Mid-price ASUS Recommendation?

[vark]

I'm in the market for a new LGA-1151 ATX board. ASUS have served me not just well but flawlessly for sixteen years, so I'm going to buy another ASUS one way or another.

I don't need a hard-core gamer board as 90% of the usage will be office and internet related. Some video and music editing and a little gaming, but nothing bleeding edge (unless it's last season's blood). I haven't been keeping up with chipsets, so have no idea what's what right this minute. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Prices via my usual supplier range from sub CDN$100 to over CDN$700 for the latest UltraMaximusExtremeROG-Hamster, so I'm looking more $200 (~US$160).

I wouldn't normally ask, but there are just SO many LGA-1151 boards...

 

[UsandThem]

Well, to add further to your confusion, but Intel just launched new LGA1151 motherboards (300 series) for their Coffee Lake CPUs (8th Gen). It is not compatible with the previous LGA1151 boards (200 series), which support Skylake and Kaby Lake CPUs (7th Gen).

So, I am going to assume you are asking about about a motherboard for a 7th Gen CPU. In that case, the mid-range Asus board would be Asus Prime Z270-A. However, they have a lot of different boards around the same price, so it will come down to your personal preference and what features you want (higher-end audio, Bluetooth, WIFI, multiple M.2 slots, etc). There have been some really good sales lately on the 200 series motherboards, so you might even be able to catch a higher-end model (like the ROG Maximus series) on sale cheaper than lower-end model. But the Asus Prime Z270-A has really good features and audio that is enough for most people.

 

[vark]

Yes, 7th gen CPU's. I hadn't considered that there would be much difference in onboard audio, but that's a definite consideration; I'm slowly going FLAC (replacing my "best" quality mp3's) and have a nice, punchy set of Tascam monitors. If the Z270A measures up, that'll be the one, subject to availability... Thanks.

 

[vark]

Ah, looking at what's in stock, there's only one 7th gen CPU available, and four 8th gen (i3-i7), so it's looking like the Prime Z370A, after all. I think we're getting there, though. Suppose I'll have to start a new thread for a mid-price video card recommendation... nerts.

 

[UsandThem]

Ah, looking at what's in stock, there's only one 7th gen CPU available, and four 8th gen (i3-i7), so it's looking like the Prime Z370A, after all. I think we're getting there, though. Suppose I'll have to start a new thread for a mid-price video card recommendation... nerts.

Not really. About the only mid-range card available that's not way over MSRP right now is the GTX 1060 6GB. The GTX 1070 is still priced well over what they were selling for before the mining craze. If you want more power than the 1060, you might as well catch a GTX 1080 on sale, because they weren't great mining cards like the 1070, which held their price down a bit.

If gaming at 1080p - GTX 1060
1440p - GTX 1080
4k - 1080ti

AMD also recently released new cards, but you probably will have a hard time finding one as they seem like they are good mining cards, and they don't have good production yields yet.

 

[vark]

If gaming at 1080p - GTX 1060
1440p - GTX 1080
4k - 1080ti

AMD also recently released new cards, but you probably will have a hard time finding one as they seem like they are good mining cards, and they don't have good production yields yet.

Bummer, I always favoured ATi cards (as a mostly not-gamer). Sounds like the GTX 1060 is the way to go, at least until I get around to getting my 4k on. Thanks very much.

 

[UsandThem]

Bummer, I always favoured ATi cards (as a mostly not-gamer). Sounds like the GTX 1060 is the way to go, at least until I get around to getting my 4k on. Thanks very much.

No problem.

I'm not sure of the availability of where you shop, but I saw Newegg advertising an AMD RX580 8GB for $280. They are priced about $50 - $60 higher than they were at before the mining boom, but they are comparable to the GTX 1060 in performance, but they use more power/run hotter depending on your case cooling.

 

[vark]

Canada Computer, from whom I've been buying parts for two decades, has the GTX 1060 3GB for CDN$274 (O/C model for $299), the 6GB for CDN$389 and the ROG 6GB for $435. That's a little more of a hit than I'd hoped, but they have a whack in the $200 category +/- $40. Or the ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti 11GB O/C for $1099... Canadian. Weren't we at par, two or three years ago? Danged speculation monkeys! Anyway, I'll get it sorted. Cheers.

 

[dlerious]

Vega cards are pretty much in stock every time I've checked. The cheapest 56 was $499 (back to MSRP for black pack) and the 64 was $619 ($20 over MSRP for black pack). I'm not interested in the combos, I want the card only. Massdrop may be an option (depending on shipping, customs). I have a GTX1080 Ti on the way - cost $679. i've seen 1070's , 1080's , some RX 500 series cards show up every now and then.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This last year or two, I was a come-lately enthusiast for the ASUS Sabertooth boards. Just looking to see what's in the pipeline for Coffee Lake processors, I'm beginning to suspect -- at least a possibility -- that ASUS is discontinuing the model line as it is named:

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/TUF-The-Ultimate-Force-Products/

A secondary trademark name for the Sabertooth boards was "TUF." Now, there are several boards bearing that moniker, and even one with the traditional Sabertooth duct-plate. Only two of these, the "Pro Gaming" and "Plus Gaming", come in a Z370 chipset flavor supporting Coffee Lake.

Just offhand . . . . Can anyone tell me what benchmark performance advantage I would get in percentage terms with a Coffee Lake over a Kaby Lake? Over a SkyLake? Curious minds want to know.

 

[UsandThem]

Over 7700k in gaming, not much.

"

Just offhand . . . . Can anyone tell me what benchmark performance advantage I would get in percentage terms with a Coffee Lake over a Kaby Lake? Over a SkyLake? Curious minds want to know.

With a 7700k, not much in gaming. Synthetics and tasks that use more than 4 cores, a worthwhile upgrade if you're chasing the PC performance dragon. My lowly 6700k will last me another 3-4 years, but I don't chase benchmarks anymore.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-coffee-lake-i7-8700k-cpu,5252-13.html

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Over 7700k in gaming, not much.


With a 7700k, not much in gaming. Synthetics and tasks that use more than 4 cores, a worthwhile upgrade if you're chasing the PC performance dragon. My lowly 6700k will last me another 3-4 years, but I don't chase benchmarks anymore.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-coffee-lake-i7-8700k-cpu,5252-13.html

I was toying with the idea of replacing my re-lidded Sky with a re-lidded Kaby. Even that doesn't seem to make much sense in performance per cent. Or even performance percent . . .

 

[vark]

No problem.

I'm not sure of the availability of where you shop, but I saw Newegg advertising an AMD RX580 8GB for $280. They are priced about $50 - $60 higher than they were at before the mining boom, but they are comparable to the GTX 1060 in performance, but they use more power/run hotter depending on your case cooling.

Thought I'd mention that I ordered an ASUS Dual GTX1060 3GB from Canada Computer, today; few bucks off thanks to a sale. Based on what I've read, I'll wait for the nextgen (or next, nextgen) Intel core instead of jumping aboard what's new, as well as seeing which chipset(s) and pin arrays bottom out. Maybe after Christmas.