I'm putting together a new PC and I'll be using a Ryzen 7 7700 CPU, housed in a 3000D Airflow case, along with 32GB of 6400Mts RAM. Given the huge variety of motherboards available at very different price points, I could use some advice. What features should I look for in a motherboard, especially since I've heard some can limit graphics card performance due to lane configurations? It's also important for me to have room for future upgrades, so I want a board with 4 RAM slots in case I decide to expand later on. Any suggestions or insights would be greatly appreciated!
2 Answers
I'd recommend going with a B850 motherboard, avoiding ASRock and ASUS if you can. Just a heads up, having 4 RAM slots might not be super useful right now with AM5, since the current memory controllers don't handle 4 sticks well. So, you might want to stick with 2 sticks from a single kit for your RAM needs.
If I were in your shoes, I'd prioritize a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot for your graphics card. It might be a little pricier, but it’ll keep you set for the future if you plan on upgrading to a card like an RTX 8070 or 9070 later on. Some folks think PCIe 5.0 won't be necessary for a long time, but I personally think the peace of mind is worth the extra cost.
Is the RTX the Nvidia one? I’m only planning to upgrade once, probably to a used 50-60 series. Is PCIe 4.0 really a bottleneck for high-end cards currently?