I’ve had two rock-solid Asus ROG mobos in a row. I’d need compelling evidence to look elsewhere.
7 years ago I went with the Asus Rog. After a year or two it started dropping USB ports and SATA slots. I figured it was a once in forever type of deal. I called Asus and they were a bear to work with so I decided to upgrade to what I have now a bit later. I thought… couldn’t happen twice right? First year everything is dandy, then shades of the last motherboard. It starts dropping SATA and USB ports. Now I’m to the point where I’m rebooting multiple times just to get my Steam drives to show up and I’ve had to keep daisy chaining out my USB devices.
Two in a row and I’m done with them. These were very expensive boards.
If I’d had that experience, I’d do the same, for sure.
It’s a higher end version of the Z390 that @barstein picked up. It’s supposed to be better about power management and over clocking, but the Extreme4 has some OC potential as well. The Taichi (and there is an even more extreme version of that for $300 or so) also has additional ports and features as one would expect. The Extreme4 is maybe a bit more than I need, but the next lower Z390 board lacks a few features my current board does, so I’ll give this Extreme4 a shot. Never had an ASRock, but they seem well regarded.
As for why he decided on the Z390, probably the same reason I did - it works with the new 9000 series Intel chips out of the box, no BIOS updates required (which isn’t possible to do unless you have an existing 8000 series installed in it, and since my CPU is a 4000 series, I’d have been screwed if I didn’t get a board that natively supports the new generation of chips).
Do you know if it’s just 12 or a 12+1 phase power design?
I do not, sorry. The web site just says “Power Phase 12” for both, though.
Since I felt it would say +1 phase if it was I decided to choose between Gigabyte and MSI. Can’t find any reviews on the non-high end boards, but for higher end boards the MSI’s used 40 more Watts during full load testing. I figured that kind of rate might trickle down to the other boards. I plan to do some overclocking, something I hadn’t been able to do with my current Asus with all its “issues”.
Trying to figure out which to go with is a chore because no one lists everything in comparison form. To save money I figured I didn’t need wifi and I don’t need 3 M2 slots, so I chose the Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro. I can’t tell if everything else is the same for the boards that are $50-$100 more than that, so hopefully those are the only changes. I’ll push this hard to make sure it can handle itself in test form before I mount it. If it won’t, I’ll exchange for the MSI Gaming Pro Carbon
Also - why is DDR4 4000 memory so expensive? Dang.
My new mini coming next week is an upgrade from 4GB 1333 ddr3 to 8GB 2666 ddr4. 4000? Yikes.
My last two mobos have been Gigabyte UD models and they’ve been solid.
Do people usually go this crazy for upgrades or am I only noticing it because I’m doing one myself?
I went with the Amazon preorder on the 9700K. That way I don’t have to look for it. As long as I get it in about 2 weeks that’s fine.
I’m thinking about it - I think there are a lot of people doing it because of the combination of a new video card generation and a new CPU generation at the same time.
I have a 4770 (not the K version so a bit slower and not overclocked) and really thinking about the 9700k. Its really hard to know if I’m being crazy or not. I feel like everything is getting sluggish, not getting the frames I should out of my 1080, etc… But maybe a format and windows reinstall is all I need?
I think if I were building right now, I’d be looking at the 9600rather than the 9700.
What brand motherboard? Sounds like mine.
Not sure where the upgrade fever has come from. Has the US stock market made you guys feel rich :) I’ll be waiting for a new console generation, because games won’t be any more demanding before then. And this NVidia stuff is v expensive for an untested tech.
In my case, I’m cashing in a bunch of unused PTO and will have some Christmas money coming, so I can do something big and fun that won’t impact the family finances, plus I got a decent bonus this year, which my wife is kindly letting me have half of. :)
I think I’m ready for my upgrade, but it’s going to end up being an almost entirely new PC.
i9-9900K
ASRock Z390 Tachi
16GB DDR4 4000
970 Pro M.2 1TB SSD
and a Noctua NH-D15 cooler for the CPU.
And I’ll keep using my 1080Ti for now, maybe I’ll upgrade it when it’s at the three year old mark and the warranty runs dry.
I’m also dipping into upgrading my case, I’ve always wanted one of these Corsair Crystal cases:
Total price is higher than I had originally planned for, but not too much more (the i9 is an extra $150, and the mobo is an extra $150 as well, over what I had been thinking when I made the thread). But I won’t be upgrading again for another 4-5 years (if even?) so I may as well spend a bit extra this time. Oh, right, that damned 4000 DDR4 is quite a bit more, too. Ugh. I better ear mark $30 to get a Windows 10 key from Kinguin just in case, too.
It drives me crazy Intel locked hyperthreading behind the i9 chip only. WTF.
I’ll also have my current 840 SSD for additional fast storage, along with the 1TB PS4 Pro drive I’m already using for extra storage. I think that should do it. I’ll be back with updates once I get it all put together. If anyone else runs into trouble while they build, keep us posted.
Ha! Great point Alistair. You’d think something like Crysis had just come out or something.
I think a big part of it, at least for me, is the enthusiast hobby side of it.
But also, my own PC was built in early 2014, over four years ago, and all my parts are well outside of warranty and I run my PC hard so if I can put the funds together (a rarity for me) I’d like to upgrade now, strike while the iron’s hot, and with the new generation of CPU’s now out there.
Well, stop it. It’s infectious. I’m all of a sudden looking at PC Part Picker for upgrade options.
FOR NO REASON.
