Wanted to upgrade from Z690 DDR4 to Z790 DDR5. Having a 5.0 NVMe slot is a bit meh. Here the example with the MSI Tomahawks.

[firejohn]

2 Questions: Is there a difference having the OS NVMe CPU bound and having it at the Z790 chipset, where it shares the bandwith with other components and extra longer ways?

Which brand/board would you go, that have at least one 4.0 M.2 CPU bound from the new refresh mainboards?

I have 3 2TB 4.0 NVMe (OS/games/media)

Greetings

 

[meatwar]

The OS NVNe should always attached to the CPU bus and games/data to the PCH, general rule speaking.... but my pov only.
Tiny details can change in mb designs from across OEM's, this can only be correctly verified checking each specific model design and PCIe lanes
(Block diagram) and by that the shared bandwidth will also change so...

Example:

Usually, you'll see other PCIe hw devices like SATA/USB/WLAN/ACodec etc... tied to the PCH and nothing more than GPU/CPU/NVMe to the CPU pcie bus.
What you want has to be analyzed by user needs and it needs time from user side, there's a lot on the market...

Motherboards Intel Socket 1700 with chipset: Z790 Price comparison Miser EU (geizhals.eu)

 

[firejohn]

@meatwar Yes agree that it should be CPU bound. I saw somewhere else, i know, at der8auer who recently published a Aorus Z790 Xtreme X video. There the 5.0 and one 4.0 are CPU bound. Good solution, but don‘t want bigger as ATX (the board is E-ATX around) and that MB is expensive .

Yea i have to look around. Wanted to stay MSI this time, but looking for other brands too. So it won‘t be the Z790 Tomahawk Max, a pity. At other higher prices MBs the first M.2 slot has often a big cooler, that could interfer with my wc GPU or my Noctua-NH-D15.

What i really like at Asus boards is the release button for GPUs. My one at MSI broke, but now its easier to take the GPU in and out .

 

[P4-630]

You could also look at Gigabyte Z690/790 Aorus boards.

 

[firejohn]

@P4-630 Yes, then i have to wait till G-Skill validates RAM, that i want, with new boards in combination with the 14th Intel. I think they tested only that combination with MSI till now.

Buildzoid said once that G.Skill has the most realistic QVL. Ofc it can always differ from CPU to CPU and maybe tolerances with MBs.

 

[ir_cow]

Which GB Z790 MB are you buying?

 

[firejohn]

@ir_cow
Oh i don‘t know yet, but the MSI Z790 Carbon Max Wifi would be also an option, though the shops are awaiting delivery. It has also 5.0 and 4.0 CPU bound.

Edit: Maybe also the Asus Dark Hero - the GPU release button

 

[firejohn]

Edit2: Gigabyte has also a button to release the GPU. Its a big point for me because my clip broke at my Tomahawk.

 

[ir_cow]

Edit2: Gigabyte has also a button to release the GPU. Its a big point for me because my clip broke at my Tomahawk.

I've broken so many of those latches the auto release is nice, but not big deal if you aren't changing hardware constantly

 

[firejohn]

I went for the Dark Hero. From reading: Asus has better BIOS UI. GB had some quality issues in the past. The board is on the QVL on a G.Skill RAM. Thunderbolt could be useful, maybe for a future iPhone. I read that the idea of the easy release of, i forgot ..maybe M.2 heatsink at GB Aorus Master X is a good idea, but bad implemented. At one it didn‘t hold down and there is no 2nd option like to screw it down. A bit lower idle power consumption, not much. It has also HDMI instead DP for iGPU, and that were some issues with DP in the past (GB=DP, Asus=HDMI). Yes i needed sometimes the iGPU.

 

[jsfitz54]

@ir_cow , with the new Z790 "refresh", do you have any knowledge that the ProArt line will get the same? I see Bios's have been updated to get the new CPU's.
I'm wondering if a newer revised board is going to come out?

ProArt Motherboards - All products | ASUS USA

ProArt motherboards empower creators with the unleashed performance of the latest CPUs, robust power design, efficient cooling, and lightning-fast connectivity.

www.asus.com

ProArt Z790-CREATOR WIFI｜Motherboards｜ASUS USA

Built for creators, the ProArt Z790-Creator WiFi features 16+1 power stages (70A), PCIe® 5.0, DDR5 support, Thunderbolt™ 4, 10 Gb & 2.5 Gb LAN, WiFi 6E and four PCIe 4.0 M.2

www.asus.com

Processor	CPU No.	Frequency	Wattage	L3	Core	Stepping	Validated since BIOS
Core™ i9	i9-14900KF	3.2GHz	125W	36MB	24	B-0	1203
Core™ i9	i9-14900K	3.2GHz	125W	36MB	24	B-0	1203
Core™ i7	i7-14700KF	3.4GHz	125W	33MB	20	B-0	1203
Core™ i7	i7-14700K	3.4GHz	125W	33MB	20	B-0	1203
Core™ i5	i5-14600KF	3.5GHz	125W	24MB	14	B-0	1203
Core™ i5	i5-14600K	3.5GHz	125W	24MB	14	B-0	1203

 

[ir_cow]

@jsfitz54 I'll pass that question on to @Mussels . He the new MB guy. Id imagine that ASUS would have already announced it with the other MBs. Just my thinkkng.

Besides "higher" memory freq support and Wifi 7, I don't see what else could change for a ProArt Refresh.