Need some advice - MSI Z690 ACE VS MSI Z790 ACE (Max?)

[Memmento Mori]

I started to look up the possibilities of my upgrade. Budget is not the problem, the problem is more if it make sense to spend the money...

 

ASUS and Gigabite i dont trust -

EVGA i wanted the Z790 boards, but they are not present and even if the last update of their bios on the classified was in march... 

ASrock? hmm not convinced...

So basically only way to go is MSI..

 

Wanted 10 GB NIC - well then you have to get the GODLIKE but you have t trade the iGPU... Which i don't want... And you pay a massive price for things like the external display you don't need...

 

So i started to look at the ACE mobos... 

 

Like the design, has what i need except for the 10GB NIC - but i could pass it by with and USB/Thunderbolt adapter.... 

 

Now i found a used Z690 ACE in a mint condition for 360 EUR which is basically half the price of the Z790 ACE and the max edition will be even more expensive...

 

Is it recommended to take the Z690 for an 14900K and Dimms like DOMINATOR® TITANIUM RGB 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 DRAM? They are not listed in the supported list?  Or does it make sense to pay for the Z790? Just don't want to burn unnecessarily money in a try and fail run ...

 

Let me know your though.. Any advice is appreciated..

 

[rares495]

High-end Z690 boards are killer. Can't go wrong with an ACE and MSI motherboards have been pretty good these past few years in my experience. Not to mention that the 690 looks better than the 790 in my opinion.

 

You're going to need that network adapter because both boards come with shitty Intel 2.5 Gig networking. By going with the 690 you also lose "features" such as 5.0 M.2 support that no one really needs and you get worse memory support in theory. Of course, we know by now that the CPU's IMC is what truly matters most when it comes to that. An ACE board won't limit memory overclocking in any meaningful way unless you're doing XOC. Same goes for CPU overclocking.

 

You could also try to find a Z690 Unify if you're looking to get the most bang out of your buck. It is basically a cheaper ACE with essentially the same features minus the bling. The ACE boards have never made sense where there's been a Unify model in the same lineup. 

[acoustic]

It really comes down to what you want to use the system for. Is this a situation where you don't care much about memory speeds? Then the Z690 ACE w/ DR sticks @ 5600, maybe 6000 if you get lucky, will be fine. If you want a higher chance of running higher speed memory, let's say ~6400+ with DR sticks, then I'd go Z790.

 

You'll have better chance running DR sticks on a Z790 4-DIMM. Z690 4-DIMM was ... atrocious, to say the least. I would recommend, if you don't need the full 64GB, to go with 2x24 sticks (they're SR) for better compatibility. Should be able to run 7200 XMP without issues on a Z790 board.

 

While the CPU IMC is definitely a factor, most Z690 4-DIMM boards were just bad when it cames to memory.

[Memmento Mori]

Thank you for your reply.  I went finally with the 690 Ace as the guy gave me another discount and finally paid 320 EUR...  I think its not a bad price and will see what i can manage on the board regarding the DIMMs and theyr speed. Ordered as well some corairs platinum dimms 2x32 GB 6600 Mhz - lets see how this will work  And today i got my CPU delivered and had luck with the batch  Funn part is that it was rly lottery as i bought it for the lowest price online at my place... 

 

 

Shame that i dont have an ASUS board to check the SP numbers but it doesn't matter in the end.. Now i need just my mounting kit for the LGA1700 and the correction frame delivered.. Then ill replace my system... BTW any ideas what would be better for the new build, Win 10 or 11? Ups and downs? 

[GanjaSMK]

I suggest Windows 11 IMHO. 

 

I'm not even on a platform that will soak the new features up (still 10th Gen) - but just going from 10 to 11 was at first daunting. 

 

However I have subjectively found: 

 

A) Gaming is equal to or better, cannot say performance is because I have no dual boot testing/data

B) Multi-monitor use is MUCH improved, still leaves a lil to be desired but HUGE improvement

C) All the things any advanced Windows users use, are still there

D) Get the Pro version, by far. 

E) Win10 IIRC will not support DirectStorage