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[Jizz_Beard_thePirate]

JEMC said:

Wall of text ahead. You can skip it if you want.

Alright, guys, I want to know your opinion on a couple of hardware pieces.

Since the number of SATA ports stopped being important for my next system (to a point), I've been eyeing the Asus TUF Gaming X670E-Plus motherboard for my build, mostly because it gives me all I want plus it's a bit cheaper than the closest parts in the market, the AsRock Lightning and RS boards. But when the CPUs started exploding and Gamersnexus did that video, showing how badly to the Asus boards do, the AsRock products became more enticing, mostly because I don't think Asus can fix all those problems, especially the one regarding the higher voltage they need to enable EXPO compared to the other three big board makers.

But now, a store goes and puts the Asus board on sale for 280€, a great price given the insane prices of current parts, of course, making it a great opportunity (plus it has stickers ).

And here comes the other part of all my dilema: the RAM kit I'm interested. A GSkill kit that seems too good to be true: great specs with a 6000MHz CL32 rating, it's EXPO, it's low profile because it doesn't have RGB and that means that there won't be any problems with CPU coolers, it's very cheap for a 32GB kit (less than 120€) and, the most surprising of all, TechPowerUp reviewed it! (and it did quite well).

The problem? Not a single motherboard lists that kit as compatible. Not even the motherboard TPU used for their review nor the ones GSkill lists in their site as used for their internal testing. Weird.

As you see, then, to combine together a motherboard/vendor that has problems with EXPO with a RAM kit that isn't listed as supported seems like a perfect recipe for disaster.

On the other hand, there's another RAM kit, also from GSkill and with the same specs but with a bigger heatsink to fit RGB and 20€ pricier that Asus and the other vendors do list it as compatible.

So, your opinion, would you get the Asus board at that price or would you stay away from any Asus parts this gen? And what about the RAM? Would you get the cheaper one that should work or would you go for the other kit that it's more likely, but still not guaranteed, to work?

But more important than all that: why is picking parts so f*cking difficult and expensive?

/rant

If you've cared enough to read all that, thank you, I appreciate it even if you don't leave any comment.

As hixxy said, I wouldn't worry too much about Ram compatibility. The QVL goes both ways anyway. While Asus may have not tested the memory to work with their motherboard, Gskill tested the motherboard and made sure their memory works with it:

As for going with Asus or someone else, personally for mine I still won't go with another vendor cause my build fits around Asus but yours might be different. Personally I don't like Asrock all that much nor do I like Gigabyte. My only real alternative to Asus would be MSI but more of a brand and ecosystem thing than anything else. In your case, I'd just go with Asus and call it a day after you update your BIOS.