New Motherboard

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My old hand-me-down PC is starting to fail on me and it looks like i'll have to replace the majority foo my parts including the motherboard in order to get a new CPU. I've been hardcore researching graphics cards but motherboards seem more complicated. Anyone have any pointers on what I should be looking at? I currently have an MSI Z97 GAMING 5 (MS-7917)
 
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Are you looking to build from scratch or use some of your current parts?
Will you be overclocking?
Where do you stand on price/performance ratio?
 
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I'll just be using it for regular gaming. Do not plan to overclock ever. I need a new CPU, RAM, graphics card and chances are I'll need new power supply. So pretty much everything. I am looking at all price ranges for now but nothing more than like £200. I want something to last and be good
 
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There aren't many more CPUs out on either DDR4 platform, because of the upcoming move to DDR5, so if you want it to last then unfortunately I'd suggest waiting until AM5 or LGA1700, assuming the failing PC can last that long.

Not overclocking doesn't help much with a 10th or 11th gen i7/i9, because they already have high power draw at stock, so a decent VRM is a must. Have a watch of buildzoid's Z590/B560 rambles on youtube if you have the time.
 
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Id go for a b550 am4 board. Put a 5600x in there. Future ability to use pcie 4 drives and later on upgrade to a quicker zen3.

Or. Wait to make sure zen4 will be am4. If not wait for the am5 boards as chances r you can then keep that board for 5 + years.

Anyone know how long am4 has been about?
 
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There aren't many more CPUs out on either DDR4 platform, because of the upcoming move to DDR5, so if you want it to last then unfortunately I'd suggest waiting until AM5 or LGA1700, assuming the failing PC can last that long.

Not overclocking doesn't help much with a 10th or 11th gen i7/i9, because they already have high power draw at stock, so a decent VRM is a must. Have a watch of buildzoid's Z590/B560 rambles on youtube if you have the time.


I don't know what that means... I am new to all this, trying to learn as much as I can. What is DDR4 and 5
 
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I don't know what that means... I am new to all this, trying to learn as much as I can. What is DDR4 and 5
DDR4 has been the standard memory for quite awhile and it is now end of life. Both AMD and Intel will use DDR5 for their new CPUs/motherboards.

Because of this, any motherboard you buy now, is unlikely to support any new CPUs. So, their lifespan as the "current thing" will be very limited.

The reason I mentioned this is because you said "I want something to last".
 
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DDR4 has been the standard memory for quite awhile and it is now end of life. Both AMD and Intel will use DDR5 for their new CPUs/motherboards.

Because of this, any motherboard you buy now, is unlikely to support any new CPUs. So, their lifespan as the "current thing" will be very limited.

The reason I mentioned this is because you said "I want something to last".

Ah okay I get it. I kind of need a new rig very soon. DDR4 will have to do. I am hoping it will last at least 5 years.
 
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If you want it to last or are using it for production work, AMD upgrade path is better and a good B550 (£150+) can power a 5950x (16 cores) from what i've read. On the other side you have 11th gen which tops out at (8 cores) or 10th gen (10 cores) but you don't get PCIE 4.0 on 10th gen and the multicore performance pales in comparison.

If you're working on a budget for gaming then the 11400f on a B560 is probably the sweet spot, spend a little more on your GPU.

All depends what you are using the PC for.

I've bought Intel for the past 10 years (for gaming and general use) but AMD have really nailed it this Gen.
 
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If you want it to last or are using it for production work, AMD upgrade path is better and a good B550 (£150+) can power a 5950x (16 cores) from what i've read. On the other side you have 11th gen which tops out at (8 cores) or 10th gen (10 cores) but you don't get PCIE 4.0 on 10th gen and the multicore performance pales in comparison.

If you're working on a budget for gaming then the 11400f on a B560 is probably the sweet spot, spend a little more on your GPU.

All depends what you are using the PC for.

I've bought Intel for the past 10 years (for gaming and general use) but AMD have really nailed it this Gen.


It's exclusively for gaming. I have an intel now and kinda wanna stick to it, especially if I plan on an NVIDIA GPU. I will be skipping the 20 series to get a 30 series as soon as I can get my hands on one. Ideally between a 3060ti and 3080.
 
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It's exclusively for gaming. I have an intel now and kinda wanna stick to it, especially if I plan on an NVIDIA GPU. I will be skipping the 20 series to get a 30 series as soon as I can get my hands on one. Ideally between a 3060ti and 3080.
Intel isn't as good, get a 5600X and Tomahawk X570 and job done. Nvidia is fine on AMD, myth needs to die. Get a 11400f if you are truly one sided, strange, do as you must.
 
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It's exclusively for gaming. I have an intel now and kinda wanna stick to it, especially if I plan on an NVIDIA GPU. I will be skipping the 20 series to get a 30 series as soon as I can get my hands on one. Ideally between a 3060ti and 3080.
Get a B560 + 11400F and use the saving to buy a 3080 over either the 3070 or 3060ti as this will give you 25% more fps than going with a more expensive CPU and a 3070 etc.
 
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3080 are a lot more expensive though. It's a difficult decision!
Not if you can bag a 3080 Founders edition which is £650 vs £470 on the 3070 FE so £180 difference and when your only paying £150 for the 11400F over say a £300 10700K you've already saved £150 of that.
 
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