LGA 1700 - Best bang for the buck??

[ShrimpBrime]

For general overclocking purposes, what Intel Z series motherboard is the best bang for the buck?? 

 

I currently have a B660-G and I made the dumbest mistake ever to update the F'n ME firmware and it eliminated BCLK clocking. Which is why I purchased the board on 12th gen, the bang for the buck.

 

Two choices, I figure ask about plan A, a Z series board... Or Plan B, just get another B660-G/F model and NOT update the dang firmware. (someone had to guinea pig right?) Price is under 300. 

 

And it only needs to support DDR5 memory. The rest doesn't matter, it's for general OC purposes, maybe not extreme. Or maybe so. But lets figure not k?

 

Thanks for your opinions!! 

 

[t4ct1c47]

I'll be watching this thread as honestly I can't spot the difference between a z-790-E and z-790-F.

[Avacado]

7 hours ago, ShrimpBrime said:

For general overclocking purposes, what Intel Z series motherboard is the best bang for the buck?? 

 

I currently have a B660-G and I made the dumbest mistake ever to update the F'n ME firmware and it eliminated BCLK clocking. Which is why I purchased the board on 12th gen, the bang for the buck.

 

Two choices, I figure ask about plan A, a Z series board... Or Plan B, just get another B660-G/F model and NOT update the dang firmware. (someone had to guinea pig right?) Price is under 300. 

 

And it only needs to support DDR5 memory. The rest doesn't matter, it's for general OC purposes, maybe not extreme. Or maybe so. But lets figure not k?

 

Thanks for your opinions!! 

 

Non-K would have to be a board with an external clock generator. There is a list floating around google if you do enough digging. Most DDR5 specific boards that have external clock gens are not going to be cheap though. Non-K BCLK has been removed from 13th gen and I have not really looked into which z790 boards posses an external clock gen. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Avacado

[The Pook]

If the BIOS is socketable (hard to find high res PCB photos) then buy an EEPROM from eBay and have it preflashed to the older BIOS. I've used BIOS Chip Store and BIOS Depot in the past with success. I just messaged them beforehand and asked for a specific BIOS rather than the latest. 

  

5 minutes ago, Avacado said:

Non-K would have to be a board with an external clock generator. There is a list floating around google if you do enough digging. Most DDR5 specific boards that have external clock gens are not going to be cheap though. Non-K BCLK has been removed from 13th gen and I have not really looked into which z790 boards posses an external clock gen. 

 

AsRock B760M PG Riptide is $150 and supports it for 12th gen. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by The Pook

[Nikado7]

This is my next spreadsheet endeavor.  I'll keep you all posted.   

[ShrimpBrime]

@Avacado , I HAD BCLK overclocking on my B660-G (external clock generator) and yes they did eliminate OC. The trick they did was to suggest updating ME FIRMWARE from the bios DL section of the board with NO indication it would remove BCLK overclocking.

 

It also removed BCLK overclocking for AlderLake as well. I know, currently testing a 12400F.... 103 locked. Doesn't matter which CPU.

 

@The Pook , that's not a bad idea. I've gotten bios chips from bios depot in the past. I'm going to check this out for sure. Thank you!