# How much are you willing to pay for a motherboard?



## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

Newegg Fantastech Sale II starts in 10 days and I got to thinking:  How much are you willing to pay for a motherboard?

During AM4 I thought $130 was a pretty fair price when I got my x470.  Some years later when I had to get a replacement, I spent a few days debating a higher $200-ish price point and took a leap.
Overall I've been pretty happy with the quality and features at that price point.

Feel free to share what price point is your preference and why?


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## JrRacinFan (Sep 29, 2022)

Your poll is a little awkward.  Shouldnt it be "up to ... " xx amount? Just saying because technically, the person who chooses over 450 would also choose all of the other options.


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## P4-630 (Sep 29, 2022)

My Z690 Aorus Master was 429 EUR...


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

JrRacinFan said:


> Your poll is a little awkward.  Shouldnt it be "up to ... " xx amount? Just saying because technically, the person who chooses over 450 would also choose all of the other options.


I put the ranges in on purpose.  There are reasons or preferences why people will buy at particular price ranges and maybe people will share their thoughts on that here.


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## 80-watt Hamster (Sep 29, 2022)

JrRacinFan said:


> Your poll is a little awkward.  Shouldnt it be "up to ... " xx amount? Just saying because technically, the person who chooses over 450 would also choose all of the other options.



It could maybe be clearer, but I interpret it as, "In what range does the most you'd pay for a MB fall?"

EDIT:  The <$100 option is perhaps redundant, since new boards under $50 basically don't exist outside of combo deals or clearances.


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

80-watt Hamster said:


> It could maybe be clearer, but I interpret it as, "In what range does the most you'd pay for a MB fall?"


Perhaps there is a bit of ambiguity in that you can "choose all that apply" or "choose those that matter most to you".


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## oxrufiioxo (Sep 29, 2022)

$5-700 if I really like the board is probably my limit.


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## P4-630 (Sep 29, 2022)

I look at the specs for price and if my noctua cooler fits....


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## 64K (Sep 29, 2022)

Every mobo that I have ever bought was less than $200. I just don't think that I need anything nicer than that for gaming. I would rather put the money towards a GPU but I do pay more than most for a fast CPU and plenty of RAM. My present gaming rig is getting really old but I don't need more for playing games from the 90s to mid 2000s. When I move to playing newer games then it will be time for a new build.


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## Frick (Sep 29, 2022)

Less than $100, because that is what all of my motherboards have been. Maybe the Abit NF7-S 2.0 was more if adjusting for inflation... I have been looking at other boards but nah. I'm not shelling out something like €150 just for a few extra SATA ports (which is what I want). I don't overclock or even tweak stuff anymore. I just want to set and forget these days, and I do not see the point of all the stuff many boards have.


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## freeagent (Sep 29, 2022)

I usually spend about 250. The last board I bought was the most expensive at about 400. Not too keen on 500+. Especially if it doesn’t come with any cool toys.


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## AusWolf (Sep 29, 2022)

My limit is usually around the £200 mark.

I was browsing for AM5 the other day, and the only m-ATX board I saw was some Asus X670 Ultra Gamer Something Something for over £500! That's a huge no-no for me.


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## oxrufiioxo (Sep 29, 2022)

AusWolf said:


> My limit is usually around the £200 mark.
> 
> I was browsing for AM5 the other day, and the only m-ATX board I saw was some Asus X670 Ultra Gamer Something Something for over £500! That's a huge no-no for me.



The Gene is a pretty awesome board though glad they've brought it back. Matx is usually devoid of any good options and seems like an afterthought from most manufacturers.


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

AusWolf said:


> My limit is usually around the £200 mark.
> 
> I was browsing for AM5 the other day, and the only m-ATX board I saw was some Asus X670 Ultra Gamer Something Something for over £500! That's a huge no-no for me.


I was doing my daily window shopping and currently this was the cheapest option which didn't seem too bad of a price to me to be honest.








						ASRock X670E PG Lightning AM5 ATX Mainboard. 4xDDR5 slots, PCIE 5.0X16, AMD Cross Fire, Quad M.2 slots, 2.5GB LAN, 7.1 HD audio, HDMI, DP 1.4 ports, USB3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C, 8 Layber PCB. - Newegg.com
					

Buy ASRock X670E PG Lightning AM5 ATX Mainboard. 4xDDR5 slots, PCIE 5.0X16, AMD Cross Fire, Quad M.2 slots, 2.5GB LAN, 7.1 HD audio, HDMI, DP 1.4 ports, USB3.2 Gen2x2 Type-C, 8 Layber PCB. with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!




					www.newegg.com
				




Gives me hope actually that the B650 boards will be reasonably priced.


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## oxrufiioxo (Sep 29, 2022)

A Computer Guy said:


> I was doing my daily window shopping and currently this was the cheapest option which didn't seem too bad of a price to me to be honest.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 B650?


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

oxrufiioxo said:


> B650?


Yes.  Got confused there for a moment.


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## ConteZero76 (Sep 29, 2022)

I have to replace an aging 1950x (great processor, great motherboard, lots of PCIe lanes... but way too expensive platform), I've got a Z690 Aorus Elite DDR4 for €220.
My idea is to recycle the (good to great) Samsung B-die from the threadripper for the Aorus, adding a Raptor lake.
Seems a decent upgrade.


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## oxrufiioxo (Sep 29, 2022)

Somthing I didn't mention in my previous post I'd be much more reluctant to spend decent money on an intel motherboard due to the fact that they kill the socket after 2 generations.

Amd at least allows you to upgrade for 3-4 years am5 will likely support Zen4X3D, Zen5, Zen5X3D at a min.


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## mclaren85 (Sep 29, 2022)

I don't know but expensive motherboard always makes me feel comfortable.


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## xtreemchaos (Sep 29, 2022)

ill pay up to £350 but i be grudge anything over £200 cus im a tight git but sometimes you just have to get what you like.


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## sepheronx (Sep 29, 2022)

My view is that, as time goes forward and more stuff is on the cpu rather than the board (no more north bridge as example), i don't see how a mobo should cost as much or more than a cpu.

$200 should be classified as high end, no more this price gouging going on.

But they will forever inrease board prices because even people here prove they are willing to pay extortion prices for a board.


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## Eskimonster (Sep 29, 2022)

payed 350$ for last one, happy i did so, its still running 10 years later.


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## Sithaer (Sep 29, 2022)

100-150$ max, I'm only interested in B mobos so I aint paying more/don't need a fancier mobo for my needs.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 29, 2022)

$350-ish if it has the features I want. Higher than that and it's getting silly.


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## Tatty_One (Sep 29, 2022)

My logic says that no motherboard should be more expensive than the CPU going in it, but hey I am a bit old fashioned


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> My view is that, as time goes forward and more stuff is on the cpu rather than the board (no more north bridge as example), i don't see how a mobo should cost as much or more than a cpu.
> 
> $200 should be classified as high end, no more this price gouging going on.
> 
> But they will forever inrease board prices because even people here prove they are willing to pay extortion prices for a board.


Have you looked at how many more components are on a motherboard these days? The Northbridge doesn't make up for the cost difference.


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## sepheronx (Sep 29, 2022)

TheLostSwede said:


> Have you looked at how many more components are on a motherboard these days? The Northbridge doesn't make up for the cost difference.


Yeah I have, and I also noticed some are losing audio ports too.

I don't buy that bs but you can.


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## TheoneandonlyMrK (Sep 29, 2022)

I bought Asus crosshair hero boards the last three builds I did for me.
I get my use out of them, like 3 years so I don't mind paying up, but 500£ Is my limit.


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> Yeah I have, and I also noticed some are losing audio ports too.


I kind of wish they would stop putting on-board audio and give us another 4x PCIe lanes instead for an add in card.


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## Lew Zealand (Sep 29, 2022)

I only recently paid more that $100 for a Mobo and that was only because prices are up, as it's practically the same as  one I have in another build.  All B-series, Intel and AMD.  That said my Mobos are *barely* good enough and both kinds have memory intolerances I'm not content with.  So while they do the job are are costing me less than 5% (and likely less than 2%) lower frames, I will probably go up the quality scale to $150-200 for the next one.

When you buy the right tool for the job, you only pay once.  When you skimp on the tool, you pay every time you use it.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> Yeah I have, and I also noticed some are losing audio ports too.
> 
> I don't buy that bs but you can.


Tell me, do you still have a set of analogue 5.1 or 7.1-channel speakers?
If not, what do you need all the extra audio jacks for?
I use zero audio jacks at the moment, as I have a wirless headset.
Change with the times, we can't be stuck in the past forever.


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## sepheronx (Sep 29, 2022)

A Computer Guy said:


> I kind of wish they would stop putting on-board audio and give us another 4x PCIe lanes instead for an add in card.


Depends on need honestly.

I believe the removed inboard audio was for itx motherboard and you get nothing more from it.

I don't need to upgrade but I'll patiently wait for prices to drop if and when I do need to upgrade.



TheLostSwede said:


> Tell me, do you still have a set of analogue 5.1 or 7.1-channel speakers?
> If not, what do you need all the extra audio jacks for?
> I use zero audio jacks at the moment, as I have a wirless headset.
> Change with the times, we can't be stuck in the past forever.


Yeap, I did and do for some systems. For quite some time I used the onboard toslink too until my headsets dac that used it died.  I use the onboard audio from my b660 for my headset and use sonar software so I'm A OK.

If they will remove features to add other features, fine.  But removing features, add either nothing or something that equally won't be used and upcharging another $100+ on top is highway robbery as far as I'm concerned.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> Yeap, I did and do for some systems. For quite some time I used the onboard toslink too until my headsets dac that used it died.  I use the onboard audio from my b660 for my headset and use sonar software so I'm A OK.
> 
> If they will remove features to add other features, fine.


Well, most people don't use speakers with their PCs any more, especially judging how few PC speakers there are in the market.
I guess most people simply figured out it was too bulky to have a surround sound setup for their PC.
I've had a few myself, but it's just too much hassle with all the wiring. 

What do you miss on modern motherboards? 
I know a lot of people complain about too many M.2 slots and want more regular PCIe slots and I guess there's a market for both.
The only add-in card I have besides the graphics card, is a 10 Gbps Ethernet card, although as I moved country recently and didn't bring my NAS over as yet, I don't even have that installed right now.


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## ir_cow (Sep 29, 2022)

What is this 2008  where the highest MB was $400 max?

Your missing 600,800,1000,1500 as other choices.


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## sepheronx (Sep 29, 2022)

TheLostSwede said:


> Well, most people don't use speakers with their PCs any more, especially judging how few PC speakers there are in the market.
> I guess most people simply figured out it was too bulky to have a surround sound setup for their PC.
> I've had a few myself, but it's just too much hassle with all the wiring.
> 
> ...


Yeah, so you think it's fine to remove the features, add nothing else and upcharge the board afterwards?

That is my point. I am not gonna pay $400 for an ITX board because it has PCI 5.0 nvme ports that is barely or won't be utilized since pcie 4.0 is more than sufficient enough (shit, pcie 3.0 is too) since direct drive or whatever stupid crap MS promised isn't even out yet, yet remove other crap and they say "oh, here it is for $160 more on average".  I would unsterstand if it was a 10gb eth port but they aren't that either. I picked up boards with 2.5 for less than $200 Canadian Rupees.

That's my point and anyone who is willing to pay these large prices are part of the problem.


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## agent_x007 (Sep 29, 2022)

Tell me what I get for that price, and I tell you if I buy it.


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## AusWolf (Sep 29, 2022)

TheLostSwede said:


> Well, most people don't use speakers with their PCs any more, especially judging how few PC speakers there are in the market.
> I guess most people simply figured out it was too bulky to have a surround sound setup for their PC.
> I've had a few myself, but it's just too much hassle with all the wiring.


A PC without speakers? That's an oddity I've never seen in someone's home.


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## Zach_01 (Sep 29, 2022)

Less than 10 AM5 boards are available on my local market starting from 350€ (on sale ). Yesterday same board(s) was 430€...

My vote was 200 to 300.
If and when I need to change the system I will evaluate the market at the time, what I want and if I can get it with that price range and see if its worth it or not to put more.



Tatty_One said:


> My logic says that no motherboard should be more expensive than the CPU going in it, but hey I am a bit old fashioned


Its not wrong...
But last time (Aug 2019) I bought this X570 for 260€ and a R5 3600 for 210€. Ι had in mind for a better CPU down the road, like I did 3 months ago and got the 5900X for 400€.
So all depend on what is your roadmap.

--------------------------------

This X570 Aorus Pro had all the USB ports and drive slots I wanted. I'm using all of them except from SATA ports.

I cannot evaluate a new line of boards from first days and say what price is ok and what is silly or even stupid, as I do not know or haven't search, or haven't seen any reviews about them and their features.
I can say it for X570



sepheronx said:


> My view is that, as time goes forward and more stuff is on the cpu rather than the board (no more north bridge as example), i don't see how a mobo should cost as much or more than a cpu.
> 
> $200 should be classified as high end, no more this price gouging going on.
> 
> But they will forever inrease board prices because even people here prove they are willing to pay extortion prices for a board.


Not even close of what is the cost of manufacturing boards these days with the inflated costs of materials, energy and so on. Chipset is just another simple chip long ago now with the SoC parts of CPUs. Its just a hub.

Board cost mostly goes to places the user is not seeing at first or at all.
PCB layers count, traces quality for specific bus protocol requirements as PCI-5, DDR5 and so on.
And the LGA alone adds a bit more.

Its ridiculous though for all of us to have to pay today 400+ and not getting standard features as dual BIOS with switches, debug displays, flash buttons... etc.
I haven't really looked it closely with the AM5 boards yet but first words from reviewers (on CPU reviews) are not looking good...



AusWolf said:


> A PC without speakers? That's an oddity I've never seen in someone's home.


Last couple of years I only use a headset


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## Lei (Sep 29, 2022)

Well I buy 2nd hand, between 80 to 140$ is ok.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> Yeah, so you think it's fine to remove the features, add nothing else and upcharge the board afterwards?


Did I say that? However, some things are of no use any more, or would you want serial and parallel ports still on all boards? I mean, they don't cost much to add, so should we start adding them back, just because? 


sepheronx said:


> That is my point. I am not gonna pay $400 for an ITX board because it has PCI 5.0 nvme ports that is barely or won't be utilized since pcie 4.0 is more than sufficient enough (shit, pcie 3.0 is too) since direct drive or whatever stupid crap MS promised isn't even out yet, yet remove other crap and they say "oh, here it is for $160 more on average".  I would unsterstand if it was a 10gb eth port but they aren't that either. I picked up boards with 2.5 for less than $200 Canadian Rupees.
> 
> That's my point and anyone who is willing to pay these large prices are part of the problem.


I wouldn't pay $400 for a mini-ITX board either. However, I use all three M.2 slots on my board and none of the SATA ports, so to me, more PCIe slots wouldn't be helpful.
The current crop of boards are overpriced and the pricing went crazy since Computex. I was given pricing back then for some board and the MSRP is up by $100 on many of those, but not all and the retail price is another $100 up on the MSRP.


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## sepheronx (Sep 29, 2022)

TheLostSwede said:


> Did I say that? However, some things are of no use any more, or would you want serial and parallel ports still on all boards? I mean, they don't cost much to add, so should we start adding them back, just because?
> 
> I wouldn't pay $400 for a mini-ITX board either. However, I use all three M.2 slots on my board and none of the SATA ports, so to me, more PCIe slots wouldn't be helpful.
> The current crop of boards are overpriced and the pricing went crazy since Computex. I was given pricing back then for some board and the MSRP is up by $100 on many of those, but not all and the retail price is another $100 up on the MSRP.


I figured you wouldn't be able to agree that these prices are considered good or adequate.

But I'll go further and say $250 should get you a decent board but it doesn't now. At least not in these current releases.


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## AusWolf (Sep 29, 2022)

Zach_01 said:


> Last couple of years I only use a headset


I couldn't imagine not having speakers with my PC. Using a headset for music and games occasionally is nice, but it completely disconnects me from reality. It's not a problem on its own, but the missus gets upset if I can't hear what she says to me from the other end of the apartment. It also makes my head hurt if I wear it for too long.


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

AusWolf said:


> I couldn't imagine not having speakers with my PC. Using a headset for music and games occasionally is nice, but they completely disconnect me from reality. It's not a problem on its own, but the missus gets upset if I can't hear what she says to me from the other end of the apartment. It also makes my head hurt if I wear it for too long.


I totally forgot I had speaker output on my motherboard for awhile since my DisplayPort/HDMI cables output the sound to my monitor and I connect the speakers that way.


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## TheLostSwede (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> I figured you wouldn't be able to agree that these prices are considered good or adequate.
> 
> But I'll go further and say $250 should get you a decent board but it doesn't now. At least not in these current releases.


It will once the B650 boards are out, assuming the pricing I have holds.
The pricing I was given at Computex was in line with similar SKUs for AM4 boards at launch, but things just went stupid, so no, I don't think the current pricing is acceptable.
However, motherboards are getting more and more complex by every socket generation now and it's reflected in the price for the boards, unfortunately.


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> But I'll go further and say $250 should get you a decent board but it doesn't now. At least not in these current releases.


Are you saying $250 in general or for specific platforms?


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## AusWolf (Sep 29, 2022)

A Computer Guy said:


> I totally forgot I had speaker output on my motherboard for awhile since my DisplayPort/HDMI cables output the sound to my monitor and I connect the speakers that way.


Me too, but this hasn't always been the case. It's also not guaranteed that my next monitor will have a jack output (even though I'm not planning to upgrade until it dies, but still).


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## Zach_01 (Sep 29, 2022)

At least for now for AM5 boards all of us have just to see reviews about the boards and get to know them.
If no one (or too few) touches them the prices will come down faster.
And of course wait for AM5 B650 too


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## ShrimpBrime (Sep 29, 2022)

Voted never buy a motherboard again.

I'm looking out for the father boards. Hopefully cheaper in pricing!! XD


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 29, 2022)

ShrimpBrime said:


> Voted never buy a motherboard again.
> 
> I'm looking out for the father boards. Hopefully cheaper in pricing!! XD


And more power efficient too!


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## sepheronx (Sep 29, 2022)

A Computer Guy said:


> Are you saying $250 in general or for specific platforms?


General minus server grade obviously.


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## ShrimpBrime (Sep 29, 2022)

Willing to pay...

Or have no choice and pay....

Is why I can't put a figure on it.

Pay more for fancy shrouds and led lighting. A lot extra. Those components are pennies worth of blingage. 

What happen to the brown pcb and no bulky plastic days? Will they come back? It was fun to paint motherboards. Have direct visible access to components is nice too.


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## Andrea87 (Sep 29, 2022)

I am _weary _of cheap stuff. For my main current rig I went for a sub-200€ MB (Msi x570s torpedo max). Voted 150-250 as it's the branch that holds most good boards with decent features without sacrificing build quality too much.


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## sepheronx (Sep 29, 2022)

TheLostSwede said:


> It will once the B650 boards are out, assuming the pricing I have holds.
> The pricing I was given at Computex was in line with similar SKUs for AM4 boards at launch, but things just went stupid, so no, I don't think the current pricing is acceptable.
> However, motherboards are getting more and more complex by every socket generation now and it's reflected in the price for the boards, unfortunately.


They are?

They got rid of dr debug on some of these overpriced trash.

When removing features and overcharging doesn't sound like complexity to me.

I just don't care for their stupid excuses to rip us off.  Only excuse I know and will accept is that their overhead costs are high because now thanks to nonsense around the world and economies going to shit, that prices on material has skyrocketed and that their CEO's cannot afford another mansion without these upcharges.  At least it would be honesty.


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## ir_cow (Sep 29, 2022)

Seems to me most people here complaining about the price aren't looking for any of the new tech. Just PCIE 3.0 for them.

Here you go GIGABYTE Z690I AORUS ULTRA LITE DDR4 (rev. 1.0) LGA 1700 $150


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## Zach_01 (Sep 29, 2022)

sepheronx said:


> They are?
> 
> They got rid of dr debug on some of these overpriced trash.
> 
> When removing features and overcharging doesn't sound like complexity to me.


Debug displays, switches and that kind of stuff dont add complexity. These are already into the blueprint of the board. Like I said before real cost and complexity is not visible by the user.
Vendors though are trying to segment boards and prices by adding those useful little things that dont really cost.

It just that when you are paying 100 or 200 more for board that has those debug and buttons all around you re not paying for those. Other stuff cost more.
Like I said vendors use those features to push users to high prices.


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## Tomgang (Sep 29, 2022)

400 usd + tax is my apselut limit or what I payed for my Asus rog X570 crosshair dark hero.


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## Gmr_Chick (Sep 29, 2022)

A Computer Guy said:


> I was doing my daily window shopping and currently this was the cheapest option which didn't seem too bad of a price to me to be honest.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The price for that board is a slap in the face to me, when I consider that my X370 Crosshair VI Hero was $230 when I got it.

But hey, at least that Riptide board includes a BIOS flashback button, unlike my current B550 PG Velocita  

Also, I'd say $300 would be my limit for the cost of a motherboard. I would, however, be willing to drop $15 to $25 more if a board had all the features I wanted + was absolutely smitten with its looks.


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## mplayerMuPDF (Sep 29, 2022)

If I had more money than I have currently, I would actually be willing to pay quite a lot for a motherboard (if it is worth it obviously) because I value quality/reliability and good IO more than extreme CPU or GPU performance that I have no real use for. On the other hand, I am not sure what kind of IO a $300+ motherboard would offer me that I have a use for. I don't need extreme amounts of PCIe lanes/slots. I don't even need PCIe 4.0, let alone 5.0, to be honest. I do want 6x SATA, for multiple ODDs and 2 3.5" HDDs. 2 M.2 NVMe (or SATA) slots would be nice for SSDs. I do want lots of USB (does not even have to be 3.2 gen 2 or whatever) ports and certainly want them to *reliable* unlike the ones of my X470... I want very good onboard audio, does not have to be a fancy chipset or high power headphone amp but just proper isolation from noise. PS/2 for keyboard would be nice. Definitely want DisplayPort. One those of M.2 slots for WiFi cards that a newly released Biostar board that I saw on TPU recently had would be great. Basically what I want is a solid workstation-style motherboard but with somewhat of a legacy flavor


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## ir_cow (Sep 29, 2022)

Gmr_Chick said:


> But hey, at least that Riptide board includes a BIOS flashback button, unlike my current B550 PG Velocita


All X670/B should now because its part of AMD requirements with AM5....errr rather it is supported by the CPU/Chipset.


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## Vario (Sep 29, 2022)

Usually aim for ~$300


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## quantumbot (Sep 30, 2022)

I get the features I like.. I don't use an external DAC so I look for great audio, decent 2.5Gb nic.. WIFI is nice but not a must. I like to OC, so I want quality so I can boost decent amounts. Typically the boards I look at are 350+. I use a nice surround sound system and a fast network. I also using my desktop as a plex box so its gotta be quick on storage and a lot of it. Add in cards I have is the gpu ofc and raid card. This setup may not be in everyone's budget or even to the extent folks use their computers.. Get a board that will work well for what you are trying to do. I'm prob going to aim for the extreme board on the next gen amd setup just so I can forgo the raid card all together and use all nvme.

currently using the gigabyte aorus master x570, 3900x


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## Dr. Dro (Sep 30, 2022)

I voted "Over $350" because it's the $350-450 bracket. It's something I buy every 3 years or so, however, and if there is an excellent motherboard up to $500 that is truly worth it, I may be tempted. But it hasn't been the case for some time. 

The B550-E I currently own is an exception, it was an off-schedule purchase because I was forced to sell my Crosshair 6 board to get Vermeer support, as AMD initially denied support for Zen 3 on X370 based on a proven lie - it only took Alder Lake for the promise of forward compatibility to be kept


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## AlwaysHope (Sep 30, 2022)

80-watt Hamster said:


> It could maybe be clearer, but I interpret it as, "In what range does the most you'd pay for a MB fall?"
> 
> EDIT:  The <$100 option is perhaps redundant, since new boards under $50 basically don't exist outside of combo deals or clearances.


Depends on the geographical location of the market. Over here in Australia, new boards can be acquired for under AUD $100
Evidence

Presuming the polls pricing is in USD, I picked $250-350, keeping in mind how volatile currency exchange rates are when converting to AUD not only now but into the foreseeable future. 
The last month here has seen substantial price increases in food & personal services like hair cuts for example, that are now catching on with PC components like motherboards...


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## Count von Schwalbe (Sep 30, 2022)

mplayerMuPDF said:


> One those of M.2 slots for WiFi cards that a newly released Biostar board that I saw on TPU recently had would be great.


Common on the lower-end AsRock boards iirc. Some others have the same cards mounted vertically behind the I/O shield. 

I would love the I/O section to be a separate module, purchased separately. Motherboards have too many features already to have the perfect board for everyone. This would allow MB manufacturers to reduce SKU proliferation and allow for more customization as the end user. Yeah it probably would never work but it would be nice to have.


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## 80-watt Hamster (Sep 30, 2022)

AlwaysHope said:


> Depends on the geographical location of the market. Over here in Australia, new boards can be acquired for under AUD $100
> Evidence
> 
> Presuming the polls pricing is in USD, I picked $250-350, keeping in mind how volatile currency exchange rates are when converting to AUD not only now but into the foreseeable future.
> The last month here has seen substantial price increases in food & personal services like hair cuts for example, that are now catching on with PC components like motherboards...



What I meant was, you've got the <100 option, and the 50-150 option.  Since there really isn't anything under 50, <100 ends up being 50-100, which overlaps entirely with 50-150.  Not terribly important; just an observation.


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## Why_Me (Sep 30, 2022)

$150 - $200 B660 / B670 (I'm a big fan of the less expensive locked cpu's).


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## Kissamies (Sep 30, 2022)

100-150EUR. I don't personally see any benefits from a more expensive board.


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## Vario (Sep 30, 2022)

mplayerMuPDF said:


> If I had more money than I have currently, I would actually be willing to pay quite a lot for a motherboard (if it is worth it obviously) because I value quality/reliability and good IO more than extreme CPU or GPU performance that I have no real use for. On the other hand, I am not sure what kind of IO a $300+ motherboard would offer me that I have a use for. I don't need extreme amounts of PCIe lanes/slots. I don't even need PCIe 4.0, let alone 5.0, to be honest. I do want 6x SATA, for multiple ODDs and 2 3.5" HDDs. 2 M.2 NVMe (or SATA) slots would be nice for SSDs. I do want lots of USB (does not even have to be 3.2 gen 2 or whatever) ports and certainly want them to *reliable* unlike the ones of my X470... I want very good onboard audio, does not have to be a fancy chipset or high power headphone amp but just proper isolation from noise. PS/2 for keyboard would be nice. Definitely want DisplayPort. One those of M.2 slots for WiFi cards that a newly released Biostar board that I saw on TPU recently had would be great. Basically what I want is a solid workstation-style motherboard but with somewhat of a legacy flavor


The Z690 Classified I just bought for $299 is close to what you describe in my recent experience, has 3x m.2 NVMe, bunch of USB and USB C, 8x SATA, decent wifi (the wifi works better than other Wifi boards I've had, with 100MB/s signal from a router in the room below my desk), decent bluetooth, the audio doesn't have any ground loop noise, very clean sound. It has onboard displayport. It lacks PS/2 though.  Aesthetically the chunky 10 layer pcb with giant heatsinks resembles a workstation board with a couple RGB logos.


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## Arco (Sep 30, 2022)

0 Bucks from the junkyard of OEMs!


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## oobymach (Sep 30, 2022)

For motherboards you get what you pay for and I'm comfortable spending up to $600 for a feature rich mobo but I wouldn't go below $250 for my personal use unless there's a sale or something and it has 3x gen 4 M.2 slots.


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## ThrashZone (Sep 30, 2022)

Hi,
Yep I pretty much top out at 450.us which now days kills any chance of a rog board 
Good thing is I have three builds already so there is no need for another although the new stuff on both sides is getting interesting just no need.


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## Braegnok (Sep 30, 2022)

I spent $600.00 yesterday for the Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Gene,.. will be waiting till mid Oct for the water block. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-velocity2-d-rgb-am5-full-nickel


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## ir_cow (Sep 30, 2022)

Braegnok said:


> I spent $600.00 yesterday for the Asus ROG Crosshair X670E Gene,.. will be waiting till mid Oct for the water block. https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-velocity2-d-rgb-am5-full-nickel
> 
> View attachment 263764


ah man! thats going to be a beast for memory overclocking... once AMD sorts out its issues lol


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## Braegnok (Sep 30, 2022)

ir_cow said:


> ah man! thats going to be a beast for memory overclocking... once AMD sorts out its issues lol


I'm going with the 6000C30 Z5 Neo kit. https://www.gskill.com/product/165/393/1661410171/F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5N

Memory & PSU arrived yesterday,..


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## birdie (Sep 30, 2022)

Someone has failed math hard, these three options overlap:

less than $100​
$50 to $150​
$100 to $200​
In fact most options overlap. Never seen such a weird poll.


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 30, 2022)

birdie said:


> Someone has failed math hard, these three options overlap:
> 
> less than $100​
> $50 to $150​
> ...


The overlap is intentional.  It has nothing to do with math.


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## ir_cow (Sep 30, 2022)

Braegnok said:


> I should have the Motherboard & Ryzen 9 Processor next week.
> 
> Memory & PSU arrived yesterday.
> 
> View attachment 263785


My G.Skill 6000 EXPO kit comes Monday


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## A Computer Guy (Sep 30, 2022)

ir_cow said:


> My G.Skill 6000 EXPO kit comes Monday


I hope someone posts build photos!


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## P4-630 (Sep 30, 2022)

So those people who won't spend more than 200$ on a motherboard won't be upgrading to ryzen 7 anytime soon....


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## ir_cow (Sep 30, 2022)

P4-630 said:


> So those people who won't spend more than 200$ on a motherboard won't be upgrading to ryzen 7 anytime soon....


Its silly to me these are the same people who will buy a $800 CPU and $1600 video cards.


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## Sombreuil (Sep 30, 2022)

Paid €100 for an Asus Z87-A back in 2014, just because I needed the S/PDIF port. Paid €125 for the Asus Prime Z690-P Wi-fi, and it's already €25 more than what I was willing to pay for a motherboard.


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## Vario (Oct 1, 2022)

Braegnok said:


> I'm going with the 6000C30 Z5 Neo kit. https://www.gskill.com/product/165/393/1661410171/F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5N
> 
> Memory & PSU arrived yesterday,..
> 
> View attachment 263801


Beast powersupply.


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## mplayerMuPDF (Oct 1, 2022)

ir_cow said:


> Its silly to me these are the same people who will buy a $800 CPU and $1600 video cards.


I guess it makes sense if all you do is game but if you want to do anything else beyond really basic computing than it makes sense to value your motherboard a bit higher.


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## nguyen (Oct 1, 2022)

ir_cow said:


> Its silly to me these are the same people who will buy a $800 CPU and $1600 video cards.



13900F + MSI B660 Mortar MAX + DDR4


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## AlwaysHope (Oct 1, 2022)

P4-630 said:


> So those people who won't spend more than 200$ on a motherboard won't be upgrading to ryzen 7 anytime soon....


But the B series boards?


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## grammar_phreak (Oct 1, 2022)

I liked the days when boards like the Asus Deluxe and Gigabyte Gaming 7/ UD7 boards were around $300 for the mainstream platform. 10 years ago I decided to spring for the $500 Rampage IV Extreme and I thought that was a considerable amount to pay for a board. 

Yeah, I get that boards are more expensive because there are more PCB layers and the VRMs are beefed up..... but how much does this really add to the costs of the board?


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## R0H1T (Oct 1, 2022)

Not more than $300 & that's only because I paid roughly this amount for the x570 Tomahawk, now if your employer is paying for the board then obviously there's no limit.





						ASRock X570 AQUA
					






					www.asrock.com


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## AleXXX666 (Oct 1, 2022)

freeagent said:


> I usually spend about 250. The last board I bought was the most expensive at about 400. Not too keen on 500+. Especially if it doesn’t come with any cool toys.


lol there is no diff between 400 and 500. it's all "enthuasiasist" or "wannabe super" class anyway.



Tatty_One said:


> My logic says that no motherboard should be more expensive than the CPU going in it, but hey I am a bit old fashioned


well it's a nice logic.


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## freeagent (Oct 1, 2022)

AleXXX666 said:


> lol there is no diff between 400 and 500. it's all "enthuasiasist" or "wannabe super" class anyway.


There is when tax and shipping work out to a hundred bucks


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## napata (Oct 2, 2022)

TheLostSwede said:


> It will once the B650 boards are out, assuming the pricing I have holds.
> The pricing I was given at Computex was in line with similar SKUs for AM4 boards at launch, but things just went stupid, so no, I don't think the current pricing is acceptable.
> However, motherboards are getting more and more complex by every socket generation now and it's reflected in the price for the boards, unfortunately.


I checked that article again and your prices were off by 30-40% for Gigabyte. Whatever you got told was bogus.


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## P4-630 (Oct 2, 2022)

Tatty_One said:


> My logic says that no motherboard should be more expensive than the CPU going in it, but hey I am a bit old fashioned



I paid about the same for my CPU and motherboard...Haha..


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## Tatty_One (Oct 2, 2022)

P4-630 said:


> I paid about the same for my CPU and motherboard...Haha..


That's good, at least you didn't pay moar, I get that if someone is going to be buying something like an i9 13900k they are going to want a higher end board that can easily cope with significant power draw which is why for Intel at least that from Comet Lake Z490 onwards these boards have increased in price quite significantly but for most, an i5 will do fine on many of the budget boards and i7 will match pretty good with mid ranged boards for most people........... well that's my odd logic anyways.


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## micropage7 (Oct 2, 2022)

around $100s it's pretty fine for me since it's not too basic and mostly that i need is on that range


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## TheLostSwede (Oct 2, 2022)

napata said:


> I checked that article again and your prices were off by 30-40% for Gigabyte. Whatever you got told was bogus.


Nothing bogus, it was the price at Computex.
Then they put up the prices and then the retailers/distributors put even more margin on top of that.
Why would someone I've known for a decade give me bogus pricing info?


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## Count von Schwalbe (Oct 2, 2022)

TheLostSwede said:


> Nothing bogus, it was the price at Computex.
> Then they put up the prices and then the retailers/distributors put even more margin on top of that.
> Why would someone I've known for a decade give me bogus pricing info?


So retailers are essentially selling over MSRP? How shockingly unprecedented!


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## gffermari (Oct 2, 2022)

200-250€ taking into account that the chipset will give a reasonable path to upgrade.
I would pay even 300-350+ if AMD/Intel give reassurance that it will take 3+ gens of cpus.

The X670s are expensive but it would ease that if we consider that it's the first of the AM5(like the X370 of the AM4).
I don't mind the cost of it, if the X670 have the same upgrade path as the X370 has had.


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## Count von Schwalbe (Oct 2, 2022)

gffermari said:


> 200-250€ taking into account that the chipset will give a reasonable path to upgrade.
> I would pay even 300-350+ if AMD/Intel give reassurance that it will take 3+ gens of cpus.
> 
> The X670s are expensive but it would ease that if we consider that it's the first of the AM5(like the X370 of the AM4).
> I don't mind the cost of it, if the X670 have the same upgrade path as the X370 has had.


+1 to this. If I can buy X670E and ensure it will be compatible for 4 generations, why not pay 1.5X and still come out ahead?

IMHO, the only real disadvantage of X370 vs X570 was the lack of PCIe 4.0. The Extreme models of X670 should prevent a repeat of that.


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## Aquinus (Oct 2, 2022)

That's an interesting question. The last time I bought a motherboard was the P9X79 Deluxe when the 3820 was brand new which was $380 back in 2011. Today adjusted for inflation, that'd be $500, so I guess I'm willing to spend a lot on a motherboard when I choose to buy one. Side note, it still works and has continued to be one of the best motherboards I've ever owned.


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## TheLostSwede (Oct 2, 2022)

Count von Schwalbe said:


> So retailers are essentially selling over MSRP? How shockingly unprecedented!


Not at all, but they really jacked up the retail pricing this time around.


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## AsRock (Oct 2, 2022)

Tatty_One said:


> My logic says that no motherboard should be more expensive than the CPU going in it, but hey I am a bit old fashioned



They will be soon, even more so when they put the low PSU voltages on them.


I just need it to work correctly, nice to have some overclocking options and a few other things but normally get that between $150-$200.


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## INSTG8R (Oct 2, 2022)

I just recently had to buy a new board due to lets say, mistakes were made....Anyway there was very little available in decent X570 stock here so I had to take what I could get. I think I got lucky with the board in my Specs, not only do I think its a great board I got it on sale so it cost me $183 USD vs it's regular price of $229 USD


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## Totally (Oct 3, 2022)

Spent $800 on a board once. Only once and will ever do so in this lifetime once. $250 is my limit going forward.


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## L'Eliminateur (Oct 6, 2022)

Tatty_One said:


> My logic says that no motherboard should be more expensive than the CPU going in it, but hey I am a bit old fashioned


Im in your boat as well, and i'm also old fashioned in that "software should not cost more than the hardware" either.

Still, with the dumb CPU pricing nowadays("inflation" bs-excuse to price hike however they want), it's pretty hard to find a MB that's more expensive than a CPU without going to silly "limited edition" MB models.

My last motherboard costed ~140USD and it's the Z77 (a fairly low end Z77 model mind you) i'm still using, 9+ years ago(the one in my specs), I expect a new motherboard that's more expensive will have AT LEAST the exact same amount of features, and probably more. But what i find is silly 300$+ MB that don't even have feature parity with my 10yr old low end board. That's unacceptable.


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## ir_cow (Oct 7, 2022)

L'Eliminateur said:


> My last motherboard costed ~140USD and it's the Z77 (a fairly low end Z77 model mind you) i'm still using, 9+ years ago(the one in my specs), I expect a new motherboard that's more expensive will have AT LEAST the exact same amount of features, and probably more. But what i find is silly 300$+ MB that don't even have feature parity with my 10yr old low end board. That's unacceptable.


Think about what been added. DDR5, M2 Gen5 and PCIe Gen5, USB4, 10 Gbe LAN. You cannot expect the same costs when things like inflammation and the cost of technology goes up. You can get a Intel Z690 with Gen3 and a single M.2. Its $150. Thats just backwards to me unless you have no use for a Gen4+ slot.


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## L'Eliminateur (Oct 8, 2022)

ir_cow said:


> Think about what been added. DDR5, M2 Gen5 and PCIe Gen5, USB4, 10 Gbe LAN. You cannot expect the same costs when things like inflammation and the cost of technology goes up. You can get a Intel Z690 with Gen3 and a single M.2. Its $150. Thats just backwards to me unless you have no use for a Gen4+ slot.


i have NO use for a gen4+ slot at all, GPUs have enough bw on gen3 already even latest gen ones, it will be a very very very long time before a gpu where using pcie4 vs pcie5 will make any difference.

m2 gen 5, no use for that either, i will use U2 surplus enterprise SSDs, they're barely gen3 and it's waaay more than enough for me.

10gbe lan, ¿where?, none of the boards present have 10gbe (maybe some of the ultra top end that i don't even read about), all of them have 2.5Gbe which is "nice" but of no use to me, my network is gigabit and will stay gigabit for at least 10+ years.
USB 4, no use for that either. In fact my ONLY USB 3.0 device is a 5+yr old 32gb kingston pendrive and my phone. Also, same as above, i haven't seen any board with usb4.

So for a board that has NONE of that stuff, i'm not willing to pay more than i paid for mine all those years ago.

Instead of all that nonsense, look at Audio capabilities, ¿how can it be acceptable that a 2022 200+USD motherboard has a ALC897 audio chipset, it's basically the same audio IC I have, they also put out boards with 3 audio jacks only


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## SmoKies (Oct 11, 2022)

300


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## A Computer Guy (Thursday at 5:09 PM)

Just revisiting this survey after some time passed and it looks like there are some decent AM5 boards in the top 3 voted categories.








						Shipped by Newegg,AM5,New,$100 - $300 AMD Motherboards | Newegg.com
					

Shop Shipped by Newegg,AM5,New,$100 - $300 AMD Motherboards on Newegg.com. Watch for amazing deals and get great pricing.




					www.newegg.com


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## lightning70 (Thursday at 5:10 PM)

200-300$


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## caroline! (Thursday at 7:59 PM)

Dropped $700 for a SuperMicro, no ragerts. 

Workstation boards *are* expensive but absolutely worth it if you compare all the features they offer vs a "gamer" one.


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## A Computer Guy (Thursday at 8:28 PM)

caroline! said:


> Dropped $700 for a SuperMicro, no ragerts.


What model?


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## caroline! (Thursday at 11:40 PM)

A Computer Guy said:


> What model?


M12SWA-TF for the 3955X "used, like new" and in the original box.


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## A Computer Guy (Thursday at 11:52 PM)

caroline! said:


> M12SWA-TF for the 3955X "used, like new" and in the original box.


Nice.  Comes with chipset fan too.


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## DrCR (Friday at 1:18 AM)

A Computer Guy said:


> Nice.  Comes with chipset fan too.


Chipset fan? Nice?
<reaches for pitchfork>

Caroline, enjoy that board. Serious  kit.


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## caroline! (Friday at 2:54 AM)

A Computer Guy said:


> Nice.  Comes with chipset fan too.


Tiny jet engine. I have some beefy coolers but they're meant for older boards that came with northbridges.
Coolers from Thermalright, Cooler Master and Thermaltake before it became a joke of a company.



DrCR said:


> Chipset fan? Nice?
> <reaches for pitchfork>
> 
> Caroline, enjoy that board. Serious  kit.


Comes with really neat features, serial port, 2 network ports, no nonsense BIOS setup. It's a nice change after a gaming board that's just plug and play.


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