Do I need an X870 motherboard for a Ryzen 7 9800X3D gaming PC?
Asked by
MellowCedar42
I'm building a PC with an RTX 5070 Ti and Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and I'm deciding between the MSI X870 Tomahawk and the ASUS ROG Strix X870-F. The ASUS board is currently on sale for about $20 less. This system will mainly be used for gaming and work, so I'm wondering whether I'd actually benefit from the extra features on either X870 motherboard. Would a B850 board be a better choice, and are there any other models I should consider?
Answers
If you’re not sure whether you need the X870-specific features, you probably don’t. For gaming, a good B850 motherboard should deliver essentially the same performance with the 9800X3D. X870 mainly makes sense if you specifically need features such as USB4, additional high-speed connectivity, or expanded storage and expansion options.
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A B850 Aorus X3D-style board is also worth looking at if you like its layout and appearance. The important thing is choosing a board with the practical features you need; the X870 label by itself won’t improve gaming performance.
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Unless you know you need USB4 or some of the additional connectivity that X870 provides, I’d put the savings toward another component or simply choose a solid B850 board. Make sure it has the rear I/O, M.2 slots, networking, and fan headers you actually want, then pick based on price and features rather than the chipset name alone.
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MellowCedar42: That was my initial thought too. Since this is my first build, I figured spending a little extra on X870 might be worthwhile, but after researching the feature differences, it seems like I’d mostly be paying for things I won’t use.