Question ASUS Prime Z690-P vs MSI PRO Z690-A, DDR5 LGA 1700 MOBO, Which Would You Buy?

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Cassius101

Cassius101

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Aug 29, 2013
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This guy prefers the MSI.



ASUS Prime Z690-P
+Better for overclocking
+1 more PCIe 4.0 slot while the MSI has none. "The main benefit of PCIe 4.0 SSDs being faster not only gives quicker loading times in some games, but it also translates to a much snappier operating system. You can expect instantaneous boot times with the latest NVMe drives if it houses your Windows, Linux, or macOS and fast loading of programs"


https://versus.com/en/asus-prime-z690-p-vs-msi-pro-z690-a

The MSI has more USB ports, more SATA connectors, more M.2 sockets. It also has better power flow since it has 16 pins while the ASUS prime has 12 pins but would 4 pins really matter? I doubt it would matter much.


The current gen GPU's don't have significant performance differences whether they are on PCIe 3.0, 4.0 or 5.0 but that could change next generation. The 4090 has been confirmed to use a PCIe 5.0 connector. So I could put a 4090 in the PCIe 5.0 slot and the SSD in the PCIe 4.0 slot while I can't do that on the MSI since it has no PCIe 4.0 slot. Still, the MSI has a M.2 slot capable of PCIe 4.0 so it doesn't matter.

I think this all comes down to overclocking and the ASUS supposedly overclocks better than the MSI.


https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/qzuqhs


The ASUS has more problems, compatibility issues with Ram and a lot of crashing. Hopefully ASUS fixes this soon with another update because when it does (if it does) then this will be better to get than the MSI Mobo.

Anyone disagree with me on preferring the ASUS? The ASUS also looks better and has RGB but I am only comparing this from a purely performance perspective.

Or should I get something else? If so for what reason? My budget is 350$ USD maximum.
 
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Cassius101

Cassius101

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Aug 29, 2013
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Tech Junky said:
It's all subjective.

Remember when PC's didn't have windows on all sides to see the innards?

If you want to be future proofed though there's an Asrock Velocita that has a M2 that runs @ Gen 5 i.e 128gbps
Click to expand...


Would that make this faster? This is what I have.

 
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Tech Junky

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Jan 27, 2022
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@Cassius101

I have 2 of those SN850's in my setup. They're Gen 4 drives and I WR tested mine @ 5.1GB/s which is what they're rated for so, it should be a quick machine depending on what else is inside of it.

Code: 
#sudo inxi -F
System:    Host: server Kernel: 5.15.19-051519-lowlatency x86_64 bits: 64 Console: tty pts/4
           Distro: Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri)
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: Z690 Steel Legend serial: HQ0210001702488 UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 2.02
           date: 10/01/2021
CPU:       Info: 10-Core model: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache: L2: 25 MiB
           Speed: 3178 MHz min/max: 800/6300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3178 2: 1104 3: 657 4: 601 5: 2862 6: 1883 7: 923
           8: 601 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 13: 1315 14: 581 15: 3719 16: 599 17: 600 18: 601 19: 600 20: 592
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel AlderLake-S GT1 driver: i915 v: kernel
           Display: server: X.org 1.20.13 driver: loaded: fbdev unloaded: modesetting,vesa tty: 202x55
           Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable in console for root.
Audio:     Device-1: Intel driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.19-051519-lowlatency running: yes
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
           Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.32 running: yes
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE driver: r8169
           IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX210/AX211/AX411 160MHz driver: iwlwifi
           IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: d8:f8:83:d8:8e:c0
           Device-3: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp8s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 24:5e:be:4d:c4:53
           Device-4: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp9s0 state: up speed: 2500 Mbps duplex: full mac: 24:5e:be:4d:c4:54
           Device-5: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp11s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           Device-6: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp12s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           IF-ID-1: bo0 state: up speed: 2000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           IF-ID-2: bonding_masters state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
           IF-ID-3: br0 state: up speed: 2500 Mbps duplex: unknown mac: 5a:ea:69:a9:d9:fb
           IF-ID-4: nordlynx state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Bluetooth: Device-1: Intel type: USB driver: btusb
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 state: up address: D8:F8:83:D8:8E:C4 bt-v: 3.0
RAID:      Device-1: md0 type: mdraid level: raid-10 status: active size: 18.19 TiB report: 5/5 UUUUU
           Components: Online: 2: sdb1 3: sdd1 4: sda1 5: sde1 6: sdc1
Drives:    Local Storage: total: raw: 38.21 TiB usable: 20.01 TiB used: 8.03 TiB (40.1%)
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 size: 931.51 GiB
           ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 size: 931.51 GiB
           ID-3: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-4: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-5: /dev/sdc vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-6: /dev/sdd vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-7: /dev/sde vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 915.77 GiB used: 99.42 GiB (10.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
Swap:      Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 32.0 C mobo: 36.5 C
           Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 671 fan-2: 821 fan-3: 0 fan-4: 704 fan-5: 0 fan-6: 0 fan-7: 682
Info:      Processes: 462 Uptime: 1d 2h 47m Memory: 15.39 GiB used: 3.13 GiB (20.3%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Shell: Bash
           inxi: 3.3.06


The Asrock Velocita won't make it faster but, when Gen 5 drives come out you wouldn't need to use an adapter to slot it into a PCI slot as the native M2 is Gen 5 already
 
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pblogic007

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Feb 9, 2022
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I like the Asus better because I'm used to their BIOS, but the MSI seems to be the darling of every youtuber. Personally, I think the Gigabyte boards offer more value for DDR5, especially the pro at 319$ which gives you a debug display.

I have not yet decided if I'm going DDR4 or DDR5, but if it's 4 I'm going with the Gigabyte Aorus Elite, and if it's 5 I'm going with the Aorus Pro..... If I'm going to be overclocking, I want a debug display, and the pro offers that.

However, I have no idea what your budget is. However, if I were going lower end DDR5.... I would pick the Asus prime z690-a..... Better power than either of the boards you linked, better features, and only 280$

But forced to choose between those two boards, I would choose the Asus.
 
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Cassius101

Cassius101

Member
Aug 29, 2013
157
1
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Tech Junky said:
@Cassius101

I have 2 of those SN850's in my setup. They're Gen 4 drives and I WR tested mine @ 5.1GB/s which is what they're rated for so, it should be a quick machine depending on what else is inside of it.

Code: 
#sudo inxi -F
System:    Host: server Kernel: 5.15.19-051519-lowlatency x86_64 bits: 64 Console: tty pts/4
           Distro: Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri)
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: Z690 Steel Legend serial: HQ0210001702488 UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 2.02
           date: 10/01/2021
CPU:       Info: 10-Core model: 12th Gen Intel Core i7-12700K bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache: L2: 25 MiB
           Speed: 3178 MHz min/max: 800/6300 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3178 2: 1104 3: 657 4: 601 5: 2862 6: 1883 7: 923
           8: 601 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 13: 1315 14: 581 15: 3719 16: 599 17: 600 18: 601 19: 600 20: 592
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel AlderLake-S GT1 driver: i915 v: kernel
           Display: server: X.org 1.20.13 driver: loaded: fbdev unloaded: modesetting,vesa tty: 202x55
           Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable in console for root.
Audio:     Device-1: Intel driver: snd_hda_intel
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.19-051519-lowlatency running: yes
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
           Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.32 running: yes
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE driver: r8169
           IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX210/AX211/AX411 160MHz driver: iwlwifi
           IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: d8:f8:83:d8:8e:c0
           Device-3: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp8s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: 24:5e:be:4d:c4:53
           Device-4: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp9s0 state: up speed: 2500 Mbps duplex: full mac: 24:5e:be:4d:c4:54
           Device-5: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp11s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           Device-6: Aquantia AQC111 NBase-T/IEEE 802.3bz Ethernet [AQtion] driver: atlantic
           IF: enp12s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           IF-ID-1: bo0 state: up speed: 2000 Mbps duplex: full mac: 06:7e:4e:62:3b:e3
           IF-ID-2: bonding_masters state: N/A speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
           IF-ID-3: br0 state: up speed: 2500 Mbps duplex: unknown mac: 5a:ea:69:a9:d9:fb
           IF-ID-4: nordlynx state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
Bluetooth: Device-1: Intel type: USB driver: btusb
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 state: up address: D8:F8:83:D8:8E:C4 bt-v: 3.0
RAID:      Device-1: md0 type: mdraid level: raid-10 status: active size: 18.19 TiB report: 5/5 UUUUU
           Components: Online: 2: sdb1 3: sdd1 4: sda1 5: sde1 6: sdc1
Drives:    Local Storage: total: raw: 38.21 TiB usable: 20.01 TiB used: 8.03 TiB (40.1%)
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 size: 931.51 GiB
           ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 size: 931.51 GiB
           ID-3: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-4: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-5: /dev/sdc vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-6: /dev/sdd vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
           ID-7: /dev/sde vendor: Western Digital model: WD80EZAZ-11TDBA0 size: 7.28 TiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 915.77 GiB used: 99.42 GiB (10.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
Swap:      Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 32.0 C mobo: 36.5 C
           Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 671 fan-2: 821 fan-3: 0 fan-4: 704 fan-5: 0 fan-6: 0 fan-7: 682
Info:      Processes: 462 Uptime: 1d 2h 47m Memory: 15.39 GiB used: 3.13 GiB (20.3%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Shell: Bash
           inxi: 3.3.06


The Asrock Velocita won't make it faster but, when Gen 5 drives come out you wouldn't need to use an adapter to slot it into a PCI slot as the native M2 is Gen 5 already
Click to expand...


So I guess none of these mobos have Gen 5 right?

https://www.newegg.ca/gigabyte-z690-aorus-master/p/N82E16813145343

www.newegg.ca

GIGABYTE Z690 AERO D LGA 1700 Intel Z690 Extended ATX Motherboard with DDR5, Quad M.2, PCIe 5.0, USB 3.2 Gen2X2 Type-C, WiFi 6, AQUANTIA 10GbE LAN - Newegg.com

Buy GIGABYTE Z690 AERO D LGA 1700 Intel Z690 Extended ATX Motherboard with DDR5, Quad M.2, PCIe 5.0, USB 3.2 Gen2X2 Type-C, WiFi 6, AQUANTIA 10GbE LAN with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.ca www.newegg.ca

www.newegg.ca

GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS PRO LGA 1700 Intel Z690 ATX Motherboard with DDR5, Quad M.2, PCIe 5.0, USB 3.2 Gen2X2 Type-C, WiFi 6, 2.5GbE LAN - Newegg.com

Buy GIGABYTE Z690 AORUS PRO LGA 1700 Intel Z690 ATX Motherboard with DDR5, Quad M.2, PCIe 5.0, USB 3.2 Gen2X2 Type-C, WiFi 6, 2.5GbE LAN with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.ca www.newegg.ca

www.newegg.ca

ASUS ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming WiFi 6E LGA 1700(Intel® 12th&13th Gen) ATX gaming motherboard(PCIe 5.0, DDR5,16+1 power stages,2.5 Gb LAN,Bluetooth v5.2,Thunderbolt 4) - Newegg.com

Buy ASUS ROG Strix Z690-F Gaming WiFi 6E LGA 1700(Intel® 12th&13th Gen) ATX gaming motherboard(PCIe 5.0, DDR5,16+1 power stages,2.5 Gb LAN,Bluetooth v5.2,Thunderbolt 4,4xM.2/NVMe SSD and Front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C connector) with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you...
www.newegg.ca www.newegg.ca
 
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Tech Junky

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Cassius101 said:
So I guess none of these mobos have Gen 5 right?
Click to expand...
If you're talking M2 drives then NO.

I'm confused though as to why other MOBO models that may have Gen 5 M2 slots aren't being highlighted. I find it hard to believe that ASRock is the only one with a Gen 5 slot on it. There's so many options out there for MOBOs it's hard to go through them and find the feature in the specs for each of them. Doesn't seem like NE or pcpartpicker have a field for ticking that box either.
 
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Cassius101

Cassius101

Member
Aug 29, 2013
157
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Tech Junky said:
If you're talking M2 drives then NO.

I'm confused though as to why other MOBO models that may have Gen 5 M2 slots aren't being highlighted. I find it hard to believe that ASRock is the only one with a Gen 5 slot on it. There's so many options out there for MOBOs it's hard to go through them and find the feature in the specs for each of them. Doesn't seem like NE or pcpartpicker have a field for ticking that box either.
Click to expand...


I am thinking of actually buying the AsRock.

www.newegg.ca

ASRock Z690 PG Velocita LGA 1700 DDR5 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

Buy ASRock Z690 PG Velocita LGA 1700 Intel Z690 SATA 6Gb/s DDR5 ATX Intel Motherboard with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!
www.newegg.ca www.newegg.ca

Before I was going to buy this, it is a lot cheaper than the ASRock.

www.newegg.ca

ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 LGA 1700(Intel®12th&13th Gen) ATX gaming motherboard(PCIe 5.0, DDR4,4xM.2/NVMe SSD,14+2 power stages,WiFi 6,Intel 2.5Gb LAN,front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C,Thunderbolt 4) - Newegg.com

Buy ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 LGA 1700(Intel®12th&13th Gen) ATX gaming motherboard(PCIe 5.0, DDR4,4xM.2/NVMe SSD,14+2 power stages,WiFi 6,Intel ® 2.5Gb LAN,front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C®,Thunderbolt 4,Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation) with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you...
www.newegg.ca www.newegg.ca

What are the main benefits of having the ASRock over the ASUS? Not counting having more USB's.

From what I see it has more power pins 14+1 while ASRock has 16+1.

The ASRock has the Gen 5 drive while the ASUS Prime doesn't.

Those are all the benefits, you think it is worth he price of paying 280$ more?

So SSD's in the future will take advantage of Gen5? I suppose it might be worth the price then to be future proof for a while since I want this new compute I am building to last me a very long time for the Motherboard, at least until 2029-2030.

6bXotV7.jpg
 
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Tech Junky

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It's a personal dilemma weighing the benefits.

I haven't seen any other board released for ADL having a native M2 Gen 5. There are talks about PCI adapters but, that chews up a slot that you might be using for something else. Having the slot means being able to upgrade to a Gen 5 SSD when they come to market and push 14gbps vs current gen4 at 7gbps.

ASUS has had some issues like reversed cap's being put on their boards and causing the board to die.

$280 vs an open slot for a GPU or something else. Is it worth it? In 6-12 months wen z790's are released for Raptor will there be a move to gen 5 M2 slots or keep the status quo?

It's one of those pay now or pay later situations... If you want to build it and keep it for the long term then it might be worth it. If you're like me and upgrading every couple of years to get back some of the value by selling the current rig then it's only a couple of hundred dollars per upgrade. My jump from 8700k to 12700k ended up being slightly less than the cost of the CPU even going dual NVME's.
 
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Cassius101

Cassius101

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Tech Junky said:
It's a personal dilemma weighing the benefits.

I haven't seen any other board released for ADL having a native M2 Gen 5. There are talks about PCI adapters but, that chews up a slot that you might be using for something else. Having the slot means being able to upgrade to a Gen 5 SSD when they come to market and push 14gbps vs current gen4 at 7gbps.

ASUS has had some issues like reversed cap's being put on their boards and causing the board to die.

$280 vs an open slot for a GPU or something else. Is it worth it? In 6-12 months wen z790's are released for Raptor will there be a move to gen 5 M2 slots or keep the status quo?

It's one of those pay now or pay later situations... If you want to build it and keep it for the long term then it might be worth it. If you're like me and upgrading every couple of years to get back some of the value by selling the current rig then it's only a couple of hundred dollars per upgrade. My jump from 8700k to 12700k ended up being slightly less than the cost of the CPU even going dual NVME's.
Click to expand...


I purchased the AsRock motherboard. I guess the next gen motherboards will have more Gen5 slots, the AsRock only has one but I suppose it is enough if I got a 4tb NVME drive in the future, a clean OS install and put all my games on the new hard drive.

So there would be no benefit for me to put my current NVME SSD in the Gen5 slot?


This is what I have.
 
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13Gigatons

13Gigatons

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I find chasing after future proof features never works for me personally. At some point you need to upgrade the motherboard again. I'd recommend saving your money and buying a current DDR4 board and enjoying that for a couple years or wait until DDR5 boards actually make sense to buy.
 
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Cassius101

Cassius101

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13Gigatons said:
I find chasing after future proof features never works for me personally. At some point you need to upgrade the motherboard again. I'd recommend saving your money and buying a current DDR4 board and enjoying that for a couple years or wait until DDR5 boards actually make sense to buy.
Click to expand...

I already purchased the ASRock, I don't wanna use a Mobo for only 2-3 years. My last computer lasted me from September 2013-January 2019 when I sold it. I don't think I wanna sell this one since this new build will be special for me.

So many people say DDR5 ram is unfordable but it isn't. I got a 16gb 5200mhz stick of Kingston hyper furry for 204$ including tax.
 
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Tech Junky

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Cassius101 said:
204$ including tax.
Click to expand...

Original pricing on 16GB was $135 so, it's good to see the prices coming back down but still over infatuated compared to MSRP. it's like everything else though right now being scalped for profit. Technical differences between DDR4 / DDR5 aren't all that much difference in performance but, the DDR5 acts as dual channel per stick.

When I built from the ground up I picked up DDR4 for ~$60 and the MOBO $100 cheaper than the DDR5 options. You pay now or you pay later to do it again for the upgrade. I get the performance of ADL now w/o the sticker shock but, will likely upgrade sooner then most if there's something appealing in the next round with Raptor Lake / Z790 chipsets.

In the build game frequent part swaps means less depreciation over time. Going from my 8700K setup to 12700K washed out to a ~$300 upgrade when reselling the prior setup.
 
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13Gigatons

13Gigatons

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Cassius101 said:
I already purchased the ASRock, I don't wanna use a Mobo for only 2-3 years. My last computer lasted me from September 2013-January 2019 when I sold it. I don't think I wanna sell this one since this new build will be special for me.

So many people say DDR5 ram is unfordable but it isn't. I got a 16gb 5200mhz stick of Kingston hyper furry for 204$ including tax.
Click to expand...

I've seen 32GB of DDR4 for $99...that is more like it. In your case though getting the most new features for a long term build is ideal.
 
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