - 1440 and doing a lot of 3d

"Worth it"...... what a concept.

Sure. If you are indifferent to budget.

You'd be on the cutting edge for whatever that is worth and you might avoid the buyer's remorse from buying old-fashioned DDR4.

On the other hand, you might incur DDR5 buyer's remorse after hearing people tell you how foolish you are to buy DDR5 now considering the expense. Little do they know you are indifferent to budget.

Highly likely you couldn't tell which you had if a gremlin sneaked into your PC while you were asleep and changed one for the other.
 
Alright! Thank you so much ^^ one last thing, ddr5 worth it over ddr4 right now? just in case to grab a ddr5 motherboard instead, planning to upgrade to 32 gb, but don't know if ddr4 or ddr5, and just as a reminder that i do gaming at 1080 - 1440 and doing a lot of 3d
I can count the DDR5 builds posted on here on one hand. Most all the builds on here are DDR4.
 
  • Like
Reactions: helper800

vandalblue

Distinguished
Jun 25, 2015
171
3
18,695
I can count the DDR5 builds posted on here on one hand. Most all the builds on here are DDR4.

I have budget for a z690 and i7 12700F and a new cooling system, but not for a brand new DDR5 Ram (wich are extremely expensive), i would like to keep using my current 16 gb ram ddr4 for it and bupgrade to 32 later, i'm undecided from ddr4 or ddr5, i don't have the budget for ddr5, but it is the platform to go, ddr4 prices are way cheaper and have more diversity but they will become obsolete in 1 or 2 years (same as ddr3) so, i'm into a self confusion situation,..
 
  • Like
Reactions: Why_Me
I have budget for a z690 and i7 12700F and a new cooling system, but not for a brand new DDR5 Ram (wich are extremely expensive), i would like to keep using my current 16 gb ram ddr4 for it and bupgrade to 32 later, i'm undecided from ddr4 or ddr5, i don't have the budget for ddr5, but it is the platform to go, ddr4 prices are way cheaper and have more diversity but they will become obsolete in 1 or 2 years (same as ddr3) so, i'm into a self confusion situation,..
DDR4 3200mhz CL16
 

vandalblue

Distinguished
Jun 25, 2015
171
3
18,695
Not if you aren't overclocking.............unless it might be something to brag about or you are indifferent to budget or have very unusual requirements related to the Z690 chipset specifically.

I only want to work with default clock speeds, that's why i choose i7 12700f, but i'm unsure is an h-670 or b-660 motherboard could support the full power of the i7, i mean, without limit the speed, or having problems with a Gtx 1080 TI

I have these three options

Asus Prime B660 (cheaper): https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/PRIME/PRIME-B660-PLUS-D4/
Asus Prime H670 (medium): https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/PRIME/PRIME-H670-PLUS-D4/
Asus Prime Z690 (medium to expensive-affordable): https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/PRIME/PRIME-Z690-P-D4/

i can buy one of them, but i just don't know wich one to sleect, i just want to work with the full potential of i7 12700F, and no overclock, sorry for too many replies
 
Do you have any specific reason to think H670 could not "support the full power" of an a 12700.

Other than overclocking, which you have rejected.

Could be. I haven't done an investigation but I'm half curious myself as I may be getting a new board.

H chipsets are generally targeted at businesses, but I have not heard of significant shortcomings other than OC.

On the H670, Intel cut back the number of USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5Gbps) ports (from 10 to eight), and the number of PCIe 3.0 lanes drops from 16 to 12.

Does that matter to you?

The H670 chipset still has support for all current types of USB, including ultrafast USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) ports, but fewer of these ports are supported.

I'd go over the features of all your candidates with a fine-toothed comb.

It is possible that Asus has chosen to NOT enable all possible features available on the H chipset.

Maybe Asus has chosen to use inferior components on H670 boards that are totally unrelated to the chipset itself. I have no idea. The board may be crap, despite the perfectly OK H670 chipset.

Or that could be true of the B660 Asus boards for all I know. Issues unrelated to the chipset.

Premium prices can be had for Z690 because of overclocking and because certain users "want the best", whatever that might imply or assume or overlook.

Build quality and bad luck are other matters and out of your control.
 
Last edited:
Do you have any specific reason to think H670 could not "support the full power" of an a 12700.

Other than overclocking, which you have rejected.

Could be. I haven't done an investigation but I'm half curious myself as I may be getting a new board.

H chipsets are generally targeted at businesses, but I have not heard of significant shortcomings other than OC.

On the H670, Intel cut back the number of USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5Gbps) ports (from 10 to eight), and the number of PCIe 3.0 lanes drops from 16 to 12.

Does that matter to you?

The H670 chipset still has support for all current types of USB, including ultrafast USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) ports, but fewer of these ports are supported.

I'd go over the features of all your candidates with a fine-toothed comb.

It is possible that Asus has chosen to NOT enable all possible features available on the H chipset.

Maybe Asus has chosen to use inferior components on H670 boards that are totally unrelated to the chipset itself. I have no idea. The board may be crap, despite the perfectly OK H670 chipset.

Or that could be true of the B660 Asus boards for all I know. Issues unrelated to the chipset.

Premium prices can be had for Z690 because of overclocking and because certain users "want the best", whatever that might imply or assume or overlook.

Build quality and bad luck are other matters and out of your control.
14 + 1 w/DrMOS

 

vandalblue

Distinguished
Jun 25, 2015
171
3
18,695
14 + 1 w/DrMOS


Don't have access to it, but it's B660M version here: https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-B660M-PLUS-WIFI-D4/
 
  • Like
Reactions: Why_Me