Question Z690 or B660

[ingeborgdot]

Would a Z690 motherboard be better equipped to run 24/7 vs a B660 because of having better capacitors? Or would both be about the same? I will be running this in a surveillance system I have that has been running for 6 years straight, and want to upgrade.

 

[Nighthawk117]

1- SSD, either M.2 or 2.5. Only 1.
All the rest will be SATA.

2.5" is still SATA, what motherboard you pick will determine how many drives you can have in your machine. If the M.2 drive is connected to the chipset then one SATA port will normally be disabled. The first M.2 slot on the board will be wired directly to the CPU utilising 4 of the available 20 CPU lanes. Therefore it doesn't use any chipset lanes. That's the best place for your OS drive and will let you use all the SATA ports.

 

[Lafong]

Does this board look good?
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145373?Item=N82E16813145373&quicklink=true

3 M.2 slots........PCIe 4.0..........ATX.

Do you need any of that?

 

[logainofhades]

Does this board look good?
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145373?Item=N82E16813145373&quicklink=true

That's a nice board, if you are fine with the 4 sata ports, for HDD. For a budget B660, this would be my pick.

PCPartPicker Part List

Motherboard: MSI PRO B660-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $129.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-08-29 12:51 EDT-0400

3 M.2 slots........PCIe 4.0..........ATX.

Do you need any of that?

Any current gen board will be Gen 4 PCI-E, or better.

 

[Nighthawk117]

Does this board look good?
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145373?Item=N82E16813145373&quicklink=true

That's a very good board for that price.

 

[ingeborgdot]

3 M.2 slots........PCIe 4.0..........ATX.

Do you need any of that?

Not necessarily need any of it, but the price is about the same as the others. I like the look and the built in panel. Do you have a suggestion for one? I'm open for them.

 

[ingeborgdot]

2.5" is still SATA, what motherboard you pick will determine how many drives you can have in your machine. If the M.2 drive is connected to the chipset then one SATA port will normally be disabled. The first M.2 slot on the board will be wired directly to the CPU utilising 4 of the available 20 CPU lanes. Therefore it doesn't use any chipset lanes. That's the best place for your OS drive and will let you use all the SATA ports.

So, get an M.2 and place it in the first M.2 slot. Or, go with a Z690 board which I won't run into that problem. I guess I'll just look at the options. Thanks.

 

[Nighthawk117]

So, get an M.2 and place it in the first M.2 slot. Or, go with a Z690 board which I won't run into that problem. I guess I'll just look at the options. Thanks.

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E168131...omahawk-_-13-144-520-_-Product&quicklink=true

With this B660 Tomahawk you get 6 x SATA ports. You have 3 M.2 slots, 1 is wired to the CPU and the other 2 are wired to the chipset. According to the manual you can use the 1rst and 2nd M.2 slots without impacting the 6 SATA ports, it's only when you populate M2_3 that you lose access to port 7.

The Z690 Tomahawk seems to let you use all 4 M.2 slots all 6 SATA ports at the same time but obviously costs more.

 

[ingeborgdot]

And right below it is a Z690 board for the same price.
https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-aor...813145349?Item=N82E16813145349&quicklink=true
For the price, I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for your super leads. I appreciate it.

 

[Why_Me]

Does this board look good?
https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813145373?Item=N82E16813145373&quicklink=true

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1693456-REG/msi_mag_b660m_bazooka_ddr4.html
MSI MAG B660M BAZOOKA DDR4 $129.99

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-B660M-BAZOOKA-DDR4

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core-12th-i5-12500-Processor/dp/B09MSJ29RP/

Intel Core i5-12500 $202.98

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...12500-processor-18m-cache-up-to-4-60-ghz.html

https://www.amazon.com/DeepCool-Performance-Cooler-Dynamic-Bearing/dp/B09PCWK7SP/
DeepCool AK400 CPU Cooler $34.99

https://global.deepcool.com/product...AK400-Performance-CPU-Cooler/2021/15222.shtml

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Vengeance-PC4-25600-Desktop-Memory/dp/B07RW6Z692/
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 32GB (2x16GB) CL16 $89.99

https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Supernova-Modular-Warranty-220-GA-0550-X1/dp/B07WNXY6T5
EVGA SuperNOVA 550 Ga, 80+ Gold 550W Modular Power Supply $59.99

 

[Nighthawk117]

And right below it is a Z690 board for the same price.
https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-aor...813145349?Item=N82E16813145349&quicklink=true
For the price, I'm not sure what to do. Thanks for your super leads. I appreciate it.

I would typically expect higher quality components on the Tomahawks but that board should also be more than capable for your purposes. I don't think it provides any real advantage over the B660 Tomahawk though.

 

[ingeborgdot]

So, as Lafong asked me earlier as I was talking about higher quality, how do we know this? I'm all about quality.