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motherboard options 13700k starting to narrow stuff down

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ptm

Registered
Joined
Sep 4, 2008
Location
Virginia
So, I really want a 13700K cpu - I keep these machines running for at least 6 years, typically.

for motherboards I can wait and get:
  • Asus Z790 Maximus Hero DDR5 - sometime in December per Amazon $629.99
  • MSI Z790 MPG Edge DDR5 - Sometime after Thanksgiving $379.99

OR
I can go local to Microcenter or Amazon now:
  • Asus Z690-A ROG STRIX Gaming DDR4 $309.99
  • MSI Z790 MAG Tomahawk Wifi D4 $309.99
  • MSI Z790 MPG Edge Wifi D4 $369.99
  • MSI Z690 MPG Edge Wifi DDR4 $299.99

I am at the point where I need a machine, I can wait if it makes a difference though.
6 Sata connections would be great, more is better for the older HDD I have.
figure the following items to be added:
CPU Cooler - i was leaning towards the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240
RTX 3080 - though Microcenter does have a few EVGA 3070 available for about $200 cheaper. I am not too worried about EVGA getting out of video cards. I have never had an issue with their products, but then there is always the first time...
32GB ram - best I can get.
2 optical drives
1 sound card
1 possibly 2 Samsung m.2 2280 2tb
2 Ironwolf Pro 18tb storage
if it matters, my PSU is a EVGA P2 1000w

I need to update the keyboard and mouse, will decide later though i have always used Logitech G series in the past.

Monitor - I am kinda lost on this, figure 25" minimum up to 30" max - leaning towards 27"
I need one that will definitely be functional for Adobe / colors - kinda leaning towards the Alienware / Dell but i would like to play some games if i ever get time. Not sure if i should jump to 1440 or stay with 1080.

Personally, I WANT the Z790 DDR5 because it is the NEW stuff... but do I NEED it - probably not.
heck the video cards I have picked out may be more than I need, but again I do keep for years.
I like to build it once and be done, no upgrading till I have to do the whole machine.
 
For 27"+ I would recommend 1440p, and your hardware should handle it fine unless you like ultra high (>100) fps. 1080p tends to look pixelated above 24" Do look for a g-sync display if you're solidly in the nVidia camp. There is a native hardware version that costs a couple hundo more but is probably a better experience than the software implementation "g-sync compatible." I do believe a lot of the cost is in the validation, and most free-sync monitors should work on nV cards with a driver override, but mileage may vary, and with your budget I would say just pay the troll and get what works.

For DDR4vsDDR5 it all depends on if you can utilize the performance for the added cost and inconvenience of delaying your build. With a 6 year upgrade cycle it is questionable as to whether forward compatibility will matter. I'm guessing modules in 6 years will be substantially faster than the DDR5 for sale now, so unless future budget is a concern I wouldn't regard that as a major selling point. For reference (according to wikipedia) DDR3 was launched in 2007 and DDR4 in 2014 so 6-7 years for a standard seems reasonable. In other words, your next system may use DDR5 or it may use DDR6, but either way I doubt you will be using the DDR5 module that you buy today in your next system 6 years from now.

Otherwise, narrow down to a few boards and read reviews, look at quality of life things like debug codes, usb ports, especially thunderbolt and usb-c, bios flashing, etc and as you mentioned having enough SATA ports. Also consider how the m.2 storage is supported, which slots run off the chipset vs the CPU and if they interact with any PCIe slots.

If you want to OC the 13700k hard, consider a 360mm AIO instead of 240mm, I'm seeing power draws in the 200w to 250w range, with a quick google search. Definitely spend some time looking for reviews on powerdraw and cooling before assuming 240mm will be enough. The Arctic coolers have a good reputation as does Arctic as a brand.
 
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