Question Choosing the Perfect Motherboard to Complete My PC Build

andrei-pulva · Feb 3, 2025

Hi everyone,

I’m finalising my PC build, mainly for gaming, productivity, video editing, and sound production. Here’s my current configuration:
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
• CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black
• Motherboard: Still looking for the right one
• Memory: Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 (AMD optimized)
• SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 4TB M.2 PCIe 4.0
• GPU: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16GB
• Case: Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW ATX Full Tower
• PSU: Corsair RM850e 850W 80+ Gold Fully Modular

I need help choosing a motherboard. Looking for a high-end, reliable option with no hardware or driver issues. It should have the latest technologies, good connectivity (Wi-Fi 7, etc.), and be future-proof. I also prefer a simple black design with no RGB.

Budget: Around 400€. Do you have any recommendations?

Here’s my full config: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/r48ndb

Many thanks,
Best

Tech Junky · Feb 3, 2025

https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/42hFf7,dGWJ7P

I've used both an they're comparable in terms of functionality. You can add TB ports to the PG for $60 with an Intel card if you need the speed or power. Otherwise the MSI has them built in.

Both have WIFI and can swap the adapter if needed on the PG and the Carbon has it installed already with the same adapter I use.

As to the RGB it's as simple as disconnecting the power cable under the shield.

igor_kavinski · Feb 3, 2025

An honorable mention for Gigabyte AORUS (the ICE models as it's very easy to see the small text written on them). I have the Z890 one and so far, it's surprisingly issue free.

But I definitely preferred the ease of manual RAM overclocking on my ASROCK Sonic Z790.

Tech Junky said:
https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/42hFf7,dGWJ7P

The Carbon is more future proof but AMD doesn't support CUDIMMs at the moment and they only work in bypass mode, meaning the CPU's IMC needs to be strong enough to boot higher speed RAM like 8000 MT/s. So if that's important to the OP then no current AMD mobo is future proof.

andrei-pulva · Feb 3, 2025

Hi there
Many thanks for your feedback and help. I am currently looking into the following options:
ASUS ROG STRIX X870-F
MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi
Gigabyte X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7
Asrock B850 Riptide Wifi

What do you think so far?

igor_kavinski · Feb 3, 2025

andrei-pulva said:
What do you think so far?

Good choices. Choose whichever you think fits your needs. Study their spec sheets and see if something jumps out at you as being necessary and that only one or few of those have and keep shortlisting. Like one mobo may have better audio support (or claim cleaner audio) etc.

Tech Junky · Feb 3, 2025

andrei-pulva said:
MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi
Gigabyte X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7

Compare the specs on these and pick one. The trick with the AMD boards these days is not shooting yourself in the foot with the slots/lanes changing when adding/moving cards around. Some of them only enable x4 lanes for secondary cards or some of the bottom slots only give x2 lanes.

andrei-pulva · Feb 3, 2025

ASRock B850 Riptide WiFi vs Asus ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi vs Gigabyte X870E Aorus Elite WiFi7 vs MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi | Motherboard comparison

What is the difference between MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi and ASRock B850 Riptide WiFi, Asus ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi, Gigabyte X870E Aorus Elite WiFi7? Find out which is better and their overall performance in the motherboard ranking.

versus.com

Just checked a comparison tool, it seems that the MSI is slightly above the 3 other boards in terms of specs happy to get other feedback from experiences...cheers!

Tech Junky · Feb 3, 2025

andrei-pulva said:
MSI

I tend to stick with ASRock but have used plenty of MSI as well. I don't recall why not with the 870 series but they're both on the same level for performance and stability. I run my boxes as servers 24/7 so, if any bugs creep up it's noticeable. I usually look at the price though and then decide if some feature is worth the markup or not. Since I change out HW fairly often it's kind of a moving target when it comes to board features I'm looking for. I did try a GB board though when changing my storage plan because it had the right amount of M2 sockets to play with before discovering U.3 drives that made high capacity/speed easier to swallow vs messing around with several drives and raid to get the same c/s for about the same price in a single 2.5" drive. The only issue I have with the 8 series boards is the 3 slots max they tend to have. It's the trade off for native USB4 ports.

In the end though it's a bit of common sense, budget, and preference. Looking at versus between the carbon and tomahawk the only real difference I can see is 1 slot is Gen5 where the carbon has 2x Gen5 otherwise it's a steal at 50% for the sake of the second ETH port as well.

biostud · Feb 4, 2025

You might want to wait for the imminent launch of the 9950X3D

You say sound production. Do you have any specific soundcards you need to have installed? If yes, then you might consider the layout of the pcie slots of the motherboards.

Also X670, X670E and X870E has more PCIe lanes, than X870 and B850.

andrei-pulva · Feb 4, 2025

Regarding the CPU, initial choice: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D, you advised to wait for the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Does 9 7950X3D has performance issues? And by when will the new model be released, also, will it be similar budget price?

For the sound production, I am using an external interface audio in USB: RME Fireface UFX II

igor_kavinski · Feb 4, 2025

andrei-pulva said:
And by when will the new model be released, also, will it be similar budget price?

The newer 9950X3D will be faster (10% minimum on average). May release by end of March and may be slightly more expensive (around $699 if sufficient stock is available).

andrei-pulva · Feb 4, 2025

Might worth for me to buy the motherboard, GPU etc first and then get the newest AMD release then it's similar pricing...if 10% better on performance, it's sounds like a good plan.

igor_kavinski · Feb 4, 2025

andrei-pulva said:
Might worth for me to buy the motherboard, GPU etc first and then get the newest AMD release then

Not sure if that's a good idea. What if there is some fault in the mobo or GPU but you won't be able to test until you get the CPU and until then, it may be too late to return the defective item.

Tech Junky · Feb 4, 2025

andrei-pulva said:
has performance issues

No, there's just usually a bit of teething with the UEFI / AGESA for the first couple of releases when there's a new chipset. The controls are a bit looser than Intel. It's not usually a huge deal though but, when they first released X3D products there were some power limit issues using the existing releases that caused a handful of CPUs to burn up.

andrei-pulva said:
Might worth for me to buy the motherboard, GPU etc first and then get the newest AMD release then

Unless it's a stunning deal it's a bad idea because a return is much easier than RMA. You never know if you got a dud out of the box until you test it. I had a PSU that was DOA of all things.

andrei-pulva · Feb 7, 2025

I think I did my final choice here: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/LdH92x

- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor
- CPU cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52
- Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX X870E-E GAMING WIFI ATX AM5
- Memory : Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory AMD optimised
- SSD: Western Digital WD Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME
- Video card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16 GB 256bit
- Case: Corsair 7000D AIRFLOW ATX Full Tower Case
- Power supply: Corsair RM850e 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX

Potential upgrade on the PSU on a later stage.

andrei-pulva · Feb 26, 2025

Hi guys,
Just a quick update and review. Regarding the motherboard, I am considering switching to the MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WiFi instead of ASUS, as the latter seems to have general reliability issues.
On a side note, I am also thinking of replacing my initial CPU cooler, the Noctua NH-D15, with a high-end liquid cooler. Do you have any recommendations?

igor_kavinski · Feb 26, 2025

Be Quiet Light Loop 360mm

You may also look at Gigabyte. I have their Aorus Elite Z890 ICE mobo. DDR5-8200 XMP ran on it straight away, even with a 245KF so you can look forward to at least DDR5-8000 EXPO working fine too.

mikeymikec · Feb 26, 2025

I've been happy with my ASUS TUF GAMING B650 and they do a WiFi variant.

- edit - just noticed you already picked one!

andrei-pulva · Feb 26, 2025

Be Quiet Light Loop 360mm sounds great. Any alternative without RGB?

igor_kavinski · Feb 26, 2025

andrei-pulva said:
Be Quiet Light Loop 360mm sounds great. Any alternative without RGB?

Use black tape on the RGB LEDs

In2Photos · Feb 26, 2025

Arctic Cooling - https://www.arctic.de/us/products/cooling/cpu-cooler/cpu-water-cooler/

andrei-pulva · Feb 26, 2025

This model looks fantastic: https://www.arctic.de/en/Liquid-Freezer-III-360/ACFRE00136A

Thanks for the tips In2Photos!

andrei-pulva · Mar 13, 2025

Hi guys, regarding the GPU: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16 GB 256-bit.

It seems that it is no longer available/in stock in most stores. Do you have any alternative recommendations for a GeForce GPU with 16GB and a 256-bit memory? Ideally still from Gigabyte or possibly MSI, NVIDIA—within a maximum budget of €1000.

What about the MSI GeForce RTX 4080 Ventus 3X 16G OC or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080?

andrei-pulva · Mar 19, 2025

Here is my final build: https://fr.pcpartpicker.com/list/GkWbcx

igor_kavinski · Mar 19, 2025

Don't see anything too wrong. But if you are willing to sweeten the pot a little more, why not go with 9950X3D?

Question Choosing the Perfect Motherboard to Complete My PC Build

Junior Member

Diamond Member

Lifer

Junior Member

Lifer

Diamond Member

Junior Member

Diamond Member

Lifer

Junior Member

Lifer

Junior Member

Lifer

Diamond Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Lifer

Lifer

Junior Member

Lifer

Platinum Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Junior Member

Lifer