With Black Friday around the corner, I'm planning an upgrade from my aging AM4 Ryzen 5 3600, and I could use your expertise. I'm transitioning to an AM5 MATX setup but I'm a bit lost when it comes to motherboards since I've always felt out of my depth there. The motherboard doesn't need built-in WiFi since I'll connect via Ethernet, but it must be compatible with my Noctua NH-D15S cooler (I'm not a fan of AIOs).
I also want some subtle lighting for my case, though I'm used to quieter, closed-off builds, so I'm unsure about that too. Here are the parts I want to keep: Noctua NH-D15S cooler, RTX 3080ti GPU (2 slots), Corsair RM850x PSU, and 3 x 140mm Noctua fans.
As for what I'm locking in for my upgrade, I'm considering the Asus Prime AP201 or the Lian Li A3 (both in white) along with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700.
Now, I'm looking for advice on the mATX motherboard compatible with the Ryzen 7 7700 and recommendations for 2 x 16GB RAM (RGB would be a plus), an NVME drive for OS storage (my old one is also 6 years old), and 120mm case fans, possibly with a fan hub or RGB controller. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
You don't really need an overkill motherboard for the Ryzen 7 7700, but it can certainly handle the power of even a Ryzen 9 if you decide to go there. Also, DDR5 RAM is pricey right now, but you can find a good budget kit that works well without breaking the bank! Here’s a link to my build on PCPartPicker for reference: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WrVqC8.
Thanks for the RAM suggestion!