4 ms·
>motherboards are priced so high Only if you go for the really stupid RGB "gamer" motherboards sprinkled with more fairy dust than sense. Something like this
by Dalewyn 4y ago
>motherboards are priced so high
Only if you go for the really stupid RGB "gamer" motherboards sprinkled with more fairy dust than sense.
Something like this ASUS Prime Z690-P[1] is reasonably priced at just north of ~$200, it even has luxuries like 2.5gig ethernet and onboard wireless.
If you want a DDR5 setup, this ASUS Prime Z690-A[2] is still ~$260 with plenty of luxuries.
If you can do without a top-tier chipset, H670[3] and B660[4] motherboards can be had for somewhere around $100 give or take.
A quick glance at AMD's side of things also seems to paint a similar picture.
The only computer component currently way out of wack in price are GPUs, everything else is either reasonable or downright cheap.
-------------
[1]: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813119510?Item=N82E16813119510 https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813119510?Item=N82E1681311951...
[2]: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813119507?Item=N82E16813119507 https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813119507?Item=N82E1681311950...
[3]: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813119536?Item=N82E16813119536 https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813119536?Item=N82E1681311953...
[4]: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813162055?Item=N82E16813162055 https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813162055?Item=N82E1681316205...
- lostmsu 4y agoWhat even is the point of "top-tier" chipsets? Like why would one ever pay extra?
- Dalewyn 4y agoOverclocking capabilities (if you're into that), better build quality overall (primarily to facilitate overclocking), and more nice-to-have features and luxuries (eg: PCIE lanes) in general.
- vinyl7 4y agoGenerally higher end chipsets have more PCIe lanes, which is important if you want a GPU + NVMe drives to run at their full bandwidth
- wtallis 4y agoNah, the chipset doesn't have much to do with that anymore. AMD's current desktop CPUs provide 16 PCIe lanes for the GPU and 8 lanes for a pair of NVMe drives; the PCIe lanes provided by the chipset are in addition to those (routed through another 4 lanes from the CPU). Intel's current desktop platform provides 16+4 direct from the CPU, and routes 8 lanes to the chipset. The high-end chipsets are for people who think they still need lots of SATA ports, or lots of high-speed USB ports. Or for people who want features that are artificially restricted to only be available on boards using the high-end chipsets.
- enlyth 4y agoIt's not just about the chipset, due to market segmentation and companies trying to squeeze the most out of the consumer, basic features like 7 segment displays are missing on mobos which aren't the highest tier.
- spacemadness 4y agoThe GPUs are what kills it. I started looking into building a performant 4K@60FPS SFFPC as an upgrade to my five year old gaming PC and it easily reaches $2000+ with taxes after adding the GPU. The build I’m looking at now, without a crazy motherboard, is $2500.
- bombcar 4y ago“Just north of $200” is insane - cheap mobos were in the $50-80 range forever, with good ones around $120. Prices be getting higher.
- fomine3 4y ago$200 is still insane for a over not-latest low-end Z-series mobo. I hate completely useless expensive PCIe Gen5 x16 slot.