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[Jizz_Beard_thePirate]

Mummelmann said:

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.

Hey, just wanted to chime in here as well. As some of you know, I got the ASUS PRIME X670E-PRO motherboard, and despite the recent troubles I'm quite happy with it. I also went with the ASUS TUF version of my GPU, so figured it was a great fit. As for compatibility, ASUS are really great, and support a wide variety of RAM and specs. I also have a 6000MHz kit (Kingston FURY Beast CL36), and just want to point out that right now, your 6000MHz kit will be limited to 4400 or so due to the MOBO issues. They have no choice but to fix this, but regardless of your EXPO settings, the memory can't surpass that frequency on these boards right now. I'd go for the 6000 kit regardless, as they will fix the issue in time. It would be a bad look otherwise, with both DDR5 kits and AM5 needing traction in the market, ASUS would be silly not to be on top of this.

I think your plan/build sounds good. And, yes indeed, shit is expensive. I still can't quite wrap my head around how much my build cost me, all things included.

Hmm that is actually kind of weird as I never heard of that problem. Is it just some kits or some boards? Cause with mine, 6000 Expo always worked. I was able to go up to 6200Mhz without issues. Was your board listed in the QVL list for Kingston or Memory on Asus?

As a side note, I did install the new BIOS from Asus and turned on Expo with my 6000mhz kit and yea, it fixed the voltage issues based on my tests. I did a ton of benches and such and the SoC voltage never went above 1.27 volts. So I'd say that with the BIOS Asus as released, the main issue should largely be fixed.

Last edited by Jizz_Beard_thePirate - on 10 May 2023