Check if Z690 suits your needs and budget.
Check if Z690 suits your needs and budget.
The Intel Z690 board offers solid performance for your setup without overclocking. It pairs well with the specified components and provides a good balance of cost and capability. You can likely get a decent build at the prices you mentioned, especially if you choose the DDR5 model. Regarding undervolting, both Z690 and ROG Strix boards support it, though compatibility may vary slightly between models.
Neither of those boards are a good idea, ASUS screwed up the BIOS on their Z690 (and I'd assume their B660 boards) to the point where on an ASUS board, a 13700K will be in the neighborhood of 50% slower than a 12700K. It should be fixed eventually, but there's no time table as of now, and you don't want to buy something just based on a promise. Source: https://www.hardwaretimes.com/intel-13th...-tug-z690/ If you want to go DDR5 and save a bit of money with a Z690/B660 board, an MSI board is probably your best bet (Gigabyte screwed up their DDR5 memory topology on Z690/B660, and ASRock boards are really expensive for a worse feature set than MSI), something like a Z690-A Pro. You can, but there can also be some weird issues when doing so (biggest being clock stretching, where the clock speeds remain high but performance tanks out of nowhere). If you want to undervolt, I'd try to go Z690 or Z790 instead.
Great, happy to hear you found something new. I'm glad you're considering MSI now—thanks again for your interest!
Additionally these prices seem excessive, a Z690 pro costs around 200€ in Germany according to PCPPs. Asus tends to be overpriced most of the time, so unless you locate a reasonably priced model, it’s best not to bother with them. Remember to update the BIOS—physical stores or PC shops can handle that, but for mobile devices with SPI headers (ASUS, MSI, ASRock), there’s also SPI flashing available. However, this can be somewhat frustrating because you need to align the pinouts between the BIOS programmer (like CH341A for about 3€) and the SPI header.
It's not about ASUS being bad overall; they've faced some significant quality control problems in the last couple of years. The Z690 Heros had a component misplaced and burned, early Z690 Apex boards had memory issues that prevented them from reaching rated speeds, and now those are mostly resolved. At this stage, their performance is roughly comparable to other brands. They still offer a superior 4 DIMM setup compared to MSI, but unless you're planning to use multiple memory modules, it doesn't really set them apart. The 13th generation BIOS updates aren't enough to overcome these past shortcomings. The models worth checking are the Z690-A Pro, Z690 Edge/Tomahawk, Z690 Force/Carbon, and the Z790 Tomahawk Z690-A Pro. It usually provides the right features at a lower price than the B660-F Strix you were considering. However, it looks simple on the outside and has a modest audio chipset—unless you're serious about sound quality, a dedicated DAC might be better. The Edge/Tomahawk boards are very similar, just with slight differences in power delivery and a bit more RGB and upgraded audio support. The Force model is identical to the Pro except for color options, while the Carbon version has black accents. The Z790 Tomahawk could handle faster memory types like DDR5, but whether it's worth the trade-off depends on your needs. They also have a solid B660 lineup, though most of their boards lack BIOS Flashback, so unless you're getting from a retailer that offers updates, sticking with Z690 might be more convenient.
Thanks for the assistance—it's tough choosing among options that look alike, except the Z690 Pro might offer better value. You might want to hold off a bit longer in case better offers appear later this month.