I'm trying to decide between two motherboards for my setup: the Gigabyte X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 ICE with a Ryzen 7 9700X CPU, and the AsRock B850 Steel Legend paired with a Ryzen 7 7800X3D. My primary use is about 70% gaming and 30% production. I'm curious whether I should invest in a better CPU with a lesser motherboard or vice versa. What are your thoughts?
5 Answers
I'd steer clear of the AsRock boards since they've had some CPU issues in the past that might still not be resolved. When comparing chipsets, the main differences you'll find involve connectivity like USB 4 and Thunderbolt 4, which could sway your decision depending on your needs.
If you're looking for a high-performance motherboard, the X870 Aorus Elite WiFi 7 ICE is definitely the better choice. It seems like you’re aiming for that stylish all-white setup too! However, I’d still be cautious with AsRock boards due to potential compatibility concerns with the x3d CPUs.
In terms of gaming, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is about 30% faster than the 9700X. While benchmarks may show some close results, in real-world usage, that difference is much more significant. You really shouldn't consider the 9700X at all for this build.
Honestly, most people don't really need the X870 boards. I'd recommend sticking with the B650E or B850 instead—just maybe skip AsRock for now. Less pricey options can still give you a solid performance without the extra bells and whistles.
Just a heads up, motherboards generally don't have much impact on performance themselves unless you're looking at features. It mostly comes down to how they support your CPU and other components.
Absolutely! I ran some tests where the 9700X dropped a lot more frames compared to the 7800X3D. For example, in Resident Evil 4, I got 130 FPS with the 9700X versus 170 FPS with the 7800X3D, so it's a big difference!