I just got my hands on a brand new RTX 5070 and I'm planning to upgrade my current setup. Right now, I have a Ryzen 7 3800, a 3060 Ti, and 32GB of DDR4 RAM on an MSI B550 motherboard. I'm thinking about giving this system to my kids and upgrading to a Ryzen 7 7800X3D with 64GB of DDR5 RAM. However, I'm stuck on what AM5 motherboard to choose. I definitely want more than one NVME slot, as I primarily game in FPS, but I also enjoy sim racing in VR and want to upgrade to a triple monitor setup. I'm considering the MSI B650 since my B550 has served me well, but I'd like some opinions before I spend more than $200. Also, I plan to upgrade my PSU from a Corsair CX750m to an RM850e. Any suggestions?
5 Answers
I'd recommend going for a B850 motherboard. You'll want to take advantage of PCIE 5.0; the slight performance gain is worth not losing out on that capability.
Most benchmarks show only a 1% difference between PCIE 4 and 5, so it might not be a big deal.
Asus TUF boards are solid and usually come with three NVME slots. Gigabyte Aorus is also stable and offers similar support. Just a heads up, some ASRock boards have had issues in the past with certain CPU models, so you might want to avoid those.
For a solid choice, check out the MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi. It has three NVME slots and it's been reliable for me. I've always opted for MSI boards and haven't had problems.
I also got the MAG 670E recently, and it’s been fantastic!
I bought this board a few weeks back as part of a Micro Center bundle, and I'm really satisfied with its performance!
If you’re mainly gaming, you probably don’t need more than 32GB of RAM. Instead, consider upgrading to the 9800X3D for a better CPU, which could give you more performance per dollar.
You make a good point! I might follow your advice and just stick with the 7800X3D instead of splurging on more RAM.
Yeah, definitely prioritize that CPU over having 64GB of RAM. I went with 64GB, but only because I later upgraded to an i9 14900K.
Check out the B650-E from Asus—it's done well for me. And if you have a Micro Center nearby, you might find some great open box deals! I snagged an Asus TUF Gaming X670e for just $140.
And for memory, I recommend getting 32GB DDR5 at 6000MT/s and CL30 for solid performance.
That’s a steal! I'll definitely check there.
But is PCIE 5 really necessary if PCIE 4 already does the job?