Question I may be building a new system soon, but not "cutting edge"

[manly]

Win10 is EOL in 14 months, although you'll be able to pay for extended support.

Consumer pricing hasn't been announced yet. My guess is the cost will be $25/$50/$100 for the three years, respectively.

MS already announced business pricing: $61/$122/$244 .

I realize people don't like Win11 Spamvertisement edition, but there's not a whole lot of choice going forward IMO.

It's official. Consumers can pay $30 for one year, and one year only, of extended support for Win10:

Microsoft wants $30 to let you keep using Windows 10 securely for another year

Microsoft really wants people to move to Windows 11.

www.theverge.com

They should just charge the same $30 for years 2 and 3. That's just free money (and they are supporting enterprises for 3 extra years anyway).

I imagine some clever hackers will figure out how to make the security patches freely available to all takers (like the old WinXP POSReady situation).

 

[manly]

It'll be glorious. 2025: The year of desktop Linux

New achievement unlocked.

Linux Reaches 5% On Desktop - Slashdot

Longtime Slashdot reader bobdevine shares a report from OSTechNix: For the first time, Linux has officially broken the 5% desktop market share barrier in the United States of America! It's a huge milestone for open-source and our fantastic Linux community. While many might think of Linux as a...

linux.slashdot.org

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Just discovered I'd created this thread almost exactly a year ago.

If I can just get myself to agree about a motherboard, I could move forward. I WANT an ASUS motherboard. I don't want to "try" another manufacture, like Gigabyte or MSI. And -- I want the Z890 chipset. I'm not even really interested in AsRock boards, which still have some connection to the ASUS manufacture just as a matter of history.

I also want extra PCIE lanes, at least two and possibly 3 full-size PCIE x16 slots and a higher -- not highest -- phase-power design. I'm less interested in spending less if I know I will get less.

Meanwhile, I've got my anxiety about expiring Win 10 security updates totally locked down. It LOOKS LIKE I can smoothly install Win 11 on my hardware, and it LOOKS LIKE it will continue to run smoothly and get future updates.

So my biggest problem in my house now: I almost -- ALMOST -- have too many computers.

 

[igor_kavinski]

So my biggest problem in my house now: I almost -- ALMOST -- have too many computers.

Not as many as mine

Stacking works great.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I also want extra PCIE lanes, at least two and possibly 3 full-size PCIE x16 slots and a higher -- not highest -- phase-power design. I'm less interested in spending less if I know I will get less.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1904567-REG/asus_pro_ws_w880_ace_se.html

Z890 mobos are mainly for overclockers and you are not going to do that so I don't see why you want to spend extra on that. Going with a WS mobo makes more sense since it's supposed to be for serious, stable operation.

 

[bigboxes]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1904567-REG/asus_pro_ws_w880_ace_se.html

Z890 mobos are mainly for overclockers and you are not going to do that so I don't see why you want to spend extra on that. Going with a WS mobo makes more sense since it's supposed to be for serious, stable operation.

Exactly. It's why I got my mobo. It's super stable. I purchased this board and the tightest ram I could find on the QVL and paired it with a 5950X.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1904567-REG/asus_pro_ws_w880_ace_se.html

Z890 mobos are mainly for overclockers and you are not going to do that so I don't see why you want to spend extra on that. Going with a WS mobo makes more sense since it's supposed to be for serious, stable operation.

Yes . . . I'm still looking at the options and the personal wants and needs. I've long been comfortable with this attitude that I don't NEED the Z890 chipset, but later I may WISH that I had it. So how much is that worth to me?

The biggest dilemma I see with these new motherboards is the lack of PCIE slots -- even for x1, x2 or x4.

I am likely to spend over $400 on the motherboard. I see that I can get a "TUF Gaming" or a "STRIX", but those aren't much cheaper. I have to remind myself that I don't need so many PCIE slots if there are sufficient M.2 sockets on the board, and they feature a combination of PCIE 5.0 and 4.0 sockets.

I'm also picky about phase-power design. Would I pick a board with 12+1+2 or a board with 18+2+1+2? Or even 16+1+2+1 ?

Until I get final settlement in my mind about the choice of a motherboard, I can't pull the string on a parts order. I can even convince myself that I don't need a newer computer, but we all know that sooner or later -- I WILL need one.