Is not buying the cheapest motherboard option a good idea? Going with a 8700k

Is not buying the cheapest motherboard option a good idea? Going with a 8700k.

I'm assuming Asus didn't just add that heatsink and extra VRMs for show.

More expensive motherboard have better quality things overall, more features, there's a reason why they are more expensive, more expensive means high quality motherboard in general.

Value range Asus: Just 4-6 mediocre stages, no heatsink/ only one side have a smaller heatsink
Low range(Z370A): 8+ mediocre stages, smaller Non-heatpiped heatsink
Mid range(Strix Z370F): 8+ high quality stages, larger Non-heatpiped heatsink
Mid-high to high-end range(Hero-Apex): 8+ high quality stages, may or may not be better than Mid range ones, Heatpiped heatsink

If you overclock, a Strix would be the best value. A better made VRM will output less heat while having the same current/voltage output.

For motherboards always buy the beefiest one in terms of VRM and VRM cooling.
Don't jew on that shit because of two things.
1 - Overclocking
2 - longevity.

CPUs you can buy used even 10 years after something was released and it only gets cheaper (see shit like 2k dollar xeons costing 100 bucks on ebay) but try to find the same shit in terms of motherboards, I will sit here and laugh while the cheapest high end mobo you will find will be 400 dollars if you find one.

Theres only one time the cheapest mobo is worth it and it's when you're making a shitbox with for your grandma that will never be overclocked and longevity doesn't matter because the entire system cost you 400 dollars.

>buying an 8700kelvin

I have the z370a with the 8700k, good stuff.

I disagree though. The exact components in the VRM also matter and you should do substantial research before purchase from other users.
I had a Z77 MPower with an Ivy Bridge(so 77W not 95W) i7 in it. The thing is, I did not OC it at all. 3 months before the warranty ended, the LAN port died. I ignored it and thought of getting a LAN card instead. About a week before the warranty ended, the USB 3.0 starts acting up. Finally, about the time the warranty ended, the VRM failed during cold boot, killing the i7 in it as well.
I have checked that the VRMs were of pretty decent quality (tantalum capacitors and DrMOS), but in the end it failed exactly at the area it excels in.

If you care about features and over clocking then yes.
Otherwise if all you care about is your hardware booting up you can cheap out fairly safely.

Your biggest mistake was already buying an MSI board thinking it was high end. Should have stayed to asus or at worst gigabyte.
Last time MSI made a motherboard that was bomb proof we still had the Q6600 as the top dog.
The biggest issue with MSI right now is that they have terrible QC, they are razer or motherboards.

I had an interview with ASUS a few years ago and the extra phases you see are not needed for everyday use.
They are for overclocking, and just there for the added stability that is not needed if you run at stock settings.
That's why you see more phases on the gaming stuff than you see on the WS (WorkStation) boards.

Buying the entry-level Z boards give you more than enough for light overclocking so don't bother with the 2x priced boards unless you are gonna overclock.
Besides, the 8700K default overclocking is good enough.
Thing to note though is that the higher end ASUS boards bypass the Intel overclocking setting and can use the turbo feature for all cores instead just one core.

Maybe this chart by an overclock.net user can help a little.

>That's why you see more phases on the gaming stuff than you see on the WS (WorkStation) boards.
Not really--the WorkStation series would still have 8(minimum) and high quality PWMs/MOSFETs. Your statement was quite outdated, and was only somewhat relevant when there were crazy number of stages in motherboards(like the Z77 UP7 which delivers no significant gains while multiplying the points of failure.)

Compare Z270 WS and Maximus IX Hero(AFAIK Hero have the SAME VRM as Apex, which makes Hero the best buy if you are looking for high-tier VRMs). The Maximus IX Hero have 10 Visible phases (8+2, actual 4 doubled), whereas the Z270 WS have 12(8+4). The stages in Z270WS>IX Hero. The stages for the CPU is the same at 8. However, the Z270WS uses PowlRStages which is better than the NexFETs used in the Hero. The Hero is also using Doublers which is not as good as true phases used in the Z270 WS. So, The VRMs on the WS board is more beefy.

Compare P8Z77 WS to Maximus V Formula and Extreme. The formula have 10 phases(7 for CPU, but doubled from 4, the 8th(which is from the doubler)-10th is reserved for other components) of PowerPAKs. The extreme have 12(8 for CPU, actual 8) of NXP LF-PAKS. The Z77 WS have 20 visible phases, is doubled 8, and have Powerblocks. Again, the WS have more and better phases than the ROG counterpart.

The only case that I can tell where the WS board have inferior VRM than an ROG counterpart would be P8Z77-WS(Not the P8Z77-E WS which have way superior VRMs) versus the Rampage 4 series.


The other brands like MSI like to shove many poorer-quality phases instead of fewer higher-quality phases, which makes the illusion that gaming motherboards have more and better phases than WS boards. In fact, it is often the other way round.

This.

Learnt my lesson. Staying with Asus from now on. Even my old Asus B75 mobo with D-PAK VRMs ran really long periods under 24/7 (clogged full of dust too) fine.

btw, do you have the same chart for x370?

bump

That's a very drawn out irrelevant post.
You should probably read what you replied to, and read the topic of the thread.

Yes, we can discuss stuff related to VRMs too in a thread asking for advice on Motherboards. We are not obliged to just answer the OP and fu*k off. I was pointing out how one of the points of 's was out of touch with reality. If you are butthurt and traumatized about this small matter then you have to go back >>>/reddit/.

You should probably re-read OPs post again, a third time might make you understand.

What said isn't far from the truth.
They put more phases on the gamer stuff because "more is better".

Some workstation boards from supermicro have even more phases than the average gaymer shit I'm not the user you're talking to but I'm seeing lot of misinformation here.

Also yes, the more phases the better but there's a thing called diminishing returns.
Want an example of more phases the better? Check the titan V. It literally uses VRMs from industrial and medical applications, not the "best" vrms used in top tier gamer shit.
If I recall that shit could candle 70 amps and 150c temps.

I believe I understand OP's post. He was questioning whether avoiding the lower-end Z370 boards would be a good idea for his 8700K.

You don't seem to have the mental capacity to understand that I am not obliged to focus solely on OP's question. This is not nor /sqt/. We are not answering an exam question right here lad.

>What said isn't far from the truth.
>They put more phases on the gamer stuff because "more is better".

Exactly what I am trying to address. Asus ROG series usually have LESS/WORSE phases than WS boards. The VRM data are all out there on review sites and forums. I also mentioned that other brands occassionally shove tons of mediocre-high quality phases on their boards, like the Z77-UP7. However, his alleged interview is said to be with Asus, and Asus alone. Truth is the Asus WS series have tons of stages, which conflicts with what said.


You did not even bother to read my post and just call it branded it 'drawn out' and 'irrelevant'.

So full of himself that he spews feces out of his mouth - the post.

Arrogant, condescending shitposter with little to no skill in reading.

>resorting to insulting in a fit of desperation
>could not even rebut his own claim that gamer stuff have more phases

I may spew feces out of my mouth, but you are feces itself.

*Defend, not rebut
I apologize, , your post was too hilarious for me

Oh man another mistake. Tagging

you can barely even see the VRM's on here and they're apparently good enough for 24/7 usage

Workstation boards (not Asus WS series) typically have 6-10 phases for each CPU, which is what a lot of Gamer motherboards with better VRMs have. The ones with 16+ are usually rediculously expensive

Impressive kindergarten retort.

Sure it does, schlomo!

Yeah, I was once underage and frustrated like you are now. Don't worry, you will soon grow out of it.

This projecting is hilarious.
As expected from some using toilet language.

I am definitely conversing in English. Nice meeting someone who also speaks 'toilet language' I guess.

Your level of "no you" is still amusing.
It's almost like using baby talk against a grown up, but you're not.
It would be embarrassing if you were, talking like that.

>puts in 2 dollars of extra components
Thats 399.95 plus tip

That's exactly what you are doing though. Must be tough being in your teen years huh. Maybe you need eat a candy to quell your misery?

Cheaped out a bit on mine on got a hd3 and could only push my 6600k to 4.3ghz

Still doing the "no you" I see.
At least you can keep yourself occupied with immature retorts, but it's time you grew up and start facing your autism.

I understand that you are undergoing a crucial phase of your life right now, and require delicate emotional support. Seeking help at would be a good place to start. Getting hurt by words at this stage is normal; we all experience them. Anyway, I'm off to bed. I wish you the best on your mental and physical development into adulthood.

Yeah, yeah... of course, hon.
Go play with your friends on or whatever, grown ups are busy.