Question Z690 DDR4 board or DDR5 board?

[ingeborgdot]

I'm looking at a new board. I was wondering if I got a Z690 board if they will update the bios ever to be able to take the new DDR5 memory? I'm actually looking at this board.

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

 

[In2Photos]

No, DDR4 and DDR5 modules are physically different. The notch is in different spots. They are not interchangeable.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Yes, that's what I just found out. Now, the big decision. Do I spend a lot more money, or stay with DDR4??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

 

[igor_kavinski]

What will you be using it for? I see that you already have a B550 mobo. Why not upgrade that to 5800X3D for gaming or a 5950X for heavy duty work?

 

[Tech Junky]

stay with DDR4

I built when ADL came out and DDR4 was really the only option unless you wanted to pay $1000 for DDR5.

When you compare the performance of a decent DDR4 kit vs DDR5 it's a wash. DDR5 is still a gimmick at this point. There's no reason to pay up for it unless you go with the new AM5 AMD boards which force you to use DDR5. While prices have come down on DDR5 you're still going to pay a TAX with the inflated prices for the RAM / MOBO.

There are some adapters out that you can convert a DDR4 into a DDR5 slot but, you're still paying the tax for the board w/o much more tech on it.

For me the Steel Legend ASRock boards give the best options for the money. You get gen 3/4/5 slots for use and gen 4 M2 slots for drives. There's one standout though that has a Gen5 M2 and that's the Velocita. The newer 790's might have more options as far as models that have the M2 slot w/o needing to use an adapter. The biggest issue of including these is the lack of PCIE lanes to support more than a single M2 Gen5.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I am going to be using it as a Plex server in the unRAID OS. I will have multiple people streaming off of this server, so I need something with a little pop. Intel is the most viable option for the unRAID setup, so I'm sticking with that.
Some on another site said to avoid Gigabyte boards. Why is this?
As for me, I have had nothing but problems with every, and I mean EVERY ASRock board I have had in the past 15 years, and that is over 10 different boards on builds I have done for myself and other people. I am going to stay away from ASRock since this will be a 24/7 running server.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I am going to stay away from ASRock since this will be a 24/7 running server.

Gigabyte boards are not exactly 100% stable, at least in my experience. My current Z97 mobo is the most stable Gigabyte mobo I've ever had and even this may occasionally decide to reboot on its own (though it's been very rare. Maybe once every few months). Rather than build a system, why not just get a 12th gen Dell Optiplex? Those are rock solid in my experience. Their BIOS/UEFI are geared more towards stability rather than overclocking and performance optimizations which enthusiasts demand.

 

[Tech Junky]

ASRock since this will be a 24/7

Well, I run mine 24/7 as a router and nas and media and other things using Ubuntu. The only 2 issues I had was needing to convert from MBR to gpt to get it working and blacklisting the RTL module to get the on board port working.

I've used several different boards in the last 5 years and this is my 3rd ASRock because they've hit the mark for tech options and price.

Gigabyte is overpriced garbage imo.

I'm the type that if I have a problem with a specific OEM I cross them off the list of options for trying them again. I understand your issues with ASRock on the past but I haven't had any issues with them since z390. Maybe something changed from there on.

For what you're doing though it's a comprehensive board and stable like a rock. I've had this one in-service now for almost a year.

 

[igor_kavinski]

For what you're doing though it's a comprehensive board and stable like a rock. I've had this one in-service now for almost a year.

Better post a link to your mobo so the OP can avoid the Gigaboard he seems to be keen on

 

[Tech Junky]

Better post a link to your mobo so the OP can avoid the Gigaboard he seems to be keen on

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asphttps://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asphttps://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asp
There's 2 flavors one w/ WIFI and the other w/o. Not much of a price difference and I went with the one w/o wifi since I had a M2 / antennas already and added it instead of paying for it.

Also, in the past I ran the server as an AP using an AC PCIE card in addition to the routing function. Since there's not really any acceptable AX / E cards still 2 years later it's been an external AP connected to it instead. I do have an eye on potentially bundling it back into the mix though with a couple of different cards but, when I pulled the trigger on them they were out of stock a few months ago. I do have an Intel AX411 in there now though running in AP mode but, it's only running at 40MHZ which is kind of slow compared to the external at 160MHZ hitting 1.5gbps.

mode: AP                                                                                                                                                                    |
|freq: 5220 MHz, ctr1: 5230 MHz, channel: 44 (width: 40 MHz)                                                                                                                 |
|                                                                                                                                                                            |
|station flags: (none), preamble: short, slot: long                                                                                                                          |
|power mgt: on,  tx-power: 22 dBm (158.49 mW)

Qualcomm is the ideal chip to use for this sort of thing. I tried a MTK card though in the meantime and it was inconsistent and went back to Amazon within a week. I did manage to get it working though at 80MHZ but, that left 50% of the speed on the table since it wouldn't do AX/E reliably. Besides the AX411's on client mode bundle the 2.4/5 bands together into a single pipe for higher speeds and were only $18/ea.

 

[In2Photos]

I ran unRAID on an Athlon 3000+ with 2GB of RAM for like 6 years without issue so not sure why Intel is a requirement. Granted I didn't run Plex on it, but it ran just fine. I only recently upgraded it when I had some hard drive issues and decided to make use of a Dell PC with an i5-2300 that got retired from gaming.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Gigabyte boards are not exactly 100% stable, at least in my experience. My current Z97 mobo is the most stable Gigabyte mobo I've ever had and even this may occasionally decide to reboot on its own (though it's been very rare. Maybe once every few months). Rather than build a system, why not just get a 12th gen Dell Optiplex? Those are rock solid in my experience. Their BIOS/UEFI are geared more towards stability rather than overclocking and performance optimizations which enthusiasts demand.

The Optiplex are also 2 times the price of what I am going to pay when it is all said and done. I won't be using Windows, so I am paying for something I don't need. The setup is not HDD friendly, as I have 6 HDD, and will add more in the future.

Better post a link to your mobo so the OP can avoid the Gigaboard he seems to be keen on

Oh, I've already thrown out the Gigabyte idea after reading the posts. I'm not trying to say I want a Gig. board at all. My 2 choices will be Asus and MSI.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Well, I run mine 24/7 as a router and nas and media and other things using Ubuntu. The only 2 issues I had was needing to convert from MBR to gpt to get it working and blacklisting the RTL module to get the on board port working.

I've used several different boards in the last 5 years and this is my 3rd ASRock because they've hit the mark for tech options and price.

Gigabyte is overpriced garbage imo.

I'm the type that if I have a problem with a specific OEM I cross them off the list of options for trying them again. I understand your issues with ASRock on the past but I haven't had any issues with them since z390. Maybe something changed from there on.

For what you're doing though it's a comprehensive board and stable like a rock. I've had this one in-service now for almost a year.

And I'm the same type as you if I have a problem with a specific OEM, I cross them off the list. Fool me once, shame on you. But I was stupid enough to use ASRock for many builds because they were cheap. IGigabyte may be bad, but ASRock is no better in my books.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I ran unRAID on an Athlon 3000+ with 2GB of RAM for like 6 years without issue so not sure why Intel is a requirement. Granted I didn't run Plex on it, but it ran just fine. I only recently upgraded it when I had some hard drive issues and decided to make use of a Dell PC with an i5-2300 that got retired from gaming.

Not a requirement,it just works better, and AMD does not have quicksync and for all the people that I share with there is transcoding to some degree going on much of the time. I like AMD, and my main PC is an AMD. Just not on my unRAID one, that's all.

 

[ingeborgdot]

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asphttps://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asphttps://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asp
There's 2 flavors one w/ WIFI and the other w/o. Not much of a price difference and I went with the one w/o wifi since I had a M2 / antennas already and added it instead of paying for it.

Also, in the past I ran the server as an AP using an AC PCIE card in addition to the routing function. Since there's not really any acceptable AX / E cards still 2 years later it's been an external AP connected to it instead. I do have an eye on potentially bundling it back into the mix though with a couple of different cards but, when I pulled the trigger on them they were out of stock a few months ago. I do have an Intel AX411 in there now though running in AP mode but, it's only running at 40MHZ which is kind of slow compared to the external at 160MHZ hitting 1.5gbps.

mode: AP                                                                                                                                                                    |
|freq: 5220 MHz, ctr1: 5230 MHz, channel: 44 (width: 40 MHz)                                                                                                                 |
|                                                                                                                                                                            |
|station flags: (none), preamble: short, slot: long                                                                                                                          |
|power mgt: on,  tx-power: 22 dBm (158.49 mW)

Qualcomm is the ideal chip to use for this sort of thing. I tried a MTK card though in the meantime and it was inconsistent and went back to Amazon within a week. I did manage to get it working though at 80MHZ but, that left 50% of the speed on the table since it wouldn't do AX/E reliably. Besides the AX411's on client mode bundle the 2.4/5 bands together into a single pipe for higher speeds and were only $18/ea.

OKAY, you got me thinking. I'm going to eat my pride and look at ASRock boards just because you're such a great guy and I think you're cool. I have four lined up. Would you mind looking at which one looks the best? Thanks.

ASRock Z690 Pro RS LGA 1700 DDR4 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

Buy ASRock Z690 Pro RS LGA 1700 Intel Z690 SATA 6Gb/s DDR4 ATX Intel Motherboard with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

ASRock Z690 PG Riptide

Supports 13th Gen & 12th Gen Intel Core™ Processors (LGA1700); 13 Phase Dr.MOS Power Design; Supports DDR4 4800MHz (OC); 1 PCIe 5.0 x16, 1 PCIe 4.0 x16, 3 PCIe 3.0 x1, 1 M.2 Key-E for WiFi; Graphics Output Options: HDMI; Realtek ALC897 7.1 CH HD Audio Codec, Nahimic Audio; 8 SATA3; 2 Hyper M.2...

www.asrock.com

ASRock Z690 Steel Legend LGA 1700 DDR4 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

Buy ASRock Z690 Steel Legend LGA 1700 Intel Z690 SATA 6Gb/s DDR4 ATX Intel Motherboard with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

ASRock Z690 EXTREME LGA 1700 DDR4 ATX Intel Motherboard - Newegg.com

Buy ASRock Z690 EXTREME LGA 1700 Intel Z690 SATA 6Gb/s DDR4 ATX Intel Motherboard with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

 

[Tech Junky]

My 2 choices will be Asus and MSI.

I would and have used MSI in prior builds but, Asus has a couple of issues. One of which is a huge red flag with them mounting a capacitor in reverse polarity and killing boards / starting puffs of smoke.

MSI was decent to deal with in building but, in the ADL world at launch didn't have what I was looking for. I didn't have any issues with them but, they just didn't fit the needs for all of the drives + the other perks the ASR offered.

A lot of boards these days are forcing the issue when it comes to SATA ports and using offloading bridge chips or knocking off available ports when you use more than a single M2 slot. The way around it though is to just add an HBA to the mix on one of the slots to get another 4-8 ports to plug in drives. I have to contend with this as well running 5 drives + NVME's on the same board.

As for cases I use Fractal Design for the space they offer in compact solutions. In a prior build I used a Node 804 which holds 8 drives by design and has a small foot print and the drives are isolated from the MOBO to keep cooling optimal for either side of the case. For the ADL build there wasn't any mATX boards so, had to bump it to a mid tower and went with the Meshify 2 which holds 13 drives IIRC but, I double spaced them in the rack to provide better air flow since they're not compartmentalized like the 804.

It sounds like we're both geared for the same setups though other than the OS / MOBO. I think the MSI I used was a Pro 4 if that helps.

 

[ingeborgdot]

Yes, my choice were going to be Asus and MSI, but some guy named Tech Junky changed my mind. I'm looking at the ASRock like he suggested.
Now, I just need to know which one he would pick.

 

[Tech Junky]

https://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asphttps://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asphttps://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/Z690%20Steel%20Legend/index.asp

know which one he would pick.

This is what I'm running for the things we've been talking about. Recently there was a sale on NE for $140 for 24 hours but, I think their reg price right now is around $170. At launch they were around $230 so, it's a decent enough markdown now. If you watch prices for sales you might be able to snag them cheaper like the NE above.

In general though there are quirks with everything since ADL was a redesign with hybrid cores and some did it better than others. A ~year into it though things have shaken out a bit and stabilized. Plenty of UEFI updates later as some even needed updates out of the box at launch.

If you don't go all in and use something under a 12700K it will still work well. Going for the overpriced boards though means either you're dumb enough to pay that much or you really need something that supports the 12900K+ options.

I've taken parts off the board though to access things and install items and it's a solid board. Even under heatsinks and shrouds it's put together well. There's no need to pay more than $250 for a quality board and RPL / Z790's are going to be the same board but at a higher price.

If you need niche things like faster networking or TB4 or whatever you can think of there's cheaper ways than having it built onto the board. I added a returned TB4 card for $60 off Amazon and it hits 3GB/s for the enclosure / drive and has USB-PD up to 100W. If you need networking I tend to use QNAP NICs since they're using Aquantia controllers which allows for middle ground speeds like 2.5 / 5GE w/o the Intel TAX.

It kind of falls into that "work smart, not hard" mantra. If you dig a bit you can find better deals on the options you want rather than having it all bundled into the premade boards. No reason to pay $200 more for a couple of TB4 ports or $50 for an M2 WIFI you can pick up for under $20. It's just a few screws to get things into the place where they should be or get a backplate adapter for the antennas w/o removing the shroud / heat sink on the VRM's.

 

[ingeborgdot]

So, of the boards I listed the Steel Legend might be the best choice. I'll look at the options. I definitely don't need wifi on the board, as I'm not a wifi kind of guy if I can help it.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I'm going with the Steel Legend. I have it in my car but man, I should have bought the 12500 a couple of hours ago. It was in stock at Newegg now it is gone. There is a third party that is selling it for a good price also, but then you do the Marketplace thing. What would you do? Wait for Newegg to get stock back in, or order from the third party? Damn, sometimes I just piss around too much.

 

[Tech Junky]

I tend to stick with Amazon. The issue with ASRock is they're not partnered with Amazon and NE is not what it used to be but, it's the quicker source. There might be another source though like nextwarehouse.com or some third party listings elsewhere. CPUs on the other hand some times have better deals locally that aren't advertised like microcenter.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I should have bought the 12500 a couple of hours ago.

I5-12600 for $230: https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-12600-core-i5-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118371

I say go for it, even if it's from a third party.

 

[ingeborgdot]

The board is sold by Newegg and shipped by Newegg. I always check that out first. I am actually more leery of Amazon, as I have had times where I thought I was getting it from them, but it ended up being a 3rd party. I really have to check. Amazons prices are almost always higher than other places too. I actually like a place called Provantage. Many times I can get things the same price as or better than Amazon.
I don't have a microcenter near me, and they don't do their deals mail order.

 

[Harry_Wild]

Theses about a $50 difference between the DDR4 and DDR5 for 32GB(16 X2). Make sure the return is easy on you if it is the wrong type or is defective. I use Crucial direct!

 

[Tech Junky]

Theses about a $50 difference between the DDR4 and DDR5 for 32GB(16 X2).

And that could pay for the Heat Sink you'll need,.

The price difference on the MOBO side is larger though for the DDR5 option. That's another $$$ you spend on the PSU.

There's a lot of factors that trickle down based on your decisions.