So from what I have been hearing or just know today, it seems GPU prices have been rising to a degree where not all can afford it. It sucks for PC hobbyists who are looking for a GPU upgrade or in general, sucks for us who are also into this hobby for PC is used to be that thing where it was the best to have for value and saving long-term but I don’t see that as a case right now. I guess this is currently like a dark-age when it comes to getting or trying to buy a PC hardware, and not going to lie, it has been rough and I guess I am one of the lucky ones who got a GPU earlier as a gift, because right now, I have been saving a lot even though my family didn’t need to gift me a GPU back then.
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yeah its pretty fucked some stores are budling GPUS with power supplies right now to kinda help justify prices
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Scalpers, pandemic and possibly the economy are factors on why the prices are up currently. Man, times back then were simpler and more affordable, I am not sure about it this present day anymore. if PC related shit gets too much for most of us, I would be one of the folks who might get tempted to go back to console gaming or just stick with an old rig for like a decade if prices are still high for most people to be afford to get.
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what mobo brand do you prefer? please share why you like them and why you dislike the others.
for clarity, while there are more than these…these are basically the one’s you can get in NA:
- Asus
- Asrock
- MSI
- Gigabyte
I don’t prefer brands per say. I pick based on performance and specs. I usually listen to Buildzoid’s recommendations. Though I will say Asrock is usually second to the others.
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well, Buildzoid doesn’t have much on B550M boards other than impressions based on listed specs.
I sold my Asus B550M-A/CSM and now on the hunt for a new board to fit in my Define Mini C. The top contenders are the Gigabyte B550M Aorus Pro-P, the Asus TUF GAMING B550M-Plus and perhaps the Asrock B550M Steel Legend. The Asrock is at the bottom of the pile as it only has clear CMOS on the i/o panel while the other two have BIOS flashback, which means easy BIOS updating if the board isn’t ready for my Zen 3 Ryzen CPU.
I can speak here for my SFF build I posted already. I bought the Asus B550-I because of the front USB-C header. It is a solid board but a little bit weak on the VRM-side. If you plan for overclocking you should go for the Gigabyte B550-I. Much better boardpower delivery, but no needed header. If you want to spend more mony you should just go for a X570 board.
At the end it depends on what hardware you are planning to go for the board.
I went with the MSI B550I because it’s the only one with an optical out. The only other board that has an optical out is an Asrock board.
The over all package of the Asus was quite nice and I am using here a ifi Zen DAC, so no need for optical. But in this case it always depends on what do you need in your bundle or for what are you planning it for.
And I bought the Matrix Element H for USB out. That occupies my only PCIe slot, but I’m running the Ryzen 4700G so I don’t need a GPU.
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Nice combo. I use my SFF for gaming and as my main rig, so just cramped a 3070 FE in it and Cyberpunk is running very nice on a small box.
I literally bought an HP prebuilt in order to rip out it’s 4700G since you can’t buy them yet lol
If you are going for overclocking and for a big CPU like a 5900x I would go for the Gigabyte. It looks like the 10+2 Phase 50a DrMOS is stronger than the 8+2 from the Asus board. But if you want to stay stock and dont want to power up everything you should just go for the cheaper ones. Both are looking good in the overall package you are getting here.
I’m only planning to overclock my RAM. gonna try to get 4x 8GB DDR4 3000 Corsair LPX to hit 3200mhz.
This should be possible on both boards. I am running Crucial 3600 CL16 on my board. I hope I got you right, 3200 mhz in total or are you going for 6400 mhz in total 
?
The highest scale Buildzoid got was 5900 mhz, I think. The Asus board said it goes up to 3200 and is running completely stable with 3600, XMP is loaded.
3200mhz total. I’ll probably try to push for higher, since 3600mhz is the real sweet spot, but that could be asking too much of the RAM. that said, while tighter timings do help, having 3600mhz at very loose timings still gives performance that is so similar to RAM with tighter timings that for most, it’s not an issue.
I don’t like to tinker anymore, so if I can set it and forget it, WIN!
I’m just torn on what board to go for…
So in your case I would go for the cheapest in your region. All mentioned boards are good and capable of what you are seeking for.
I like the Asus Bios but I don’t know how the new Gigabyte is. Had an old Gigabyte board before that and it was pretty basic, bought it 4 years ago.
If you are going for Rainbow Glow in the dark ^^, Asus got you covered there as well. Gigabyte here is little bit tuned down, which I prefere more.
rainbow glow? oh hell no! I hate RGB…
and I do have a few requirements, with the biggest being:
- dual M.2 NVMe SSD support
- external BIOS flashback
- clean I/O panel for my OCD (LoL!)
I could honestly consider a mITX motherboard really. just would need to sell my NiB Define Mini C and get something smaller.