Consider your priorities carefully to choose the best option.
Consider your priorities carefully to choose the best option.
Hey, basically you're looking at a setup around 3600 + a mid-range GPU with decent VRAM, or alternatively a 9600KF which is about $100 less than the 3600 combo (depending on the Steel Legend deal). The 9600KF is priced lower and has 6 threads, which is a concern for you since you're worried about long-term performance. Your workloads include gaming (CSGO, Valorant, Forza H4, COD MW), photo editing with Lightroom and Photoshop, and occasional video editing in H264 1080p or H265 4k60. You want to avoid the 4670K's thread count and its aging issues from high stress. I'm open to other board suggestions if you're flexible on budget. Let me know what you think!
Poor support and build issues have really messed up my experience. This board is a total mess, and I’m definitely not going to settle for MSI anymore.
Consider x570 or B450 options. It really performs well. Don’t judge based on the brand alone—check if the product meets your needs. I recommended a Pro 4 from ASRock, and for a solid B550 board, MSI offers some great choices.
Didn't talk about anything good on ITX. It's a bit rough but with the gigabyte b550i the board really costs little—this is the only option that makes sense for me. The board is around 140 AUD, which is an 8x50A stage VRM with average audio and solid memory. Coming from a DDR3 setup, I'm getting it all new. My budget is near the soft cap of about 750 AUD (CPU, memory, motherboard, power supply), and the hard cap is around 1 k.